My New Roots by Sarah Britton

Irresistible, natural food that happens to be good for you

Do I ever go on a diet or am I full-time vegan, vegetarian or paleo eater? No. I don’t really fit into any category as I simply try to eat differently once in a while so sometimes I’ll go vegetarian for quite a while or eat fish all week. I incorporate all these different kinds of diets into one lifestyle but what is more important than what kind of food I eat, is that I try to eat healthy as much as I can. One of the things that helps me explore these different worlds and ways of healthy living, is by reading blogs from people who know a lot more about these types of meals than I do, and one of those people is Sarah Britton, blogger at www.mynewroots.org.

She released her book ‘My new roots’ in English in April, but on June 12th the Dutch version of her book will be released by Karakter Uitgevers (see more info at the bottom of this page), the perfect occasion for me to give Sarah’s way of cooking a try. I was specifically curious about cooking with raw foods, which is one of the three types of recipes you’ll find in this cookbook, a part from vegan and gluten-free.
Book description
Sarah Britton’s healthy eating blog ‘My New Roots’ draws over two million views a month with her vibrant vegetarian dishes. Now the ‘My New Roots‘ cookbook offers all new recipes that will appeal to Sarah’s devoted fans, as well as those discovering them for the first time.
‘My New Roots’ cookbook is packed with over 100 simple and mouth-watering vegetarian recipes, including fragrant courgette and coconut noodle soup, homemade ginger ale, comforting chocolate chilli and a decadent chai upside-down plum cake. Free from processed ingredients such as refined flours and sugars, ‘My New Roots’ embraces all-natural ingredients – so you can have as much as you want and know that it’s good for your body. With options that are free from dairy, sugar and gluten, low carb and alkaline rich, these seasonal, healthy recipes are designed to satisfy your appetite and make you feel fantastic.

‘My New Roots’ puts delicious, irresistible, whole foods at the centre of your plate to help boost your energy levels, and make your body and mind healthy and happy, one meal at a time. The book is divided up into seasons first (she even divides summer up in early and late summer), and for each season you’ll find recipes for the following courses: mornings, small measures, mains and sweets.

A word from the author
Sarah used to be a city girl, who ate lots of sugar and processed foods, vegetables & fruits that were harvested early and had traveled thousands of kilometers. Until she went to stay on a biological farm for a month. Her adventure on the farm lasted a whole year in the end and when she returned home as a changed woman, she signed up for a course at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition to learn more about the human body and nutrition.

On her blog, Sarah tells us a bit more about her blog, her education and what we can expect from the book: “I started this blog because I wanted to share the incredible knowledge I had received through my education in Holistic Nutrition. I discovered so many things that I believed needed to be public information, not just for those who can go to school to study in this field. I wanted to set up a non-biased space for people to come and learn about how to take better care of themselves through diet and lifestyle, as I have seen immense changes in myself since making little, positive changes every day.

Very much like the blog, my cookbook is inspired by the seasons and eating in connection with nature, as often as possible. Each recipe features health and nutrition information on the key ingredients, so you will always know a little something special about the health benefits in your favorite dishes.The Essential Techniques section clearly explains, step-by-step, how to master the basic processes that I use on a daily basis in my home kitchen. This section also features my tips and tricks on how to make your vegetarian meals as flavorful as they can be!”

Why this book is so fantastic

Apricot – Rhubarb Clafoutis

Sarah’s main focus in this book and on her blog is healthy, natural and unprocessed foods, which is something I strongly support as well, even if I don’t always use them myself. I have been living in a big city for 2 years now but I already know that as soon as I move out, I’ll only want to live in a place where I have access to farms, biological foods and my own garden so I can try to avoid canned or processed foods as much as possible. But with the tips I got from Sarah’s book, I now know how to make some things myself, and how to replace unhealthy ingredients with homecooked healthy ones.

For most of you, this book will be a challenge and a whole new world, like it was for me. But I guarantee you that it’ll open up your eyes and kitchens to something great. The recipes in this book look absolutely amazing, and they taste good too! Some recipes are things I’ve never heard of, like ‘Socca’ or ‘Labneh’, but a lot of the recipes are just healthy alternative to foods you already know and love, like ‘Strawberry coconut milkshakes’, ‘chocolate muesli with cherries’ and ‘apricot rhubarb clafoutis’. All it takes is just a few different ingredients and you have a much healthier version of those well-known recipes.

Do you have to be an experienced cook to try this book? Absolutely not! But you will have to make an effort to find some of the ingredients Sarah uses for some of the recipes. But no worries, nowadays you can find biological foods in a lot of the supermarkets or even better: have bio supermarkets near you.

So are you looking for ways to improve your health without limiting yourself by crazy diets? Then this book is something for you. There’s no need for counting calories since every calorie in Sarah’s recipes is a good one. “I never count calories or worry about my weight because I know that if I eat this way, my body will be in a perfect state of balance and health, naturally.” – Sarah Britton

Book signing in Antwerp
Do you live in Belgium? Then I have great news for you! On June 12th, Sarah will be signing her newly released Dutch version of ‘My New Roots’ in Fnac Antwerpen (Groenplaats), from 15.30 – 17.00. Don’t miss this great opportunity to get your own copy of this book, have a chat with Sarah and get her signature in your new cookbook! I for one will make some time in my busy schedule that day to go and meet her myself, so she can give me some tips on how to make my blog better and my meals healthier!

I would also like to invite all my readers to recommend some bio shops or farms in the comment section below, so we can all help each other find some great options in whichever country or city you live in!

English version
Don’t speak Dutch/Flemish? Don’t worry, this book is also available on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Amazon DE.

Cucumber Nigella Spelt Salad

Sundown carrot and grilled corn salad

Images from My New Roots by Sarah Britton.