Deliciously Ella: The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills

Deliciously Ella: The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills (Woodward) is a cookbook with 100 plant-based recipes. The cookbook is not only about recipes, but she shares snippets of her life and how her company progressed. It was an interesting read.

The story is interesting, but I’m going to address something I was bothered when I read the book. Even on her website she says that “…our core purpose has remained the same from when I wrote my first recipe, which is to share the joys and benefits of plant based living. It gave me my life and health back, and between us we can help millions of others too.” But, when she opened her first deli, she served meat because her husband eats meat. She talked about hate mail she received. I think that is appalling.
For me, as a vegetarian, a restaurant that serves vegan food and some meat options is just the same as a restaurant that serves meat and some vegan options, no difference between them. Thus, no point in making the deli as a destination of choice. She was saying that it was the right choice for them at that time, but I don’t think it was, as her new deli is now vegan. It would be hypocritical to talk about the environmental impact of meat while serve it, or talk about the health benefits of being plant-based; and customers that care for these kind of things wouldn’t have bought from her. I would have applaud her if she would have said that she made a mistake and learned from it.

I’ve tried one of her recipes and I’m going to try a few more. The first one I’ve made was of these cookies you see here in the picture. I’ve made a couple of changes, but they are good, I’m going to make them again. I think the cookies need a bit of extra flavour, like a teaspoon of cinnamon, but regardless, they are good as a basic recipe that you can modify with some spices. The biscuits didn’t turn out exactly like in the picture, I think a presentation ring was used to shape the biscuits and not made with a ice cream scoop or a spoon. It doesn’t make a difference to the taste or the baking though.

In the book, Ella shares all sort of recipes, from ones suitable for breakfast, salads, falafels, curries, and desserts.

Deliciously Ella: The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills (Woodward)

Details about the picture: These peanut butter cookies are made after one of her recipes.
My rating: 4/5 Stars.
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Yellow Kite
Year it was published: 2018
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): Cookbook
Pages: 288

About the author: Ella started her blog, Deliciously Ella, in 2012, while a student. The previous year she was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, after four months in and out of hospital. This condition affected how her autonomic nervous system worked, like the heart rate and blood pressure. She was also struggling with digestive issues and chronic fatigue.
She did some research into ways to managing her condition and so she decided to try a plant based diet. At that point in her life it was a difficult choice, as she didn’t cook and had limited knowledge about vegetarianism. This is why she started her blog, to show her culinary experiments, more as a personal project. She found she actually had a passion for cooking.

Her blog grew and she started hosting supper clubs and teaching cooking classes before making an app. The app was a success and she was approached to write a cookbook. Her first book was published in 2015, having an amazing success with that as well, that first book being now available in 22 languages and becoming a NY Times best seller.

She met Matt, her husband, after she released the book and they started talking how to take Deliciously Ella further. They opened a small deli on Seymour Place, in central London. It was very popular, so they opened a new, bigger space, on Weighhouse Street. Next step was to launch food products and the first one was energy balls, that are now available in 6,000 stores in UK at different supermarkets. Next step is to launch a line of breakfast cereals and oat bars.

Website & Social Media Links: deliciouslyella.com