Ella Mills knows we all want to eat healthier. But the English food writer and businesswoman also knows we're busy and we want everything to taste good. And she understands many of us are nervous about the idea of committing to no meat.
鈥淚 know I used to think eating this way would be just like nibbling on sad and soggy carrots and rabbit food all day long,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut you suddenly start cooking and you realize it鈥檚 actually super-flavorsome and textured and interesting and just not what you thought it was.鈥�
Mills is ready to guide us as through this with a line of healthy products and her latest cookbook, featuring over 75 plant-based recipes, from Lemony Pea and Broccoli Pasta to a Creamy Leek, Spinach and Butter Bean Bowl.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about taking these familiar ingredients that are often seen as a little bit bland, a little bit boring, and trying to give them gentle twists, to make them feel really exciting and rejuvenated,鈥� she says.
鈥淗ealthy Made Simple鈥� contain dishes Mills eats at home with her husband and two young children. She aims to have the recipes take less than 30 minutes to make, use no more than five simple steps, and need 10 ingredients or less.
"I just found that was essentially the sweet spot where action and reality merged closer together," she says.
鈥淲e know we need to eat less ultra-processed food. So this is a hand-holding resource to help you do that.鈥�
Mills took a hard look at some of her favorite dishes and tried to create a better balance between flavor, practicality, nutrition and speed.
鈥淲hat I found was that oftentimes there was an extra step or an extra pan in there, or like two or three extra ingredients. And it probably made it 5% nicer or 10% nicer," she says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檇 end up not making the recipes anymore because it was just that little bit more effort.鈥�
鈥淗ealthy Made Simple鈥� celebrates whole foods and uses proteins from things like nuts, tofu, lentils, beans and chickpeas. The flavors are global, with ingredients including harissa, udon, satay, miso, pesto, tagine and curry.
"As you start to look around the world, there鈥檚 so many places where not necessarily the whole society is vegetarian, but vegetables are the hero and they鈥檙e treated with a lot of TLC,鈥� she says.
Take her One-Pan Peanut and Cauliflower Stew, which combines peanut butter, ginger, coconut milk, garlic, rice and curry powder with simmering cauliflower florets. It's got heat, crunch and tastes indulgent.
Lauren Whelan, the publisher for Yellow Kite, the lifestyle and cooking imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, says Mills' creativity shows the versatility and simplicity of plants. Mills' sweet potato brownies revolutionized the way that vegetable is used in the U.K., Whelan says.
If Mills is an evangelist for vegetarianism, she says she's proof of its benefits. At 21, she was diagnosed with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, which affected her nervous system, and was put on a variety of medications.
She chose to overhaul her diet and started documenting her experience in a blog. Able to wean herself off medicines, Mills has since built up her Deliciously Ella business into seven cookbooks and
Mills isn't preachy and knows her readers may not be ready to go full-on vegetarian. For her, it's about small steps that can make meaningful changes, like making one or two plant-based dishes a week or highlighting a vegetable one night with the meat as the side dish.
鈥淭his is not all or nothing. This is not 鈥楨veryone should go plant-based tomorrow鈥� or 鈥楨veryone should only cook from this book,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 like on a Sunday night when you鈥檙e at home, could you do one of these recipes and then you鈥檇 have some leftovers for lunch?鈥�
One of her new dishes 鈥� 鈥� is perfect for skeptics. It adds some heat from harissa and chili to a pasta with eggplant and parsley, finished with walnuts.
鈥淚t has this kind of chunky, bolognese ragu-esque texture. That鈥檚 the kind of thing that I would make a lot for friends or family who are not sure they鈥檙e going to love plant-based stuff, but when you鈥檙e tossing that through some nice spaghetti you can always serve it with parmesan on the side,鈥� she says.
Mills knows the world of health and wellness often chases trends, but she believes in the ultimate power of a well-dressed carrot.
鈥淲e so often see health and looking after ourselves as a trend, as a fad, as a six-week plan. Ultimately, that鈥檚 not health. Health is looking after yourself for decades," she says. And to do that, "It can鈥檛 be deprivation. It has to be something you want to do on a regular basis.鈥�
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
