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Don't stop now! Keep Veganuary going with these great dishes
Raw: Recipes for a Modern Vegetarian Lifestyle by Solla Eiríksdóttir proves healthy food doesn’t have to be hard
If the last week of Veganuary is proving tough - or if you want to make a longer term commitment to healthy eating - you might want to try something out of The Icelandic chef Solla Eiríksdóttir's book Raw. It's way easier than you think.
Indeed, Solla herself hasn’t always been a vegetarian. In the introduction to her book Raw: Recipes for a Modern Vegetarian Lifestyle, the Icelandic TV chef and restaurateur recalls her first attempt at home cooking, as a young housewife. “I served burned, ground meat with remoulade and very undercooked potatoes,” she says.
That changed one day, when Eiríksdóttir’s health took a turn for the worse. “I had suffered from allergies from childhood and they had been getting worse, so I went to a doctor to see if he could give me an allergy injection,” she writes in Raw. “Hildur (her daughter) was three-months-old at the time, so I took her with me. As I was speaking with the doctor she started crying and to console her I breastfed her.
![Pistachio and Kale Hummus. Photography by Simon Bajada](/resource/083-pistachio-kale.jpg)
“The doctor told me I would have to stop breastfeeding altogether after the injection. This was a shock, so I decided I had to think about it and went out for a walk. As I was wandering around, feeling hopeless, I stumbled upon a health food store. I went inside and met a herbalist who would change my life forever.”
![Pistachio and Kale Hummus. Photography by Simon Bajada](/resource/175-quinoa-pizza.jpg)
She cut out sugar and refined foods and learned how to cook. Her allergies cleared up, and she went on to share her love of meat-free food with her fellow Icelanders, opening the country’s first vegetarian restaurant, Gló, back in 1994. Today, she is a leading figure within vegan cookery - and the picture of health!
So if you're looking for inspiration maybe to make a longer term commitment to healthy eating - you might want to try something out of Solla’s book Raw, such as pistachio and kale hummus, her update for the Middle-Eastern staple, which she likes to drizzle with olive oil and serve on crackers.
![Vegan Burgers and Root Vegetable Fries. Photography by Simon Bajada](/resource/177-vegan-burgers.jpg)
Or how about quinoa pizza crust, her gluten-free take on the pizza pie, which she tops with sprigs of rosemary and a spoonful of truffle oil.
And if you want to indulge yourself a little, Raw also boasts a vegan burger and root vegetable fries recipe, which is packed with mushrooms, beans, sweet potato and chia seeds, and topped with smoky coconut. Surely that’s dinner sorted?
![Raw: Recipes for a Modern Vegetarian Lifestyle](/resource/9780714879123-940-1.jpg)
To get all these recipes and much more order a copy of Raw here. Divided into five chapters – breakfast, snacks, light lunches, main dishes, and sweet treats – the book abounds with bright, fresh tastes (think turmeric tostadas, kelp noodles with tofu, and even vegan vanilla ice cream!). You can order it here.