As a child, Atlanta native Jenné Claiborne was a super-picky eater, yet she loved being in her grandmother’s kitchen. She baked mud pies and cakes in the mailbox and started cooking at age 7, making “the perfect kid-friendly recipe” of Sichuan chicken for her single mom.
Though Claiborne trained to be a professional actress, she fell in love with plant-based eating while working at a vegan restaurant in New York after college. Soon afterward, she lost interest in performing and decided to build a business aimed at helping people discover the vegan lifestyle.
A chef, cooking instructor and blogger, Claiborne has spent years developing vegan dishes that satisfy her cravings for Southern soul food.
Now with her first cookbook, “Sweet Potato Soul,” which shares a name with her blog and brand, she shares recipes for cornbread, collards, mac and cheese, spicy fried cauliflower “chicken,” and pecan pie. She also describes the ethics of abstaining from meat, which she contends is better for the environment and a more efficient way of absorbing nutrients.
Anyone looking for ways to put the abundance of summer produce to good use will surely welcome these recipes for Georgia Watermelon & Peach Salad, Sweet Corn Succotash, Sensational Fried Green Tomatoes, Ginger-Kissed Peach Cobbler and Blackberry Mint Juleps.
Sweet-potato lovers will rejoice over recipes for biscuits, pancakes, granola, hummus, bisque, burgers, pie, doughnuts and cookies. Gotta say this girl loves her sweet potatoes!
And if you are searching for classics that traditionally call for meat, chicken and seafood, check out Claiborne’s Crispy Eggplant Bacon, Happy Hearts “Crab” Cakes (using chickpeas and hearts of palm), Jackfruit Jambalaya and sliders; and Creole Red Bean Sausage (which may be added to her Bootylicious Gumbo and New Orleans Style Red Beans & Rice).
As for me, well, I’m mighty intrigued by her Smoky Blacked-Eye Pea Cakes, Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream (made with coconut milk) and Spicy Watermelon Margarita, among many other recipes.
With these 100 recipes, Claiborne makes a very strong case that Southern food can be both satisfying and plant-based. Her cookbook book will appeal to vegans and people who simply want a diet that is balanced sand smart. In sum, “Sweet Potato Soul” is a delightful little book full of inventive vegan recipes that don’t skimp on flavor.
“Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul” By Jenné Claiborne (Harmony Books, $19.99)
Wendell Brock is an Atlanta-based food and culture writer, frequent AJC contributor and winner of a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for journalism. Follow him on Twitter (@MrBrock) and Instagram (@WendellDavidBrock).
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