Cookbook Review: Food Therapy by Roni’s Kitchen

Roni’s Kitchen’s latest cookbook Food Therapy took Calgary by storm over the winter. Featured in multiple publications, and collaborating with a number of amazing vegan businesses, Roni was EVERYWHERE. And not without reason.

Roni Zaidi has been an active part of Calgary’s vegan community for many years. Operating under the name Roni’s Kitchen,there’s a good chance you’ve attended one of her pop-ups or cooking classes. Her warm and friendly personality, as well as her delicious food, make veganism approachable – whether you’re fully invested in a vegan lifestyle or not.

Food Therapy is Roni’s second cookbook, released last year. My copy was a gift from her collaboration with WholelifeGo in December. There the menu featured Roni’s comfort food recipes with a gourmet twist. So I can already vouch for the Seeded Crackers on page 43.

Although Food Therapy has been out for a few months, many recipes use seasonal ingredients, so it’s always a great time to grab a copy (or dig into yours if you have one already). While I will be reviewing recipes, I will not be posting them – you’ll have to grab a copy of Roni’s book to get those. Now, onward to the review!

Cover to Cover…

The outside cover photos are gorgeous! The view of the snackboard on the back cover piques interest and gets you excited for the contents inside. The smiling Roni featured on the cover is inviting.

The beautiful photos continue inside the cover, and, after a heartfelt introduction from Roni, we dive straight into the recipes! The table of contents boasts a well-rounded list of recipes, with Breakfasts & Brunch, Appetizers, Mains, Sides, and Sweets, as well as a list of menu suggestions for pairings.

I selected two recipes – the Tahini Berry smoothie, and the Orange Cake. The smoothie I chose because I am terrible at coming up with ideas for breakfast and this sounded like a winner. And the orange cake was selected because when I started this review, it was the height of citrus season and it just made sense. I also wrangled my roommate into giving his two cents, just for some extra feedback.

The outline for the recipes is clean and simple; instructions are clear and easy to read. A brief paragraph at the top of each recipe explains its origins and why the recipe itself is important to Roni.

Tahini Berry Smoothie

As an avid tahini fan, this recipe intrigued me. I’d never considered using it my smoothies before, and I wondered how it’s natural bitterness would translate. The rest of the ingredients are mixed berries, non-dairy milk, bananas and lemon juice. At this point, I will admit that this recipe took me two attempts to get right, because I am not naturally inclined to follow recipe directions!

But I did learn from my mistakes, and so can you. Don’t try subbing frozen bananas for fresh. It messes up the required liquid:solid ratios required for blending. I tried adjusting and compensating but I ended up with a bland, bitter mess. HOWEVER! On my second attempt, carefully following instructions, I ended up with two delicious berry smoothies with barely a trace of tahini taste.

Will I add it to my menu rotation? Probably. I normally shy away from smoothies as a breakfast because I don’t find them satisfying, but the tahini seems to have made all the difference here, with the necessary fats and protein for satiety.

Roommate: “I don’t even like tahini and this is delicious. I would totally make it for myself.”

Orange Cake

I love oranges, so I needed to try this cake. The ingredients were simple, orange juice, flour, maple syrup, vanilla, orange and lemon zest… I did a double take at the amount of olive oil (the good stuff has nearly tripled in price over the last few years due to bad crops). But I was in no mood for substitutions after the smoothie. And then the first attempt failed, so I had to try it again. Oof.

This time, however, I don’t think it was my fault. The first attempt, where I used bottled orange juice and all purpose flour, was sunken, mushy fail. For my second attempt, I used freshly squeezed OJ and spelt flour, and those seemed to make all the difference. In neither attempt was I successful at getting the orange slices to stay on top, no matter how thinly they were sliced. Oh well. The second attempt was a moist, not mushy, cake that rose pretty decently. The flavour is fantastic, and baking it makes the whole house smell like delicious oranges.

Please don’t judge my edges! I lined my pan with parchment for easy removal, and this is the result. So maybe don’t do that either…

Roommate: “Not bad! Would be nice paired with tea.”

Some Additional Thoughts…

Will I continue to use this book? Absolutely. I’m already eyeing up the Banana Oat Pancakes and Banana Bread Granola. The Smoked Carrots sound promising, and I will almost certainly make that cake every citrus season now.

Do I have an critiques? Not really. It’s a beautiful book written by a lovely human, and the recipes are great when you follow the instructions. Food Therapy features the flavours and spices of Roni’s home and personal culture. She has poured so much love into these recipes I almost feel like she’s enjoying them with me.
10/10 stars.

You can grab your copy of Food Therapy by Roni’s Kitchen
HERE: https://roniskitchen.com/product/food-therapy-cookbook/

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Do you have this cookbook? Which is your favourite recipe? Which are you still dying to try? Did you attend a promo for it? Let me know in the comments below. See you soon!