About Life Have Released Their Own Wholefoods Cookbook

If, mid-way through a piece of raw lasagne, you've ever wondered what makes About Life's food so tasty, yet still somehow good for you, you can stop guessing. The wholefoods cafe and supermarket mini-empire — which now has seven stores in Sydney and one in Melbourne — has released a recipe book, titled A Whole New Way to Eat.

That's right, nutritionist Vladia Cobrdova — who's responsible for developing About Life's recipes — is throwing a few secrets your way. All in all, there are 135 recipes, covering familiar offerings from the wholefoods institution's cafes and self-serve meal aisles. They're all relatively simple and don't employ heaps of obscure ingredients, meaning they're recipes you're actually likely to make.

Coconut turmeric quinoa porridge? That's on page 12. Umeboshi black bean spaghetti salad with sesame toasted broccoli? You'll find that on page 86. A giant lamington with raspberry Kakadu jam? It's in there too (and we've got the recipes for those last two below). There are brekkies, lunches, dinners, salads, soups, sides, drinks and desserts galore.

A Whole New Way To Eat will be launched at a series of free events, to be held at various About Life stories during the first couple of weeks of March with Vladia Cobrdova. She'll be chatting, demonstrating and, most importantly, handing out samples. Catch her at in Melbourne on March 7 and at the Crows Nest store in Sydney on March 11.

As difficult as it is to believe, About Life started out in Sydney in 1996 as a little juice bar, with just a handful of groceries for sale. Now, with eight stores around the country and somewhat of a cult following, they're expanding into at-home territory, which, as a grocer, makes a lot of sense.

A Whole New Way To Eat is published by Murdoch Books and will be available for $39.99. We've managed to nab two of the recipes from the book below to get you started.

UMEBOSHI BLACK BEAN SPAGHETTI SALAD WITH SESAME TOASTED BROCCOLI

Umeboshi is a paste is made from fermented plums, which gives this recipe a salty yet still plummy taste. It's vegan, gluten- and dairy-free, and will take about 30-40 minutes to prepare. 

200 grams broccoli, cut into small florets
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
200g black bean spaghetti (or brown rice noodles)
150g snow peas, trimmed and halved lengthways
250g green beans, trimmed and cut in half

Umeboshi dressing
60ml (¼ cup) sesame oil
1½ tablespoons mirin (rice wine)
2 tablespoons umeboshi paste
¼ cup finely grated fresh ginger
75g (½ cup) sesame seeds
1 tablespoon tamari 

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Spread the broccoli on a baking tray, add the sesame oil and sesame seeds and toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly roasted but still crunchy.

Meanwhile, bring two litres (eight cups) of water to the boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender. Add the snow peas and green beans for the last minute of cooking to blanch. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.

To make the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl with 60ml (¼ cup) of water.

Transfer the spaghetti, snow peas and green beans to a serving bowl. Pour in the dressing and toss until well coated. Top with the crunchy broccoli florets and serve.

GIANT LAMINGTON WITH RASPBERRY KAKADU JAM

This cake-like lamington is gluten-free and vego, and is topped with jam made with native Kakadu plum powder. You'll probably have to go to About Life to buy some — but if you can't get any, you can use the zest of an orange.

6 eggs
11 g (⅓ cup) honey
80ml (⅓ cup) melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
65g (½ cup) coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
100g (1 cup) almond meal
35g (½ cup) shredded coconut

Kakadu jam
170g raspberries, fresh or frozen and defrosted
50g (¼ cup) coconut sugar
1 tablespoon Kakadu plum powder, or use the zest of 1 orange
45g (¼ cup) chia seeds
2 tablespoons coconut water

Cacao frosting
40g (¼ cup) coconut oil
55g (½ cup) cacao powder
60ml (¼ cup) coconut cream

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Lightly grease a 30cm x 12cm x 10cm loaf tin and line it with baking paper, leaving the sides overhanging.

Use an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment to whisk the eggs and honey for five minutes or until well combined. Add the coconut oil and vanilla bean paste and whisk for another 2-3 minutes until well combined.

Combine the coconut flour, baking powder and almond meal in a separate bowl. Gently fold into the egg mixture until just combined, then spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

Meanwhile, to make the jam, combine the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until set.

To make cacao frosting, put the coconut oil in a frying pan with 60ml (¼ cup) of water and cook over low heat until the oil melts. Add the cacao powder and coconut cream and stir for two minutes or until combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Spread with jam and drizzle with the frosting. Scatter with shredded coconut.

Images and recipes from A Whole New Way To Eat by Vladia Cobrdova (Murdoch Books RRP $39.99) photography by Rob Palmer.