and how to make it sing.
Her food is designed to make you feel good. As we know, “healthy” food hasn’t historically been thought of as the most delicious. But the level of deliciousness she achieves with food that is good for both your body and soul takes tremendous drive and skill. I find myself craving her food. A lot. Laura Lea’s cooking is not simply for sustenance—it makes you feel something. It also directly reflects her sunny, nurturing, and enthusiastic personality. You can taste the love and passion she has for her craft. In Simply Laura Lea, she shows us that we can take better care of ourselves while still enjoying the pleasure of something very delicious and satisfying. In our house, we refer her food as “Laura Lea treats.” I am so excited for you to try these recipes and witness for yourself why I am such a huge fan.
— Sean Brock has won James Beard Awards for
Best Chef: Southeast, for American Cooking, and
for his first book, Heritage. His latest book is South.
Introduction
When I my began my first cookbook, The
Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook, I sought out
the opinions and advice of everyone I knew who’d
written a book. While I received a variety of stories,
cautions, and encouragements, there was one shared
sentiment: you’ll never do it again, or you’ll fall in
love—you’ll fall deeply, feverishly in love with the
blood, sweat, tears, and triumphs that make up this
wild journey. And you’ll know you want to write
books as long as you can cobble words together and
find just one person to read them.
I fit effortlessly in the latter camp. Writing my
cookbook was the most exhilarating and exhausting
experience of my life, and I adored every moment of it.
While I am incredibly grateful that my book was well-
received, I know in my bones that I would have written
a second cookbook regardless. Just as I know that I’ll
write a third and a fourth and, Lord willing, more.
Not only does the process itself light me up—the
creating, testing, photographing, typing, deleting,
and typing again—but there’s always so much left
to share. More has changed in the three years since
I wrote my first book than I could possibly begin to
describe. In the birds-eye view picture of my life, yes,
just about everything is different. More importantly,
though, my knowledge of ingredients has expanded,
The LL BALANCED APPROACH to FOOD
1
Focus on whole, fresh foods that make you feel great.
2
Ditch any preconceived idea of what you should eat,
and listen to your body; it is your best wellness guru.
3
Indulge in moderation and, occasionally, not in moderation!
4
Have fun and don’t take yourself or your food too seriously.
Enjoy food in a relaxed atmosphere and in the company of dear ones.
5
Above all, practice self-love and patience in the kitchen.
It will translate to the rest of your life.
my techniques have streamlined, new research has
come out (and comes out daily), and earlier studies
have been discredited. My own body has healed and
aged and become more flexible and less yielding
in myriad ways. I feel like I have thirty-four years
of new information and experience that I need to
share. One practical example is my use of avocado
oil. When I wrote my first book, I’d never heard of
avocado oil, and I didn’t have a great substitute to
offer for inflammatory vegetable oils. Now avocado
oil is one of my most-prized pantry possessions,
and I use it multiple times per day (more on page 17 for why it’s so great). A less concrete but equally impactful example is my deeper understanding of bio-individuality—the concept that because of our uniqueness, we cannot appropriate another person’s diet and assume it will work for us. This understanding led me to rekindle a romance with dairy, because I realized that it actually works for me (more on this on page 21). At least for now!
Writing these books also affords me the
opportunity to answer your requests directly. You
told me you wanted more vegetarian recipes, so I
doubled the vegan and vegetarian entrées section.
You were befuddled by your Instant Pots (leaving
many still in their boxes), so I created recipes that
will make your purchase worthwhile and save you
time. (P.S. I implore you to tell me what else you want
to see in future books, even as you are getting to
know and using this one.)
I’ll tell you a little secret. Despite my intense
cookbook-writing love affair, I almost put the kibosh
on this one. Last year, I went through one of the most
difficult
