May 13, 2025

135 - Vegan Soulicious with Charlise Rookwood

1 hour 9 minutes

Charlise Rookwood, the vegan influencer and host of The Black Vegan Cooking Show, brings a vegan approach to African and Caribbean-style cooking

Whether you are new to vegan cooking, simply want to reduce the amount of meat and dairy you are consuming, or are an experienced plant-based cook, Vegan Soulicious has a fresh and delicious point of view, offering an exciting approach to cooking that is irresistibly soulful and centered on wellness and joy.

In her debut cookbook, Vegan Soulicious, Charlise Rookwood shares her favorite vegan dishes, as well as recipes that showcase African and Caribbean flavors that will make your tastebuds sing. In the process, she proves that plant-based food can be boldly flavorful, vibrantly beautiful, easy to make, and a reflection of cultural roots.

Inspired by her Jamaican and Mauritian heritage, Rookwood wants to help readers fall in love with their favorite childhood dishes all over again with a new, healthy approach, and spice up everyone’s cooking with exciting flavor profiles and new techniques.

Rookwood incorporates tropical and African influences in every recipe, from Ackee and Dumplings to Green Banana Porridge, Jamaican Bread Pudding, and Coconut Chutney, while telling stories about her family, growing up in London, working in the music industry, and traveling to visit her loved ones in Jamaica and Mauritius.

The recipes in Vegan Soulicious span Jamaican comfort food, essential and outrageously delicious Mauritian condiments, and plant-based twists on familiar soul food favorites from the American South. Her cooking focuses on dishes that are naturally satisfying without meat and dairy, due to both the way they have always traditionally been enjoyed and thanks to clever innovations Rookwood has developed.

Charlise Rookwood, vegan chef and host of The Black Vegan Cooking Show, brings plant-based cooking to a place we haven’t seen it before with this beautiful cookbook.