If you think eating vegan food means sacrificing taste and giving up some of your favourite meals, Angela Liddon wants you think again. As the writer, photographer, and recipe developer of the popular vegan blog Oh She Glows, Liddon has shared recipes without meat or dairy since she started the blog in October of 2008, and now she’s adding cookbook author to her resumé, too.

In The Oh She Glows Cookbook (Penguin Canada), Liddon wants to help you glow from the inside out with her all-vegan recipes that she promises even meat-lovers will enjoy. “There is still a big misconception out there that vegan recipes can’t taste as good as their animal-product counterparts,”  says Liddon. “I take a lot of pleasure in dispelling this myth!”

While some vegan recipes use several artificial substitutes for meat or dairy products, Liddon advocates for “plant-based eating” and stresses the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, and nuts. “Plant-based foods make me feel energized, healthy, and they give my skin a nice glow!” explains Liddon. “When I eat too many processed foods, I notice a big drop in my energy levels and my skin often breaks out too. My goal is to cook and bake with wholesome ingredients that leave me feeling my best.”

With delicious recipes for every meal of the day, plus energy-boosting snacks and decadent desserts, the new book includes more than 100 recipes which Liddon tested not just with fellow vegans, but with male and female omnivores and children, too. “My recipe testers were a mix of omnivores and vegans and they would always let me know if their husband and children approved of the recipes, too,” Liddon explains. “This way I had a good idea if the recipes would be suitable for all different kinds of diets.” Liddon found this testing process crucial in keeping her on the right track with her recipe development; on her blog, she can count on her readers to give her immediate feedback in the comments section.

Liddon admits that she was surprised by how long it took to create the book — she started working on her proposal in 2011, and she then worked on the manuscript from 2012 until 2014. And it wasn’t just recipe creation that kept Liddon in the kitchen — she also shot over 100 photos for the book, and did all of the food and prop styling, as well as the post-processing. Liddon says that “it feels surreal to see my own photography throughout my cookbook and on the cover. While it felt a bit crazy at the time, I’m so glad that I pushed myself to do it. It was like a food photography boot camp!”

While all of the recipes in the book are a point of pride for Liddon, she does highlight one that appetizer that friends and family can’t seem to get enough of: “My Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip is one of my favourite ‘I still can’t believe it’s vegan’ recipes! I’ve had many people hunt me down at parties for this recipe and many people can’t believe there isn’t a lick of dairy in the recipe.”

Want to read more about Angela and her vegan cooking? Check out our Featured Blogger profile on Oh She Glows from October 2012!