More Great Recipes Sites from Readers!

So...got some reader responses from last week's blog recommending some more good recipe sites!

Emily C., fashionista and grad student extraordinaire of Sartoriography, one of my fav non-food-related blogs, recommended an all-vegan site, which was conspicuously missing from my list! Fashion and food have a lot more in common than you might think--you gotta eat right to feel comfortable in your favorite clothes, and Emily clearly does.

If you're a vegan or vegetarian, Hell Yeah It's Vegan is written by Claryn, who "doesn't believe in buying food" and also is "just about as far as you can get from being a health food junkie." Therefore, her recipes involve buying and doing things that normal people do (rather than people like me who love to visit the tiny Middle Eastern food market in North Charleston, where I got a free--and very painful--reflexology treatment).

Seriously, Claryn might be far from a health-foodie, but she's got gluten-free and raw recipes, among others--but let me tell you, this gal doesn't skimp on desserts! She says she has "never eaten so well" since going vegan, and I believe her. Everything on her site looks amazing and truly homemade. She does include soy milk and soy cheese in some of her recipes, but everything is in moderation and most of it is whole-food oriented.

Rochelle D., web series producer, designer, online marketer and brand developer, blogs about anything related to marketing, social media, and web production; however, I know from personal experience that she's also a whiz in the kitchen. She loves Simply Recipes, which is a great site for entertaining, specifically unique brunch recipes, which as a Charlestonian I'm partial to.

This site makes great use of herbs and spices, and offers vegetarian, low-carb, and gluten-free recipes in addition. It advocates: "Do not use cheap vegetable oil (corn, canola, etc) as a substitute because you will definitely taste the olive oil in the final dish." I agree from a taste as well as a health standpoint. Elise Bauer, who writes the blog, believes in "a varied, healthy diet, using real butter, real cream, eggs, lots of green vegetables, and protein from meat, fish, beans, and cheese." Hear hear!

Yes, these two ladies are good friends of mine, but you don't have to know me to have your fave recipe site featured on my blog. I'll check it out, critique it for pros and cons, and share it with my readers!

My Favorite Recipe Sites

Over time I've compiled a list of some of my favorite sites to search for recipes when I'm feeling uninspired.


Real Simple Magazine's recipe section is one of the best I've found for easy, inspired meals. You can search by ingredient, I probably use this site the most of all of these, though be sure to stick to the recipes made with whole foods and avoid canned soups, precooked meats, and other highly processed ingredients. They will also send you a recipe each day if you sign up; I just delete the recipes I don't like or have time to get to, but I always have inspiration.

Integrative Nutrition has a recipe resource on their website. Many of these are simple, basic how-to's for those new to the kitchen. There's definitely an Asian flair to some of the recipes, but it's a great introduction to incorporating nourishing sea vegetables and expanding your seasoning repertoire. You can search by food type (grains, greens, proteins) or meal type (breakfast, dessert, etc.).



The Nourished Kitchen is one of my favorite sites simply because it contains beautiful photography. It is the absolute best resource for learning how to lacto-ferment, which is a lost art and absolutely vital to maintaining gut health (and immune health). Every recipe contains whole foods with a focus on seasonal cooking, and there is a wide range to choose from.




Eating Well is a great magazine, and their site is packed with all-natural, simple, gourmet recipes with a seasonal focus. They offer some of the best ethnic food recipes available, so expanding your palate is easy.





Epicurious is an online eating community. If it relates to cooking good food, they've got it, from a seasonal eating menu to a shopping list generator to a food dictionary. It's a great resource for do-it-yourself entertaining, and you can save your most successful recipes in your own recipe box.




Let me know which sites you search when you're looking for recipes! Bon appetit!