Running on Veggies: Plant-Powered Recipes for Fueling and Feeling Your Best

Adidas nutrition coach Bildirici shows readers how to put their best foot forward in the kitchen and beyond in this vibrant debut collection of plant-forward recipes. When she was diagnosed with cancer at age 14, Bildirici took to running as a way to cope and quickly found, after switching to a nutrient-dense diet, that what she ate directly impacted both her body and endurance. Informed by the author’s health journey and the eponymous blog that grew from it—and supplemented with a number of recipes from world-class athletes—Bildirici’s book focuses less on what’s “healthy” and “unhealthy” and instead emphasizes the importance of using minimally processed ingredients and “lots of vegetables.” Most of the offerings are plant-based, with a handful of pescatarian options—including a protein-packed fish taco bowl recipe from professional mountain bike racer Kate Courtney. A meal guide for endurance athletes offers such snacks as roasted garlic green hummus and an anti-inflammatory beet mango smoothie, while a standout breakfast marinates carrots in a caper brine mixture for a smoky loxlike flavor on toast. Other innovative fare includes a jicama and radicchio chopped salad (jicama’s great for the gut, Bildirici notes) and a pecan-crusted halibut with an antioxidant-rich pomegranate glaze. Way more than just fuel, these recipes are as loaded with nutrients as they are flavor. Agent: Steve Toha, Folio Literary. (Dec.)