Internationally bestselling author of Deliciously Ella , Ella Mills offers more than 100 exciting, accessible recipes to show how clean, gluten-free, plant-based eating is the perfect way to entertain friends and satisfy your guests. In Natural Feasts , Ella Mills makes it easy to prepare delicious food for you, your friends and family, for any event. No more wondering whether certain dishes go together or how you can provide delicious, plant-based meals that won't leave your guests craving what isn't good for them, Ella makes life simple with her menus—whether you are planning a laid-back brunch, a last-minute lunch, or a fancy dinner, she has it covered with hearty recipes that celebrate her natural eating philosophy. This gorgeous book also showcases more than one hundred full-color photographs, beautifully illustrating that clean eating and entertaining are a perfect match. When conventional medicine failed her, Ella overcame a rare, devastating illness by switching to a plant-based diet. With no formal culinary training, she began developing her own recipes and blogging about her journey. She’s a self-taught cook. She’s approachable. She inspires people. Now Ella shares her personal ideas and recipes for every foodie occasion, from cozy nights alone to easy kitchen suppers, flavorsome feasts, birthday parties, picnics, and mocktails and cocktails. Deliciously Ella with Friends is the go-to book for anyone who wants to make simpler, healthier food choices—for themselves and their friends and family. Ella Mills is all about embracing healthy living. In addition to her debut cookbook, Deliciously Ella , the bestselling debut cookbook ever in the UK, she is also the author of Deliciously Ella Every Day ; Deliciously Ella, Smoothies and Juices ; and Natural Feasts . Ella’s blog gets over six million hits a month, her app has been a bestseller more than a year, and she has nearly 500,000 Instagram followers. Ella’s philosophy is all about showing that healthy living is fun and enjoyable; it’s not about deprivation or starvation. Natural Feasts INTRODUCTION FOREWORD I never expected my blog, Deliciously Ella, to grow into the community it is now. As many of you know, my journey started back in 2011 after I was diagnosed with an illness called Postural Tachycardia Syndrome. It had a pretty devastating effect on my life, both mentally and physically. I started reading all I could find about the link between diet and lifestyle, and the way they can help manage illnesses. I was incredibly inspired by what I was learning and decided to change my life by adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet and removing most processed foods from my meals. Slowly but surely, I began to regain control of my symptoms. It took me about two years, but eventually I came off my medication, and I’ve been working on stabilizing the condition ever since. I have recurrences every now and again, but I’m now able to live the life that I want to and no longer feel held back by this chronic illness. It’s been a challenging but incredibly empowering process. I never thought I’d be a businesswoman or an entrepreneur, but over the last few years my husband, Matthew, and I have spent all of our waking time creating a company in London that is passionate about natural food, the environment and social responsibility. Our passion is to change the conversation and perception around natural food. Deliciously Ella has always served two purposes—inspiring me to learn to cook and giving me a positive outlet, both of which hugely helped me to become the person I am today. Sharing what I was learning was my way of turning a negative into a positive and it’s been truly amazing to see so many people enjoy the recipes. More than anything I’ve wanted to use this space to show how easy it is to create beautiful, nourishing and, most important, delicious meals from simple, natural ingredients. As the community grew, so did my following in the United States—a country I count as one of my major sources of inspiration. I spent a few months living in Venice Beach in 2014 and was incredibly energized by the food scene there. It’s influenced so much of what Matt and I have done so far—with our delis in London, with the cookbooks and the app—and I’m really excited to start spending more time in the US and to get to know you all! INTRODUCTION Over the last few years healthy eating has really grown in popularity, which has been wonderful to watch! It’s given me such a thrill to see people realize how good they feel when they eat foods that nourish their bodies. The best part of it all, though, is that everyone’s started to see how incredibly delicious healthy living can be. The stereotype that it’s all about lettuce and cucumber is vanishing and is being replaced with dreamy visions of blueberry pancake stacks with caramelized banana bites and crunchy cacao and almond butter, bowls of creamy sweet potato noodles with satay sauce, mango and mus