Not too long ago, ordering a plant-based meal in a restaurant might have meant settling for a small salad or a steamed vegetable plate. Fast forward to today, and plant-based eating has gone mainstream. Grocery aisles are filled with plant-based options, restaurants highlight vegan specials, and home cooks are embracing the challenge of reimagining old favorites with fresh, plant-powered ingredients.

According to the Plant Based Foods Association, U.S. sales of plant-based foods have topped $8 billion annually, reflecting steady growth over the past decade. And it’s not just vegans driving the trend—flexitarians, or those who simply want to add more plant-based meals into their week, make up a large share of the shift.

Why Go Plant-Based?

The health benefits are hard to ignore. According to a 2023 study published in Nutrition Journal—a meta-analysis of more than 2.2 million people—diets rich in whole plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains were linked to lower risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and premature death.

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health underscores that plant-based diets provide all essential macronutrients while reducing saturated fat and delivering fiber, antioxidants, and phytonutrients that support healthy lifestyles.

Meanwhile, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine calls predominantly plant-based eating “one of the simplest, most effective” strategies to prevent and even reverse chronic illness.

Long-term studies add weight to the argument. Research from Harvard, published in JAMA Internal Medicine and based on more than 200,000 adults tracked over three decades, found that replacing even modest amounts of animal protein with plant protein lowered cardiovascular disease risk by nearly 20 percent.

Of course, not everyone makes the change for health alone. Plant-based diets also carry a lighter environmental footprint, making them appealing to sustainability-minded eaters.

Others are simply drawn to the creativity of cooking with seasonal produce—ripe summer tomatoes, autumn squash, spring greens. And let’s be honest: sometimes it’s just because the food tastes great.

A Series That’s Changing the Conversation

Into this moment comes Make It Plant-Based!—a new series of cookbooks from Workman Publishing that shines a light on four cuisines: Filipino, Indian, Mexican, and Southern. Each volume includes more than 50 recipes, along with cultural notes, pantry tips, and advice for improvising.

The books do more than offer substitutions; they show how plant-based cooking is deeply rooted in global traditions. Readers learn how to roll lumpia, host a chai party, work with masa, and even stock a Southern kitchen for biscuits at a moment’s notice. These guides prove that plant-based eating is not a narrow trend—it’s part of a worldwide culinary story.

Spotlight on Southern Flavors

One of the most inviting titles in the series is Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim. For many, Southern cooking conjures comfort food: flaky biscuits, fried specialties, bubbling casseroles, and decadent pies. Karim, who grew up across Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee, proves those beloved dishes can be recreated with plants—without losing their soul.

Now based in Brooklyn, Karim is a recipe developer and pop-up chef known for inspiring home cooks to take risks in the kitchen. With her Southern volume, she draws on personal food memories while embracing today’s plant-based tools and flavors. The result? Dishes that feel familiar yet fresh, indulgent yet nourishing.

Southern Fried Green Tomatoes. Recipe excerpted from Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Emma Fishman.

Recipes That Redefine Comfort

Three recipes in particular show how she brings Southern classics into the plant-based era. Here are three we love with author notes:

• Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Tangy tomatoes dredged and fried until golden—proof you don’t need eggs or dairy for a satisfying crunch:

“Green tomatoes are some of summer’s finest produce—they’re flavorful yet uniquely sturdy, making them a great contender for frying. Resourceful Southerners in the nineteenth century fried underripe green tomatoes when ripe tomatoes were inaccessible. The fried green tomatoes provided a delicious use of the crop before they ripened into red tomatoes. Making a plant-based version of the classic dish substitutes for the usual eggy coating by dipping the slices in a chickpea flour batter. Chickpea flour’s natural binding agents result in a crispy coating all around.”

• Southern Summer Squash Green Casserole

A creamy, layered casserole with a crisp topping, hearty enough to anchor a family meal yet light enough for summer evenings:

“When your garden (or grocery store) is bustling with zucchini and yellow squash and you’ve brought home more of it than you know what to do with, this recipe will give you a good reason to cook them in bulk. Celebrate the humble summer squash in a not-too-rich casserole studded with juicy tomatoes and fresh basil, and topped with a generous layer of crispy panko breadcrumbs.”

• Southern Fried Okra Fries

Okra sliced into “fries,” fried until crisp, and dusted with spice—fun, snackable, and hard to resist. Beyond flavor, these dishes also echo what nutrition science now validates: vegetables, beans, and legumes—long staples of Southern tables—are naturally high in fiber, low in saturated fat, and rich in protective compounds that support heart health and longevity.

“If the texture of okra has never appealed to you, this recipe is for you. There are three steps involved: smashing, shaking, and baking. Banging on okra in a resealable bag and shaking it around with a few pantry ingredients lets those gooey seeds escape, coats the okra in a flavorful dredge, and allows each edge to crisp up while baking in the oven.”

Southern Summer Squash Green Casserole. Recipe excerpted from Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Emma Fishman.

More Than Substitutions

What makes Karim’s approach shine is that she doesn’t treat plant-based Southern food as a list of swaps. Instead, she points out that the South has always had plant-based roots. Generations have relied on beans, corn, greens, and seasonal vegetables as the foundation of everyday cooking. Her book reconnects readers to that history while presenting it in ways that feel modern and vibrant.

She also makes the recipes approachable. Don’t have a specific spice? Use what’s on hand. Want to turn up the heat or add your own twist? Go for it. This flexibility makes the book feel less like a set of strict instructions and more like a friendly invitation to cook.

Southern Smashed Green Okra Fries. Recipe excerpted from Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Emma Fishman.

A Global Movement

Of course, the Southern book is just one piece of the puzzle. The other Make It Plant-Based! titles highlight cuisines with equally deep roots in plant-based traditions.

Filipino cooking balances sweet, salty, and sour flavors that adapt beautifully to plant-forward meals. Indian cuisine, long known for its reliance on legumes and spices, highlights the health benefits of naturally vegetarian traditions. Mexican cooking re-centers native staples like corn, beans, and squash—the very foods associated with longevity in the “Blue Zones” of Central America.

Together, the series makes a clear point: plant-based eating isn’t about giving things up. It’s about reconnecting with cultural traditions that have nourished people for centuries.

A New Kind of Comfort Food

At its heart, food is more than fuel. It’s connection, tradition, and the pleasure of gathering around a table. Plant-based eating fits right into that narrative. In the South, where hospitality is woven into daily life, serving a spread of vegan comfort food feels both fresh and true to the region’s spirit.

So the next time you’re craving something classic, try frying up a batch of green tomatoes, layering a summer squash casserole, or passing around a plate of okra fries. You may discover that this “new” comfort food tastes every bit as familiar—and just as satisfying—as the originals.

Recipes excerpted from Make It Plant-Based! Southern by Mehreen Karim (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Emma Fishman.