YouTube foodies serving up tasty cooking videos

Vacations are a great time to sample new restaurants, savor the flavors of summer and find new recipes to try out at home using some of the season’s fresh ingredients. I spent most of my vacation last week at the beach and hanging out with friends and family, but I also checked in on some of my favorite YouTube food vloggers to find some new ideas and inspiration.

If you’re not familiar with the world of food vloggers on YouTube, it’s like watching shorter cooking show segments without the commercial interruptions — with the added bonus of an international perspective.

Here’s a sampling of some of the You Tube food channels I’ve been checking out lately:

Pick up Limes

Canadian dietician Sadia Badiei offers fresh and easy ideas on her plant-based channel, Pick up Limes. Smoothie bowls, bento box lunches and dinners that can be made ahead for easy weeknight planning are featured on Pick up Limes. There’s also a website, where fans can download her meal plans and recipes for free. Check out her recipe for homemade vegan Nutella and chia seed jam.

Clean and Delicious

The emphasis is also on healthy and family friendly in this You Tube channel. Dani Spies, a health, wellness and weight-loss coach, cooks up meals that will please the entire family, from buffalo chicken lettuce bowls to paleo/vegan chocolate chip cookie bars. Check out her video for three types of lettuce wraps: vegetarian, turkey taco and buffalo chicken.

Jane Esselstyn

Jane Esselstyn and her mother, Ann Esselstyn cook up recipes from their book, “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease,” in this weekly video series. Based on the work of heart health innovator Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (Ann's husband), the recipes are made without oil, sugar or salt, instead relying on vinegars, spices and lemons to add zest to their meals. I can honestly say, their mango, lime and cannellini bean salad has become a favorite of mine.

Deliciously Ella

Now heading into her fourth cookbook, Ella (Woodward) Mills was chopping up kale and making it into a salad years before it caught on as a restaurant staple around here. Based in England, Ella Woodward has turned her passion for plant-based fare that’s free of gluten and refined sugar into a phenomenon with her own deli in London, a food brand, Instagram fame and plenty of fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Got a lot of zucchini growing in the garden? Check out her video for Sundried Tomato Courgette Pasta.

The Hard Truth

In addition to heading up the punk-band the Cromags, lead singer John Joseph is a triathlete who credits his health with his plant-based lifestyle. Joseph doesn’t shy away from tossing out a few ‘f’ bombs in the plant-based videos he creates for his channel, The Hard Truth, so they’re not for everyone, but he makes some intriguing dishes. Joseph’s recipes are more geared males, especially those who are transitioning to organic, plant-based eating. Check out his video for No Dairy Deep Dish Pizza.

Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.