🌱 Choose a recipe you enjoy. We’ll help you build flavor with plants and learn practical substitutions one step at a time.

📜 Our standard

Kitchen Monk’s preferred approach is whole-food, plant-based cooking with no added salt, oil, or refined sweeteners; whole grains; sweetness from whole fruit when needed; and fats from whole plant foods, with minimal coconut. Packaged foods default to no salt added, ideally in cartons or glass, or BPA-free cans. Our standard draws on the Center for Nutrition Studies’ SOS-free introduction ↗. It is Kitchen Monk’s own standard; it is not identical to any one chef’s or organization’s protocol.

💚 Not there yet? That’s okay. We meet you where you are and walk toward it together.

🧂 Replace salt with flavor first

• 🌿 Salt-free herb and spice blends, plus garlic and onion
• 🌱 Fresh and dried herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, thyme, parsley
• 🌶️ Spices: cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, turmeric, ginger, chili, black pepper
• 🍋 Lemon or lime juice and zest, and unsalted vinegars, added at the end
• 🍄 Savory depth from mushrooms, tomatoes, and roasted or dry-browned vegetables

🏷️ Check the label. “Seasoning” does not automatically mean salt-free. Read the ingredient list on seasoning blends, broth, canned foods, sauces, mustard, nutritional yeast products, and condiments. “Low sodium” and “reduced sodium” still contain added salt.

🫒 No added oils; fats from whole plants

We don’t add cooking oils, oil sprays, vegan butter, shortening, coconut oil, or other extracted fats. Here’s what to do instead:

• 💧 Water sauté: heat the pan, add onions, and add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time when things start to stick. Let them brown a little between splashes; that’s flavor.
• 🥣 Broth: use no-salt-added vegetable broth the same way for extra savoriness.
• 🔥 Roast on parchment or a silicone mat at about 400 to 425°F, turning once, so vegetables brown without sticking.
• 🍳 Cookware: a good nonstick or well-seasoned pan with a lid makes oil-free cooking much easier.
• 🥗 Dressings: blend beans, a spoon of seeds or nuts, vinegar or citrus, herbs, and water instead of oil.

🥑 Whole plant fats fit our standard: nuts, seeds, avocado, olives (check sodium and ingredients), and unsweetened nut or seed pastes made only from the nut or seed. A blended seed keeps its fiber and other whole-food parts, unlike extracted oil. Use modest, specified portions, and remember these are common allergens. Oil-free does not mean fat-free, and not every recipe needs added nuts or seeds.

🥥 Coconut, minimal: coconut oil is never used. Coconut milk, cream, or flesh appears only occasionally, in a stated amount, with its saturated fat counted. For creaminess, try blended white beans, silken tofu, oats, unsweetened soy or oat milk, or nuts and seeds where they suit the dish.

🌴 Sweeten with whole fruit, when needed

Our sweeteners are ripe bananas, unsweetened applesauce, whole berries, other fruit, pitted dates, and date paste (whole pitted dates blended with water). Use enough to make the recipe work and taste good, not the most possible, and our recipes state the amount and count it in nutrition. Date syrup, fruit-juice concentrate, and other concentrated sweeteners are not the same as whole fruit under our standard. Fruit-sweetened food still contains sugars and energy. In baking, fruit changes moisture, texture, structure, and cooking time, so it is not a one-for-one swap for sugar.

🌾 Choose whole grains

When a recipe uses grains, we default to oats, brown rice, quinoa, barley, buckwheat, millet, whole wheat, and other whole grains, plus whole-grain pasta, bread, tortillas, and flour where they work (check their other ingredients for salt, oil, and sugar). Intact whole grains, like brown rice or whole oat groats, are still in their natural form; whole-grain flour is milled, so it is whole grain but not intact. Swapping a refined grain for a whole one usually needs more liquid and time, and not every meal needs a grain.

🔄 Make It the Kitchen Monk Way: substitution reference

Original	Suggested approach	Status
🧂 Added salt	Salt-free herbs, spices, citrus, vinegar, and unsalted ingredients	Recipe-specific guidance
🫒 Oil for sautéing	Water or no-salt-added broth, a splash at a time	Method explained above
🫒 Oil for roasting	Parchment or silicone mat, 400 to 425°F	Method explained above
🍯 Refined sweetener	Specified amount of whole fruit or date paste	Testing may be needed
🍚 Refined grain	Suitable whole grain	Adjust liquid and time
🥥 Coconut-heavy sauce	White beans, silken tofu, oats, nuts, or seeds	Check texture and allergens
🧈 Butter or shortening in baking	Banana, applesauce, or nut butter	Must be tested
🫙 Salt or sugar in pickles, preserves, ferments	No blanket swap: use a tested recipe	Safety-sensitive

Suggestions are educational until marked 🧪 Tested. Any change means the original recipe’s nutrition no longer applies; our adaptations show their own nutrition, allergens, yield, time, and equipment.

🏷️ Recipe labels and filters

ℹ️ About this page: written for Nathanael Elijah Smith, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, DipACLM, with AI-assisted drafting · clinical review by Nathanael: pending · independent external review: not yet completed · last updated October 4, 2026. Educational, not individualized medical or nutrition care. If you take medicines for blood pressure or blood sugar, have kidney disease, or have food allergies, talk with your care team before big changes. Chef Robin Jeep remains our Flourishing Culinary SHERO and Chief Culinary Guardian; she has not reviewed this guide. Corrections: rfjeep@gmail.com.