Press & Profiles

 
 
 

Apiece Apart Woman

“Describing someone as a genre-defining food blogger, recipe developer, and photographer sounds dauntingly impressive ... and yet for Heidi Swanson, it's actually only telling a part of her story. Fifteen years ago she found herself amid a creative lull between jobs — the outlet for her energy would become 101 Cookbooks. A food journal chronicling her take on seemingly simple, wholesome vegetarian recipes, the site evolved into a series of books, and her ongoing narrative on cooking has made her one of the well-known food writers online.” — Read more

Photos by Andrea Gentl, interview by Leigh Patterson

Our 20 Favorite Women to Follow Right Now /
The Kitchn

“When I first entered the world of online food media, Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks was already one of the biggest and loveliest stars of the internet food space. A dozen years on, and about a million social media changes and leaps later, Heidi is still my favorite (yes, favorite!) Instagram food follow. Her quiet yet lush photography, unerring good taste in plant-powered food (these rolls!), and ability to reinvent her blog and presence while remaining absolutely herself, have only grown more attractive and essential in the intervening years.

In a world that sorely needs more beauty, Heidi still does lovely and aspirational (yet still accessible) food better than anyone else, her taste a subtle influence on so much of what I see in mainstream food media and photography. If you don’t already follow her, do yourself a favor and do so today. —Faith Durand, Editor-in-Chief, the Kitchn” — Read more

13 Healthy Cookbooks That Changed the Way Eat / Healthyish

Photo: Alex Lau

Photo: Alex Lau

“These 13 cookbooks may not be the best healthyish cookbooks of all time, but they’re the ones we have stories about-the ones that’ve stayed with us through everything, brought us back to our roots, and made us see food in a different light.” - The Healthyish Team

”Should have known after dog-earring every page that it would have a pivotal role in the trajectory of my cooking today. Heidi’s recipes are rooted in whole, seasonal ingredients; they are unfussy, healthful and simply delicious. Her writing has a way of making you feel like you’re old pals just whipping up some millet muffins together in her San Francisco flat. She draws on inspiration from her home and abroad, and her recipes are at once familiar and unexpected; they always inspire me to take my own liberties with ingredients and flavor profiles. — Alaina Sullivan, Bon Appétit senior designer” — Read more

100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time / Epicurious

“Swanson’s vegetarian recipes (and her head-spinningly lovely photography) manage to straddle the healthy/indulgent line with Cali-style effortlessness. And unlike some other allegedly health-minded writers, Swanson’s spot-on flavor instincts and skillful use of on-trend ingredients mean that we can trust her never, ever to throw ashwagandha into our minestrone. - AS” — Read more

By the Editors of Epicurious

“…Anytime a friend asks me for meat-free recipes that won’t leave them hungry a few hours later, I point them to Heidi Swanson, the cookbook author and woman behind the beloved blog 101 Cookbooks who developed these beautiful recipes. She’s a longtime vegetarian and the kind of industrious, effortlessly elegant cook who can make tofu and lentils as appealing as a bowl of guanciale-flecked carbonara…” — Read more

Introduction by Christina Chaey // Photos by Chelsie Craig // Food Styling by Michelle Gatton

British Journal of Photography

“I wanted my aesthetic to work within the context of my everyday life, meaning I might be photographing a soup immediately after it comes off the stove and five minutes before I need to leave the house to go to a meeting,” she explains. “Spending hours setting up a shot wasn’t going to work within the context of the rest of my life…Correspondingly, the whole ‘practice’ would have gone out the window. I wanted to be able to post regularly – once or twice a week. It was always natural light, props were dishes I use everyday, minimal fuss and zero ‘tweezering’. More than anything I wanted people to see what I was enthusiastic about and I wanted them to consider making whatever recipe I was highlighting in their own kitchen.” — Read more

The 78 Best Cookbooks for Mastering Home Cooking / Epicurious

Heidi Swanson: Super Natural Every Day — “Swanson's vegetarian recipes (and her head-spinningly lovely photography) manage to straddle the healthy/indulgent line with Cali-style effortlessness. And unlike some other allegedly health-minded writers, Swanson's spot-on flavor instincts and skillful use of on-trend ingredients mean that we can trust her never, ever to throw ashwagandha into our minestrone." —Adina Steiman — Read more

Camille Styles

Heidi’s love for cooking at home is evident in the way she lovingly photographs her kitchen and documents her daily routine. “Cooking/eating at home is such an important way to connect,” she says. “Not just with food and ingredients, but with the people you love as well. Coming together to help prepare and enjoy a meal (however simple or elaborate) is about so much more than just eating dinner. The connections between individuals, friends, and/or families need to be taken care of, and the ritual of coming together regularly for meals is incredibly important.” — Read more

Article & illustrations by Kelly Colchin

Secrets From the Swanson Kitchen, SF Edition

“…Although she has shared plenty of her ideas over the years on her website 101 Cookbooks, I was angling more for a behind-the-scenes look. With that in mind, I swung by the San Francisco home she shares with her partner, Wayne Bremser. Not so surprisingly, there were some good takeaways...” — Read more

Interview by Sarah Lonsdale

The Cheesy Mushroom Casserole Recipe we Can’t Stop Talking About / The Kitchn

Heidi Swanson — Queen of California Cool Cooking, Patron Saint of Vegetables — can truly do no wrong in my book. She has a magical knack for taking everyday ingredients and transforming them into beautiful, revelatory dishes. Her kitchen is always stocked with those seemingly simple but lowkey-brilliant finishing touches that give her recipes their signature Heidi-ness, like saffron-garlic butter or a toasted nut and seed sprinkle with crushed coriander, almonds, sesame seeds, and oregano. But my favorite 101 Cookbooks recipe of all time is not the artfully styled granola bowl or the vibrant rainbow cauliflower rice. My favorite dish leans a little more … brown. — Read more

Article by Lauren Kodiak

The Chalkboard // Inside My Fridge

“…Heidi Swanson’s recipe journal and cookbooks are like love letters to natural food. With gorgeous photos and homey dishes that reflect a connection to her own life life journey, Heidi shows us cooking the way it should be done: with intention, enjoyment and lots of farmer’s market greens. — Read more

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C Magazine: California Style & Culture

Heidi Swanson’s decision to start 101Cookbooks in early 2003 was a straightforward one: “When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and time to start cooking.” Since then, she has features thousands of healthy, whole-food recipes on the site — and also in print.

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CAP Beauty // Behind Closed Doors

Heidi Swanson and her seminal food blog, 101cookbooks, are responsible for more of the meals-on-rotation in mine and Kerrilynn's kitchens than almost any other source. Her soups alone carry us through the colder months and her travel-inspired fare keeps the flavor on high. We were thrilled to get a peek inside her plant-filled fridge and some insights into how she shops. — Read more