When Cerys Bloom went vegan, she was excited—but also intimidated. Cooking had never been her thing. The thought of complicated recipes, soaking beans overnight, and investing in gadgets she couldn’t name made her want to give up before she even began.
“I honestly believed I needed a chef’s skill set to eat plant-based,” she laughs now.
But necessity sparked creativity. Living in a tiny studio apartment without a stove during a hot summer, Cerys had no choice but to figure out how to eat vegan without turning on the heat. “It started with sandwiches and smoothies, but I knew I needed more than that to stay full and satisfied,” she says.
So she built a no-cook routine that didn’t feel restrictive. Breakfast was often overnight oats with almond milk, chia seeds, and fruit. Lunch might be a hummus and veggie wrap or a hearty salad with beans, nuts, and avocado. Dinners became creative combinations of pre-cooked lentils, canned chickpeas, and grain mixes from the store—tossed with dressings she could shake together in a jar.
What surprised her was how much flavor and variety she could create without ever lighting a burner. “It actually made veganism more approachable,” Cerys says. “No pressure to cook gourmet meals—just fresh, nourishing food I could throw together.”
Now, she shares her story with beginners who feel the same overwhelm she once did. “You don’t need to be a kitchen pro,” she says. “You just need to start simple—and give yourself some grace.”
