For anyone interested in learning about foraging or vegan cuisine, Doreen Williams James has written a book packed with tips and recipes. Wild Edible Foraging Plant Based Cookbook involved a years-long planning process but took a fairly short time to write.

The author’s initial idea was to share her knowledge of foraging, a passion she developed after being introduced to it as a child by her father, Hillary Calbert Williams.

When he developed diabetes and hypertension, the health crisis became a “transformative journey” for the entire family. The improvement in Mr Williams’s wellbeing after adopting a vegan diet inspired them all to embrace the same lifestyle.

Ms Williams James, who had already been contemplating writing a book, started reworking it in her mind.

“I decided it had to be all vegan, because that's where part of the healing comes from. I went back to the drawing board and started again.”

Only then did she realise the amount of effort required to achieve the standard of book she had envisioned. Lacking the needed dedication, the project was put on hold.

Ultimately, it was a coaching class she took for healthcare providers that set her on her way.

Told there that a cookbook would be a good way to promote her business, Wild Herbs N Plants, she decided to act on the advice.

“This book was completed and compiled, I guess, within a matter of a month. Obviously I’d already started it, but this truly was the time to do it. I put my full dedication towards it and it was a godsend for sure.”

Ms Williams James, who is available as a private chef, also leads foraging tours and gardening workshops and offers coaching to anyone “ready to overcome challenges, have major breakthroughs and achieve higher levels”.

She put all those skills to work in creating her book which takes readers on “a culinary journey through wild edible plants” and provides recipes to make use of them.

It’s aimed at anyone looking to improve their wellbeing. For beginners, it explains what a vegan diet involves and it is filled with information about local plants and the tools needed to harvest, store and prepare them.

“Obviously, vegans are plant based. So if you don't want to start in the grocery store, then you can start by going out and forging. The great thing is, the majority of the stuff that you’re going to forage for is free.”

While there are people who shudder at the thought of adding extra steps to cooking, the chef insists that once the ingredients are in hand, making a meal is “really not that hard”.

“A lot of people don't want to dedicate themselves to preparation and extra work but it's well worth it. The food tastes better and everything else with it,” she said.

“It's so much easier to go to the store and pick up a pizza or go to the grocery store or a restaurant and order something but it's a matter of making that time, because you want better health as well.

“We’ve grown up in a society where everything is fast, fast, fast. We have to get back to the basics in all that we do. We benefit so much if we just get back to the basics.”

Prickly pear cactus fruit can be juiced, with the leftovers frozen as ice cubes, or dehydrated and ground into a powder to add to smoothies or enhance recipes requiring a “fruity taste”.

Fruits can be preserved as jams; greens can be preserved, frozen or dehydrated.

“Again, it's just a matter of taking the time out to do these things, and also having the proper equipment,” said Ms Williams James.

Although dehydrators are “fairly accessible”, an oven set at its lowest temperature will also do the job. Durable gloves, closed-toe shoes, reusable containers, and a sturdy basket are among the recommended tools.

Ms Williams James swears by everything in the book.

“When I saw the transformation in my father, that's when I really became a believer. I grew up as a vegetarian because I'm [a Seventh-day] Adventist but that was kind of like an on and off type of thing. I wasn’t strictly vegetarian my whole life. Once my father took sick, that's when I realised the importance of a change in lifestyle and diet,” she said.

“I saw a difference with him and how fast he healed. I was really impressed and the food itself was so delicious. It was so wholesome.”

It got to the point that she would notice immediately if she ate something that “was artificial”.

“That's when I made a conscious decision to really go [the vegan] route.”

It made sense for her to draw on the foraging skills she had learnt from her father since childhood.

“It was great because I could reduce my grocery bill and I was eating plant-based food. It was a win-win.”

Although unsure how many residents are vegan, Ms Williams James said she is aware that “a lot of people are making conscious decisions as far as diet”.

Not everyone who joins her foraging experiences is vegan; many are surprised to discover the samples of food she offers are plant based.

“It's an opportunity to open up people's minds and just entice their taste buds. Vegan doesn't have to be boring. It can be delicious. I always bring tasters with me and so people get to experience different tasters that are made from some of the plants that they see on the tours and they're just amazed.”

• Doreen Williams James’s Wild Edible Foraging Plant Based Cookbook will be available soon on Amazon.com. Copies of the book will be printed on demand. Orders can be placed on 335-1958. Followbdawildherbs on Instagram