A Field Guide to Your Kitchen · the cookbook

For the cook who is three minutes from giving up.

Sixty-four recipes. Eight principles. One number per plate. The book is not sold — it arrives as a thank-you for a contribution to a rewilding partner.

Coming in 2026 · zero retained margin · pay what fits
The running counter

Contributions so far have rewilded:

Acres protected
0
Reserves funded
0
Cookbooks delivered
0

The cookbook launches once the partnership is signed and the first recipes have been tested. The counter is honest from day one — and will read zero until the first contribution lands. Sign up below to be told when it opens.

What it is

A field guide for the 5:30pm cook.

Not the contemplative person on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine and good light. The cook who has been holding the same coffee for an hour and has already opened the fridge three times.

64
Recipes
8
Principles, not meal types
1
Planetary number per plate

Eight chapters, organized by the principles that make plant-forward cooking work in a kitchen, not by breakfast / lunch / dinner. A weeknight hour; the thirty-thing pantry; char and acid and fat; the seven jars of umami; greens as the meal; the Sunday-cooked base; bread and the table; what closes the eating.

Every recipe carries a footer: kilocalories, protein, fiber, CO₂e per serving, water per serving, and the same numbers for the meat default it replaces. Every claim is sourced — Poore & Nemecek, Mekonnen & Hoekstra, IPCC AR6, Our World in Data, USDA, FAO. We did the math so the reader does not have to perform virtue.

Plant-forward, not orthodox. Butter, anchovy paste, parmesan show up where they earn their place — and the dish lists both the omnivore and the fully plant-based version, with the planetary numbers for each.

A taste · recipe 1 of 64

What a recipe actually looks like.

The foundation recipe of the whole book. Ten minutes, pantry-only, the dish most testers said replaced takeout for them. The shape every recipe in the book follows.

Recipe No. 001 · Chapter 1: A weeknight, an hour

White beans, crisped garlic, lemon, rosemary

For the 5pm version of you.
Time: 10 minutes · Serves: 2 generously, or 4 lightly · Difficulty: 1

The case for it. A can of white beans is one of the most efficient meals on the planet. It takes about thirty gallons of water to grow the beans inside it. The same amount of beef protein takes around two thousand. Same plate, sixty times less. This recipe assumes you do not want to think tonight. It will reward almost any vegetable you have wilting in the drawer. It is the first recipe in the book because it is the only recipe you need today.

You will need
  • 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) cannellini, navy, or great northern beans
  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 lemon (juice from half; zest if you like)
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) good olive oil
  • Salt, black pepper
  • Optional: a knob of butter at the end; a handful of greens (spinach, kale) wilted in
The method
  1. Drain the beans, but keep the bean liquid. Don't toss it. That liquid is the recipe's secret.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-low. Add the garlic and rosemary together. Let them sizzle slowly — you want the garlic deep gold, almost brown but not bitter. This takes four to five minutes. Move it around so the slices crisp evenly.
  3. Add the beans and about a third of the saved bean liquid. Raise the heat to medium. Let it bubble. The starch in the liquid will thicken into a loose sauce in about three minutes. Smash a handful of the beans against the side of the pan; this thickens it further.
  4. Off the heat: lemon juice, salt, pepper. If you have greens, fold them in now and cover for a minute to wilt. If you have butter and want it, stir it in last.
  5. Eat in a bowl. A piece of toast on the side if you have one. Olive oil over the top.
Notes

The bean liquid is the secret — most recipes have you throw it away and then ask you to add cream. This is the same trick, plant-side. // If your garlic turns bitter, you cooked it too hot or too long. Aim for gold. // Rosemary is what you have; thyme or sage are also fine. // This wants to eat with bread but does not insist on it.

The transferable lesson. Never throw away bean liquid. It thickens anything you would otherwise reach for cream for. Keep an empty jam jar in your freezer; pour the liquid in any time you open a can.

Per serving: ~220 kcal · 12 g protein · 9 g fiber · 0.4 kg CO₂e · 60 L water.
The same plate of beef stew is about 5 kg CO₂e and 2,400 L water — twelve times the carbon, forty times the water.
Sources: Poore & Nemecek, Science (2018); Mekonnen & Hoekstra, Ecosystems (2012).

Sixty-three more like this. Eight chapters. One number per plate, always sourced.

The partner

The rewilding fund. The acre your contribution bought.

A contribution to a registered rewilding fund. A specific acre of habitat protected. A cookbook in thanks. That is the entire machine.

We are finalising a launch partnership with a UK-registered rewilding charity whose published per-acre programme matches the editorial register of the project. Once the agreement is signed, this section will name the partner, link to the specific programme we will route through, and publish the per-acre rate they have set.

Awe Walks is not a charity. When the partnership opens, every contribution made through this page will route directly to the partner (or to a US 501(c)(3) sister entity, depending on the donor's country). Awe Walks will retain nothing. The cookbook is the thank-you, delivered through the partnership.

The page does not yet accept contributions. Sign-up below is for being told when it opens; the counter above is honest from day one.

The tiers

Every tier funds a specific outcome.

The price-per-acre is set by the rewilding partner and verified at the time of donation. The figures below assume a typical mid-2025 range; the live page will reference the partner's current rate once the partnership is signed.

Pay what fits
$10+
  • Web edition (full access)
  • No questions asked
Funds whatever the partner can do with the contribution.
Reader
$25
  • Web edition (full access)
  • Downloadable PDF
Approximately ½ acre of habitat protected through a named partner reserve.
Cook
$50
  • Web edition + PDF
  • Companion notes through the year (one email a quarter)
Approximately 1 acre — a named reserve, a published photograph, the coordinates.
Keeper
$100
  • Web + PDF + companion notes
  • Signed paperback (print on demand)
Approximately 2 acres. The book that arrives is the printed snapshot of the web edition.
Steward
$250
  • Everything above
  • Name on the contributors page
  • Quarterly update from the reserve
Approximately 5 acres, plus a direct line of reporting from the partner reserve.
Patron
$1,000+
  • Everything above
  • Direct correspondence with the project
  • Invitation to advise on the second volume
Approximately 20+ acres — the size of a small reserve corner, named on the partner's reporting.

Every tier funds something real. The higher tiers are not the point — the lowest tier protects the same amount of land per dollar as the highest. The tiered structure exists so a reader can give what they can without the project quietly losing money on print-on-demand costs.

The math, made visible

Where a $50 contribution actually goes.

Land protection via the partner's per-acre programme$48.25
Payment processing (Stripe)$1.75
Cookbook delivery (web edition + PDF)$0.00
Awe Walks retained$0.00
Your contribution$50.00

A worked example, published as a receipt. Every tier will have a similar breakdown on the live donation page once the partnership opens. The figures will be verified at the partner's current published rate, in the donor's currency, at the moment of contribution.

What we will not do

The shape of the trust.

One email, when the partnership is live.

The cookbook launches when the partnership is signed and the first recipes have been tested. We will write once. No newsletter, no drip. One note when the page opens for contributions.

Common questions

Before you contribute

What does my contribution actually buy?

A specific number of acres of land, protected through the rewilding partner's published per-acre programme. The number of acres depends on the partner's current rate, which varies by programme and country — typically $50–$100 per acre as of mid-2025. The partner sends donors the name of the reserve, a photograph, and (where available) the coordinates. The cookbook is the thank-you that arrives with that receipt.

Why is the book not sold?

Because the framing matters. A cookbook on a shelf is a product. A cookbook that arrives as a thank-you for a rewilding gift is a different conversation — the reader is not consuming, they are participating. The same recipes, the same numbers, but the relationship is honest. We sell nothing. We thank someone.

How is Awe Walks paid?

It is not. Awe Walks is a project under Green Onion Media, and the kitchen page does not generate revenue. The web edition and PDF cost nothing to deliver. The print-on-demand books at the higher tiers are produced through Amazon KDP, billed at cost. Operational costs (domain, hosting) are below $500 per year and absorbed by the parent. Every contribution flows to the rewilding partner.

What if I cannot afford even the lowest tier?

The "Pay what fits" tier starts at $10. We will not turn anyone away. If $10 is also out of reach, write to the email on the home page and we will send you the web edition. The point is the recipes and the math; the contribution is a vehicle, not the gate.

Is the contribution tax-deductible?

This depends on the partner and the donor's jurisdiction. The launch partnership we are finalising routes through a US 501(c)(3) for US donors and a UK Gift Aid registered charity for UK donors. Specific tax treatment will be confirmed when the partnership is signed. Awe Walks is not a charity itself — the deduction comes from the partner's side.

What is the editorial line on plant-forward?

Plant-forward, not orthodox. The cookbook's default is plants. Some recipes use butter, anchovy paste, parmesan, or eggs because they do specific things no plant ingredient does as well — and the recipe lists both versions, with planetary numbers for each. The point is to make plant-forward cooking the habit, not to enforce vegan rules. The largest planetary lever in food is the displacement of ruminant meat, and that is what the book is built around.

When does it actually launch?

When three things are true: a signed partnership letter, a tested manuscript (each recipe cooked by at least three testers who are not the author), and a live donation flow that has been tested end-to-end with a small group. Best estimate is later in 2026. The counter above goes live the day the first contribution lands.