Vegan 101 Cooking Class

If you care about the environment and want to learn how to build a sustainable community both locally and globally, the New Haven Bioregional Group is the organization to join.  Each month they offer free or low-cost "skill shares" teaching attendees about gardening, energy conservation, bicycle maintenance, and GMOs.  I have been fortunate to attend and learn from several of their programs, and I was happy to offer one of my own recently on vegan cooking.

I spoke about using seasonal ingredients such as arugula, dandelion greens, and wild chives in recipes and discussed the health benefits that these superfoods offer.  I also addressed the perennial question, "where do vegans get their protein/calcium/iron?" The recipes I demonstrated answered all of these concerns.

During the presentation I demonstrated how to make a simple Mediterranean Quinoa Pilaf using arugula, fresh oregano, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and lots of garlic.  NOTE:  arugula and other greens are high in calcium.

For dessert I prepared Cinnamon Spiced Date Nut Hemp Truffles rolled in cocoa powder and coconut.  These decadent little morsels packed a punch of iron, protein, and heart healthy omega-3 oil.  It was a healthy, yet delicious, ending to a lovely light lunch. NOTE:  Dried fruits such as dates, figs and raisins are high in iron, and hemp seeds are a complete protein.

Thank you, Maria Tupper, for the photos, and the Bioregional Group for hosting this presentation.  Thank you also to all those who came to learn about vegan cooking!

Recipe: Savory Bacony Potato Chowder

One of the items tucked in my Vida Vegan Con goodie bag was a little packet of WayFare Foods Pig Out bacony bits.  This is the kind of indulgence I typically don't splurge on, but since it was RIGHT THERE, I immediately tore open the seal and tasted a pinch.  Oh to my delight when my tastebuds were greeted by the smoky, savory crunch that time forgot.  These tasted just like the bacon bits of my childhood, but without the grease!

I couldn't wait to get back home to try creating a recipe that incorporated that flavor.

Part II: 7 Time-saving Tips to Save Your Sanity in the Kitchen

In the second part of my "Kitchen Cool: Secrets of a Vegan Personal Chef" series, I address one of the greatest obstacles we all face when it comes to cooking: time. We never seem to have enough of it. And we always try to cram as much as we can into what little we have. While that can sometimes help with productivity, it often comes at the expense of our mental health and overall satisfaction.

But how do you make more time when we only have the same 24 hours of it each day??

Orange Infused Gluten-free Vegan Pancakes

Every morning I take my dog Zinny for a walk at Edgewood Park.  This is followed by my usual breakfast of gluten-free cereal (Erewhon Organic Crispy Brown Rice is my go-to box) after feeding Zinny and my kitty, Gremlin.  But on the way home this morning I felt in the mood for something a little different... something citrusy.  More precisely, a glazed orange donut.  Alas, since I don't have a donut mold, I was thinking since it was Sunday morning, how about pancakes?  I've never tried making them with orange, so I figured I would test out this combination for breakfast.

Recipe: Pinto Quinoa Patties

I'm always looking for a good vegan burger recipe that's gluten-free or can be modified to be made without gluten.  One of the problems I have with most recipes is that without breadcrumbs or that gluten "glue," they just fall apart when you eat them.  Or worse, they end up in a crumbly pile when you try to flip them in the pan.

Part 1: Begin with the First Step

In the first part of my cooking series, "Kitchen Cool: Secrets of a Vegan Personal Chef," I address one of the biggest complaints I hear about switching to a vegan diet:   not knowing where to begin.  The change alone often feels so overwhelming, but if you’ve already made that decision, BRAVO!  The rest is easy.  That is, once you get over the “fear of flying” in your kitchen.  But how do you do that??