Lately I've been on a kick with making Veggie, or Eggplant Towers. Don't ask me why, it just came to me. I used to make them when I worked in Banquets a few years back, but I lacked the level of inspiration I have now. Inspiration led me to add Quinoa and Daiya Mozzerella style Cheese.
The buzz words are local, fresh, and seasonal. Food that is grown in your own backyard. I have a fantasy that someday I can grow the food I cook. But alas, there are reasons for divisional labor in our society. It takes as much time to take care of the crops as it does to cook.
Enter the Farmer’s Market, a Vegan Chef’s paradise. There is seasonally fresh, locally grown produce, (and other products) ripe for the picking. I visit about once a month. I’ve changed where I go due to proximity, variety, and quality of produce. There’s still about five farmer’s markets I haven’t visited in the Valley of the Sun, but I’m working on it.
I struggled for years with being full on vegan. I had all sorts of excuses. As the years progressed I would fall back to consuming meat and animal food products like butter, eggs, and cream. I love that stuff. It is my comfort food. The other reason was that I couldn't find any decent vegan food on the grocery store shelves. Frozen dinners and canned food usually had some animal food in it. It was near impossible to get good prepared meals. So I had to cook the food myself, or eat what was on the shelves.
October 1st begins Vegan Mofo, the vegan food blogging event of the year. This fantastic awareness raising event was started by the Post Punk Kitchen as an homage to NaNoWriMo. PPK was created by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, in 2005, and quickly escalated into a place where vegans could write and talk about vegan cuisine in a safe and happy place. Isa has also written several awesome cookbooks. You should check them out.
What Vegan Food of the Month does is bring vegan cuisine into focus, not just in the food blogging world, but in the blogging world itself.
Here's my go-to recipe for Sauteed Garlicky Spinach, a simple, easy side dish for both special meals and every day eating.
Recipe for Seasoned Quinoa Cakes, featured in the King Quinoa Cooking Class, by the Kitchen Shaman.
This hot quinoa cereal is a fast, hot breakfast to get you going in the mornings. It's a great alternative to oatmeal. I featured this recipe in a recent cooking class.
Recipe for Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, featured in the King Quinoa Cooking Class, by the Kitchen Shaman.
Recipe for Quinoa Muffins, featured in the King Quinoa Cooking Class, by the Kitchen Shaman.
These are some photos from the King Quinoa Cooking Class I held at Luci's Healthy Marketplace. The class was a roaring success, and everyone loved the food. I've provided the recipes on this website, and I hope you give them all a try. If you would like to learn how to cook great vegan food using professional culinary techniques, please contact me, I am available for private lessons, and chef demos.
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