Vegan, Softly

While only a vegan since April 2013, it’s has made me a better cook. Don’t know why. Dropping flesh in 1990 though continuing eggs and dairy was one thing. Maybe it’s a coalescing of three decades (since 1980) of self-taught kitchen skills. No matter. I’ve started sharing lessons.

Ozark Natural Foods

I taught a sequence of three 90-minute classes at Ozark Natural Foods in October 2013. The classes were free, focusing roughly on breakfast, lunch and dinner with tips liberally sprinkled. The course was set up by ONF Community Outreach Coordinator Heather Artripe.

The title for this, my first cooking class, was “Vegan – As Easy as You Want.” Extended, it would go to “It to Be.”

Why “Vegan – As Easy as You Want … It to Be”? Why this page’s “Vegan, Softly”? Vegan is the best word for strict no-flesh no-dairy no-egg vegetarianism. Even the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (favored because of its adherence to solid, large or at least peer-reviewed research), terms the cuisine “plant-based diet.”

Can’t you see a bacon lover smirking, “Pigs and cows are plant-based eaters”? As vital as this diet is, in our 21st-century highly processed food product world, we need tolerance, compassion and practicality. I might eat a cheese cube at a party, or a handful, and my health will remain high. Friends will ask about raw diets, gluten-free diets etc., and I’ll say: I’m teaching easy vegan foods, if you want less easy, with juicing greens or rice flour crackers, for me the jury’s still out on those but consider my basics as a start.

This page holds links to course materials; my recipes, set at my blog Brick; plus links to helpful reading. This page will be updated as needed so please check back.

Thoughts for Food

Recipes

Further Reading

Here is video from the middle seminar, “Dinner.”

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