Vegan

Vegan Recipe Page

Today, we seem to want to make everything into something else, especially ourselves, and our food. My approach to cooking is respect for the beauty of the vegetable or ingredient. My recipes (or lack of, because I’m an improvisational cook) are about celebrating natures bounty with simple delicious meals. These meals stay simple and true to the vegetables used in the making. They are simple basic foods that anyone can make and the recipes are simple enough for anyone to master.

Why not a lot of meat? Well… I’m not very good at making it. I don’t grow it. Honestly, there are so many sites that are better than me at making it. My strength is soup and vegetables, breads and yeast dough. Exactly the traditional foods I grew up with. I’m best at bringing out flavors, so I’ll just stick to that.

I aspire to make great tasting dishes. I want them to include vegetables and herbs. This is just like my family made growing up. I loved the simple dishes made with things that either came fresh from the garden or the market that day. I’m very grateful for the simple, delicious, satisfying foods my parents made. I didn’t realize just how fine our food was until studying the farm to table California chefs like Alice Waters and others.

What you won’t find here are typical recipes that switch a plant based “meat product” for animal meat. That’s simple enough to do with any traditional recipe. These foods are based on my childhood and my love for my garden and everything in it.

Some soups and foods my parents made were “medicine”. Caraway soup for a stomach ache, garlic soup for strength and to guard against colds and flu. Asparagus soup for the kidneys, walnuts for your brain. These were just part of our life. As I get older, I long for the tastes I grew up with. The meals were simple, satisfying, and 100% natural and fresh.

I cannot cook without onions. They’re the backbone of everything I make. Although I’m not technically Vegan, as I do incorporate fresh eggs from our free ranging happy hens, and fish, but probably 90% of what I make is Vegan, and I want to share my recipes and food heritage with the community. I wish to share this simply delicious, and frugal way of making food for those who want to cook for themselves, their children, and the elderly.

My genetic and cultural cuisine originates in Eastern Europe. I am most physically comfortable with European cuisine. It sits well with me. While I enjoy food from all cultures, certain ingredients don’t like me, they may be too strong for my system. The older I get, the more I opt for the familiar.

I’m a dreamer and creator. Since I was a child I always asked the “what if” questions. With food and flavor it’s so much fun, I see in my mind combinations and I think, “what if I made it this way?” Even if it’s a massive fail in my mind, my beautiful friends will try it and say it’s good. But when I nail it, they say it’s incredible.

Everything I make is fresh , I can’t resist fresh vegetables! They are a thing of beauty. My family did not cook eggplant, but I find myself buying them because they are beautiful. The glossy purple skin, the smoothness of them, the cute little green cap. I buy all kinds of things I’ve not grown up with, just because I can’t wait to work with them. Sometimes it’s a win win, sometimes not.

I have to say, eggplant is challenging, but I do love it! I’ve embraced Napa cabbage, every green choy I can find, and fresh ginger, (which I hate to peel) and a myriad of Asian vegetables. My world opened up studying Indian, Peruvian and African cuisines. I love Filipino Fusion at the moment!

Nothing I make is exactly like the last time I made it. There’s such a variation in vegetables. I’m not a computer, I cook by smell and taste. The only consistent thing is, that I pick, wash, sort and chop the vegetables with my own hands, because I care about what I do and how I do it. There’s an art to it, a meditative ritual that I find relaxing and refreshing. When my hands are busy my mind gets crazy creative. The grind becomes my safety net.

Welcome to my world. I just want to make good food to feed the body and soul.
Let’s face it, cooked meat is grey. I live my world in full living color and flavor.
Just look at these beautiful creations in all their glorious hues.
Nature and the gardens are the true artists.