“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
– John Cotton

“You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I’ll buy you a new car.”
–Harvey Diamond

One thing that I regretted not doing after college was going to a culinary school. I was and still am very passionate about cooking but went with traditional University instead because of parental influences. Now that I am vegan going to a traditional Culinary School is not an option and unfortunately Arizona is not a hotspot for Vegan Schools.

There is at least one vegan cooking instructor that I know of and I recently had the chance to spend a few hours cooking with Chef Jason Wyrick of Devil Spice and The Vegan Culinary Experience. Jason became a Vegan for very similar reasons as I have: health and empathy. We spent a few hours making four dishes and I learned a number of new techniques and ways to get great flavor with very little fat. We also talked a bit about the Arizona Vegan/Vegetarian scene and the professional life of a Vegan Chef. This was a great investment of my time and money and I look forward to applying my skills for everyone else.

Recipes:
Sweet Potato Scramble
The first dish that I made was a Tofu Scramble which serves as an excellent meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is really fast and simple to make and should replace your need for huevos rancheros easily. Feel free to add more veggies and garnish with any variety of herbs like Cilantro or Parsley.

Ingredients:
1tsp of olive oil
1/4 of Yellow Onion, diced
1 Sweet Potato, diced small
16 oz Extra Firm Tofu
2 Tbsp of diced roasted green chilies
1/4 tsp of Turmeric
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of Paprika (smoked Spanish is best, check out Prenzey’s http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html)
Salsa

Over Medium heat saute the onion till is softens(3min) then add the sweet potato and let the potato soften(5min). Crumble the Tofu and add it to the onion and potato. Add the Chilies, Turmeric, salt, and Paprika and mix well. Saute for another minute and remove from heat. Plate, add Salsa, and enjoy!

Rustic Tomato Soup
The second dish was a simple soup that can serve as a basis for many soups or sauces. I was surprised by this one as I have been making Tomato sauces for years and hadn’t seen this technique before.

Ingredients:
1 tsp of Olive oil
1/2 of Yellow Onion, diced
2 cloves of Garlic minced
6 Roma Tomatoes, chopped in half
1/4 tsp of Salt
1/8 tsp of Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp of freshly Ground Pepper
1/2 cup of Rice
1 tsp of Fresh Thyme Leaves, rough chop
2 cups of water

Saute the onion over medium heat till it starts to brown(4min). Add Garlic for a minute, then add Tomatos, Salt, Cumin, and Pepper. Keep an eye on things as the Tomatoes soften. If necessary add some water to keep the garlic or tomatoes from burning. Once the Tomatoes are soft smash them with a spoon. Add the rice and remaining water. Cover and turn on High heat till boiling. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Once the rice is done take of the heat, add the Tyme and enjoy! You can also add some red beans for a hearty meal.

Summer Zucchini Pasta with Sundried Tomato Sauce
This was is a Raw food dish which is great for the Arizona Summer time heat. The pasta making technique is easy and brilliant, whoda thunk?

1 Zucchini shaved
1 Roma tomato Chopped
1 Clove Garlic
8 sundried tomatoes hydrated
1 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp of fresh Thyme Leaves, rough chop
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp of Fresh Basil – Chopped
1 Tbsp of Pine Nuts

Shave the Zucchini with a Vegetable peeler until you get to the seeds, save the seeds for a soup or salad. In a Food Processor or blender put in the Roma and Sun Dried Tomatoes, the Garlic, Vinegar, Thyme, pepper, and salt until you have a thick sauce. Add sauce to pasta and garnish with Basil and Pine Nuts. Tasty.

Orange, Kalamata Olives, and Basil Salad
For the fourth and final dish we made a simple raw salad with a combination of ingredients I had never considered. Oranges with olives? Well it turns out they work well and are very tasty.

1 Navel Orange chopped
9 Kalamata Olives seeded
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Tbps Fresh Basil
Salt
Pepper

Mix together and enjoy. Doesn’t get much simpler than that!

One thing that makes it easy to stick to any diet is to have some staple dishes made up and sitting in your Fridge. I like to keep some Hummous on hand for snacking and making sandwiches. To get a nice change of pace I decided to make some Baba Ghanoush, which is pretty similar to Hummous just replace the Garbonzo Beans(Chick Peas) with Roasted Eggplants.

Here is what you need:
1 to 2 Eggplants Medium to Large
2 Cloves of Garlic sliced to make spears
1/3 cup of Tahini
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Salt – I used Celtic Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Mint

Here is what you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees F. Make a few deep cuts into the Eggplant and stuff the Garlic in. Put the Eggplants onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven till soft, around 35 to 40 minutes. Once they cool down peel the Eggplants, I just use my fingers.
2. Put the Eggplants and everything except for the mint into a food processor. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour into a bowl, garnish with mint and serve at room temperature.

Mmmmm tasty.