My Story on how I Became a Vegan Chef

          I was not always a vegan. In fact, I am not a strict vegan, but my husband is. When I started cooking vegan food for him many years ago (at that time I was a meat eater, but have since become a strict vegetarian), the only "vegan" food I knew how to make was (surprise, surprise) salads. Honestly, they always consisted of the same ingredients: romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, tofu, and oil and vinegar dressing. BORING! 

                Well as you can image, we got tired of those salads pretty quickly. That is when I started experimenting in the kitchen. At first, most of my experiments didn't come out very well,(some of them were even completely in-eatable), but my husband was a trooper and always thanked me for the meal, even if it was unappetizing (several years later, he told me how bad I used to be, but by then, I was able to laugh about it).

                After experimenting for a while, and failing miserably, I started to notice interesting things about food. I noticed that certain ingredients went well together and that others, when added, make food unappetizing or odd tasting. As I started to get a handle on what things I could use in place of eggs, milk, or meat, as well as what flavors worked really well together, my food stared tasting good and my husband started cleaning his plate and going back for seconds. However, the real test came when I starting inviting my non-vegan friends and family to taste my food. When they tasted and loved it (and didn’t know it was vegan until I told them, I might add), I knew I was on to something. 

                Now I can proudly say that I am a much better culinary connoisseur, and even though I still like to experiment with recipe creation, they almost always turn out splendidly. My favorite recipes to experiment with are traditional comfort food recipes ( like mac and cheese, strogonoff, and meat loaf) and making delicious, completely vegan, versions that taste as good (or better) then the original.  Not everyone thinks the "classics" can be made vegan, and that eating vegan is so much more than just eating salads and boring veggies. That is why I decided to share my cooking with everyone! 

Happy Eating!

The Vegan Chef