How to Become Better at Cooking Plants
This blog post is one of the first I ever wrote, when I was just starting on my “health journey” in 2016. I had no idea what lay ahead of me, had no one “coaching” me, and was just focused on one thing: cooking (which I loved) and eating more plants. I’ve since left the plant-based diet because I just couldn’t get enough protein. And I think now that would apply to most women. Nevertheless, we all have a starting point when it comes to changing our diet and lifestyle for the better. And this was mine. So instead of deleting this blog post, I’m keeping it up here.
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It might seem obvious, but one of the best ways to get better at cooking plants--fruits, veggies, grains-- is to cook them as much as possible and to experiment with new plants. For me, that sometimes means hitting the farmer's market and asking, "hey, what is that vegetable?" That's how you might learn what sunchokes are and how to cook them. Or, maybe you sign up for a local farm share allow your local farmers to introduce you to new foods. In fact, when I started getting the weekly Veggie Box from Farm Fresh RI, I began eating lots of new vegetables. One in particular that I love is kohlrabi, it makes for great raw veggie chips that I can eat like carrot sticks.
But practice and experimentation has only taken me so far, which is why I'm starting a six month course to become a professional plant-based cook, with the Rouxbe online culinary school. It might sound kinda crazy to go to culinary school through the internet, but somehow it works, and it fits into my life (which also includes a full time job!). It's only been a couple weeks, but so far I'm really liking it! I haven't started learning any cooking techniques yet, really just reading about nutrition. I did however complete my first assignment-- make your go-to dish, and upload photos of it. I cook a lot with asian flavors like ginger, garlic, and sesame oil, and a frequent meal for me is a stir fry of tofu and kale with those flavors. So I whipped it up, and here's the finished product:
Asian stir-fry of tofu, kale, and wild mushrooms
Truth be told, I had to add a filter to this photo because the lighting in my kitchen is pretty yellow- I have a lot to learn about taking great food photos :)
I got a "100%" on this assignment, which of course says nothing about how it actually tastes. I make this dish a lot, mainly because it's easy and quick and it makes me feel like I'm eating something healthy. Sometimes I have it with brown rice noodles. But it's getting old. I started cooking some variation of tofu-vegetable stir fry in college about 15 years ago, and I'm super excited to move past this and acquire some more advanced skills in the kitchen, along with new ideas for flavor combinations.
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