CELEBRATE LIKE A VEGAN

Yesterday I had a real hankering for some carbs. I will admit that I do eat more than my fair share. The thing is that it is very satisfying and of course taste delicious to our palates. There is something about the texture and flavor of starches and amino-acids that make our brains go all happy with anticipation of nutrition. The best way I know how to combat the urge to over indulge is to add more of the super foods to the dish to balance the rich foods. This time I opted for one of our favorites at the workshop, pineapple fried rice. I worked on a shoot all day for a pineapple drink that came out very nicely. Staring at that beautiful fruit all day inspired me to use it in the staff's dinner. It's surprisingly simple to make, especially if you have precooked rice in the fridge like I did. Ingredients: 1 cup cooked rice. (I had Jasmine rice but normally I prefer brown rice) 1/2 cup chopped onions 1/2 cup carrot 1/2 cup celery 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic 3/4 c...

I was at a Korean restaurant not long ago and fell in love with the look of their King Mandu (Fried Dumplings Fit for a King). Unfortunately I wasn't able to taste as they were filled with pork. My friends were raving about the texture and size of the dumplings. After a closer visual inspection I decided that the dough used to make those wrappings for the dumplings was not at all different for my everyday flour tortilla recipe. I set out to do the experiment in the workshop. It turned out better than I ever expected. I used my flour tortilla dough and made mini tortillas about 6" diameter. They were easy to stuff with the recipe that follows and sealed on the edges with just a little water. We pan fried the dumplings in a mixture of half vegetable and olive oil. It took about 1 tablespoon of each. Let's hope you try the recipe and let me know how you liked it. As always feel free to send me a message if you have any questions. Ingredients: 1/2 cup of red le...

Well,  I am geeking out! I had the very good fortune to be invited to go to The 5th Annual Sonoma Veg Fest. As the name suggests it is a big celebration of all things Vegan. I will be posting further videos and pictures about all the wonderful vendors, products and information that I found during this all day event. I have to say that for me, personally, meeting one of my Vegan heroes, Patti Breitman, was the best part. When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, I didn't have a high paying job (or any job for that matter), but that never stopped me from enjoying the wonders that this city has to offer. One of the ways I would fill my days was by just walking around. If you don't know this, San Francisco is only 49 square miles so it can be walked from end to end in just a few hours. It's one of the best cities to explore on foot, but I digress. One of my favorite activities back then was to explore used book stores where I could browse rare or unusual books,...

Hello. I'm Chef Artie and my passion is to share with you the secrets of the Vegan Latin American Cuisine. I will show you how to choose the best products, the best tips and techniques to cook them and the tricks to make all these popular dishes Vegan. Join me now for Chef Artie's Vegan Celebration 2018. "Barriga llena, corazón contento". "Full belly, happy heart."

Last week was a very busy week setting up the workshop for a series of cooking videos that will be coming up in the next few months. It left the crew tired and very hungry at the end of the day so when someone suggested ordering a pizza, I knew it was time to spring into action. While everyone was arguing about the toppings and which restaurants had vegan options I went to the fridge and took out some of the dough I keep for just an occasion. The dough is very simple. If you are like me, you’ll keep some on hand in the fridge or in the freezer where it can last for months. In a few minutes the smell of fresh pizza permeated through the shop and everyone was munching on fresh pizza that satisfied everyone since they got to pick exactly the toppings they wanted. Ingredients: Quick Dough: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 Tbs sea salt 1/2 cup filtered water 1 Tbs coconut milk (family’s secret ingredient) Pesto: 1 bunch of basil 3 garlic cloves 1/4 Tbs sa...