We all have those go to dishes that we rotate on a regular basis. Perhaps a handful of recipes or dishes that we often don’t even need to think about how to make or how long they take to cook – they are now embedded in our instincts.
My go to mains seem to be a mix of popping something in the oven and bumping it up with an array of vegetables prepared in various ways:
- My giant fully loaded vegan burger – with tons of steamed veggies
- A super cheesy vegan pizza – with an abundance of roast veggies
- A warm buttery bowl of (organic) pasta – with a huge green salad
- My throw anything that needs to eaten immediately veggie curry – with more veggie curries on the side.
I am not a follow the recipe kind of woman. I am a throw it all in and get a feeling when it is ready busy working mum who is checking emails while stirring.
However during the past fair few months I have seen more people experimenting with their cooking and baking and I felt this is something I wanted to explore too.
I have developed my own utterly fantastic vegan quiche with varying vegan fillings (with crudites on the side) however I need to explore further and more than just going through the recipes from my un opened recipe books.
And then I thought of the perfect expert…. Chef Day Radley.
Chef Day was introduced to me several years ago at VegfestUK and I have followed her work since. During the past year she has brought vegan recipe excitement with weekly Facebook live cook alongs and although she mainly trains people to be professional vegan chefs she also runs cookery courses for regular people like you and I.
“Cooking from scratch brings a wealth of benefits.” Chef Day tells me. “I have seen students confidence soar and even form relationships and friendships after attending my courses.”
“The online Vegan Cooking Diploma gives you complete guidance, not just a collection of recipes. Students learn about the specific techniques, ingredients and equipment I use and a full explanation of all of them. I am on hand to give support and feedback to my students.”
The recipes I have made so far have turned out really well! I impressed myself! OK I am a work in progress however that’s what it is all about. Sometimes I rope my son Callum into making something with me so extra time together and time away from the dreaded but useful Playstation. Sometimes I have invited hubbie to join in however I end up being his assistant.
The Banana Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce sounds very fancy however the recipe was easy to follow and even more helpful are Chef Days notes, list of what is needed, techniques and step by step video.
I was particularly intrigued with the Tasty Tofu course – apart from whizzing tofu up for my famous quiche and simply mashing in the frying pan for my equally as delicious scramble eggless I was curious to find some new go to tofu dishes.
Chef Days vegan omelette is well worth doing the course for alone. How it tastes so creamy and cheesy – with no cheese is a mystery. Callum said he wants one for daily brunch. The Tofu Fish is great fun to make. I have never used batter before and Days expert guidance means that they came out looking and tasting incredibly impressive.
“We all need to cook food from scratch more often, this is key to having a healthier diet. We are fooled into thinking cooking is hard, a lengthy process that is complicated. But it isn’t!! My recipes are easy and simple to make. By exploring these recipes and expanding your cooking repertoire you will be able to see how fun and easy cooking can be.”
My tip is to get prepared in advance with ingredients and again Chef Day tells us everything we need to know.
Taking Chef Days course has brought back some fun with food and even after nearly 25 years of being vegan I am thoroughly loving learning from someone who has done all of the hard work for us!!
