Vegan Cooking...It's More Useful Than You Think!

The reaction I typically get when I mention that something I've cooked is vegan varies from some sort of groan to a grumbling complaint about how nasty it's going to taste. Which I will admit often leads me to lying and not telling anyone that the food they are tasting is vegan until after they've had it. 99% of the time, they can't tell.

As a disclaimer I am not vegan. I love my cheese and eggs. But I don't mind cooking vegan, and it's really not all that hard to do so. I've been asked why I should even bother learning to cook vegan if I'm not vegan myself. It's a good question, and I think the answer is more complex than most people would expect, because vegan cooking and knowledge can be applied in a much broader sense than being vegan alone.

So why vegan if you are not? Vegan is probably among the most extreme of diet choices since it rules out things that most cooks and bakers love like butter, eggs, refined sugar, and milk. But think about some of the other common food allergies and dietary restrictions many people have. Gluten-free, lactose-intolerant, kosher, diabetes, etc. All of these diets can be accommodated easily with a working knowledge of vegan cooking and substitutes.

For example, since vegan recipes have no milk or dairy, people who are lactose intolerant can eat vegan food. I had someone say she was lactose intolerant, loved frosting, but hated vegan frostings she had tried before. The vegan buttercream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World impressed her. She can now use this frosting on her cakes and cupcakes without fear of being sick. The benefit of this over store bought vegan frosting is that this is made without the aid of chemicals that we can't pronounce or even really identify what it is.

Enough about baking, what about actual cooking? Can vegan substitutions be used in conjunction with non-vegan recipes? Why not! Vegan Substitutes can make great healthy choices in a meal, resulting in a better tasting, healthier meal all around. Need to make a rue? (For the non-cooks, a rue is usually butter and flour cooked together in a paste. A rue allows milk and cream to thicken into a sauce) Why use butter? Yes it's tasty, but Olive oil does the same thing as butter, is healthier, and is unnoticeable in the finished product. It will still thicken milk. Any milk. Including soy milk and skim milk. It just takes longer to thicken than heavy cream.

Another vegan favorite of mine is Polenta, or corn meal. Polenta can be bought in a box dry or in pre-shaped bricks, ready to be sliced and cooked. Polenta is really delicious with vegetables or pasta sauce, and is so hearty most meat-eaters won't be left with an empty spot in their stomachs. It is also readily available, reasonably priced, and not loaded with chemicals or preservatives.

While it is unquestionable that being vegan is hard, knowing vegan cooking can be helpful in accommodating food allergies and making healthy substitutions in preparing food at home, even if one isn't vegan all the time.

Allison NYLS SALDF