Photo Diary: Vegan-omics
Cooking has become a passion of mine in in recent years. Coming from someone who set the microwave ablaze, cooking ramen, this is a big deal. After going vegan for a week a few months ago I was intrigued how to make it more of a lifestyle choice, and, to try new things. Because you can never have enough culinary options.
Enrolled in the Vegan cooking class lead by Lauren Loomis, of Lulu's Local Eatery (a food truck turning brick and mortar), who has lived and worked on organic farms in Australia and New Zealand, with an exciting menu of vegan Mexican fare.
On the menu:
gluten-free smoky chipotle tortilla soup, gluten-free avocado and mango ceviche salad, butternut squash enchiladas with salsa verde and cashew nacho "cheese", plus gluten-free Mexican chocolate mousse.
Class size was small -- 10 people maybe, and everyone was given an apron, told the kitchen rules (no dishes to wash!), and broken up into small teams to create the menu, from scratch.
I was on soup duty. Cooking with chiles in adobo for the first time was fantastic, its way easier than I thought!
Menu items were broken into courses, and after each, we sat down together and feasted on our hard work.
Team enchilada
That's Lauren on the left. Sincerely kind and patient. Great teacher who has a deep love for Vegan cuisine and STL
Main course time -- the nacho cheese was the hands down winner, and rightly so, it was incredible. I wanted to eat it out of the pot, with a spoon.
Plus, wine was served. Life, made.
Dessert -- the creamiest mousse I've had, to date
Spending two hours creating a meal, learning new tricks in the kitchen, and meeting new people was a divine way of spending a Sunday afternoon.
Ever taken a food class? This was my first -- it was laid back, impeccably efficient, and you get to eat the meal you prepared. Photos were encouraged, you were gifted with a coupon post class, and all the recipes are given to you. It was a great time, I can't wait to take another one. And host a dinner party.
Vegan (or ever tried it)? Tried it for a week and really enjoyed it. While its still semi difficult to do eating out, veganism has shown me there is way more it than just no meat and dairy.
