Elaine Skiadas - Fantastic Vegan Recipes for the Teen Cook

Fantastic Vegan Recipes for the Teen Cook The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy. To my wonderful parents. Homemade food has always been an important part of my life. Homemade food has always been an important part of my life.

Ever since I was young, my severe allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts and most tree nuts have dictated the way I eat. Ive never been able to go out for ice cream or get takeout on a whim, so I owe all my early memories of delicious food to my mom. While I was growing up, she did her best to make sure I never felt left out. Chocolate cake on my birthday, stacks of pancakes for sleepovers and hearty homemade dinners bring back so many happy memories, but perhaps the most valuable thing my mom did was teach me how to cook my own meals. After years of my tiptoeing around restaurant menus, cooking finally gave me the freedom to enjoy whatever I wanted. When I turned sixteen, I started my blog, Wandering Chickpea, as a way to share my creations.

I fell in love with food photography and discovered my passion for developing healthy, everyday recipes for all types of eaters and cooks of every skill level to enjoy. While Im not strictly vegan, my specialty lies in creating comforting, plant-based meals with layers of unique flavors and textures. This cookbook is a collection of all my go-to recipes that hopefully prove vegan cooking doesnt have to feel intimidating. With simple instructions and basic ingredients, youll find everything from quick weeknight dinners to comfort food feasts to unbelievable vegan desserts. While I did write this book with my fellow teenagers in mind, these recipes can be enjoyed by everyone. Family, friends, vegans and nonvegansI think good food is something we can all agree on.

Not only does cooking give you the opportunity to experience new and exciting flavors, its a valuable life skill that will grant you independence in high school, college and beyond. So, whether youre still learning the basics or you already have experience in the kitchen, my goal is to give you the confidence to whip up satisfying vegan dishes like its no big deal. Im so excited for you to start cooking, and I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I loved creating them!

Regardless of your experience level, cooking a recipe for the first time is always a little intimidating. For each recipe in this book, I made sure to include detailed instructions and lots of helpful tips, but the best thing you can do to avoid feeling flustered is to read through and understand the entire recipe before you start cooking. Here are a few things to ask yourself while you read over a recipe: Do I have all the right ingredients and proper equipment? Does anything need to be done in advance? Check whether the recipe calls for prepared ingredients, such as soaked almonds, day-old bread or a cooked grain. Anything that requires advance preparation should be your first priority.

Look at the cook timesdo you have enough time to make this? One time, my dad and I decided we were going to make stuffed tomatoes for my mom on her birthday, but we failed to notice the two-hour baking instruction in the recipe. We were so hungry by the time the tomatoes went in the oven, we ended up just ordering takeout! For my beginners, are all of these techniques familiar? None of the methods I use here are particularly difficult for home cooks, but if theres anything that you find confusing, try looking it up online and watching a quick video before diving in.

If youre impatient like me, learning how to multitask in the kitchen is your best bet at getting food on the table as soon as possible. Waiting for something to cook? See whether you can get started on the next step while you wait. Chop vegetables as the oven preheats. Scrub potatoes while you wait for water to boil.

Its important to give each step the attention it deserves, but if youre just sitting around, find a way to keep busy! As you spend more time cooking, multitasking will become second nature and youll have dinner on the table in no time. On the flip side, if things feel like theyre moving too fast, dont panic! Simply turn down the heat, take a minute to get organized and reread the recipe. Also, dont stress. Its just food and mistakes are part of the process!

Tasting at various stages of the cooking process is especially important when it comes to salt. Seasoning can absolutely make or break a dish, but its important to know that not all salt is created equal. Table saltthe type you find in a shakerhas a very dense grain and slightly metallic taste due to the anticaking additives that are added during processing.

A little goes a long way, making it easy to oversalt your food. For general cooking, I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. It has a coarse, pinch-able grain and consistent flavor, and its cheaper than most sea salts. Whichever type you use, keep in mind that any two types of salt are not interchangeable. The measurements listed in recipes are simply suggestions. Learning to salt to your own taste throughout the cooking process is the only way to ensure perfectly balanced dishes every time! Sampling your unfinished dish not only ensures your meal will be seasoned correctly, but it also allows you to appreciate the flavor at every stage of the cooking process.

Understanding how ingredients play off one another and morph as a result of different techniques is an important step in learning to build flavor in a way you love. I adore every single one of these recipes because they were tested again and again according to my taste, but everyones taste buds are a little different. Feel free to taste and tweak a recipe to your liking. For my beginners, I recommend making the recipe as written the first time around and paying close attention to how each ingredient impacts the flavor of the overall dish. With practice, youll be able to try one bite and know exactly what your meal needs to taste delicious!