Category: cooking classes


Free vegan cooking classes! Bring your funny bone & your appetite!

Filed Under: cooking classes, vegan
Feb.22, 2012

Just wanted to give you the heads UP that Native Foods is offering FREE vegan cooking classes in Chicago next month! I attended one this month in Southern California and it was wonderful! We learned how to make Red Pepper and White Bean Bruschetta, Red Beets with Pine Nut Vegan “Goat” Cheese, Red Apple Sangria and Red Rhubarb Crumble! (so good!) Everything was delicious and everyone left with a very full and happy tummy! Entertaining, fun and informative!

If you don’t live in Chicago, no worries! Native Foods has really been expanding lately ~ they now have 13 restaurants and they’re pretty good about making the rounds with their cooking demos! Check out their facebook page and website for updates and be sure to sign up quickly since they fill up pretty fast!

Dr. Seuss Cooking Demo
Saturday, March 03, 2012
9:30 am
Lakeview, Chicago

Dr. Seuss Cooking Demo
Sunday, March 04, 2012
9:30 am
Wicker Park, Chicago

For the month of March, Chef Kendall will be preparing recipes inspired by the books of Dr. Seuss! (awesome!!)

“Imagine if you can
Oh what will it be
Green eggs & ham
Or a cake made of trees
It will be delicious!
Delicious you say?
Delicious AND Nutritious
at Native Foods Cafe!” ~ Chef Kendall

Bring your funny bone…. and your appetite!

Speaking of Dr. Seuss! I’m SO excited to see The Lorax next week! Such a great story!


And here’s more good news! Governor John Kasich just signed a bill yesterday morning ending a 25-year-old Ohio law automatically declaring the “pit bull” to be an inherently vicious dog. Now NO state in the United States codifies canine profiling. Hurray!

Hopefully in time people will understand that pit bulls are very sweet dogs and if they’re ever aggressive, it’s due to their wacko “owners” who force the dogs to fight, and not because of their natural disposition.

Hope you have a beautiful, healthy, vibrant and inspirational day! It’s gorgeous outside and I’m ready to breathe IN all the beauty and put that awesome energy to good use! (my hot cup o’ joe with almond milk is helping a bit too! lol)
Happy Day, y’all!

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Super Easy & Yummy Vegan Red Rhubarb Crumble (now that’s a mouthful!)

Filed Under: cooking classes, desserts, recipes, vegan
Feb.19, 2012

Here’s another awesome vegan dish that Chef Kendall taught us how to make at the Native Foods Cooking Demo! This was my favorite out of the bunch, but then again, I have a sweet tooth, so it’s no surprise!


Red Rhubarb Crumble

Filling:

4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1″ pieces (frozen works if you can’t find fresh)
3 cups organic sugar
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

Crumble:

2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp. sea salt
2 cups organic brown sugar
1 cup earth balance, vegan butter

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the rhubarb, sugar, vanilla, cardamom and 1/2 cup of flour. Spoon the mix into the bottom of a pie pan or casserole dish.

2) In a food processor, pulse together 2 cups of flour, salt, and brown sugar. Add the vegan butter and pulse until the pieces of butter are pea in size. Or cut the butter into the dry mix with two forks. Spread the topping mixture over the rhubarb mixture.

3) Place the pan in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly brown. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes.



Serve with your favorite vegan ice cream or vegan whipped cream!

SO good!

And here’s the recipe for —> Blood Red Beets with Pine Nut Vegan “Goat Cheese” in case you missed it!

I love Native Foods!

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Blood Red Beets with Pine Nut Vegan “Goat” Cheese

Filed Under: cooking classes, recipes, vegan, vegan cheese
Feb.12, 2012

I had SUCH a wonderful time this morning at the Native Foods “Lady in Red Makes Red Food” Cooking Demo in Southern California!

Native Foods is one of my very favorite vegan restaurants and it was a real treat to watch how they make their scrumptious food! We learned how to create (and ate!) several delicious vegan items, and here’s the first one!

Blood Red Beets with Pine Nut Vegan “Goat” Cheese

Vegan “Goat” Cheese

1-1/2 cups Raw Pine Nuts
1/2 cup Water
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Lemon, zested, peeled, deseeded & quartered
1 Medium Shallot
1 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

Beets:

1 lb. Medium fresh beets (red, golden or striped)
4 tsp. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme

1. Soak pine nuts for 1 hour.

2. Drain pine nuts from the water and place them in a food processor with extra virgin olive oil, lemon quarters, lemon zest, and shallot. Crumble for 7-8 minutes until all ingredients are well combined and clumped together.

3. Transfer mixture into a blender.

4. Add nutritional yeast to mixture in blender and blend on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and smooth.

5. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

6. Form into a block or loaf and refrigerate until really cold.

7. Wash the outside of each beet. Place them in a bowl and toss with oil and salt.

8. Arrange each beet individually onto a piece of foil and top with thyme. Fold foil around beet and seal tightly. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour or until beets are tender. Baking times will vary for different sized beets. Always check the inside of each one. If you poke the beet with a fork or toothpick, it should slide right off. If not, it’s not done.

9. When beets are cool enough to handle. peel off the outer skin. Dice the beets into 1/2 inch cubes and top with “goat” cheese crumbles. (in the sample, she also topped it with sprouts – which is hiding the vegan goat cheese… sorry!)

If you don’t have access to pine nuts (or think they’re too pricey), Chef Kendall said you could also use sunflower seeds instead if you’d like. Also, even if you don’t have time to make this dish, how awesome is this type of beet?! They’re striped! I also never thought to bake a beet! That keeps all of the nutrients in the beet instead of escaping into the water when they’re boiled. Cool!

What a pretty, healthy, VEGAN beet & faux “cheese” salad! I love it! Next UP, a crazy good vegan crumble, a very yummy bruschetta & sweet sparkling sangria! (what was that about vegans not having anything to eat?! ha!)

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