Vegetarian Star

Skinny Bitch In the Kitch

The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine has named Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin‘s Skinny Bitch In The Kitch one of five best cookbooks of the decade.

From a press release:

“Skinny Bitch in the Kitch provides healthy vegan recipes that actually taste good, from Bitchtastic Brownies to dairy-less Fettuccini Alfredo.”

It’s those Bitchtastic Brownies that made Bitch in the Kitch a New York Times Bestseller.

As expected Alicia Silverstone‘s The Kind Diet made the cut, as well as The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen, The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn and Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello.

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The Conscious Cook author Tal Ronnen visited Chicago recently to chat with Oprah and demonstrate vegetarian cooking to students at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school.

If any chef who came out of Tal’s class claims to be clueless about vegetarian food, you know they were playing hooky!

Ronnen lead the group through making three recipes: tortellini with an artichoke-“ricotta” filling and saffron cream sauce; celery root soup with Granny Smith apples; and Gardein “chicken” scaloppini with shiitake-sake sauce.

He touted the goodness of faux meat products by Gardein, which he says have the texture of the muscle fibers of real meat.  Ronnen also explained how to make your own cashew milk.

And in case you didn’t already know, all the important names in Cali eat veg.

“Every celebrity under the sun is a vegetarian,” he said of LA.

Sweet.

Now every ordinary person in Minnesota, Louisiana and that town with only 30 people and four streets can learn to cook like a star.

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The weather’s chilly in some parts of the world, and the winter season is the best time for indulging in some old fashioned comfort food.

The Conscious Cook author Tal Ronnen demonstrates how to make the traditional meal of meat stew using one of his favorite faux meat products, Gardein Beefless Tips.

“You can find this just about anywhere,” Ellen said. “And it tastes just like beef.”

February could be a cold one, folks.

Watch and learn what to cook when you’re snowed in and reminiscing about the days of canned beef stew.

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“When you look at a grocery bill, the most expensive part is usually meat. Vegetables are never going to be as expensive as meat. Part of the responsibility is not just the companies that sell the food, it’s up to consumers to make better food choices. The more that people demand better and organic food. The more economically viable it will be in the future.”

—The Conscious Cook chef Tal Ronnen, giving his thoughts on how families living on a budget can still eat veg.

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Celebrity vegan chef Tal Ronnen is shattering the myths that vegan food is nothing but plain tofu and oatmeal in this video from Extra.

The chef who helped Oprah go vegan for almost a month and Chrissie Hynde develop the menu for her restaurant, The Vegiterranean, discusses three commons misbeliefs: bad taste, hunger and cost.

“If you take a look at your grocery bill, usually the most expensive items are the meat,” Ronnen says.

Watch the clip to hear Ronnen explain how many of the recipes in his cookbook, The Conscious Cook prevent you from going hungry two hours later.

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What happens when a meat lover finds out about Tal Ronnen‘s recipe for Celery Root Soup from The Conscious Cook?

You have to watch and find out!

Julie Anne Rhodes decided to make this video after meeting Ronnen personally.

Warning: Hide the monitor from the children, because this is some serious food porn.

via t5m.com

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Chef Tal Ronnen is the author of The Conscious Cook, a hot new cookbook being snatched off the bookshelves by vegetarians, vegans and food lovers in general. Tal is the chef who helped design Oprah Winfrey‘s meal plans when she went vegan for 21 days and has worked with Chrissie Hynde‘s restaurant, The Vegiterranean. He’s been a vegetarian for 19 years and a vegan for 11 years. Tal took a few moments away from braising tempeh to give Vegetarian Star an exclusive interview.

Tofu, Tempeh, or Seitan:
It depends on the application. I think my personal preference for home is definitely tempeh. It’s a less processed product. It’s fermented so it’s got nutritional benefits from the fermentation process. With that said, it has to be cooked properly. People will just cut tempeh up and sauté it or stir fry it or something like that. [But] Because it’s so dense, it’s hard to get any flavor to penetrate. Tofu just acts like a sponge, it just sucks up all the marinade. [With] Tempeh, the best way to get the flavor in there is to braise it. So cook it in a flavorful liquid and the flavors can change based on the dish that you cook. So if you’re doing something like Tex Mex or South of the Border you can braise it in a stock that’s got chilies and peppers. If you’re doing something like Asian, it can have soy sauce or ginger. When you’re cooking it in a broth, you’re able to penetrate tempeh. After it’s cooked in a broth, you start cooking with it. So I can grill it or sauté it, but the first step for me whenever I work with tempeh is to braise it.

On Guest Chefs in The Conscious Cook:
We wanted to have a really broad view of what professional vegetarian cooking looks like. And [we did this] by bringing in people who have influenced me or I’ve influenced throughout the years. All the chefs that are highlighted in the book are people who’ve been a big influence in my culinary career or someone that I’ve worked with very closely. And by doing that we’re able to really show different perspectives in the book, not just my perspective with vegetarian cooking.

Favorite recipes from The Conscious Cook:
I love the celery root soup. I love the Gardein scaloppini with the shiitake sauce. And the banana  rum cheesecake I think is really great.

Learn how Tal got a school district in southern California to put veggie burgers on the menu after the jump… (more…)

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One of the best things about running a website is all the cool complimentary gifts.

Okay, so our mailboxes aren’t overflowing every hour, but still, we’re rewarded from time to time.

One such reward is the The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen.

We received a copy of The Conscious Cook and our mouths are watering from the high resolution color photographs that accompany every recipe.

Ronnen helped create Oprah Winfrey‘s meals during her 21 day vegan cleanse and also assisted Chrissie Hynde in her menu for  her restaurant, The Vegiterranean.

Stay tuned this week for our exclusive interview with Chef Tal Ronnen.

Chef Ronnen begins with a forward by vegan author Kathy Freston and a welcome to meat eaters.

Ronnen opens his pantry and shares some of his favorite items to cook with, including the popular faux meat product Gardein.

As Chef Ronnen himself said, “Being vegan means eating everything in the world except animal products,” and the recipes chosen back up his statement, from finger foods to soups and salads to sandwiches and full entrees.

A bonus to The Conscious Cook is the “guest chef” section–filled with advice and cooking styles from vegetarian and vegan chefs who cooked up great food at  famous veg restaurants like NYC’s Candle 79 and The Vegiterranean.

The Conscious Cook retails for around $29.99 and is worth every penny.

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