sweet – a vegan cook

You don’t need fancy ingredients, expensive equipment, or long hours to cook delicious plant-based food and I am going to show you how. I do like to put a gourmet spin on vegan food to create beautiful simple recipes that you will want to cook, eat and share with your family and friends. Tasty food is what we all crave and the general thinking is that plant-based food cannot be tasty enough. The question I get asked the most is, How do vegans add flavor? What if I told you can achieve the same or even more flavor with plant based ingredients as you do with your current ingredients? It's possible and even simple the secret is balance. Yes, balance in your flavor profile. What is a Flavor Profile? A flavor profile is the combination of flavorings experienced when food or drinks are tasted. When you taste your food and is great but you can't describe what it taste like. How can you quantify this or explain it? Flavor Profile does exactly that. It is a description of the relative intensity, harmony of tastes, and aftertastes in prepared food. This is one of the secrets cooks have in our back pocket to bring out the best taste possible in the food we make. There are multiple elements that play important factors in food's flavor like temperature, aroma and texture but lets stick to the basics for now. The culinary concept of Flavor profile consists of 5 basic flavors: Spicy - gives a kick (balances sweet and sour)Sweet - everybody loves sweetness (balances bitter and spicy)Sour - help feature other flavors (balances spicy and sweet)Bitter - activate taste buds (balances sweet and umami)Umami - savory from salt and fats (balances sweet, bitter and sour) Combining these flavors and balancing them guarantee you a delicious upgrade on your plant-based diet. Sounds complicated right? It's not, is about understanding the flavors and which ingredients bring those flavors out. Plant-based flavor profile Your taste buds react to these combinations and perceive the interaction. That's how you achieve balance in a flavor profile. just adding salt will give you a savory taste but the layers of flavor start when you add other elements by the way of ingredients that unlock different flavors that you didn't detect with just salt. For example acidity brings out other layers that salt cant. That's why introducing other ingredients in your cooking can make a plant-based diet as exciting if not more than a traditional one. You can make your plant based-diet taste better by enhancing the flavor profile of your meals introducing bold flavors and interesting ingredients like: SpicyCayenne PepperSrirachaGingerSweetDatesMaple SyrupSugarBitterCocoaKaleCoffeeUmamiDried TomatoesTamari SauceMushroomsSourApple Cider VinegarLemonGrapefruit Understanding how to combine and balance flavors is an important cooking skill that will allow you to create flavorful plant based-dishes every time you cook, making your healthy plant-based diet more fun and enjoyable. If you are curious and want to enjoy Delicious Plant-based Recipes & More... Welcome to a vegan cook! I love food and all its aspects: how it is made, Where it comes from?, What do people like about it? And What place does it have in our lives? I believe that was what prompted me to educate myself and make it my career. As conflicting as being a Chef and Vegan is I took it as a challenge. To embrace my new vegan lifestyle I tried to get as much information as possible and develop a new love for a new and exciting kind of food plant based food. Using my cooking expertise and honing my skills as a recipe developer all I needed to learn was food photography and creative writing (piece of cake) right? That's why I'm so glad you’re here. This Blog is a collection of original vegan recipes, articles, cooking tips and techniques influenced by my experience as a Chef in the Culinary world and my personal journey into veganism. I believe delicious food can be cruelty-free, nutritious, environmentally responsible while being fun and beautiful. But all this is not at the expense of your time, sanity, your health, the animals or the environment. "I believe delicious food can be cruelty-free, nutritious, environmentally responsible while being fun and beautiful".Chef Victor Miranda Along with our collection of Delicious plant-based recipes I also interview chefs, food bloggers, restaurateurs and other interesting characters. Sharing my favorite cooking tips, vegan products, places to eat is what this space and community is all about. There is so much to learn about food and our relationship to it. Here I share with you what I have learned through my career and on a personal level. Food is special, it unites us and gives us identity. I am interested in your vegan journey as well. And if you are not a vegan you are welcomed as well, we don't judge, maybe you will be pleasantly surprised. ¡Buen Provecho! Enjoy! Why Vegan? I have been a Vegan since January 6th 2020. Initially I switched to a plant-based diet to better my health and that led me to veganism. The reason I firmly believe in a cruelty free lifestyle is very simple. Animals feel pain and joy, have friends and family like us. They deserve respect and the opportunity to live in peace like us. Why do they have to suffer so I can eat? If there is an alternative that at the same time is beneficial to my health and contributes to a better environment and the preservation of our planet the least I can do to contribute to my place in the world is try it. It just makes sense, that simple. This blog is a 100% vegan website which means that I don’t use any ingredients or derivatives that come from animals or insects. Essentially no meat, milk, cheese, eggs or honey. Veganism is not a diet, is a choice, an ethically responsible choice at that. Knowing where our food comes from and understanding the impact that consuming animal products have in our world is the motivating factor that fueled my decision. Taking action and doing something to change the status quo is something we can all do to contribute. Based on empathy I chose to change my behavior and decided to embrace a cruelty-free lifestyle (animals don't have to suffer for me to eat). Adopting a plant-based diet is a big part of it and it doesn't have to be just salads and french fries. That is my small contribution to a better world. If you have more questions please check out our FAQ! Simple Vegan Cooking In a vegan cook you will find simple cooking delicious recipes that do not require a million exotic ingredients and a Culinary degree to prepare. Whether you don't have experience or you are a seasoned cook I know you will find something that excites your taste buds, from desserts to burgers to finger food. With easy step by step recipes, gorgeous photography of amazing food that you would not believe is vegan. New recipes every week from all over the world representing multiple cuisines and cultures to create simple and easy to make meals, desserts and snacks from sweet to savory including, breakfasts, smoothies and much more. If you have dietary restrictions, included are sugar free, gluten free low calorie options and modifications available for you. I sincerely believe you’ll find something you love in our collection. Go ahead explore all of our recipes organized in categories for easy access. Recipes Find all of our recipes here. Communicate with me about recipes at recipes@vegancook.com Mindful Content A vegan cook was born out of the desire to do better, to make an impact as a human being in my life and the lives of others. The question became How can you do this? By sharing and promoting empathy, compassion, positivity, empowerment thru mindful content. I don't know about a lot of things but I know food. It became clear that food was the best way to accomplish the goal. As I learn new and interesting information about veganism I enjoy sharing my thoughts and impressions with you. You can browse our library of articles about veganism, mindfulness, nutrition, gastronomy, health, and vegan lifestyle. Posts Find all of our articles here. Connect with me about content at info@vegancook.com You can also check out a vegan cook podcast where we discuss vegan cooking trends, veganism, blogging, business and life in general. I love sitting down and chatting about all this and more. Listen here. New weekly podcasts, videos and articles including news, interviews, product reviews and more. Whether you are vegan or not, new to a vegan cook or have been around for a while, Know that you are welcome. We respect diversity and different points of view and kindly require all discussion to be kind and respectful to each other. I hope that you enjoy our content and come along for the ride! Resources Part of this process into eating a plant-based and into veganism is to pay forward what I have learned. I want to share with you what has helped me during this process in the hope it can help you like it has helped me. More than just recipes, I want to help you execute and share your own recipes and in the process wishing you can pay it forward as well. Cooking Resources The first thing people tell me when I say I'm vegan is: "Oh but is easy for you because you are a Chef but I would not know what to cook". And It is a fair point. That's why I try to put together all the help I can so you can cook also delicious plant-based food. I recognize there are different levels of skill in the kitchen to help you even further I include various helpful tools like: Ingredients GlossaryCooking TechniquesGrocery listsPro Tips and Tricks It is my intention to help you improve your cooking and help you at the time of cooking your plant-based meals. I will be sharing with you helpful tools to help you navigate thru your kitchen Check out my helpful and easy cooking resources like Basics of CookingVegan Cooking GuideVegan Meal Preps Don't forget to browse my Shop to see my favorite kitchen gear and what's in my pantry. Blogging Resources Do you like this Blog? Would you like to start blogging? Great! When I started this blog there was a lot of information available online about how to start a blog and I went down the rabbit hole and gathered as much information as I could in order to put togheter a plan and execute it to start this endeavor. As I do with cooking I want to share with you what have I learned in this process to help you using my experiences mistakes and triumphs If I can help you reach your goals I have done my job. I will be sharing with you tools and information on how to start and be successful at blogging here. I only recommend tools I have used and trust. Who is a vegan cook? My name is Victor Miranda and I am the Chef, recipe developer, content creator, and food photographer behind a vegan cook. I have been cooking professionally since 1994. Back then I was not a vegan nor did I really take good care of myself, the environment or the animals. Fast forward through a lengthy culinary career I found myself making a groundbreaking change that would send me in a brand new path. Learn more about my story here.