Thanksgiving is soon upon us. People get together, family members reunite, and the kitchen is filled with amazing aromas, food, and company. I have many things to be thankful for, and I was thinking it’s fine time to pay tribute to the people and institutions that have made me a better person.
In this particular case, ones that have made me a better chef as well.
Many of you know that I recently graduated from Rouxbe, the world’s leading online cooking school. Rouxbe delivers technique instruction and training to over 140,000 home cooks, culinary students, professional cooks and healthcare professionals in over 180 countries. I graduated from their Plant-Based Professional Program this past November, and let me just say, I’m a changed person.
I’m more of a risk taker in the kitchen. Chipotle pepper with chocolate? Why not? By getting out of my comfort zone a bit, I developed new recipes, played in the kitchen, experienced exciting & bold flavors and expanded my repertoire in so many ways. Best of all, this cooking is based on healthy plant-based foods that I can feed my family and friends – making health taste amazing is the best gift each of us can have. Our lives depend on it.
Led by world-renowned plant-based chef educator Chad Sarno and an army of plant based educators and chefs, this course was fun & inspired, and was the most comprehensive and detailed plant-based course I’ve ever taken. I also met some now-lifetime friends through this course, and made so many valuable connections with other fellow chefs.
I think the confidence I gained in the kitchen through the course also helped me push my boundaries in terms of "getting out there". It may be hard to believe, the first official video I ever made was my Rouxbe Testimonial (you can see it here) . That video gave me the confidence to create a second video, which helped me win the Hot Raw Chef Award recently (see previous post). These are all a cascade of events which points back to my experience at Rouxbe, where it all started.
So, gratitude abounds this Thanksgiving. I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet for having taken this course, and I wanted to pass on some favorite recipes your way. Please check them out, give them a thumbs up, and even enroll (class starts February). I’ve provided some helpful links at the bottom of this post, so be sure to check them out.
Huge gratitude to Chad & everyone at Rouxbe, and to all of you, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
All recipes are Rouxbe Recipes, used with permission:
Artichoke & Mushroom Crostini
Fresh Baked Biscuits (Dairy & Egg Free)
Mushroom Gravy
Plant-Based Meat Loaf
Chocolate Cream Pie
For more info:
Rouxbe Online Cooking School
Rouxbe Plant-Based Certification Program
Chad Sarno
Chad’s book “Crazy Sexy Kitchen” on Amazon