Whole Food Plant-Based Cooking: The Beginner’s Course is Here.
I’ve wanted to do a comprehensive course on cooking in a whole food, plant-based kitchen for the beginner cook or for anyone looking to expand their cooking skills in a WFPB kitchen. Well, I am excited to announce that the course is now available.
You can find more information Here .
This course is a project of CNS Kitchen, an online support group for anyone looking to adopt a WFPB lifestyle. We are a non-judgmental group who know that everyone is at a different place in their health journey and that community matters.
Quesadillas

Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
- 8 ounces button mushrooms sliced
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1 recipe Cheese Sauce recipe below
- 6 large whole-grain tortillas
- Favorite salsa
Instructions
- Sauté the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms in a large saucepan over
- medium heat until the onion turns translucent and starts to brown, about 8
- minutes. Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the vegetables from
- sticking.
- Season the vegetables with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in the
- cheese sauce and cook until heated through. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat for a minute. Place a tortilla on your
- work surface and spoon on one-third of the vegetable mixture, then place
- another tortilla on top of it. Transfer the quesadilla to the skillet and heat
- until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Carefully turn the quesadilla over and
- brown the other side. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and vegetables.
- To serve, cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges and serve with the salsa andsour cream.
Sweet and Sour Tofu Dumplings
Sweet and Sour Tofu Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds extra firm tofu pressed and mashed
- 2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed soaked in 3 tablespoons water for 10 minutes
- 8 ounces button mushrooms chopped small
- 1 cup finely chopped green cabbage
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced small
- 8 scallions thinly sliced
- ¼ cup crushed pineapple
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- ½ cup pitted dates soaked in warm water for 10 minutes then drained
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder dissolved in ¼ cup of cold water
Instructions
- Make the tofu: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
- Using a small ice cream scoop, shape the tofu into dumplings, and place them on a non-stick baking sheet or one lined with silicon.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the dumplings are lightly browned and firm.
- Make the sauce: Combine the pineapple, vinegar, tamari, garlic, and dates in a blender. Process until smooth.
- Add the pineapple mixture to a sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the arrowroot powder mixture and cook until the sauce is thickened, about 1 minute.
- To serve: Place the tofu dumplings on a serving plate and pour the sauce over them.
Summer’s Best Barbecue Sauce

Summer’s Best Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups pineapple chunks pureed
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp tamari or to taste
- 1 Tbsp unsulphured molasses
- 1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ tsp allspice
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
Falafel Tacos

Falafel Tacos
Ingredients
- 12 - 16 six- inch tortillas
- 1 recipe falafel recipe link
- 1 cup Green Sauce recipe link
- 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1 medium red onion diced
Instructions
- Preheat a non-stick skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add enough corn tortillas to cover the bottom of the pan and heat for 3-4 minutes to soften the tortillas. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- To serve, cut each falafel in half and place two or three halves in the center of each corn tortilla.
- Top each tortilla with some of the Green Sauce, romaine lettuce, tomato, and red onion
Potato, Pesto, and Caramelized Onion Polenta Pizza
Potato, Pesto, and Caramelized Onion Polenta Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 cup cornmeal or polenta *
- 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes thinly sliced
- 2 medium yellow onions peeled and diced
- 1 cup Basil Pesto recipe follows
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast optional
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the water and cornmeal to a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mixture starts to boil, cook, stirring frequently, until it thickens. Season with salt and divide the polenta between two non-stick pizza pans.
- Place the two polenta crusts in the refrigerator and chill until set.
- While the crusts chill, steam the potatoes in a double boiler or steamer basket over medium heat until tender. Set aside and let cool.
- Place the onions in a medium saucepan and sauté over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until well browned. Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to keep the onions from sticking to the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Divide the pesto in half and spread over each of the two pans of polenta.
- Arrange the potatoes over the pesto, top with the caramelized onions, and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Cinco De Mayo 2024
It is that time of year again when we get to celebrate some of the best food in North America. This year I looked back at some of my favorite dishes from many years ago and came up with a menu I look forward to sharing with you. Enjoy!

Corn Cakes
Chipotle Cream Sauce
Chipotle Pepper Purée
Pineapple Gazpacho
Mexican Black Bean Brownie Parfait
Chocolate Pudding
From Soup Stock to Soup
Spring is here and the best spring soups need a good soup stock

Chives from the garden
Making a good soup is about fresh ingredients and layering flavors. Achieving great flavors in a plant-based, oil-free kitchen, presents more of a challenge because we traditionally depend so heavily on animal foods, and sauteing vegetables in oil for flavor. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a good soup without those unhealthy ingredients
In the early days of spring I start thinking about the freshest ingredients from a spring garden, and while it’s still cool outside, my mind turns to soup. Young baby carrots, new potatoes, asparagus,and the freshest young greens, all make me think of some of my favorite soup recipes.
And as I think about my favorite spring soup, I know I need to start with a good soup stock. Sure, it is easy enough to buy plant based soup stocks in the store, but have you ever tasted them? They all taste the same, and whatever that flavor is isn’t something I want in my soup. And many of the store bought soup stocks have oil, sugar, and too much salt added to them. So I make my own. And before you shout out about how little time you have for that, let me put you at ease. You do have time to make them, and even better, you can make them without adding a dime to your food budget. How, you ask? By using the scraps from the dishes you prepare throughout the week. Simply save them in a container in the refrigerator and once a week throw them into a pot, add water to cover, and simmer them for about 45 minutes. Voila! Soup stock!
But before you get started, let me make a few suggestions because not all scraps from your cooking adventures make good soup stock.
Here are my tips for getting the most out of the ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
- Don’t throw away the bean cooking broth. That broth is full of flavor and adds much to any dish you use it in. My favorite beans to use for their broth include white beans, garbanzo beans, and most lentils. Black beans are fine if you plan to make a black bean soup, but otherwise, they can throw the color off in whatever dish you are making, and they have a strong flavor that can overpower the dish you are making.
- Chop the vegetable scraps into small pieces so that more of their surface comes in contact with the water. You’ll extract more flavor from the vegetables if you do.
- Start your stock with cold water. Different ingredients release their flavor at different temperatures and the goal is to maximize the flavor you get from your vegetable scraps.
- Don’t cook your stock for more than 40-45 minutes. In this time, you will have extracted as much flavor as you can from the vegetable scraps, and any longer cooking time is just a waste. If you want a richer stock, remove the vegetable scraps and cook the stock down to reduce then liquid, thereby concentrating the flavor of the stock
- Some vegetables can make your soup stock bitter and should be avoided. Some, like potatoes, break down into starch, making your stock cloudy. Here is my list of ingredients to avoid:
- Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, Brussel sprouts
- Leafy green parts of celery and carrots
- Artichoke hearts
- Beets
- Squash and sweet potatoes
- Green beans
- Potatoes
- Other possible additions to your stock:
- Soy sauce
- Miso
- Small quantities of apple cider vinegar
- Wine. Be careful if you have a delicately flavored stock because wine can over power it.
- Nutritional yeast
- Fresh herbs. I get excited about my garden this time of year because the herbs come to life. Just remember that some herbs are really strong and can easily overpower your stock. Think about using the same herbs in the stock that you will use in the soup.
Green Sauce

Green Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup tahini not raw
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth and creamy.
- Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 7 days.