Vegetable cashew korma
I had always been curious about the creamy cashew kormas served at North Indian restaurants, but apparently they're usually more yogurt than cashew. This is my totally made up vegan version. It's very important to use a high speed blender to puree the cashew sauce; you definitely want it completely smooth, not the least bit gritty. You can use any assortment of vegetables you like; we often throw in cauliflower and peas. When we make this for 100+ guests, we cook off all
Curried cauliflower with apple ginger chutney
I like recipes. I know that seems obvious, but a lot of chefs take pride in their ability to wing it. While that certainly has its place in the creative process, I'm a big believer in standardizing recipes. When two chefs have four hours to churn out a 6-8 (scratch made!) item buffet for 40-500 people, there's no time to mess around. I need to know that all this work is going to produce consistent and reliable results. That said, there's something about this dish that def
French lentil, roasted beet and kale salad
What I really love about this salad are the roasted beets. Most kitchens I’ve worked in roast beets by rubbing them with a bit of oil, wrapping them in foil and roasting them whole for an hour or more. I still do this sometimes too, but it results in something more like an oven steamed beet, rather than what we usually associate with roasted vegetables, like crispy edges and concentrated sugars. The beets in this salad are proper, crispy roasted beets. French lentils or b
Spinach pecan cakes
Ahh, spinach cakes. My oldest, and possibly dearest, recipe. Somehow I managed to cobble this together before I really knew what I was doing in the kitchen. These were my attempt to veganize the ‘Popeye’ burger served at the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company. The result blew me away, and I decided to get serious about cooking. For a very long time, this was my dish to make whenever I wanted to impress. It ain't easy, and I’m not going to dumb it down for you. Think o
