I've had three weeks of learning from my "Essential Techniques of Vegetarian Cooking" class and I have loved every minute of it.
I've learned how to grill vegetables, how to make delicious soups and spreads and even finally learned to love red onion (thanks to making it into a delicious relish). In this week's class, I learned a few new tricks—including how to make a delicious pie crust, how I can use jalapeños without making my meal too hot and how to properly cook in a wok.
Readmore ¿Qué más? Meatless Mondays: Lessons from my vegetarian cooking class, pt. 3
Out of all of my cooking classes so far, this was definitely the simplest. More than any other time, we made food that was super easy to recreate at home and I'm so excited because I can easily make all of this with ingredients and the cooking equipment that I already have.
First, we made a really easy green coleslaw. We used cabbage, onions, peppers and a few other key ingredients, including jalapeños. To be honest, I was a little bit terrified of the jalapeños. I know they're a favorite Latin ingredient but I've never loved them because I am not a fan of spicy food. In class, though, we made sure to cut out all of the seeds and chop the jalapeño into very small pieces. We also didn't use too much of it in the coleslaw, which made it really easy for me to enjoy.
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Then we proceeded to make a really easy and delicious pie crust with pistachio nuts, flour and some sweet ingredients. It was absolutely delicious and all we really had to do was mold it and bake it for 15-20 minutes. Then we filled it with a delicious lemon filling and my group decided to sprinkle some mint on top (because, really, what's better than a mint lemonade in the summer?). Perfect dessert!
Then we proceeded to make the main meal of the night. Our chef instructor prepared salmon to have as an extra treat for the students in the class that weren't vegetarian (and, let me tell you, the salmon was AMAZING!) while we made simple rice noodles accompanied with stir-fry veggies and tofu.
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I know stir-fry vegetables and tofu may not be the most exciting thing on the planet but trust me when I say the dish was absolutely AMAZING. The tofu was actually marinated in a great sauce, broiled and then coated again. Super yummy! And I learned how to make stir-fry the right way: by doing it in smaller batches so that the vegetables cook-through evenly, then combining it all in the end.
The meal was, as always, extremely delicious and I'm really happy that I took this class. I think, above all, I gained the confidence to cook vegetables in a different way and allow myself to experiment with food. I learned some great new recipes, yes, but more than anything I now have some techniques under my belt and I'm pretty ready to try anything in the future. Most of all, though, I'm excited to have the skills to cook healthy for my family.
Have you ever made stir-fry? What's your favorite vegetarian cooking technique? Share with us in the comments below!
Image via Irina Gonzalez
