Vegan Fusion Cooking Workshops Santa Cruz, CA May 16-20, 2016

Come learn to play with your food in Santa Cruz, CA.  Learn how easy it is to  to cook great vegan meals with or without a recipe. We'll cover all aspects of vegan cooking from appetizer to dessert,  raw, cooked, and fermented. Most recipes are gluten free, and can be adapted for most preferences and allergies. This one week raw and cooked vegan cooking workshop will transform your life in the kitchen.


Please join Vegan Fusion Certified Teacher Deb Kay in Santa Cruz, CA for a 5-day Vegan Fusion Cuisine Immersion into the world of vegan cooking and raw food preparation.

The dates are Monday, May 16th to Friday, May 20th, 2016.
Prepare to transform your life and take your cooking abilities to the next level!

Experience greater confidence in the kitchen
Save money by learning how to prepare more delicious and healthy cuisine on your own
Learn new tips and tricks that will greatly enhance your culinary abilities
Connect with others who share a similar interest in vegan and raw foods
Deepen your knowledge of the healing qualities of vegan foods
Discover new ideas for presentation that will transform an ordinary meal to a gourmet experience
Whether you are an experienced chef, looking to get a job in the vegan restaurant industry, or simply a curious foodie interested in deepening your knowledge of vegan foods, you can learn from a pro how to prepare healthy world-class vegan cuisine!

Day 1 Vegan Soups/ Salads & Dressings
Day 2 The World of Grains and Beans/Tofu, Tempeh & Seitan Dishes
Day 3 Casseroles and Sauces/Wraps, Spreads, Sandwiches and Rolls
Day 4 Vegan Desserts/Raw Cuisine 1 Smoothies, Pates, Pasta & Pudding
Day 5 Raw Cuisine 2 Elixirs, Soups, Plant Cheeses, Ravioli, Parfaits & Ice Cream/Raw Cuisine 3 Nut and Seed Milks, Granola, Pizza, Tacos, Live Pies

Tuition is $675/Person

Reduced tuition for dishwasher position available $250

For more information and registration email info@veganfusion.com or kaydebbie25@yahoo.com

Follow this link for Pictures of past Vegan Fusion class with Deb

Cobbler - with a secret ingredient - Zucchini

Warm Winter Saturday

Nice quiet weekend at home on a rainy cold January weekend.  The holidays are behind us and I still have one more weekend in between now and my next cooking class.  Life is somewhat relaxing and there's a quiet feeling around here.  Taking some time to do a little winter cleaning.  Still working on the kitchen organization, the deck is in much need of a recyclable run.  There is no curb pickup where we live. We have to take our recyclables to the bins ourselves, we can save up quite a load in the winter. I managed to fit in quite a few meals while working.

We started the day with a pineapple coconut smoothie.  Scott had noticed some coconut pineapple juice in the market the other day.  Even though it may have been organic, it was still processed juice, and about $5 for a quart.  We always have coconut milk, all we needed was a ripe pineapple.  I chopped half a pineapple, two oranges, and a cucumber, added a handful of soaked and dried cashews, and a couple cups of coconut milk. It made for a really creamy, refreshing breakfast.

While going through the kitchen counter clutter I came upon some treasures, one being a bag of bean and grain soup mix from Bob's Red Mill. I got started with my weekend of cooking for our meals this week. I chopped an onion, some celery, and some carrots. Simmered them in vegetable broth with dried thyme, rosemary, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  I added about a pint of my canned tomatoes and the soup mix and simmered for about an hour and a half.  When they were almost done I added a couple tablespoons apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of raw agave.

Bean & Grain Stew

While the beans were cooking I through some little squash I had from the garden that didn't quite make it to regulation size in the oven to roast.  I thought I'd make a cake or soup with them.  There's a couple yellow acorn squash, a couple small pumpkins, and a little sweet meat squash.

I thought I'd fit in a millet loaf. It's pretty easy and very good the next day in a sandwich with dijon mustard. This is an easy recipe from the Forks Over Knives Cookbook by Del Sroufe.

Start by cooking 3/4 cup millet in 2 1/2 cups water until all the liquid is absorbed.  I cooked mine in vegetable broth for a little added flavor.

While the millet is cooking sauté a medium onion and four cloves of garlic in a little water or vegetable broth until tender adding a liquid 1 tablespoon at a time to keep from sticking to the pan.

I added 1 TB sage, 1 TB thyme, a dash of fresh ground nutmeg, freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, 2 TB mellow white miso, and 1/4 cup cup nutritional yeast. I let that all simmer together for a minute or two then added about 3/4 cup of my home canned tomato sauce. Let that simmer about five minutes and then added the cooked millet.

Simmering Sauce

Baked at 350º for 30 Minutes

The squash became winter squash cake. The cake is dark brown due to the raw turbinado sugar and wheat flour I used. We ate it warm and soft. It sure is tasty. Glad those little squash didn't go to waste.

Now with a few items cooked, I can relax a bit today. I did re-hydrate some dried figs. I'm thinking about maybe a fig crisp of some sort. We'll see what happens to them.

Vegan Meal Plan ~ Start with Basics

A woman I've come to know through our local Vegan/Vegetarian potluck asked me to help her get started in her efforts to change her eating habits.  She wants to eat more plant based meals, but doesn't know how to get started and encourage her husband, who is not so willing to try new foods, to try the vegan meals she's cooking up.

My first thought when answering her question, "Where do I start?", was make a pot of beans.  That's how I start out each weekend.  I start with the basics, protein (beans), grains, and greens. This is what I did this morning.  I do this kind of preparation every weekend.

I put on a pot of black beans that I soaked overnight, 2 cups beans to 6 cups water. Very simple, sauteed an onion and some garlic, threw in a few spices: ground pepper, cinnamon, a little curry, and a dash of oregano. 45 minutes to 1 hour cooking.

I put on a pot of quinoa and black rice, 1 cup each. 20 - 30 minutes cooking time

With those things cooked I can make a variety of meals. I combined the rice and quinoa and added a simple citrus-pumpkin vinaigrette. I can eat it by itself or mix with veggies during the weekend.

I also put the ingredients to soak for trail mix cookies, raw almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds,  pumpkin seeds, and some dried plums. (Plums from my friends tree that I dried myself.)

I usually add a very large salad to the menu, with at least ten vegetables in it. For a dressing I cut up avocado very small, (that makes the oil), and the juice of one whole lemon or orange.  If I want to change it up, I'll add some balsamic vinegar or sometimes nuts and seeds or dried fruit.

Since we are doing mostly green smoothies this week, that's about all I'll cook for this weekend.   But with those things made, I have a good base for any simple meal.  Greens, grains, and protein, that's the basics for a vegan meal. The cookies make a great satisfying snack with no added sugar.  There is food already made so when that urge to eat hits, the healthy stuff is handy.

Black Rice and Red Quinoa with Citrus Pumpkin Dressing

Trail Mix Cookies - Ready Tomorrow

Vegan Fusion Workshop

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a two day Vegan Fusion workshop with Mark Reinfeld, co-author of one of my favorite vegan cookbooks, Vegan World Fusion Cuisine.  I've been using this cookbook for about six years now and was delighted to learn from the creator of these recipes.  I met quite a few very nice people.  My friend Vickie came along so we rode to Portland together and talked about what we learned all the way home. It was a fun and worthwhile weekend.  She's a bit new to vegan cooking and it was fun to see her get excited about all the wonderful vegan choices available.

I haven't been writing this blog very long, but you could probably search Vegan World Fusion in my blog and find quite a few dishes I've made using the recipes either in whole or as a part of a meal.  One of the best points I thought he made during the class:  He teaches his students to find base recipes for soups, sauces, and desserts and add or substitute ingredients to get the desired taste you want. I've often done that as I usually start my cooking by going to the farmer's market and the produce store and let the available ingredients decide what we are eating. I look for ideas online and many times substitute an ingredient for something I have on hand.

Mark is a delightful teacher, patient, and knowledgeable.  He's got a great attitude about cooking, "There are no mistakes in the kitchen." he says.  "If you don't have the ingredient, substitute."  "If you happen to cook the rice a little too long, it's toasted now."  "If you think it's not the way you want it to be, adjust something." That's the way I cook everything. I look forward to learning more from him.  I am going to take the ten day class online and, hopefully, next year get around to taking his three day class to become a certified vegan cooking instructor. I'd love to share what I know with others.  I think this way of eating is not only easy, once you get the hang of it, it's colorful as well as tasty. 



One of the great things I've learned about vegan cooking is that many of the dishes are raw, prepared using a food processor or blender, and usually contain few ingredients making them quick and easy to prepare.  I've learned a lot about pre-preparation of my ingredients and have been cooking this way long enough, I can find a nice recipe and have most the ingredients to prepare it.  During the weekend we were able to prepare and eat all of this:


Day 1
Sun-Dried Tomato Flax Crackers witjh Cashew Cheese
Raw Carrot Ginger Soup
Coconut spinach Rice
Macadamia Nut Crusted Tofu with Golden Gravy
Organic Mixed Greens with Toasted Pecan Vinaigrette
Chocolate Dream Pie

Day 2
Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach Paté
Creamy Broccoli Bisque
Raw Pesto Pasta Puttanesca
Coconut Curry Tempeh over Quino Pilaf
Raw Chocolate Mousse with Macadamia Cream

Mark is in Europe now teaching classes and gathering ideas to finish his "Taste of Europe" vegan cookbook soon to be published.  He has also written The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw.  I've recently been playing with this book and it's full of very easy and tasty recipes complete with nutritional information for each one.  I've already made a few things, only having the book about two weeks.  One of my favorites so far has been the Raw Nachos with Nacho Cheese Dip.  It's very close to the nachos served at the Blossoming Lotus in Portland, also created with the help of Mr. Reinfeld.  If you're in Portland, Oregon, check it out sometime.  You won't be disappointed.