Reality and Regrets Of Going VEGAN | Caesar Edition

Gloves are off. Kids, don't eat like me. I have horrible table manners from working in the kitchen so long and used to eating over the sink or the garbage barrel. But this is so delicious. Have you ever been scared to start something because you were afraid it might be too challenging? What if that one step could change your life and the lives around you? What if that one change would save countless lives? I've been cooking professionally for 35 years. Yes, I'm that old. 17 of those years have been spent mastering my craft without the use of any animal products. And in this video, if I can learn to talk and cook at the same time, I'll share some of my challenges and breakthroughs and some of the most valuable lessons and insights I've learned along the way. Just remember though, I'm trying to cook and talk at the same time and I'm only good at one of those things. I'm gonna share five different recipes that you're not gonna wanna miss. And this episode's chock full of a whole bunch of cool stuff as I have a special guest flying in. It's Frankie's birthday and she's got rockstar fans. The big guns. I'm just gonna get this on a medium low heat and I'm gonna start off with these pine nuts, pignolies. Wanna bring them to a slight toast. Get some heat under them, take the chill off them. Hemp seeds, super high in protein. Same with the pine nuts. Almond flour, ground up almonds really fine. And I got this at the store. Now as far as measurements go, I'm just eyeing it. And you want a super dry pan, so no oil. I could do it in the cast iron pan but I know it would slightly stick because it's so well seasoned. Looking to bring a nice browning, warmth. Don't wanna overcook it. I definitely don't wanna burn it. I wanna draw out all those amazing flavors. Get them nice and toasted and really enhance these flavors. Smelling super good and it's been a minute. Granulated garlic, so I'm gonna add about two tablespoons. Three quarters of a teaspoon of white pepper. And you wanna pretty much be stirring this constantly because you don't want it to burn. And you don't wanna ruin it. And this could easily have been part of the video I did about all the nutritional beasts which I've referred to several times now on how to use those seasonings that we made. And I'll put that link to that video again in the description. But this could be part of that super good condiment you can have on anything you would normally put Parmesan on or not even. Drawing all those oils out. It smells absolutely fantastic in here now. Add nutritional yeast now. Mix it all together, blend it nicely. Now it's all golden. I'm gonna turn it off because there will be some kind of carryover cooking. The pan's still hot, so I still wanna keep it safe from burning. I'm gonna remove it from the heat. I'll just leave it here for a few minutes. So I can either use a blender or a food processor. I'll figure out which one in a second. Yum, it's delicious. But I wanna add a little bit more. Tablespoon of the garlic granulated, maybe even a little bit more, two more. And then another pretty good pinch of the white pepper. And I'm gonna add a good sized pinch of salt. And that's flake salt. All right, maybe a pinch more. You could use a blender if you want, if you wanna get it finer, but I kinda want it still chunky, kinda like flake salt. You know, I want that flaky consistency texture so I can feel how much I'm adding to things. Pulse that. Gorgeous. It's delicious, so pretty good. So for at least the next hour, cool down like this and stir it here and there and try not to eat too much of it. Equal parts hemp seeds, equal parts nutritional yeast, equal parts almond flour. Not by weight, I did it by sight. And then the rest of the seasonings. And then this will last as long as I don't eat it all. What I ended up doing was spreading this out onto this paper just so it wouldn't collect any condensation because I don't want it to mold, so I want it completely dry. This is a great gift for anybody, for any occasion, for any reason, especially anybody who likes to eat food. Back in the day, I never thought I would go vegan, let alone become a vegan chef. I can't say for sure if it was fear or if I just didn't wanna bother changing. Eating meat and cooking animals was part of my identity. It was who I was. And I used to make fun of my brother so much for being vegan, thinking it was just plain stupid. The idea of changing my cooking style was ridiculous. I used to think it wasn't cool. And it was even beneath me. Cooking meat was everything. I mean, how would I make my living just cooking veggies? That's what I thought. Now I realize all that was just based on fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of challenging myself, fear of doing something different, fear of stepping out of my comfort zone, and fear what people are gonna think of me. And to be completely transparent, it all boiled down to my ego and being narrow-minded with a lack of consideration for anything or anyone around me. I didn't wanna sacrifice anything, but I would lose that coolness about me because we all know how cool I am. Oh, sweetheart, you're an absolute king among nerds. I was so stubborn. My big fat head was holding me back. To be honest, the only thing I was actually sacrificing were animals for my own selfish wants and for people to pay me to cook them. I did a whole video a little ways back that I'll link below that really goes into depth about the catalyst that changed everything and why I changed my mind. Despite my fears, I took the plunge. I've always loved animals, and I needed to align my moral compass. And once I realized the animals that I was butchering and cooking and eating were no different than the ones that I loved and cuddled and pet and adored, it was a no-brainer. Not only did this help me discover my new passion, it opened up a whole world of creativity with a sense of purpose and a whole new appreciation for life. The positive impact on my health and environment are just a byproduct, a bonus. When I became a vegan chef, it wasn't just about changing my life. It allows me to contribute to a much bigger movement that promotes true sustainability. Now I'm practicing compassion in real time, not just wishing for it. This one change saves countless lives, both animal and human, and it's that knowledge that keeps me motivated every day. Look, I'm not gonna say it's always been easy, but I will tell you that it's super worth it. And my number one biggest regret. This better be good, you cheeky monkey. About going vegan is that I didn't do it sooner. It's definitely right up there with one of the best decisions I've ever made. Darling, being my chef biatch is the best decision you've ever made. Preheating the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I love those scenes. Olive oil, a good olive oil here, and I'm just gonna add a liberal amount. I wanna get these things all coated. This is definitely not an oil-free crouton. A bit crazy, I'm gonna use some Texas barbecue rub seasoning and it's probably a couple tablespoons. You know what, I like to eye this out because it depends how much bread. You just wanna make sure you have enough seasoning on all of it. Granulated garlic, pinch chili flakes, some dried parsley, probably a good tablespoon or two. Gonna give these a nice toss to make sure everything's coated. I have some extra of that Parmesan that we just made. I'm just gonna add the rest of that. Makes sense. Pop these in the oven. Serious sweetheart, set the timer for 10 minutes. All right, it's been a little bit longer. Golden, perfect. That was about 12 minutes. Hot, hot, hot. All right, next up, don't wash the bowl you did the croutons in, at least I didn't. I'm gonna reuse it because there's some seasonings in there I wanna use. We're gonna try something new, at least I'm gonna. This is probably the fourth or fifth time organic soy chunks. I've been so resistant to use these until I watched Sauce Stache. I'll put his link down. He did a good video about TVP and why you should use it, what it's made of, and it just clicked. I knew all that all along. So you know how you just put two and two together and I'm like, ah, yeah, why not? Why am I so resistant against trying them? I just didn't wanna try it because it was dried and you have to rehydrate it, but it turns out they're freaking good. So we're gonna do it. We're gonna make some of these. It's literally made from just soy. Dried soy ingredients, organic soy protein. Boom. This is a 200 gram bag. Some vegan bouillon here. So it's just regular soup bouillon and I'm gonna add maybe two teaspoons of soy chunks. These literally, they cost me three pounds, 25 cents. So in America, that's like five pounds. For a 200 gram bag, this'll feed quite a bit. It says eight to 10 portions and I'm just gonna use it all. Hydrate it. I boiled some water. Some people add it to boiling water and you boil it, but I'm just gonna do the same thing I do with greens. I'm just gonna add boiling water and I already have that bouillon in there and then those seasonings. I'm just gonna add a good amount, enough to cover it. Stir it up. I'm just gonna let this sit like this and let it absorb for another 10, 15 minutes. It's funny how resistant I've been to using these and to making these. It just equate, it's just my mind. This was all that was available at the health food store back then. I mean, it's still available. It's a super inexpensive source of protein and dehydrated stores. You could just have it and you need something quick. And it's all about how you use it. It's the techniques. And I'm gonna show you mine right here because it comes out amazing. And if you got something against soy, they also have like a pea and fava one, just pea protein one. They have all kinds and they're good. I've been going through and testing them all and I'm gonna be cooking them. Another great source of food for me. I love food. All right, it's been 10 minutes and they've pretty much absorbed most of that water. And it doesn't take long to get them to absorb it. And you can see. I'm not gonna save that liquid, but I want the flavor to soak up in them. Any way I can drive flavor into anything, I'm gonna take that opportunity. But we don't need to be saving that liquid because it's got all the dust. You can use chicken flavor bouillon. You can use whatever bouillon flavor you want. And I'm gonna season these as we cook them more. All right, once they're cool enough for me to handle, I'm just gonna dig right in and just squeeze them. They're pretty durable. Let's try to get out as much of the liquid as I can. I still want them. They're gonna hold a good amount of liquid so they'll still be nice and tender and juicy. Gonna dump the rest of this liquid out and add these right back to the bowl. Use a little bit of olive oil. I don't have any chicken seasoning per se, but I do have this pork seasoning. It's just a sage and onion. Garlic and onion. I'm gonna add a good amount. So this container, I'm probably gonna add two, three tablespoons. Granulated garlic, about another teaspoon of granulated garlic. A pinch of chili flakes, dried chili flakes. This isn't a seasoning, but I am gonna add one. Oh, you son of a, I hate when that happens. I hate it. You knuckle nuts are gonna develop cans with a frickin' flip-top thing. Make sure that actually works. Now we're gonna save that aquafaba. We're gonna just let that drain for a minute. Chickpeas, I have the liquid, I'm saving. All right, another one of those nutritional beast seasonings is the recipes in the link. The foul beast. Little bit of chicken flavor-ish and nutritionally, so I'm just gonna add a couple tablespoons of this. Black pepper and a pinch of salt. And one big tablespoon of cornstarch. Stir, mix it all up. I got the big cast iron, and that's just heating up here. Now remember, I'm making all this stuff ahead of time, so getting all my mise en place together so when I do have guests come over this evening for Frankie's birthday party, I will have everything ready, I can just pop in the oven. I can do this in the morning, I can do this in the afternoon, I can do it right at dinner time, I can do it whenever. It's just nice to have it easily laid out. A neutral flavored oil. Coat the bottom of the pan, just so I don't see the bottom, there you go. And just swirl it around, make sure it's nice and warm. Little salt on the bottom here, test it. Done, and I'm gonna add these right to it. This is a very easy way to prepare these. See, I want it to get some nice color on these, so I'll let them sit, I won't stir them too often. Starting to get browner, I'm gonna add a little knob of butter. No fat in these at all. Yes, I added a little bit in here, but this makes eight to 10 portions. Butter will help it brown nicely. If you wanna skip this step and just put them on a sheet pan and bake them in the oven, I'm sure that works, but the way I wanna do it is restaurant quality and I want as much flavor as I possibly can drive into them. I'm gonna do them on the stove top. Whatever makes it easier for you to prepare something like this, if you just have an oven, just use the oven. Just a little extra extra, I just ran out to the garden, I got me some fresh sage leaves and some rosemary sprigs. And I'm just gonna toss them right in here. The fresh herbs will add some nice aromatics, some nice extra bonus flavor. A glug of olive oil. Look at that, beautiful. Gorgeous, rinse this pan out. And you know the drill, a little bit of oil, paper towel, and there's some edge stuff on the edge, it comes right off. Just wipe it out for the next time. Look at this, these are beautiful. Mm, really good, thoroughly impressed. I got the croutons done, I got this done, I got the Parmesan done, two more quick things. I thought I'd be doing this with some pasta, but I think I'm gonna use potatoes. Cut these right in half, very easy. I want the surface area wide. Pinch of salt, bring them to a boil. I'll shut them off at a boil, let them sit there for a couple of minutes. They're gonna go in the oven before we have dinner. So now I'm gonna make the dressing that's gonna go with it. This is probably one of the star of the show because this is probably one of my most requested recipes right now. This water's boiling, have a little facial spa first, then drain it, and then let them cool. And once the potatoes are cool, sheet pan, and some olive oil on the bottom, or you could use butter. Salt the pan, I'm gonna use some salt. And these, just face down. Ready to pop in the oven when we need them. My infinite Caesar salad dressing. If you want it to taste the best and not cut corners, I'm gonna grind my own black pepper. Teaspoon of peppercorns, fair amount in the dressing. Dressing should be potent. It should have a lot of flavor. One lemon, so we'll use the juice as well, but I want all that lemon flavor, so the whole skin. Grind in it, just wanna make sure all those peppercorns are nice and cracked. Four cloves of garlic, and just start pining those. It's okay if you don't get it all totally smashed because we're gonna add this to a blender. Then I'm gonna add a little bit of water, literally just a couple of tablespoons. Stir it up, get all those flavors out of there as well. That helps clean the pestle and mortar and utilizes all the flavors, so you're not wasting them. Back burner for one second, and then I have a nori sheet. I'm gonna toast one, you could do two, it's really quick. And this is gonna give it that nice seafood-y flavor. It's almost burning, you can smell it right away. Hoo, hot. Right in. Much better alternative than using anchovies. Dijon mustard, capers. Some of the liquid, but a good tablespoon, at least, if not a little bit more. It's good to have some of the juice in there. Tahini, so I'm just gonna add maybe, see, we're gonna add this, tablespoon or two tablespoons, you don't want too much. That's probably like three tablespoons. Still have that spoon that had the mustard on it, and then this is that chickpea water, the aquafaba. Some of that parmesan we just made. Gonna add a couple tablespoons. Now I'm gonna use olive oil, but if you wanna make this no oil, that's up to you. You don't have to use oil. I could add a little bit more salt if you want it saltier, but I think that's delicious. And if you don't wanna use oil, just add a little bit more tahini, a little bit more water, but this is fantastic, and when I chill it down, it's gonna be great. Now if you wanna make it even creamier, you could add a little bit of vegan mayonnaise, and you can also add some of that vegan yogurt that I've been using, the Oatly Greek-style yogurt, the thick yogurt, or whatever kind of yogurt you can get, but it has to be more of a neutral flavor. You don't want some off flavor. So for this dressing, you can take it healthy, you can go wicked. It's your call. So good. Everything I can do ahead of time is done. It doesn't take that long. It feels like it takes longer because these videos take so long to make, but it's a super quick thing, and then there's only one more thing to do besides heating everything up. This is going in the refrigerator to cool down because as it cools down, it'll congeal and get nice and thick, eat it thicker, and just super good, and it's already making my mouth water because it's not overly seafood-y. There's no anchovies in it. That nori, that toasted nori, so good with that fresh cracked black pepper, the lemon peel, the zest from the lemon, the lemon juice, the capers, and this is a freaking delicious and healthy or not healthy Caesar salad dressing. Completely plump. On these potatoes, before we pop them in the oven, this recipe is in the Wicked Healthy cookbook. I'm gonna paint them with Dijon mustard, and this is fun. It's something you could have your kids do if you want. It's another good less oil technique. On top, we'll get a nice crusty mustard crust. All right, so I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. So I still have four hours before my guests come over, but I want to finish this and make sure you see everything because as soon as people come over here, I get all disheveled and I can't really film and video the way I want to do it. So what I'm gonna do is put it all together so you can see what the final product looks like. For the main part, I'm gonna use romaine lettuce. You can also use Napa cabbage, and we did that video. I'll link that below. Boom, look at that. It's gorgeous. Cut each of those in half, so you get four wedges. Make sure this pan is nice and hot. Touch of olive oil on the bottom, just a little bit. I'm not looking to cook these. I just want to sear them. I want a nice golden color on the outside. I want it nice and cool and crisp on the outside. I want to build so many layers of flavor in this dish that it's just mind-blowing, just like that. You can make your own. Parmesan, lemon, tomatoes. I shaved some onion, rinsed it off, and then put it in the cooler to crisp them up. We have those amazing croutons. I got some gyuris. They get nice and golden brown on the top, and you can tell they're done and golden. Chickpeas and soy chunks came out amazing. Super crisp, yum. So all the condiments. I also crisped up another nori. You can make it however you like, and this is how I'm doing it. Back in the doghouse because I went to go plate this. I didn't turn the camera on to put all the condiments on, but as you can see, it looks delicious. It came out delicious. I will try again to do my best. Frankie's tidy. Ready for your birthday party, Frankie? Nori sheet. Just gonna break off a piece. Four pieces. Beautiful. A couple sprigs of parsley. And here we go, favorite part. Fork and knife for this. I love Caesar salad, and my mouth's already watering. To have a chicken Caesar salad, completely plant-based, well, I don't regret anything about this. Let's try all these things. A little lemon, a little bit of that nori, and the chicken bits, soy pieces. So good. That nori, toasted like that, is freaking delicious. It's amazing. Potato. So good. Wanna try the potato, Frankie? You don't like potato? The flavors are just amazing. You have the Caesar salad-type flavor, soy chunks, the chicken, which are just seasoned perfectly, the croutons, the sourdough croutons, which are also seasoned perfectly, and that crunch, that texture, and you get the crisp lettuce and the burnt, not burnt, but like the golden brown on the outside. It just adds to this building and building and building and building and building an explosion of flavors, and the soy chunks are so good. I do regret not having used them a long time ago. Let's pour that nori. You like that nori, don't you? I can't explain how good this is. I hope you make it. Life's rough this week. Surprise! You look so beautiful, Frankie. You look so beautiful. It's your birthday. It's Frankie's birthday, and Tonya O'Callaghan flew in from tour. Access all areas for Frankie. Look at Tonya go. Why is she literally drooling? Can I have a kiss? Oh, hold on, Frenchie. Love it. You want one? You ready? Okay, up. Come on, up. We'll get this. Ready? Here you go. Up here. Happy birthday. Here you go. Happy birthday. Cheers. Happy birthday, Frankie. Hey! Here you go. Here, it's yours. You can have it. You can have it on the left. Come on, come on, get it. You're like, wait, I'm not using it. Yeah, there you go. Cheers. Happy birthday. Let's go, let's do it. Yes, it's yours. Right here. So polite. She's eating the table. She's so polite. You ready? Happy birthday, Frankie. There you go. You're so funny. Anything I'm not supposed to say. You're like a super princess. Oh, good girl. Yummy. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Frankie. Oh, you're on cupcakes. You're ridiculous. Pupcakes. I think they were successful. I think your pupcake's for a treat. Thanks for coming, Tanya. In my honor, Frankie's birthday. Better get back on the road. Good girl, Frankie. Look at your new toy, Frankie. Your new black sheep. Black sheep. You're a black sheep. I'm a black sheep. You want the last piece of mine. Frankie, you are the absolute best. Happy birthday. You are the absolute best. I love you so much. Happy birthday. And I really, really love you so much. And this is your little cupcake. Another one? Just go easy. Don't chew it all at once. Guys, if you like this video. Frankie, you wanna go outside? You go? Go. She's gonna go outside and eat that. If you like these videos, check out these videos over here because I have a whole bunch more coming up and we're gonna start getting into some super cool leveling up flavors. Leveling, leveling up flavors. We're gonna go from basic to brilliant and it's gonna be amazing. Thank you so much for all your support and kindness. We'll see you soon.