cook this: 3 recipes from mastering the art of plant-based cooking, including creamy sunflower ramen
make joe yonan's pineapple macadamia oats, cashew queso and creamy sunflower ramen
10 minute read
clockwise from top left: author joe yonan, creamy sunflower ramen, cashew queso and pineapple macadamia oats. photos by erin scott
our cookbook of the week is mastering the art of plant-based cooking by joe yonan, food and dining editor of the washington post.
jump to the recipes:
mastering the art of plant-based cooking is the result of decades of culinary experience and journalism. “in some ways, i feel like i’ve been working on it my entire life,” says author joe yonan, laughing.
as yonan highlights in his fifth cookbook, which covers nearly 500 pages and includes more than 300 recipes, global vegan cuisine has evolved over centuries. the james beard award-winning food and dining editor of the washington post tapped into his own evolution as a plant-based cook to produce the expansive work.
a texan transplant formally trained in french and italian cooking and former certified competitive barbecue judge, yonan says following a vegan diet wasn’t like flipping a switch, as it is for some people. “it happened really gradually, and it happened because i think i was trying to eat clean and lean at home to make up for all the restaurant eating i was doing.”
then, one day in 2012, yonan realized he had a freezer full of expensive, humanely raised meat from the farmers market that he wasn’t cooking. a change he had been building toward for decades sped up. “as soon as i noticed that, i noticed that i was feeling a lot better. and so i just kept moving in that direction.”
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he says his own path as a plant-based cook made him sympathetic to the nuances of people’s motivations. this sensitivity shines through in the book’s openness to the idea that the lines don’t need to be hard and fast. all cooks can benefit from learning how to make plant-based food as delicious as possible.
the number of people trying to add more plant-based foods to their diet is growing. while roughly three-quarters (74 per cent) of canadians are unwilling to entirely give up meat, nearly half (46 per cent) are interested in eating more plants and less meat and dairy. as yonan notes in mastering the art of plant-based cooking, this trend is even more pronounced in younger generations.
whether readers adopt a plant-based food identity or not, yonan hopes they will approach the book with curiosity. and there’s plenty to satisfy that curiosity. the extraordinary range of the book expresses a sense of exploration, excitement and possibilities — not limitation. “i wanted to do something that tried to pull all of those threads together and show people just how rich the tapestry is.”
yonan says that mastering the art of plant-based cooking is based on the belief that whether you’re five or 100 per cent plant-based, vegan on the weekends or before six, this cuisine is worth attention. by describing plant-based cooking as just that — a cuisine — yonan aims to put it on equal footing.
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if you wanted to learn the secrets to making the best vietnamese fresh spring rolls, yonan says, you wouldn’t feel like you had to move to vietnam and only cook vietnamese food to achieve your goal. instead, you would turn to the modern cook’s toolbox: youtube videos and cookbooks by experts such as andrea nguyen. by the same token, he advocates for giving plant-based cuisine that kind of respect.
in mastering the art of plant-based cooking, joe yonan takes a comprehensive look at vegan cuisine.
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“i started feeling like a lot of the conversations around this kind of eating and cooking ended up being arguments about who was better. is it better to be vegetarian or vegan for the planet — for you? who has better health? who’s going to live the longest? is it better to reduce some, or should you be all or nothing? or, if you’re vegetarian, does that mean you haven’t gone far enough?” says yonan.
“and i just felt like, ‘what about the food? what about the food and the actual techniques that make it appealing?’ so that’s what i wanted to do.”
yonan underscores that plants — ”vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains, herbs and spices” — are at the heart of the cuisine. but because animal products are so ingrained in our culinary history and food culture, plant-based cooking can’t escape comparisons and references. “i could call it a cauliflower slab, i guess,” says yonan, laughing. “but i think calling it a cauliflower steak makes it easy to understand what i’m talking about — what the reference point is — and makes it a little bit more accessible to people.”
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in a foundational building blocks chapter, yonan shows how to make plant-based cheeses, milks, creams and butter. recipes throughout the book occasionally call for store-bought versions for ease, yet none call for “high-tech meat analogs.” instead, the book spotlights time-tested plant-based proteins such as beans, tofu, tempeh and seitan.
yonan occasionally eats plant-based meats and thinks there’s a place for them. people adopt vegan diets for various reasons, including health, sustainability and animal welfare. he emphasizes that they don’t necessarily stop eating animal products because they don’t find them appetizing. swapping in plant-based foods that are easy and familiar can ease the transition.
“do i think that people should eat beyond burgers and impossible burgers every day instead of anything else? no. i love a good veggie burger that actually has vegetables in it, and i put a recipe for that in the book. but if it helps you to eat a vegan burger rather than a big mac every week or twice a week, or however often you might have been eating a big mac, i think that’s fantastic.”
fans of yonan’s last cookbook, cool beans (2020), will already be aware that he’s “a confirmed legumaniac” — and he shares plenty of ways to showcase them in mastering the art of plant-based cooking. besides “the world’s most versatile plant-based protein,” yonan shows how to make staples such as tofu, tempeh and seitan from scratch and features myriad ways to cook with them.
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yonan’s sister, rebekah, who “was a hippie, back when hippies were hippies,” made many plant-based foods from scratch. “i pooh-poohed it for the longest time. i just thought, ‘when you can buy tofu, why would you make it?’ but it’s so delicious when you make it yourself. all of these things just can be so much better.”
now, yonan sees diy tempeh, tofu and seitan as representing the art of plant-based cooking. “this is what you do if you really want to understand how beautiful it can actually be.”
pineapple macadamia oats
cooking your oats in homemade nut milk “opens up a whole new world of flavours,” says joe yonan. here, he pairs macadamia milk with pineapple.
erin scott
makes: 4 servings
time: weekday
storage: refrigerate the stovetop oatmeal or overnight oats and cooked pineapple separately for up to 5 days.
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch (1.3-cm) cubes (11 oz/310 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (65 g) macadamia nuts, preferably soaked at room temperature for 2 hours, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp agave syrup, plus more for serving
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
3 1/2 cups (830 ml) water for stovetop oats; 2 to 2 2/3 cups (470 ml to 630 ml) for overnight oats, depending on how thick you want them
2 cups (180 g) rolled oats
unsweetened coconut flakes or unsweetened shredded coconut, for serving
1/2 pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch (1.3-cm) cubes (11 oz/310 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (65 g) macadamia nuts, preferably soaked at room temperature for 2 hours, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp agave syrup, plus more for serving
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
3 1/2 cups (830 ml) water for stovetop oats; 2 to 2 2/3 cups (470 ml to 630 ml) for overnight oats, depending on how thick you want them
2 cups (180 g) rolled oats
unsweetened coconut flakes or unsweetened shredded coconut, for serving
step 1
in a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. add the pineapple and cook, undisturbed, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes. add the vanilla, stir to combine, and transfer to a bowl. hold on to the saucepan if you are making stovetop oats.
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step 2
in a blender, combine the macadamia nuts, agave and salt. add whichever amount of water you need depending on if you are making stovetop oats or overnight oats. start blending at low speed and quickly increase to high, blending until creamy, about 1 minute.
step 3
for stovetop oats: in the saucepan where the pineapple was cooked, combine the oats and macadamia milk. bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a low boil and cook until the oats begin to break down and start to thicken, 3 minutes for looser oats and 4 to 5 minutes for thicker oats. remove from the heat and allow to cool until it reaches your desired consistency, 5 to 15 minutes. sample the oats and add more agave to taste. divide among four bowls and top with the cooked pineapple, coconut flakes and a drizzle of agave.
step 4
for overnight oats: divide the oats and macadamia milk among four sealable jars. cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. sample the oats and add more agave to taste. to serve, top with the cooked pineapple, coconut flakes and a drizzle of agave.
cashew queso
transplanted texan joe yonan came up with a dairy-free answer to tex-mex-style queso, typically made with velveeta and ro-tel brand canned tomatoes with green chilies.
erin scott
makes: 4 to 5 cups (8 to 10 servings)
time: weekday
storage: refrigerate for up to 4 days. freezing not recommended.
2 cups (260 g) raw cashews, soaked overnight (see note) and drained
2 cups (470 ml) plus 1 tbsp warm water
1/2 cup (40 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1 (10-oz/283 g) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as ro-tel brand), or 1 cup canned diced tomatoes plus 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp white miso
tortilla chips, for serving
2 cups (470 ml) plus 1 tbsp warm water
1/2 cup (40 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1 (10-oz/283 g) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as ro-tel brand), or 1 cup canned diced tomatoes plus 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp white miso
tortilla chips, for serving
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step 1
in a blender, combine the cashews, 2 cups (470 ml) of the water, the nutritional yeast, potato starch, turmeric and salt. puree until smooth.
step 2
transfer the mixture to a small saucepan. stir in the tomatoes/green chilies (plus all their juices) and the vinegar and slowly heat the mixture over medium-low heat without bringing it to a boil, stirring and scraping the sides and bottom of the pan occasionally with a silicone spatula to avoid scorching. (if you heat the mixture too fast, without stirring, it can get clumpy.) when it is hot but not bubbling, reduce the heat to low.
step 3
in a small bowl, whisk the miso with the remaining 1 tablespoon water until smooth. stir into the queso, taste, and add more salt if needed. keep on low heat, stirring occasionally, for serving. (you can also transfer it to a slow cooker for serving, if you’d like to keep it warm for a party.)
step 4
serve hot with tortilla chips.
note: if you are using a vitamix or other high-powered blender, skip soaking the cashews.
creamy sunflower ramen
for joe yonan’s creamy sunflower ramen, use fresh noodles. if you can’t find them, “just break open whatever packages you can find — and make sure to ditch those seasoning packets.”
erin scott
makes: 4 servings
time: weekend
storage: refrigerate the noodles, broth and vegetables separately for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
broth:
1 cup (140 g) raw sunflower seeds, soaked in water for 8 to 12 hours, drained and rinsed
2 cups (470 ml) water
6 cups (1.4 l) vegetable broth
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more as needed
1 cup (140 g) raw sunflower seeds, soaked in water for 8 to 12 hours, drained and rinsed
2 cups (470 ml) water
6 cups (1.4 l) vegetable broth
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more as needed
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garnishes and ramen:
12 oz (340 g) fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems composted (or saved for stock)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
fine sea salt
1 lb (450 g) baby bok choy, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
4 tbsp shichimi togarashi (see note)
1 lb (450 g) fresh ramen noodles, divided into 4 equal portions
1 cup (35 g) lightly packed fresh sunflower sprouts
12 oz (340 g) fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems composted (or saved for stock)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
fine sea salt
1 lb (450 g) baby bok choy, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
4 tbsp shichimi togarashi (see note)
1 lb (450 g) fresh ramen noodles, divided into 4 equal portions
1 cup (35 g) lightly packed fresh sunflower sprouts
step 1
preheat the oven to 400f (200c).
step 2
make the broth: in a high-powered blender, combine the soaked sunflower seeds and water and blend until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. set a nut-milk bag in a bowl, pour in the sunflower milk, close the bag, and use your clean hands to extract as much of the liquid as possible, twisting and squeezing the bag over the bowl. (compost the pulp, or save it to add to smoothies, such as in place of the peanut butter.)
step 3
in a large saucepan, combine the sunflower milk, vegetable stock and salt, whisking to combine. taste and add more salt if needed. set over medium heat, and when the mixture is very hot but not bubbling, reduce the heat to low and cover to keep hot.
step 4
prepare the garnishes: on a large sheet pan, toss the shiitake caps with 1 tablespoon of the sunflower oil. transfer to the oven and roast until tender, about 10 minutes. leave the oven on. transfer the mushrooms caps to a cutting board, cut into thick slices, and season lightly with salt.
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step 5
while the mushrooms are roasting, use a salad spinner to wash and thoroughly dry the baby bok choy.
step 6
transfer the bok choy to the same sheet pan you used for the mushrooms and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon sunflower oil. roast just until the greens wilt, about 3 minutes. remove from the oven, season lightly with salt, and let the bok choy rest on the sheet pan.
step 7
cook the ramen: bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
step 8
ladle 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the hot broth into each of four deep bowls. add 1 tablespoon of the shichimi togarashi to the bottom of each bowl.
step 9
add one portion (4 oz/115 g) of ramen noodles to the boiling water. cook until barely tender, 30 to 90 seconds. use a spider sieve or slotted spoon to lift the noodles from the water, holding them over the pot to drain, then transfer them to one of the bowls. repeat with the remaining noodles.
step 10
divide the remaining hot broth among the bowls. (if it has separated or slightly curdled, don’t worry: just whisk it for a few seconds, and it’ll come back together.) top each bowl with mushrooms, roasted bok choy and sunflower sprouts. serve hot.
note: find shichimi togarashi (japanese seven-spice mix) at spice shops, japanese grocery stores and some supermarkets, or you can make your own.
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recipes and images reprinted with permission from mastering the art of plant-based cooking by joe yonan, copyright ©2024. published by ten speed press, a division of penguin random house, llc.
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