Your Favorite Personal Chef

02/18/2022

Miso soup is on the menu tonight! What about you?

12/20/2021

Sushi Burritos are on the menu for a healthy, amazingly delicious, filling dinner tonight. It’s much like making regular sushi but on steroids. You can be as creative as you like with the fillings, as for the sauce I used fresh ginger and Tamari mixed together and soaked the tofu in it.

11/08/2021

Composed salads for any day make salad an intentional, savory meal the entire family enjoys! This has mixed greens for the base, chickpeas, carrots, pickles, fresh sauerkraut, avocado, blistered tomatoes, & soy.

07/11/2021

We’ve hiked this at least a dozen times. It will be missed.

: The Hawaii DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) recently announced the closure of the Maunawili Falls Trail as of July 15. The closure is expected to be for two years and includes the trailhead near the Maunawili Estates subdivision.

For more information visit https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2021/07/08/nr21-131/

05/01/2021

Have you tried blistering tomatoes? It’s an extra step to adding another layer of flavor and savory deliciousness to your dish.
Add your cherry/grape tomatoes to a pan and cook on medium rolling consistently, so as to not burn them. When they are shriveled up, you’re done!
Give it a try and let me know what you think...

04/13/2021

You can make your own delicious sauces at home!

This is a nutritious, satisfying dish of mushrooms, Garbanzo & green beans with a Tamari-Ginger Sauce.

Here’s the deets on the sauce:
Tamari
Maple syrup
Rice vinegar
Minced garlic & ginger
Tahini
Tomato paste
Vegetable broth
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Thickener of choice (Tapioca Flour)

This meal is delectable from every angle and satisfies the hungriest eater at the table.

03/30/2021

Savory Balsamic stuffed avocados will change your life! These culinary treats will make your mouth water and fill your belly with healthful, deliciousness! Each half is stuffed with roasted tomatoes seasoned with oregano, thyme, rosemary & garlic powder and sautéed onions. They are finished with dairy free queso fresco, scallions and a balsamic reduction sauce. Buon Appetito!

03/04/2021

Everything comfort! Have you tried Barbecue Jackfruit Sandwiches?Wowza! These are scrumptious, easy and finger-licking fantastic. Pictured here is canned Jackfruit, pulled into strips, sautéed in barbecue sauce with fresh made sauerkraut on a toasted onion bun with dill pickle chips to garnish and vegan cashew cheese just to throw your tastebuds into overdrive.
I hope you can make this meal and enjoy it with your family and please share it here if you do.

02/23/2021

Easy, delicious and all plant based for the win! Tortilla Burrito Bake filled with seasoned tofu, grilled veggies, cashew nacho cheese and of course salsa for the finish. It doesn’t need to be Tuesday to enjoy this family feast...
Put it all together and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and garnish with sliced avocado after you remove from oven and serve warm with loads of fresh salsa!

12/18/2020

Composed salads are filling, healthy & always fantastically delicious! I always choose a bed of mixed greens for variety of flavor, texture and color and then add all of my favorite toppings to take the salad to a filling level. I add quinoa, avocado, kidney beans, sautéed onions, Garbanzo beans, red and yellow peppers, celery, corn & blistered tomatoes for extra moisture and popping flavor.
Being plant based is delicious!

10/05/2020

What say you? Our family enjoys all different sorts of nut and oat milks and this was new on our radar here in Hawai’i. This milk tastes fantastic, it’s flavorful, delicious & has a very low environmental footprint regarding water usage and has a nutritional profile that is high in Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, low carb intake & high in vitamin B1 and magnesium.
All that to say, we love it and are glad to add it to our pantry!

09/21/2020

Stuffed Peppers are so good! There are a bunch of different ways to be creative with the stuffing that makes everyone at your table happy. These are stuffed with baked tofu sausage, fresh garden vegetables & my favorite cashew cheese sauce. I added 1 lasagna noodle to create that layered look and really give that chewy carb taste.
It works best to par-boil the peppers and get them softer but not mooshy.
Baking the tofu crumbles with coconut aminos & fennel gets them to a sausage consistency and of course the fennel puts it in the same flavor wheelhouse.
Let me know if this is something you are interested in trying at home!

09/18/2020

It’s almost FALL! We all love the excitement of fall and the change of the seasons and comfort food is Queen! Here is a simple, scrumptious, vegan chili. I stumbled onto this while staying at an efficiency one weekend and had very limited access to my spices and pantry. This chili contains diced and whole canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tofu crumbles in soy sauce and fennel, black beans, pintos, zucchini, diced onion, Pablano pepper, chopped carrots, frozen corn, chipotle seasoning, chili powder, nutritional yeast & water.
I made some fresh bread with pumpkin seeds and boom you’re in business with a fantastic family meal! Enjoy...

08/31/2020

I highly recommend reading Dr. M. Greger’s bestseller, How Not To Die. As a health food lover and a vegan chef who enjoys preparing delicious, amazing, healthy food for people I was really jacked by this quote:
“Over the long term, the more you eat healthfully, the better healthy foods taste.”
Remember how amazing your body is and how much power you have to nourish it or destroy it. Be intentional to put clean food in your bodies tank and your body will thank you for it.

08/07/2020

Delicious veggie paella! A spectacular way to use your garden vegetables and incorporate some ridiculous flavors created with turmeric, thyme, garlic, Worcestershire, coconut aminos, soy sauce, smoked paprika & white pepper. I used Farro for the grain instead of the traditional rice.

06/11/2020

As a vegan I get asked if I eat salad a lot. Honestly, I will only make a salad if it’s a full meal. This is mixed greens with Spanish quinoa, avocado, jalapeño, corn & fresh creamy dill dressing. It’s filling, delicious and healthy! Everyone will asks for seconds and you just sit back and smile.

06/04/2020

Pressing Tofu:

When cooking with firm or extra firm tofu it’s excellent to squish out as much water as possible to allow the tofu to soak up marinades and makes it crispier when baking or frying it. This technique will take your tofu game from average to out of this world!
This is an actual tofu press that I use but you can always use a heavy book or whatever is handy to do the job just as well.

I made chorizo tofu here and prepped my own seasoning mixture of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, Tahini, smoked paprika, cumin, Chipotle powder, garlic and onion powder, oregano, thyme, S&P, and all-spice.
I added diced onion and Nutritional Yeast, baked everything for 25 minutes at 425 F.
Served with all sorts of yummy toppings and we made our own tacos.

03/05/2020

I’m seeing more and more restaurants offering other options besides a salad. This is a seriously great opportunity for restaurants to tap into a huge market that is growing by leaps and bounds.

'If there is a demand for a new kind of product like a vegan item then of course you need to cater for it'

02/06/2020

Aloha Everyone,
What’s the latest good eats you ask? It’s bar-b-q Jackfruit sandwiches of course!
Jackfruit is quite the health packed food to behold. It’s an exotic fruit grown in tropical regions. It’s the largest tree fruit in the world and can weigh up to 80 lbs! Vegans and vegetarians often enjoy this fruit as a meat substitute due to its texture, which is comparable to shredded pork.
This sandwich was made with shredded Jackfruit, barbecue sauce, sliced red cabbage & Dill pickles on a toasted bun.
Jackfruit is also sold in cans at the grocery store or online as well.
Have you tried Jackfruit before? Please comment and let me know your experiences.

01/14/2020

American style goulash completely plant based is on the menu tonight. It fills the bill for delicious comfort food, reheats well, tastes even better the next day and full of veggies. No meat or oil needed for this classic!

11/28/2019

Thinking of a meat alternative for holiday meals? This one will leave your taste buds with all the frillies!
Roasted & Stuffed Butternut Squash
The stuffing is made with wild rice, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, butternut squash, dried cranberries, rosemary, sage, & salt/pepper. Hollow out the center after roasting for 75 minutes at 350 degrees, fill with stuffing, serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days and reheat.
Happy Eating!

11/26/2019

With the holiday season upon us there are so many options for making main dishes that are brilliantly delicious & healthy! Here are Crabless Vegan Stuffed Portobellos. If you love that Maryland Crab cake flavor but want to keep it healthier this is for you! I blended a half block of soft tofu, 1 can Hearts of Palm, 12 artichoke hearts, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, fresh ground pepper, powdered garlic & Old Bay Seasonings until creamy. Scrape out the mushroom stem and middle a bit and fill with mixture top with Panko bread crumbs and green onions and drizzle with vegan butter and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until done.
This is a crowd pleaser and you will definitely want to have extra! Enjoy!!

11/05/2019

Let’s talk mushrooms!
This is a delicious, filling and highly nutritious mushroom loaf. It’s made similarly to a traditional meatloaf with mushrooms as the base instead of ground meat. I also use raw oatmeal, nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs & ground walnuts as binders. You can really make it how you love with sage, Rosemary, thyme, ketchup, diced onions, celery, garlic etc...
A healthy spin on a traditional comfort food favorite.

09/27/2019

Goals!

09/19/2019

Eating whole, real food is where it’s at! You only get one body, treat it right and you’ll be thankful.

09/08/2019

Veggie Burgers! They are hip, they are cool but they are also nutritious & highly de-lish!
I baked some beautiful beet burgers for my family. These are boiled beetroot blended into a purée with nutritional yeast, Dijon mustard, garlic, Serrano pepper, oat flour, rice (brown or white), a flax egg & a large splash of hot sauce. I garnished with sliced avo, sautéed onions, cabbage, jalapeños and barbecue sauce. Served with a toasted Hawaiian bun, these veggie burgers will be in your top 3 favorite burgers of all time!

09/06/2019

Bowls are a healthy, filling way to get delicious food on the table. This is rice, cashew cheese, split peas, mixed greens & creamy cilantro sauce, served with a flour tortilla. This is a clean, plant based meal that makes for happy smiles and full bellies.

07/10/2019

Wow! I wish I had a picture but they got snarfed too quickly! You’re going to absolutely love Tofu Pancakes! They are so silky, rich and filling, the best pancake I’ve ever eaten. Be aware they take a little more time to cook because of their density but well worth it.
Whenever I cook I use no oil but definitely add it to the pan for easy flipping if that’s an ingredient you’re willing to use.
Here is my recipe:
150 grams silken tofu (not firm)
1/2 C nut milk
1 egg (I use vegan egg)
1 cup favorite flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Optional:
Fruit compote
I always add chocolate chips to pancakes because chocolate is life!
Mix until smooth, makes 12 small pancakes.
Please let me know if you enjoy!

07/10/2019

I just spent two weeks in Japan and realized it’s difficult to find vegan restaurants. So I relied on an old favorite, curry! I decided the first dish back home would be a healthy, delicious curry. I am posting a picture of the dry spices used and I also added full fat coconut milk and cilantro. Delicious meal, everyone asks for thirds.

05/27/2019

I was inspired by a dear friend to make carrot dogs and was really happy with the final product. I chose rainbow carrots, cut small slices in them, boiled in seasoned veggie stock and served on a toasted bun with fresh sauerkraut, banana peppers, relish and brown seeded mustard. It’s a delicious meal and perfect for families.