The vegan canteen: keeping the grano cliché at bay

Things have tumbled for Marie-Michelle Chouinard. Barely two years ago, she launched her blog A vegan mom thanks to which many Internet users were able to discover his fertile culinary imagination. Then, at the end of August, his first book, The Vegan Cantine, came out, offering 70 “recipes for good living”.

In the pages of this bistro-style book, there are no animal products, but no compromise on the pleasure of eating either.

Courtesy photo

The Vegan Cantine: recipes for good living
Marie-Michelle Chouinard
VLB editor
192 pages

“Health doesn’t just come from what we eat,” recalls the author. Often, we think that eating healthy is the basis of health, but we forget about psychological and emotional health through that. When we feel less well, cooking can bring us a certain comfort … “

Here, we do not count calories. We do not blush in front of fats and sweet elements either. “I especially wanted to dissociate myself from the cliché – I prefer to call it grano than healthy – which is very unprocessed, without oil, without sugar, without frying and without gluten. “

Boldness!

Some will see it as a beautiful culinary freedom, others will salute the audacity of mixtures and dishes such as strawberry Pop-Tarts, “ hot chicken “ or the fries “Animal style”.

For Marie-Michelle Chouinard, this approach is easily explained. “We have no other choice but to reinvent everything when we become vegan […] Like using cashews to make cheeses and sauces, using water from a can of chickpeas to whip up, make meringue. We’re used to taking other ingredients and doing all kinds of things. “

Among the successes that make her particularly proud, there is her best cake: tiramisu. “I’m really happy because it’s one of the recipes that gave me the most difficulty. The grocer’s fingers are not vegan and we had to find a way to make them, but it’s full of eggs … “

In addition, she finally decided to publish the steps and ingredients necessary to make her own burger.

“It’s been four years [que la recette a été créée] and we hesitated a lot, my boyfriend and I, to make it public. It really is our favorite burger. It’s not necessarily something I’ve really worked on. I had a stroke of luck, got it the first time, and the recipe stuck. I’ve never modified it, and we love it. We love him as much as beyond meat. “

Not a fad

And what does she respond to those who persist with the idea that the allure of veganism will fade?

“I don’t think an ethical choice can be fashionable. It is a change of life. It’s not just diet and it’s not diet […] Veganism is also about clothing, cosmetics, household products and entertainment. When we are aware, that we have done our studies, that we know why we are going to stop consuming these products, it is really very rare that we [fasse] A step back. ”

For a smooth transition

Marie-Michelle Chouinard
Blogger and author

Enjoying to say that the textures, flavors and aromas of vegan food are similar to those of dishes concocted from animal products, Marie-Michelle Chouinard believes that it is possible to convince the most skeptics.

In order to achieve this, she suggests trusting desserts. “The first dishes that people make“ eh, I don’t believe you! ”Are desserts. Everyone has in mind that a vegan dessert is dry and it tastes nothing. In a dessert, we will replace dairy products, eggs and butter with vegetable products. It’s not something you notice when you taste it. “

Educate yourself and be patient

For anyone who sees the possibility of changing their diet, Marie-Michelle Chouinard recommends acquiring knowledge. “Ideally, we educate ourselves, we educate ourselves, we want to know why to become vegan. Throughout this journey – our readings, the documentaries we will listen to – [il faut] learn to cook again … “

And there’s no need to tear up all his menus to immediately start fresh. It is even better, she says, to take it slowly so as not “to create a sudden change and lose all our bearings.”

Put everything in place

When you want to discover one or another of her vegan creations, the author also has a very simple but very relevant advice: devote time to the implementation.

“The first step is to read the entire recipe. That way, we won’t be “poked”, we won’t realize that our dried beans, we had to soak them the day before, for example. We can know the time it will take and the steps […] It is important to prepare everything in the right cuts and in the right amounts. “

▶ The book The vegan canteen is available in store.