Cooking Secrets From a Vegetarian Restauranteur

A one-on-one sit-down with Jennifer Houston, head chef at one of Canada’s leading vegetarian restaurant chains.

Jennifer Houston, co-owner and head chef of the award-winning vegan Fresh restaurants in Toronto, dishes on vegetarian cuisine. Houston also co-authored two of Fresh's cookbooks, including the most recent, reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes from the Award-Winning Fresh Restaurants (John Wiley & Sons, 2007).

Clean Eating: Does vegan cuisine take any more time or prep? Do you have any meal prep and planning tips?

Jennifer Houston: I don’t think vegan cooking takes longer than any other kind of cooking. If you have certain basic pantry ingredients, you can always whip something up, and just go to the market to get whatever veggies look good that day. There are certain formulas and patterns you can follow, such as:

• a base (brown rice, soba noodles, kamut udon noodles, quinoa)
• a sauce (tamari, sesame oil, peanut sauce, tahini sauce)
• a protein (nuts and seeds, tofu, tempeh, beans)
• vegetables (spinach, arame - a mild sea vegetable, cucumber, broccoli, kale, asparagus, sunflower sprouts – the possibilities are endless)
• flavorings (lemon juice, fresh herbs, sea salt, gomashio - made from sesame seeds)

If you choose a base, a sauce, one or two proteins, some vegetables and flavorings, you can come up with countless different combinations, and make it as simple or as complex as you like. The same goes for salads. I always pick:

• one or two kinds of leaf (my favorites are baby arugula and mache)
• nuts or seeds (currently I am using a mixture of sesame, poppy, flax and sunflower seeds)
• a protein (usually chickpeas or tofu)
• a whole bunch of vegetables and fruits (I am really into apples, pears, currants and goji berries in salads right now; I also really like marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts and roasted potatoes in salad – they make it feel like a full meal)

Just dress with some lemon juice or vinegar, sea salt and your favorite oil, and you have a salad that is much more interesting than that old iceberg lettuce, tomato and cucumber combo that some people call a salad!

CE: What are some of your vegan-cooking clean tips?

JH: One good way to make a really creamy, hearty soup without adding any dairy or other fattening ingredients is to make a soup, split it into two portions, purée one half, and then mix them back together. That way, you get the richness and texture of a purée, with the satisfaction of eating big chunks of vegetables or beans or whatever is in your soup.

Also, don’t rely on store-bought salad dressings, which can add so much fat and calories to your otherwise healthy salad. I either use just oil and vinegar or, if I want a creamy dressing, I purée some raw sunflower seeds or cashews with lemon and grapefruit juices, water, garlic and sea salt to make a delicious and healthy alternative.

CE: Do you have a favorite dish that's perfect for vegans and meat-eaters alike to make at home?

JH: Something I make all the time when I have someone over for dinner is a very simple pasta. I heat some olive oil in a pan, add chopped tomatoes, some lemon juice, garlic, sambal oelek, sea salt and herbes de provence. At the last second, I add some baby spinach. Then I toss it with some cooked whole-wheat pasta or soba noodles, and top with some roasted vegetables.

For the vegetables, I usually do mushrooms and asparagus if it is in season. I just toss them with a little bit of oil and some sea salt, and then stick them in the oven. You can top this pasta with a bit of nutritional yeast or some cheese if you’re not vegan. Serve with some nice, crusty whole-grain bread. It’s simple, but so good.

CE: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What's the easiest energy-boosting drink or smoothie that our readers can put together at home?

JH: A really easy drink for the morning is the Super Protein Power Shake from our reFresh cookbook. It is made with 12 ounces of vanilla soymilk, 1 peeled banana and 1 tbsp of spirulina. You just blend the banana and soymilk, then add the spirulina while it is blending. It’s really filling and satisfying, and the spirulina gives you a kind of natural high. When we are working in the kitchen and start to run out of steam, we have one of these to perk us back up. And it’s way healthier than a Red Bull!

CE: Do you agree that eating five or six small meals a day is the way of the future? If so, why?

JH: For people who work in kitchens, that is the way we have been eating all along. You don’t want to have a huge meal that will make you tired, so you are much more likely to graze all day. For instance, have a pita with hummus, then a couple of hours later, have a bowl of soup, then later a smoothie. It is healthier to keep on fueling your body all day, rather than letting yourself get really hungry, then being stuffed, then being hungry again.