Eating vegan is no longer the polarizing concept it once was, and more and more people are interested in incorporating more vegan meals into their repertoire. But there are still a lot of misconceptions surrounding the vegan diet—that it’s limiting; that it’s expensive and requires its adherents to purchase a slew of specialty (and often processed) ingredients, like vegan cheese; that it’s all raw vegetables and bland tofu; the list goes on. Don’t let those myths deter you! In this course, you will learn how to work with common vegan ingredients, such as tofu, but also how to utilize ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. We rely on flavor boosters such as soy sauce and dried mushrooms to add umami flavor to many of our vegan dishes. You will also learn how to make a hearty vegetable broth base to keep on hand for any vegan and vegetarian dishes. We've also found that store-bought vegan cheeses taste overly processed and grainy, so we'll show how to make your own vegan parmesan and cashew ricotta. Cooking vegan challenged us to rethink the way we look at mealtime, reinventing rather than replicating dishes. However, we were able to create some of our most interesting and unique recipes to date—like Baja-Style Cauliflower Tacos, which feature crispy coconut-coated cauliflower paired with spicy mango slaw and cilantro cream. In our Vegan Mushroom Bolognese, porcini mushrooms mimic the savory flavor and hearty texture of ground beef. For our Black Bean Burgers, the liquid in a can of black beans binds the burgers together, which means they have more bean flavor and you won't have to use an egg substitute.