Summer is right around the corner, and what better way to use your summer break then honing your culinary skills and expanding your food expertise at the Natural Gourmet Institute. At NGI you will learn healthful cooking techniques and become immersed in the vibrant and inspiring New York City food scene. Whether you have a few days or a few weeks to spend in NYC, NGI has recreational classes and certificate programs fit for any agenda.
Read moresix things i've learned in culinary school... half way there!
I am a little past the half way point at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts Chef's training program. It has been an extremely intense, gratifying, and humbling experience. We started with the basics - knife skills, proper bean and grain cookery, and soups and stews and have steadily progressed to hors d'oeuvres, pâtés, and pastry. Although NGIHCA's scope is slanted toward health supportive cuisine, the classic and essential skills are covered and serve as the foundation for becoming a well rounded natural foods chef. Ahead you will find my visual diary summarizing the past 10 weeks of culinary school.
Read moreculinary school here i come!
Hey vegheads! I am beyond excited to share with you that I am headed to culinary school to become a natural foods chef. I will be attending the Chef's Training Program at The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (NGIHCA). NGIHCA is not your typical culinary school. The Chef's Training program is ideal for plant-forward seasonal eaters and health-minded individuals who want to advance their culinary craft. Becoming a natural foods chef has long been a dream of mine. You may be curious why. It is quite simple. I want to increase my skills in the kitchen in order to be able to explain the art of cooking more clearly to YOU. I want to be able to craft better recipes for YOU and to be able to confidently explain the techniques and the art of health-focused cooking for YOU!
I hope that you join me on my journey over the next few months when I will be sharing my experiences at the school as well as featuring some inspired seasonal plant-based recipes developed especially for YOU! Thank YOU for all the support and the motivation. I cannot wait to share this experience with you all!
Read morechickpea + kale soup
I've been in culinary school the last two weeks and the amount of knowledge which I have absorbed is exponential. I thought that I had a solid understanding of whole foods and vegan cooking but, as I eagerly discovered, there are infinite things to better understand and discover. One of the foundations that I have learned is the basic principle behind beans. From a nutritional standpoint, soaking beans increases the legume's digestibility for some individuals and affords the consumer total control over sodium content, quality, and quantity of spices which flavor or preserve the beans.
Don't get me wrong - I have always been a boxed or BPA-free can bean sort of girl. The ease and simplicity is undeniable as well as the last minute convenience of cracking open a can of cooked beans. Yet, once you cross over to prepping beans yourself, the difference is insurmountable.
Read morei'm going back to school
Sure, I've done a rigorous three years of graduate school, a stressful year of a dietetic internship, hours upon hours of dancing my way through college, and years of volunteering, but what have I not done yet? Culinary school!
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