Cooking, Baking Vegetarian: Top Chefs in the News

Vegetarian recipes are everything but bland and boring. Well-known and accomplished vegetarian chefs show that cooking and baking with vegetarian ingredients not only tastes fantastic, but is also incredibly healthy.  

Suggested Recipes:

Vegetarian Recipes
Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu
Falafel, Vegetarian Style

Jo Kaucher
Veggie Lover Jo Kaucher has been cooking vegetarian meals at the Chicago Diner for over 25 years and has been named one of the top vegetarian chefs in America by both Vegetarian Times and The Chicago Vegetarian Society. Everything chef Jo creates is real food, and she only uses natural, homegrown produce and other fresh, seasonal ingredients to create wonderfully healthy, classic, home-style dishes.  

Mark Reinfeld
Mark Reinfeld has been preparing healthful foods and vegan cooking since the 1990’s. He is the co-founder and executive chef of the Blossoming Lotus Restaurant and winner of the 2006 Ilima Award for “Best Kauai Restaurant”. Mark also received the Platinum Carrot Award given to America’s top “innovative and trailblazing chefs” for raw cuisine. He is also the co-author of the internally acclaimed cookbook “Vegan Fusion World Cuisine”.

Nadine Abensur
The Moroccan born vegetarian chef Nadine Abensur draws on her French-Jewish heritage, travels, and creative imagination to create her scrumptious recipes. Nadine lives in London and Australia, where she not only offers gourmet vegetarian cooking courses, but also writes for magazines like “BBC Good Food” and “Delicious”.

Ron Pickarski
Ron Pickarski, the president and executive chef/consultant for Eco-Cuisine, Inc., a Colorado-based vegetarian foodservice company, is the first professional vegetarian chef to be certified as an executive chef by the American Culinary Federation. He is also the founder/director of the American Natural Food Team, which competes at the International Culinary Olympics and was the first chef to win seven medals with plant-based foods. Ron has also made television appearances, produced two cookbooks and a video, and written many articles for national periodicals.

Gavin Kaysen
Award-winning chef and vegetarian virtuoso Gavin Kaysen is the executive chef at Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud in New York. His cuisine at Café Boulud can be described as seasonal French fare with a definite American twist. In 2007 Gavin was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 10 Best Chefs and in 2008 he received the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious award for “Rising Star Chef of the Year”. Gavin is especially well known for his vibrant vegetarian dishes focusing on seasonal, organic produce.

Simon Rimmer
Chef and vegetarian expert Simon Rimmer became unsuspectingly knowledgeable on vegetarian food when he bought a vegetarian restaurant in Manchester in 1992. Not a vegetarian himself, Simon nevertheless became obsessed with the idea of opening a vegetarian restaurant and creating exciting and innovative vegetarian dishes. He has appeared as a guest chef on BBC Two's Saturday Kitchen and UKTV Good Food Live and was voted the most veggie-friendly TV chef in the 2008 Vegetarian Awards.

Bryant Terry
Eco chef, food justice activist, and author of “Vegan Soul Kitchen”, Bryant Terry mixes fresh, local ingredients with a blend of classic southern cuisine into delicious vegetarian menus. His interests in farming, cooking and public health dates back to his childhood in Memphis, Tennessee, where his grandparents encouraged him to grow, make and enjoy healthy food. In 2001, he founded b-healthy!, a nonprofit organization that educates youth about food and healthy cooking. His first book “Grub” (coauthored with Anna Lappé) explores an approach to food that goes beyond organic and is a winner of the 2008 Nautilus Award for Social Change.

Suggested Recipes:

Vegetable Nut Roast
Creamy Spinach Soup
Vegan London Broil
Vegan: Aloo Rasdar
Toasted Garbanzo Patties