Vegetarian Cookbook for Teens: 100 Fun Recipes to Cook Like a Pro

chapter 1

YOU’RE THE CHEF

REGARDLESS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE KITCHEN, YOU are now about to learn everything you need to know to become an expert vegetarian chef. This book will help you gain cooking confidence in the kitchen with step-by-step guidance, teaching you everything from how to create a flavorful breakfast burrito in 10 minutes flat to how to simmer up a hearty vegetarian chili with your own creative twist.

In this chapter, you will learn about various types of cooking techniques and the most common cooking terms—like the difference between boiling and simmering—so that you can easily make all the recipes in this book. This chapter also serves as a reference section for various cooking tools you’ll want to have on hand.

Additionally, I’ll explain some of the benefits of eating vegetarian in this chapter. You will learn about the many advantages of incorporating certain plant-based foods into your meals, including the vital nutrients they provide, and I’ll give you some tips on handling tricky questions about your choice to follow a plant-based diet. Let’s get started!

Kitchen Basics

Knowing where to begin when it comes to cooking your own meals may seem intimidating, but there is no need to stress. This section outlines how to set up your kitchen space for cooking success. From preparing yourself and your space to knowing what kitchen tools to have on hand and how to use them, you’ll learn exactly what you need to start whipping up the recipes in this book.

Getting Set Up

The first step chefs take when getting to work is setting up their space. After selecting the recipe you want to make, take a look around your kitchen to see what ingredients you already have on hand. If you are missing any specific ingredients, make a shopping list and tag along with your parents to the grocery store, if you can.

Once you are back in the kitchen, make sure you are prepared to cook. If you have long hair, tie it back so that it does not end up in your food. Protect your clothing from sticky ingredients and stains from spices and oils by donning an apron. Once you are decked out in your chef attire, lay out all the ingredients and utensils your recipe calls for.

If you are following a recipe that requires specific measurements of ingredients, measure these all out now. Prep any ingredients that require extra processing. This will help you stay in the zone as you cook and make your time in the kitchen go more smoothly and quickly.

Cooking 101

To start cooking, you need to understand some common cooking terms so you’ll know how to take action in the kitchen.

●BEAT: Typically done with an electric handheld mixer or stand mixer, to beat ingredients means to stir them really fast so they blend well together.

●BOIL: Boiling food requires a pot filled with water or broth that is heated to reach its boiling point on a stovetop. You will know water is starting to boil once you see what looks like bubbles rolling rapidly to the surface.

●BROIL: Broiling cooks food through direct exposure to very high heat, most commonly in the oven when you turn the setting to broil, but grilling can also create the same effect.

●CHOP: While chopping up food into smaller pieces with a knife is fairly self-explanatory, there are a few different techniques you’ll come across in this book:

♦Dice: Dicing takes a bit more focus, as you are cutting your food into small and consistent cubes.

♦Slice: Slicing cuts your ingredients into slim pieces, like when preparing a sweet potato to make Sweet Potato Fries.

♦Mince: This chopping technique results in ultrasmall pieces. The most common ingredient you will be mincing is garlic.

●GREASE: When cooking or baking food in an oven, you will normally need to grease your pan or baking sheet with oil to prevent food from sticking to it.

●PURÉE: Puréeing requires a food processor or blender to mash or blend ingredients until they have a smooth consistency free of lumps and bumps.

●SAUTÉ: Sautéing involves heating up a skillet, pan, or pot on a stovetop with a bit of fat, like oil or butter, to cook ingredients.

●SIMMER: Think of simmering as the gentler version of boiling, where your liquid is bubbling, but the bubbles are tiny and pop up to the surface more slowly.

●STEAM: Steaming requires you to place the food above boiling water in a pot. You will need a wire steamer insert to hold ingredients over the boiling water.

●WHIP: Even though whipping may seem similar to beating, when you whip ingredients, the goal is to incorporate air, or to make your ingredients fluffy. This usually requires a whisk and is done by hand (whereas beating usually requires a handheld or stand mixer).

Whoops!

You will most likely make some mistakes as you learn how to cook, and that is completely normal. Blunders in the kitchen are a major part of learning how to make new recipes and fully understanding how to cook. The most skilled and highly trained chefs in the world make mistakes, even after years of practice! What’s important is to learn from your missteps so you can do things better next time.

Here are a few common mistakes you may experience while you are making these recipes:

●Not measuring ingredients properly

●Forgetting to set your timer

●Overcooking or burning a meal

●Over- or under-seasoning your food

As mistakes happen, think about what went wrong and how you can approach your recipe differently the next time. As you grow your cooking skills, you may even find yourself creating an entirely new recipe from a mishap!

Essential Equipment

To use your newfound cooking skills, you need the right type of kitchen equipment. Many of these items can be used in more than one way and are most likely already in your kitchen.

●BAKING DISH: These deep, ceramic or stainless-steel dishes are oven-safe and often used to make casseroles, breads, and other baked recipes, like lasagna.

●BAKING SHEET: These are flat, metal sheet pans used for baking, roasting, or broiling food in the oven. They can be used to cook pizzas, cookies, or roasted vegetables.

●BLENDER: A blender is used to blend together ingredients to make smoothies, sauces, or any other food that needs to be smooth and well mixed.

●13-INCH CAST-IRON SKILLET: Cast-iron skillets are commonly used for cooking on the stove as well as in the oven (since cast iron is oven-safe). Depending on the type you have at home, either it will be precoated with some sort of nonstick surface or it will require you to add an oil coating to it before and after use.

●CHEESE/HANDHELD GRATER: This is a metal device that typically shreds cheese into small strips to be spread over dishes. It can also be used to grate other foods, such as zucchini and other starchy vegetables, into fine strands.

●KNIVES: Three types of knives are great to have to make meal prep a cinch. I’ve specified which type is best for different ingredients in each recipe, but if you find yourself short of one of these knives, don’t stress. Simply use another knife you think is best and follow the safety instructions later on in this chapter.

♦Paring knife: This knife is smaller than a chef’s knife, and the blade is straight and short. A paring knife is usually needed when a recipe calls for smaller ingredients, such as minced garlic or fresh herbs cut into small pieces.

♦Serrated knife: This knife has little edges on the blade that look like teeth. Serrated knives are great for cutting through pies, breads, tomatoes, soft fruits, or any type of food that would be squashed by other types of knives.

♦Chef’s knife: This type of knife is versatile, allowing you to slice, dice, and chop. A chef’s knife is a bit heftier than other knives, so that you can cut through thick vegetables, like squash or sweet potatoes.

●MEASURING CUPS AND SPOONS: Measuring cups are typically used to measure liquid and solid ingredients, such as nut milks, oils, and flours. Measuring spoons are for measurements of ingredients used in smaller quantities, such as spices.

●MIXING BOWLS: These bowls come in different sizes and are used when you need to beat, whip, or mix ingredients together.

●NONSTICK PAN: Nonstick pans and skillets have a coating that prevents food from getting stuck to them during the cooking process.

●SAUCEPAN: These pans, which are typically metal and made for use on the stovetop, are deep enough to boil water and make sauces and smaller batches of soups and stews. They have a long handle and typically come with a lid.

●STOCKPOT: Stockpots are large pots typically used to make larger amounts of soups, stews, and pasta. Stockpots have wide bottoms and tall sides and typically come with a lid.

●UTENSILS: You will need a silicone or rubber spatula for mixing and spreading things, a whisk to mix together ingredients in a mixing bowl, and a wooden spoon for stirring recipes like soups, sauces, and stews without scratching your pan’s surface.

●VEGETABLE PEELER: A vegetable peeler is a small tool that has two sharp metal blades attached to a handle. These blades remove the skin from produce, such as carrots, apples, and potatoes.

Make It Fun

The most important thing to remember while in the kitchen is that cooking should be fun! Once you get the hang of the most common techniques, cooking can become a calming and enjoyable hobby. Here are a few ways to add fun to your cooking:

COOK TO MUSIC. Create a special playlist you can blast in the kitchen to rock out to while you cook.

INVOLVE FRIENDS. Cooking with a buddy can help you complete recipes faster, and you will get a chance to show off your newfound skills.

IMPRESS YOUR FAMILY. Pick a night of the week to make a meatless meal for your family, and give yourself a pat on the back when you see how impressed they are with what you have learned.

FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION. Once you start making a lot of the recipes in this book, you will gain an understanding of which flavors and ingredients go well together.