Plant-Based Tour and Cooking Classes at Co-op in 2020

January – April 2020

The Davis Food Co-op Teaching Kitchen is offering 5 plant-based/vegan cooking  classes plus a vegan tour of the Co-op.

Purchase your seat to enroll for each class listed below in advance on Eventbrite (click here). (If classes show low enrollment, they are cancelled 3 days in advance.)

Plant-Based / Vegan Tour of the Davis Food Co-op

Monday, January 13th, 5:30-7:00

Join us on a stroll through the Co-op to learn what wonderful support they have for plant-based diets. Meet COOL Cuisine founder Anya McCann and the Co-op’s new Deli/Bakery Manager, Weslie McRoberts, taste some of the new Meatless Mondays Hot Food Bar offerings and hear about products you might not have heard of that can be used as substitutes for eggs, dairy, and meat in your home cooking. Meet inside the entry door by the hot food bar.

Instructor: Anya McCann, 1.5 hour walk through and tasting

New Year’s Resolution: 10 Weeks to Vegan Crash Course
January 25, 3:30 pm-5:30 pm

Teaching Kitchen at the Davis Food Co-op
537 G St, Davis, CA 95616
Learn the basic building blocks for easing into vegan eating. Vegan Outreach will highlight some of the most useful tips from their (free) 10 Weeks to Vegan series and lead a discussion about how gradual changes can become permanent habits. Chef Alex will share recipes for homemade Thai yellow curry with baked tofu, BBQ chick’n skewers and chocolate chip cookies.  2 hour demonstration class.

Instructors: Alex Bury and Jackie Va

Alex Bury is a former professional chef and restaurant owner, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He’s been teaching classes for Sacramento Co-op, McDougall program, Whole Foods and Vegan Outreach.

Eggplant Parmesan:Vegan Italian-American Cuisine 

Friday, February 21st 3:30-5:30pm

Students would learn how to prepare a vegan cream sauce to pair with pasta noodles, braising techniques for vegetables, and battering/frying techniques with ingredients that are easily accessible in most grocery stores. The dishes prepared would include a crispy vegan eggplant Parmesan, vegan mushroom fettuccine Alfredo, and a simple vegan garlic bread to pair with the main dishes.

Chef Brandon Dinh, 2 hours demonstration

Baked Ziti with Homemade ‘Ricotta’ and Red Sauce: Vegan Nutrition

Friday, March 6th 4:30-6:30pm

Making sure you get the proper nutrition while on a vegan diet is a vital aspect of eating animal free. Join Registered Dietician Jack Norris and Chef Alex of Vegan Outreach as they discuss this important topic while preparing a menu that showcases how you can meet all of your nutritional needs. Guests will enjoy baked ziti with homemade ‘ricotta’ and red sauce; ginger carrot soup; sauteed greens, quinoa and avocado salad, and creamy banana chocolate ‘ice cream’.

Alexandra Bury and Jack Norris, 2 hour Demonstration

Vegan Passover Table

Wednesday, March 18th 5:30-7:30pm

What to put on your seder plate to replace animals products?

  • You’ll learn substitutes for the roasted shank bone, hard boiled egg,
  • You’ll get a recipe for the gefilte fish replacement “No Guilta Fish” (with samples to taste)

Main dish options discussion: using quinoa and nuts for boosted protein We’ll demonstrate two colorful, easy-to-prepare main dishes

  • Stuffed tomatoes
  • Quinoa Paella (which you can customize to your favorite veggies)
  • Tips on egg replacement for kugels Printed recipes to take home!

Anya McCann, 2 hour demonstration

Vegan Egg Substitutes you can buy at the Co-op – Crepes, Omelets, and Quiche 

Friday, April 24st 5:30-7:30pm

There are a multitude of items found at the Co-op to use as egg replacers or egg-like foods: Bob’s Redmill Egg Replacer, VeganEgg, JUSTEgg products will be featured with discussions about easily found simple, inexpensive ingredients that will do the trick in many types of recipes. -When do you use each one? How can you start experimenting? -What goes well in cakes, cookies, and pancakes? -We’ll make crepes, omelets, and a quiche to see how they work!

Anya McCann, 2 hour demonstration class

COOL Potlucks

COOL Cuisine is holding pot luck dinners in 2018 on Sunday nights, periodically.

One of the big successes of COOL Cuisine 3rd Thurs was drawing together a plant-based community in Davis.  We all felt the need to have more meals where we can all share food – food we make with an opportunity to experiment with new recipes and skills, the ability to share recipes and cooking tips, and the ability to try new dishes. Please sign up on Meetup.com. Open an account and search “Groups” for “Cool Cuisine”. Join our group. In order to receive invitations by email, make sure to set your profile preferences to be able to receive emails from the group organizer.  We will send out dates and locations that way with any instructions unique to each event. We may have themes, varied locations, or decide to divide up the types of dishes by last name. We will provide plates, utensils and basic drinks. Seating will be partially outdoors, so dress accordingly.

Potlucks are on hold until after the Burger Battle. But the Davis Meditation & Kirtan has been holding very well-attended vegan potlucks and creates Facebook events to advertise.