The Culinary Institute of America

Cauliflower and Eggplant Adobo

Adobo is a Filipino dish made with meat, seafood, or vegetables braised in soy sauce, vinegar, herbs, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Chef Rudy Smith, corporate chef at Unilever Food Solutions, was inspired by this classic flavor profile to make a vegetarian twist on adobo with cauliflower and eggplant. The vegetables are braised in soy sauce, Knorr® Professional Liquid Concentrated Vegetable Base and vinegar and aromatics. Savory, sweet, and tart, your guests will love this Cauliflower and Eggplant Adobo.
Get the Cauliflower and Eggplant Adobo recipe here!

One Filling — Three Dishes: Roasted Mushroom, Quinoa, and Walnut Filling in Stuffed Eggplant, Tacos and Empanadas

Chef Rudy Smith, corporate chef at Unilever Food Solutions, shows us how to make three different dishes – Empanadas, Tacos, and Stuffed Eggplants– all using one versatile mushroom, quinoa, and walnut filling. For the base filling, the quinoa is cooked in Knorr® Professional Liquid Concentrated Vegetable Base for extra flavor, then tossed together with chopped roasted mushrooms and sautéed chopped walnuts.
Get the Roasted Mushroom, Quinoa, and Walnut Filling recipe here!

Flatbread with Roasted Mushroom Sausage and Red Peppers

Chef Rudy Smith, corporate chef at Unilever Food Solutions, shows us some plant-based techniques for building intense umami flavor for this delicious vegan Flatbread with Roasted Mushroom Sausage and Red Peppers. The vegan “sausage” is made with roasted mixed mushrooms, mixed with a dairy-free risotto made using Knorr® Professional Liquid Concentrated Vegetable Base. It’s easiest to work with when the risotto is slightly overcooked and cooled. Meat lovers and vegans alike will love this flavor-packed pizza!
Get the Flatbread with Roasted Mushroom Sausage and Red Peppers recipe here!
 

Rice Noodle Bowl with Roasted Vegetables and Curried Quinoa

This Rice Noodle Bowl with Roasted Vegetables and Curried Quinoa is a delicious, colorful, healthy and hearty addition to any menu. Gluten-free rice noodles serve as the base of the bowl. They are sautéed with soy sauce and Knorr® Professional Liquid Concentrated Vegetable Base. This instantly adds lots of flavor, color and aroma to the noodles. The noodles are topped with a scoop of curried quinoa made using Knorr® Professional Liquid Concentrated Vegetable Base, and tossed with Hellmann’s® Lemon Za’atar Vinaigrette and curry powder. Topped with a tossed arugula salad and assorted roasted seasonal vegetables, your customers will love this hearty, produce-packed bowl.
Get the Rice Noodle Bowl with Roasted Vegetables and Curried Quinoa recipe here!

Chef Heena Patel Make Patras at Besharam Restaurant in San Francisco

Heena Patel is the chef and co-owner of Besharam in San Francisco. Chef Patel shows us the secrets to making patras, fried hoja santa leaves, served with micro greens, peanut chutney, and crunchy masala peanuts. “Patras” means “palm leaf layers” and is an Indian dish of fried leaves stuffed with a spiced chickpea flour batter. Her mom used to make the dish using taro leaves, but at her restaurant Chef Heena Patel uses hoja santa leaves.
Watch the full documentary and find plant-forward recipes here!

Chef Heena Patel Makes Ragda at Besharam Restaurant in San Francisco

Heena Patel is the Chef and co-owner of Besharam in San Francisco. Chef Patel talks about the inspiration she draws from her upbringing in Mumbai, and cooking vegetarian cuisine. She also talks about when to add spices so you don’t burn them, and how her version of culinary school was shadowing her mother, grandmother, aunts, and sisters in the kitchen. Her restaurant, Besharam, translates to “shameless” or “fearless.” This idea guides her everyday. The menu is filled with dishes that she loves and that represent her personal approach to cooking.
Chef Patel demonstrates how to make ragda, which is a white pea curry used in many Indian street foods. She tops the ragda with potato patties, mint and cilantro chutney, tart and spicy date and tamarind chutney, and crispy sev.
Watch the full documentary and find plant-forward recipes here!

Chef Heena Talks Plant-Forward Indian Cooking at Besharam Restaurant in San Francisco

Heena Patel is the Chef and co-owner of Besharam in San Francisco. Chef Patel talks about the inspiration she draws from her upbringing in Mumbai, and cooking vegetarian cuisine. She also talks about when to add spices so you don’t burn them, and how her version of culinary school was shadowing her mother, grandmother, aunts, and sisters in the kitchen. Her restaurant, Besharam, translates to “shameless” or “fearless.” This idea guides her everyday. The menu is filled with dishes that she loves and that represent her personal approach to cooking.
Besharam is a regional Gujarati restaurant in San Francisco’s Dogpatch district. Roughly translated to mean “shameless,” Besharam features Heena’s bold interpretation of the flavors and dishes that were prevalent throughout her childhood in India, playfully reimagined within a California context.
Watch the full documentary and find plant-forward recipes here!

Katina Connaughton Talks Sustainable Agriculture at SingleThread Farm

Katina Connaughton is the head farmer and co-owner of SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn, in Healdsburg, CA. She talks about her sustainable farming practices, biodiversity, and connecting the community to sustainable food systems.
Katina Connaughton met Kyle Connaughton, her now husband and the co-owner of SingleThread, when they were teenagers. Katina leads farming for SingleThread Farm's twenty-four-acre property, greenhouses, heirloom orchards, bee hives, and livestock as well as the foraging program and floral department. Katina began her first foray into farming while living in a rural agricultural community in Hokkaido, Japan. She continued culinary gardening on a Victorian estate property in England before moving to Sonoma to complete her coursework in Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture. Katina was greenhouse manager for the Ag Program and Santa Rosa Junior College and has farmed at Davis Family Winery and The Barlow.
Watch the full documentary and find plant-forward recipes here!