Eva & Rachel Participate in Veguary: Vegan Loaded Fries
As you may have seen on our social media and through our newsletter outreach, Kelly’s Kitchen is partnering with AfroVegan Society in February in honor of Black History Month to amplify the work that AfroVegan Society does to make vegan meals and vegan recipes available to as many people as possible.
This partnership includes Kellys Kitchen doing the following:
Participating in weekly Veguary cooking demos (typically held every Friday at 1 pm EST)
Provide feedback about the recipes from our perspectives
Provide advice or tips to increase accessibility of the culinary process or recipe itself
Provide support to AfroVegan Society by ensuring every Veguary cooking demo has an ASL interpreter present for the live demos and to be featured in the recordings.
Provide support to AfroVegan Society by ensuring recorded Veguary demos have Captioning included.
Provide support to AfroVegan Society by ensuring there is a screen reader-friendly plain language version of the recipe available on their website for download.
We know that often times cooking in of itself is not accessible or inclusive of people with disabilities. One of the main goals of AfroVegan Society is making sure that vegan cooking and a vegan lifestyle are available to as mnay people as possible - and this includes people with disabilities!
Last week AfroVegan Society held a new cooking demo on Friday, February 21 at 1 pm EST, and Rachel, Operations Director, and Eva, Food Security Network Coordinator made the recipe to give you feedback on how it went, what they loved, and any additional tips for accessibility!
"This meal had it all. Protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and the cheesy taste of one of my favorite comfort foods. This week Danni McGhee was back in the kitchen to guide us through another classic meal with a vegan twist.
This week's recipe would be great for entertaining. You could prep all of the ingredients before your guests arrive, and invite everyone to make their own loaded vegan fries with their toppings of choice. This way everyone can be a little creative, and your vegan friends can join in on the fun.
While making this meal I learned that crumbled tofu can get really crispy! I loved the crunchy, savory, salty element this added to the dish. For Christmas this year, I received a tofu press that helps you quickly remove moisture from a tofu block. This is a totally unnecessary tool (you can also wrap your tofu in paper towels and place a heavy book on top to press your tofu), but I highly recommend it if you are impatient like me. This step was not included in the recipe but it made my tofu so crispy! I also learned that any meal can be a showstopper with a well seasoned potato. So don't be afraid of the spice cabinet and join us in making this week's Veguary recipe."
- Eva Houston, FSN Coordinator
“This recipe was one that I was really excited about from the beginning because it’s something approachable that I could also try and get my kids invested in tasting. Because who doesn’t like french fries? I always think of fries as a vegetarian and vegan food on it’s own when made at home - but I didn’t think about making them loaded with some really delicious vegan toppings! The tofu crumbles were really good on there because of how crispy and crunchy they were. It added a really great texture and taste to the recipe. The crunchy tofu pieces were what I liked best about the first recipe we made - the friend chix’n wrap - so I was excited this was on the loaded fries!
I was also really pleased with how well the vegan shredded cheese I bought - same as the one I used for the fried chix’n wrap - melted. We have some family member that are dairy-free, so we have tried multiple brands of vegan cheese. I find that the shredded Daiya brand melts the best and closest to traditional shredded cheese.
In terms of a meal that helps ease you into some vegan options - this is one I would highly recommend! And it helps that the recipe is VERY easy to follow and doesn’t rely on a lot of cutting and prep work. It means that the meal is relatively easy to make and does not take too long, which is great when you have limited amount of time or energy to make something to eat.
As always, the addition of ASL to the cooking demo as well as putting questions asked in the comments written up on the screen was very helpful! Danni has a tendency to talk pretty fast, and she did a great job of slowing it down this cooking demo; which is very much appreciated!
If there’s only one recipe you try from this demo cooking series - definitely try this one!”
-Rachel Kaplan, Operations Director
Watch the recorded cooking demo and make the recipe yourself by visiting the following links: