Kitchen Aid

Review of Vegetarian Cooking with Compassionate Cooks DVD

By Mark Hawthorne

Satya Magazine, April 2005

Although I’d eaten tempeh countless times, I’d never cooked with it. I was resigned to viewing this food as another of life’s great mysteries, like Stonehenge or the Electoral College. But my kitchen confidence got a genuine boost after watching Vegetarian Cooking With Compassionate Cooks, a new DVD co-hosted by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Alka Chandna. The chefs, both accomplished and knowledgeable vegetarian cooking instructors, combine the delight of a fun cooking class with a generous dose of vegan nutritional information. In no time I’d prepared a delicious tempeh lunch.

With an inspiring exuberance and obvious passion for the subject matter, Patrick-Goudreau and Chandna take viewers though six dishes: Eggless Egg Salad, Mouthwatering Chocolate Chip Cookies, Hearty Three-Bean Chili, Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce, Harvest-Stuffed Acorn Squash and Magic Chocolate Cake. All the recipes on the DVD are easy to prepare, and they’re all vegan. I tried the chocolate chip cookies, and I have to say they are the tastiest cookies I’ve ever made. The chefs examine many of the health aspects of a vegan diet – including information on such hot buttons as B12, protein, calcium, omega-3s, and phytochemicals – and encourage viewers to add some lesser-known ingredients to their repertoire (quinoa, anyone?).

Special features on the disc include Frequently Asked Questions, which address the most common concerns about vegetarian dining; “Thinking Outside the Crate: Farm Sanctuary’s First 15 Years,” a short piece narrated by James Cromwell; an introduction to meat analogs, dairy substitutes, and other vegan products available in grocery stores; and biographies of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Alka Chandna. There are also a couple of bloopers after the final credits.

The full-screen presentation is of high quality. This was obviously shot in an actual kitchen, not a sound stage with special set lighting and acoustics, but the visuals are very sharp and the audio is clear. All the recipes can be accessed from the menu screen, and the disc contains a wealth of information. Vegetarian Cooking With Compassionate Cooks is an excellent addition to any vegan or vegetarian kitchen, and it’s a great way to show novices how easy, healthy, and liberating it is to cook without animal ingredients. It may even solve a few mysteries for you. The DVD ($20.00 plus shipping) runs just shy of 81 minutes, including bonus material, and is available from www.compassionatecooks.com or from www.amazon.com.