Plant-Based Cooking

Introduction & Assessment

Plant-based cooking means making delicious meals from vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, nuts, and seeds — with little or no meat or dairy. Before you cook anything, find out where you're starting. Look at what you ate yesterday and count how many plant foods appeared. Browse the free recipes at MinimalistBaker.com — every recipe uses 10 ingredients or fewer. Watch "What I Eat in a Day (Plant-Based)" on YouTube to see what a realistic plant-forward day looks like. In Utah, the Salt Lake Farmers Market (slcfarmersmarket.org) runs spring through fall and is one of the best places to discover local produce. The Utah Food Bank (utahfoodbank.org) also runs plant-focused nutrition programs. You're ready for the next step when you can name five plant-based protein sources and explain why protein matters even without meat.

Foundation Building

Great plant-based cooking starts with a stocked pantry and a few key skills. Build your foundational ingredient list: dried lentils, canned chickpeas, canned tomatoes, oats, brown rice, olive oil, garlic, onions, and vegetable broth. These are affordable and available at every Utah grocery store. Learn three core techniques: sautéing vegetables, cooking dried grains, and simmering a simple soup. The free YouTube channel "Sauce Stache" and the free website FatFreeVegan.com have step-by-step tutorials for all three. Practice making one simple dish this week — a lentil soup or a chickpea stir-fry — using only pantry staples. Pay attention to seasoning: salt, acid (lemon or vinegar), and heat transform plain ingredients into satisfying food. You're ready for the next step when you can cook a complete plant-based meal from scratch using at least four whole-food ingredients.

Skill Development

Now expand your skills with three new techniques: roasting, making sauces, and batch cooking. Roasting transforms vegetables — try roasting broccoli, sweet potatoes, or cauliflower at 425°F until caramelized and slightly crispy. Make a simple tahini sauce (tahini, lemon, garlic, water) that works on everything. Then practice batch cooking: spend 90 minutes on a Sunday preparing a big pot of grains, a batch of roasted vegetables, and a pot of beans. These become three or four meals during the week. The free "Meal Prep Sundays" subreddit (reddit.com/r/MealPrepSunday) has hundreds of plant-based ideas and photos. Utah's Harmon's grocery stores carry a wide variety of bulk grains and legumes at low cost. You're ready for the next step when you've completed one full batch-cooking session and eaten from it for at least three different meals.

Practice & Refinement

Refinement means cooking with confidence and variety. This week, cook one new recipe every two days from a different cuisine — try a Mexican black bean bowl, an Indian dal, and a Mediterranean falafel wrap. Each one uses different spices and techniques that build your flavor vocabulary. Learn to use nutritional yeast (cheesy, nutty flavor), smoked paprika (depth and smokiness), and fresh herbs to make food exciting. The free app Forks Over Knives has beginner plant-based recipes with shopping lists. Visit the Salt Lake Farmers Market and buy one vegetable you've never cooked before — ask the farmer how they prepare it at home. Cook it that same day. You're ready for the next step when you can cook three different plant-based meals from three different cuisines without using a recipe for reference.

Challenge Mode

The challenge is to go fully plant-based for one full week and document every meal. Plan all 21 meals in advance using a free meal planner like Cronometer (free version at cronometer.com), which also tracks nutrition so you can make sure you're getting enough protein, iron, and B12. Pay attention to how you feel — energy, digestion, satisfaction. Cook at least two meals that are "wow" level — the kind you'd serve to a skeptical friend. Then do exactly that: invite someone who thinks plant-based food is boring and cook them a full meal. The Utah Food Bank runs a Plant Forward nutrition program — look up their free community cooking classes as a bonus resource. You're ready for the next step when you complete the full seven-day plant-based challenge and can describe how your energy and eating patterns shifted.

Mastery Demonstration

Share your plant-based knowledge with your community. Host a simple plant-based potluck or cooking demo for at least four people. Assign everyone one dish from a category: grain, protein, vegetable, and sauce. Walk guests through how each dish was made, what the key ingredients are, and where to find them affordably in Salt Lake City — including the Farmers Market and bulk bins at local co-ops like Harmon's or Whole Foods. Create a one-page "starter kit" with your three favorite beginner recipes, five pantry staples, and two free resources (MinimalistBaker.com and FatFreeVegan.com). Post your starter kit to your SLCTrips profile. You're ready for the next step when every guest at your gathering tries at least two dishes and can name one plant-based meal they'd feel confident cooking at home.