Yes, please! Teya Brooks Pribac with Junction 142 manager Stephen Bradley (right) and Joshua Bradley, about to savour the three-ingredient coconut balls.
Story and photos by Linda Moon
Healthier for us and better for the planet and purse, plant based food is trending. A local expert can show you how to turn plant foods into mouth-watering creations.
Key Points:
- Statistics show interest in plant based food is booming with Aussies among those leading the charge.
- Local author and academic, Teya Brooks Pribac from PlantInspired, is running monthly cooking classes in Katoomba to teach us how to make plant foods fun, creative and delicious.
- Leaving animal foods off the plate is associated with a longer life span in many studies. A Seventh Day Adventist study of over 73,000 people, for example, found vegans had a 15 per cent lower risk of dying over the study period compared to those eating meat.
Under the guidance of PlantInspired’s Teya Brooks, we start with caramelising onions. Some of us take turns stirring the onions; another participant washes lettuce leaves at the sink. We learn the caramelising process takes a slow 45 minutes on very low heat and that soaking lentils overnight makes them cook quicker – just some of the tips you don’t normally learn from a cookbook, but take home in a fun, intimate, face-to-face class like this.
Today we’re learning how to make a three-course meal: a lentil and vegetable burrito, a Mexican-inspired sang choy bau stirfry encased in a lettuce leaf, and a coconut sweet. There’s also a free recipe handout to take home.
A class participant and Teya Brooks Pribac get creative in the kitchen.
The secret of great taste: it’s all in the spice and salt
Teya’s goal is to start with simple ideas accessible to people without expensive kitchen tools. The focus of the classes is on cheaper cooking techniques and healthy, plant based ingredients using pantry staples. The menu features inexpensive ingredients anyone has in their cupboard – no sign of almond flour or pomegranate here.
“A lot of people want to eat more vegetables but don’t know to make them taste good,” she says. “They steam them. What I want is to teach people how to make vegetables in a really nice, tasty way.” According to Teya, that magical element of deliciousness is really just about adding salt and spice.
Fresh ingredients for the burrito. Colourful plant foods like these are high in antioxidants, good for you and the environment.
Plant-based passion
Teya, (who is Slovenian-born and has a PhD in animal grief from the University of NSW), is passionate about vegan food: “It’s cheaper, healthier, better for people and the planet and kind for animals”. It was actually her husband (poet, David Brooks) who taught her to cook. “I started to cook with him, then I got better than him,” she reveals with a smile.
She also began experimenting with vegan cheeses. It’s a culinary journey that resulted in a cookbook, the aptly named Not Just Another Vegan Cookbook. It’s been praised by icons in the vegan world, like Lynda Stoner.
The delicious final result: veg and lentil burrito and veg stir-fry in lettuce leaf. Yum.
Teya never expected to end up in community work, but at this stage on her path feels more useful in the community than in the academic world. Along with her community cooking classes, Teya, who has been vegan since 2005, hosts Sip and Savour afternoons at Good Earth Bookshop in Wentworth Falls (a delightful chance to sample plant-based delicies and wine), plus other community cooking events and classes through her community cooking project, PlantInspired.
Teya from PlantInspired serving it up.
The joy of cooking and eating together
There’s something so natural and traditional feeling about cooking and eating together. Bonds form quickly over food. Menu and food ideas are traded along with local news.
By the time we sit down together to feast at the end of the two-hour class, we’re all comfortable with each other, chatty and hungrily tucking in. The three-course meal is restaurant quality, visually attractive and utterly tasty. For the $10 class fee, it’s a bargain. There’s also plenty to go round and Teya shares food with others at the Junction 142 centre.
Plenty to share. Eating together is the spice of life.
Those who fear or loathe baking, or simply don’t have time, will love the coconut dessert. The tasty treat has only three ingredients: coconut, sugar and vanilla. For something so simple, it’s surprisingly delicious and dressed up with some chocolate bits, looks great.
Creative fun with coconut.
Come to the next class
If you missed Teya’s cooking class and want to attend the next one, here’s all you need to know:
When: Teya’s cooking classes will be offered monthly for two hours between 11am and 1pm. Each month will feature a different menu with new, fun plant-based recipes to explore and enjoy.
Where: Junction 142, at 142 Katoomba Street, Katoomba. Go towards the back of the building to the entrance beside the Sweet Charity Op-shop.
Cost: $10 donation to help offset the costs of the social enterprise project and fund those who can’t afford it to partake. The class is free for concession card holders.
To book or enquire: Call or message Teya on 0434 691 496
Learn from a master of vegan cookery. Teya Brooks Pribac from PlantInspired demonstrating how to make coconut balls.
Take Action:
- Book the community cooking class with Teya on 0434 691 496.
- Share this article with others in your community.
- Experiment with more plant-based foods.
Share this article:
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
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