I believe strongly in the power of food as a foundation for health. Sadly, healthy cooking and eating are often casualties of our busy lifestyles . Although you will find all kinds of vegan and plant based recipes here my focus is on healthy, easy, and delicious, plant based meals that anyone can make and everyone will enjoy. I try to stay away from processed foods and focus instead on the “old school” vegan foods I learned to cook before plant based eating was popular or trendy.

My kitchen is the heart of my tiny California bungalow in Los Angeles California. One of my favorite things is cooking for friends then sitting around my 1950’s table (inherited from Grandma) and enjoying their company, home cooked food, and a glass or two of wine. Through Cat’s Vegan Kitchen I invite each of you to my table, pull up a chair and enjoy a delicious and healthy home cooked meal.

NO! I learned to cook out of desperation. At 16 I was a vegetarian in a meat loving family, who also loved to make fun of me for my new lifestyle choices. So, if I wanted to eat anything other than spaghetti, I needed to figure it out myself. I started by cooking recipes out of magazines- there were no blogs back then. Thankfully I found that I really loved to cook- the kitchen is where I can express my creativity and my love for my family and. friends.

At 16 I read a story about a “downed cow” that could not walk and was instead pushed off the truck and dragged to slaughter. A compassionate animal lover from birth I began to read more about how factory farms treated livestock and immediately traded my beloved steak for beans and rice. In college, as an Environmental Science and Biology major, I learned about the devastating effects of animal agriculture on our environment as well as the detrimental effects of a meat based diet on our heath. I was a vegetarian for 15 years before I made the leap into being vegan and I have been vegan for the past 20 or so years.