10 Questions: Vegan Foodie with Hannah Kaminsky

Okay, so can I just say that Hannah Kaminsky is one of the original vegan rock stars of the Internet age and she’s still in her 20s? How is this possible? Well, when you’re an ambitious, creative and precocious teenager and you start your own website to post your innovations as a ridiculously talented wunderkind, it’s kind of easy. Hannah has been gifting the world with her alluring vegan recipes and adorable crafts since she was a wee teen and today, she lives in San Francisco as a photographer, continuing to post on her original website, BitterSweetBlog, and to knock my socks off with her beautiful, bold photography and imaginative recipes, made especially for the lover of sweets but with plenty of savory delights as well. The original post that got me hooked to all things BitterSweet was this recipe for peanut butter cups, which I still make every year for Halloween. (And, oh, whenever.)

As a multitalented freelancer – she can do photography, writing, recipe development, web work and more and you can hire her for it by contacting her – her prolific spirit and work ethic has produced FIVE cookbooks (okay, now I’m really feeling like a loser) including the new beauty, Real Food, Really Fast: Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Ready in 10 Minutes or Less. It’s a fabulous new cookbook, full of her trademark creative recipes and stunning photography, but written from the angle of ease and speed, which is so important if we want to make plant-based food more accessible, with fast and flavorful recipes like Red Velvet Smoothie, Chickpea Mulligatawny, Cauliflower Risotto alla Milanese, S’Mores Baked Alaska and this week’s guest recipe, Hash Brown Waffles. Follow Hannah on her Instagram for loads of inspiration. I highly recommend Real Food, Really Fast for everyone, from vegan-curious to long-time vegans alike. I am proud to feature vegan trailblazer Hannah Kaminsky as this week’s Vegan Foodie.

1. How did you start down this path of creating delicious food? Was a love for food nurtured into you? Did you have any special relatives or mentors who helped to instill this passion?

It was all quite unintentionally, really! Everything started with my blog, which began life over 12 years ago as merely a place for me to share my crafty ventures- Knitting, crochet, sewing, beading, and so forth. Eventually I began to see baking as an art and a craft, and slowly grew more passionate about that. My love for creating food only grew when I got my first job cooking at a small café, and my boss there really taught me the fundamentals from the ground up. I was a 16-year-old with no experience and no skills, but Sue Cadwell took my enthusiasm and turned it into real competence in the kitchen.


2. What was your diet like when you were growing up? Did you have any favorite meals or meal traditions? Do you carry them over today?

I was a super picky, unhealthy kid growing up! The basis of my early diet was instant ramen, mac and cheese out of the box, and hot dogs. My current eating habits couldn’t be more different. Luckily, I was never big on eating meat, so it wasn’t a strain to go vegan, even back in those early days when the alternatives were not so widely available nor palatable.

3. It’s late at night and you just got home: What is your favorite quick and simple vegan meal?

Soups and stews are my go-to instant meals. If there are any vegetables in the fridge or freezer, there’s a soup waiting to happen. Start with onions and garlic sautéing on the stove, add in any produce you can scrounge up, raid the spice rack for any sort of complimentary flavors, and you’ve got a delicious meal in minutes, no matter the time of day or night. Canned beans are indispensable at these times to add a quick infusion of plant protein, too.


4. If you could prepare one meal or dessert for anyone living or dead, who would it be for and what would you create?

Tough question… I think it would be fun to bake my version of Nana Blanche’s famous chocolate cake for her and see what she thinks, comparing it to her original creation. She was my Nana’s nana, so that would be a long lineage of strong bakers to live up to!

5. What do you think are common mistakes in vegan cooking and how do you avoid them?

I’ve found that a lot of people conflate veganism with gluten-free, or no oil, or no sugar diets, and it’s a big mistake to jump in and cut everything out at once. If those approaches work best for your healthy, then the more power to you! It’s just plain wrong to think that merely cutting out cruel animal ingredients should automatically mean a severe, strict, deprivation diet.

6. What ingredients are you especially excited about at the moment? Also, what ingredients do you always like to have on hand?

It’s awesome to see aquafaba getting so much love these days, even from the mainstream media! I no longer need to explain the weird “canned chickpea brine” to people and get nothing but raised eyebrows in response. Since I eat a ton of chickpeas anyway, that’s something I always have around. I tend to freeze the excess in ice cube trays, so I can pop out a few portions anytime I want to bake.

7. What are your top three cuisines from around the world?

Japanese cuisine has always been a top inspiration for me; I went to a magnet high school to learn Japanese language and culture, so I was obsessed from an early age. Living in California, I’ve been exposed to lots of excellent Mexican food, which has slowly begun to influence my own approach to building flavors as well. Finally, Chinese food has always been very accessible, yet diverse and always exciting, so I find a lot of those nuanced flavors and unique cooking techniques very inspiring.

8. Who or what has been most influential to you on your vegan path? Individuals, groups, books, films, etc. included.

When I first went vegan over 15 years ago, Vegan Freak by Bob and Jenna Torres was my north star in a dark sky. I’ve gone back and re-read it several times since then, and it always reminds me why I’m vegan and re-energizes my commitment, if I find my enthusiasm ever flagging.

9. What issue is nearest and dearest to your heart that you would like people to know more about?

I wish that so-called “conscientious carnivores” would really take a closer look at what they think is “humane meat.” It’s a lovely concept, but not the reality…

10. Last, please finish this sentence. "To me, vegan food is…"

Simple. There’s no need to make life so complicated. It’s just good food, period!