The Culinary Institute of America

Chef Madeleine Lais, assistant culinary director at Shukette restaurant in New York, shows us Shukette’s signature salad. The hearty salad features grilled radicchio, mixed greens, figs, toasted walnuts, and a date vinaigrette. Watch the full documentary and find recipes here !

Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja is a James Beard Award Finalist and serves a Middle Eastern menu at Shukette restaurant in New York. Her plant-forward dishes draw on the rustic, vibrant flavors found throughout Morocco and Tunisia. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ayesha is the daughter of an Indonesian father and Italian mother. She talks about her culinary influences, and her penchant for taking inspirations f...

Chef Nasim Alikhani of Sofreh, in Brooklyn, shows us how she makes a’ash reshteh, a classic Iranian stew. This intensely aromatic and rich stew is made with beans, lentils, noodles, herbs, the liquid from strained yogurt, and liquid whey. The a’ash reshteh is topped with mint oil, more liquid whey and onion chips. Watch the full documentary and find recipes here !

Chef Nasim Alikhani of Sofreh, in Brooklyn, shows us how she makes anarbij with cauliflower steak. Anarbij is a fragrant stew from northern Iran, made with an abundance of herbs, pomegranate molasses, onion, and ground walnuts. She serves the stew as a hearty vegan entrée at her restaurant plated in a shallow bowl and topped with a grilled cauliflower steak brushed with pomegranate molasses. Watch...

Nasim Alikhani is chef/owner of celebrated Persian restaurant, Sofreh, in Brooklyn. Growing up in Iran, Nasim Alikhani was a passionate cook from childhood, spending the first years of her life in the kitchen alongside her mother. When she departed after the revolution, it was by re-creating the dishes of her youth that she was able to feel connected to home. It took Nasim 25 years to realize her...

Samuel Yoo is chef/owner of Golden Diner in New York City’s China Town, and shows us how he makes a vegan chili crisp wedge salad. He delights in taking a traditionally creamy dish and transforming it into a vegan creation, and this salad is no exception. He tops the iceberg lettuce wedges with vegan ranch dressing, vegan blue cheese, mushroom bacon, diced tomatoes, and a generous amount of chili...

Samuel Yoo is chef/owner of Golden Diner in New York City’s China Town and shows us how he makes a Mushroom Reuben Quesadilla. He uses Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and mushroom pastrami. Making the mushroom pastrami is a 3-day process. Portabella mushrooms are cured overnight, drained, roasted, chopped, and smoked for 2 days. Watch the full documentary and find recipes here !

Momofuku alum, Samuel Yoo, is a rising star and chef/owner of Golden Diner in New York City’s China Town. Fusing his fine dining background with a reverence for traditional American diner fare, Golden Diner serves Latin, Chinese, Greek and “Brooklyn vegan” inspired cuisines. Samuel Yoo talks about techniques for making vegetables shine, and how eating in Queens diners in his childhood influenced h...

Chef Mike Pyers is chief culinary officer at three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, and shows us how he makes silken tofu with tomato and anise hyssop. He makes the tofu in-house using locally produced soymilk. The tofu sets in a steam box for 5 minutes, then is topped with tomato confit, fresh tomatoes, Calabrian chilies, and anise hyssop. Watch the full documentary and find reci...

Chef Josh Hardnen, creative culinary director at Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, shows us how he makes sunflower salad with beans and epazote. The dish utilizes all parts of a sunflower blossom. The core of the sunflowers have an artichoke-like flavor and texture, and are cooked in saffron and white wine. The petals are served three ways: baked, fermented, and fresh. Watch the full documentary a...

Daniel Humm is the chef and owner of Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, which has held three Michelin stars since 2012 and was ranked first by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2017. In 2021, Eleven Madison Park famously transitioned to a plant-based menu. Chef Daniel Humm talks about how shutting down the restaurant during the pandemic gave him time to think about his legacy, and the impact a pla...

Michaela Duke, sous chef at Michelin-starred restaurant, Dirt Candy in New York City, shows us a whimsical take on corn tamales. She starts the dish with an intensely-flavored corn puree dotted with mole, corn salsa verde, and raw baby corn slices. She tops the puree with a corn tamale steamed inside of a corn mold. Watch the full documentary and find recipes here !

Michaela Duke, sous chef at Michelin-starred restaurant, Dirt Candy in New York City, shows us how she makes Zucchini Spring Roll Rangoon. She starts with a salad of torn zucchini, squash blossoms, and bamboo, dressed in vegan fish sauce and lime juice. She creates a wanton-like shell by frying a zucchini dusted in cornstarch. The crispy zucchini shell is filled with a creamy puree of zucchini and...

Michaela Duke is sous chef at Dirt Candy in New York City's Lower East Side. Dirt Candy is a vegetable-focused restaurant with a 5-course tasting menu. She talks about the restaurant’s evolution since it opened in 2008, as well as the culinary team’s creative process in developing the seasonal menu. Dirt Candy’s Michelin star brings in more destination diners, and Chef Michaela loves to change the...

Amanda Cohen is the James Beard-nominated chef and owner of Dirt Candy, the Michelin-starred vegetable restaurant in New York City's Lower East Side. Dirt Candy was the first vegetable-focused restaurant in New York City, and a pioneer of the plant-forward movement. Dirt Candy was also the first restaurant in the city to eliminate tipping and share profits with its employees. In this interview, Ch...

Inside the Plant-Forward Kitchen: New York is the second edition of a new educational video produced by The Culinary Institute of America—a first-of-its-kind video reference library documenting the best of plant-forward cuisine. In this documentary series, we explore the markets and restaurants of New York with the chefs who are on the leading edge of this culinary mega-trend. We talk to Chef Aman...

A sabich is traditionally pita or laffa bread stuffed with fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, chopped salad, amba, and tahini sauce. It’s an Iraqi Jewish street food that has become a staple of Israeli cuisine. This creative twist features watermelon salad and watermelon rind "amba." Amba is traditionally a super pungent, tangy mango sauce popular in Iraq and Israel. In this version, Chef Magnus You...

For a delicious dish that balances the richness of grilled lamb with the bright and fruity sweetness of watermelon molasses, try these grilled lamb chops with watermelon molasses, watermelon sofrito, and polenta. Your guests will love the combination of savory and smoky lamb with sweet and fruity watermelon glaze, spiced watermelon sofrito, and creamy polenta. Chef de Cuisine and Culinary Manager...

This fruity, sweet, and refreshing drink inspired by the traditional michelada, uses watermelon juice in place of tomato juice. Chef Magnus Young, Chef de Cuisine and Culinary Manager at the Bruschetteria Food Truck for Clif Family Wines in St. Helena, CA, shows us how he makes this watermelon “melonchelada.” Get the recipe for this Melonchelada Cocktail here!

Chef de Cuisine and Culinary Manager at the Bruschetteria Food Truck for Clif Family Wines in St. Helena, CA, Magnus Young shows us how to make a watermelon stack cake. This stack cake filling gets its beautiful color and sweet flavor from watermelon molasses and watermelon butter, and is inspired by a classic Appalachian dessert. Some historians believe that stack cake was a 19th century Appalach...

Here’s an elevated version of a banana split. This Maple Pecan Ice Cream Sundae is made with Caramelized Bananas, Pecan Honey Tuile, Orange Cranberry Compote and Candied Pecans. This Pecan Delight Ice Cream Sundae brings together familiar and nostalgic flavors that your guests will love. This was one of the winning recipes created by Tkaiya Dryden, a student at The Culinary Institute of America du...

Delight your guests with this delicious dish that’s perfect for fall: Pecan and Mascarpone Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce. The crisp and buttery New Mexico pecans, the creamy mascarpone, and the rich brown butter sage sauce create a dish that’s both indulgent and comforting. These ravioli are the taste of fall in one creamy, sweet, and savory bite: Pecan and Mascarpone Ravioli with Brown But...

Wow your guests with this delicious vegetarian pasta dish: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Pecan Ricotta, Roasted Brussels Sprout Leaves and Apple Fennel Salad. The combination of pillowy soft gnocchi, creamy pecan ricotta, and refreshingly crisp apple fennel salad, make this a winning menu option. This was one of the winning recipes created by Olivia Delisle, a student at The Culinary Institute of Amer...

This beautiful dish brings the comforting flavors of fall to your guests: Acorn Squash Mousse Tart with Spicy Pecan Brittle and Candied Bacon. The crisp and nutty pecan brittle, the smoky bacon, and sweet creamy mousse work together to make a delicious combination. These tarts can be served as a nice fall appetizer, an amuse bouche, or even a light lunch accompanied by a salad. This was one of the...

These mouthwatering Chipotle Tofu-Crumble Tacos are quick and easy to make, and they’re packed full of healthy, plant-based protein. We’re using Nasoya Plant-Based Meat Crumbles in place of meat and topping it off with some fresh tomatillo salsa and pickled red onions for the ultimate plant-based taco night! These plant-powered tacos re-imagine tofu as an exciting new menu item in your kitchen. Ge...