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Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey
series • cooking
PG
series • cooking
PG
Eight years ago, life changed forever. The chef and MasterChef Australia finalist met his now wife, Georgia, who was a plant-based eater. Toohey fell in love with both his new beau and a new lifestyle, and decided to follow a plant-based diet.
“I have always been very interested in plant-based meals,” recalls 38-year-old . “But when I started dating Georgia, I became very intrigued by the idea of a plant-based diet. I wanted to learn how to at a higher level to make them extra delicious. So I started playing with new flavours and applied known cooking techniques to make plant-based dishes that were really interesting.”
A few years later, Toohey appeared on our screens as a plant-based MasterChef Australia contestant. Over two seasons, in 2019 and 2020, Toohey acquired a national reputation for skilfully infusing vegetable dishes with added flavour.
Today, Toohey remains as passionate and active in advocating plant-forward cooking as ever. “Plant-based eating is all about celebrating plants in an exciting way,” he says.
“Eating fresh produce is delicious. Vegetables can be cooked in exactly the same way that a steak is cooked, and taste just as good.”
Plant-forward eating, explained
Plant-based eating does not need to exclude meat or fish. According to Toohey, plant-based eating simply "emphasises the need to eat a larger proportion of good quality plants in comparison to animal products".
Although a plant-based diet may feel like a new Western trend, it’s actually a food consumption pattern that’s been followed by many cultures across the globe for centuries.
Historically, the majority of the has been plant-based having focused on legumes, vegetables and plant-based oils like mustard seed oils. The , another plant-based style of eating, has been identified by the as one of the as it may reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.
Some people switch to a plant-based diet due to animal welfare concerns. Others, like Toohey, believes it a plant-based style of eating is a more sustainable, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way to consume food.
“You can eat extremely well, cheaply by eating more plants,” says Toohey, a co-founder of the Sustainable Earth Network (SEN). “I recently bought a kilo of rye grain for $3.50 – that’ll feed 20 people.
“You can buy many ancient grains in bulk and often find them on special. I use burghul wheat, rye and freekeh in my cooking all the time. Simply cook the grain in stock or water until they become tender and then mix with a bunch of herbs. Add dried fruit and roasted nuts and there you have it – a beautiful filling salad.”
Plant-based cooking hacks
Toohey insists there are endless ways to add flavour to vegetable dishes, and not think about plant-forward food as boring or bland.
For example, just as you would aim to char a steak for added colour and flavour, Toohey advises you to slightly char your vegetables and taste the result. “Rub your vegetables – carrots, cauliflowers and cabbages – in a little olive oil before you cook them,” he says. “Then grill, fry or barbecue them. You won’t regret it.
“To add more colour to broccoli, put the florets under the grill on high so they get a lovely char colour on them. Season the florets and they’ll be super delicious.”
To finish any vegetable dish, you can also top it with a homemade sauce, like chimichurri or salsa verde. “When these sauces are poured over the top of your dish, they’ll boost the wonderful toasty flavours you just gave the veggies.”
Interesting plant-based ingredients to try
Toohey likes to focus on recipes, from street food-inspired treats, to bright salads and decadent desserts, all building on interesting flavour combinations with everyday fresh fruits and veggies.
Toohey also recommends using a vast array of ingredients that aren't that common, like pepita and hemp seeds, chickpeas, potatoes, tomatoes, lentils and pumpkin - which he uses to make everything from curries to fritters, casseroles and desserts.
Each of these ingredients adds a unique flavour profile to a dish. Take hemp seeds for example. “They are slightly nutty, earthy and super tender," he explains. "Hemp seeds work well in salads, as a garnish on dishes and in smoothies. They can be turned into hemp milk and even put on top of ice cream. They are really that good.”
Toohey shares many more such useful tips and plant-based recipes in his latest show .
“Hopefully, people will watch the show and feel inspired to cook with plants," he says. "If they end up putting more vegetables on their plate as a result, then that’s great. That would be a win for me."
