3 Tips To Make Any Vegetable Taste Amazing, From 2 Vegan Professional Chefs

There's this pervasive notion that those who follow a plant-based diet succumb to boring salads and bland, blanched veggies. Not so! There are so many flavorful recipes with vegetables as the star (find a few, cozy options here). In fact, Dawn Thomas and Joe Girard—vegan chefs and co-founders of Swich—say that cooking plant-based meals is playful, intuitive, and inclusive. "You can really take any dish and transform it into something that's plant-based," Girard says on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. Take it from these expert chefs: Vegetables know no bounds when it comes to flavor. 

When you're cooking a meal, think about it as if you're traveling the world. Take one ingredient—say, a potato or head of cauliflower—and create a different flavor profile based on different cuisines. "When we cook, we tend to ask the question: Where do we want to go for dinner tonight? What kind of flavor profile are we looking for?" Girard says. Thomas follows: "All of a sudden, we had these amazing Thai and Indian dishes. It was just more exciting." 

"I used to love butter chicken," Girard reveals. However, he realized it wasn't so much the meat he was craving—it was the tangy, rich sauce.

"Once you learn how to develop flavor and make a really good base, you can add tempeh, tofu, or whatever you want to it," he says. "People are really in love with the sauce." Perfect the drizzle, and the work is done. 

To really ramp up any vegetable, both Thomas and Girard tout the importance of spicing things up. Have a few staple spices on hand, and you'll enhance the flavor of any veggie. They're partial to onion powder, garlic powder, chili flakes, and nutritional yeast (great for imparting a "cheesy" flavor) for their spice rack staples, but you can choose any blend of spices you please.