Better Cook

10 Days to Becoming a Better Cook

This vegetarian cooking course taught by chef Jared Kent (read his bio here) includes 10 hands-on cooking lessons each of which will highlight a fundamental cooking technique. Every day you will get a video lesson that will show you how to master that technique paired with an accompanying vegetarian recipe that’s healthy, easy to make and delicious.

Some of the techniques included are making vegetable stock, stewing and making your own pickled vegetables (see the complete course list below).

From homemade veggie burgers to hearty soups and stews, the recipes are not just tasty but they’re also laden with healthy proteins and starches like lentils, quinoa, beans, brown rice, and nuts. We show you how to use these wonderful ingredients in new and exciting ways to create satisfying dishes that will leave you feeling full and keep you from falling off the healthy eating wagon.

But be clear, this is not just a list of 10 great recipes this is a comprehensive dive into the critical building blocks of cookery. We tell you the how and the why behind common cooking practices and give you the tools to make your cooking healthier, more delicious, and more satisfying. We’ll walk you through everything and help demystify things in the kitchen so you’ll have a lot more fun cooking!

Not only will this course leave you with a rotation of terrific tasty and healthy meals, but it will sharpen your cooking skills and give you the framework you need to make countless more sensational meals of your own.

Every lesson is complete with ingredient substitutions and tips and tricks to help you along the way. After signing up you’ll receive a daily email with a rundown of the day’s lesson, the video instruction, and the recipe. Then, sit back and watch the video, cook a fantastic meal in a breeze, and enjoy that meal with the people you love. Easy as that!

$19 for lifetime access

Need more inspiration? Read the whole course outline below…

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Vegetable Stock

Video: How to Make Vegetable Stock

Recipe: Classic Minestrone Soup with Spinach and Parmesan

Stock is the foundation of soups and sauces, used to flavour risottos, cook braises, and is in many other dishes. Homemade is infinitely better than store-bought. Store-bought is often bland, watery, and full of sodium. Homemade stock is much easier to make than you might think and is a terrific way to use up scraps or old vegetables. It can be made in bulk, frozen, used whenever you please.

Lesson 2: Properly Cooking Green Vegetables

Video: Blanching Broccoli

Recipe: Sweet N' Sour Broccoli Over Brown Rice

With proper cooking and seasoning, green vegetables can be a delicious part of your diet. They're much more versatile than you might think (roasted, grilled, sautéed). Blanching is an essential way to cook green veggies. It's easy, it's fast, and it’s one of the best ways to maintain the colour, nutritional value, and crunch of the veggies.

Lesson 3: Root Vegetable Purees

Video: How to Make Carrot Puree

Recipe: Penne with Sage Brown Butter Over Carrot and Parsnip Puree

Root vegetables are very earthy, they have a lot of sugar in them that caramelizes and develops as they cook, creating profound, exciting flavours. On Day 3 you will learn one of the easiest, most versatile, and most delicious ways to prepare root vegetables: a simple puree. It’s a very common way for restaurants and professional chefs to add colour and flavour to complex dishes.

Lesson 4: Stewing

Video: How to Stew

Recipe: Spanish Spiced Lentil and Potato stew

Stewing is a great way to incorporate lots of great flavours and pack a whole bunch of healthy veggies into one bowl. They’re hearty, satisfying meals that get even better as they sit (your leftovers will taste better than the original!) They’re versatile, you can easily sub out ingredients or add/subtract different veggies or spices as you see fit. It’s an easy, one-pot meal that is relatively low maintenance as you can just let it sit for a while.

Lesson 5: Aioli

Video: Homemade Aioli (Mayonnaise)

Recipe: Mediterranean Chickpea Fritters with Lemon-Garlic Aioli and Cucumber Salad

Making homemade mayonnaise is easy and delicious. Once again, homemade mayo is much healthier and tastier than store-bought. Making aioli follows a similar process to vinaigrettes, you're also using the compound lecithin, which is found in egg yolks, to bind oil with lemon juice and water.

Lesson 6: Vinaigrettes

Video: Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette

Recipe: Spinach & Strawberry Salad with Feta, Pecans, and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Making homemade dressings is simple and easy, they are much healthier and tastier than store-bought which are often loaded with sugar and other preservatives. Making homemade vinaigrette is all about the concept of emulsification. Normally oil and vinegar don't mix, so you use Dijon mustard to bring them together. Dijon mustard has the compound lecithin with allows the oil and vinegar to mix together.

Lesson 7: Jelly/Chutney

Video: Red Pepper Jelly

Recipe: Roasted Portabella Mushroom Steaks Over Quinoa with Red Pepper Jelly

Jellys/Chutneys are delicious condiments that can go on a wide variety of foods, from salads to sandwiches. Homemade chutney offers a delightful sweet-sour ying-yang taste that leaves you wanting more. This same method can be used to make a bunch of different jellies/marmalades (eg. sweet onion marmalade, Indian style tomato chutney, pineapple chutney, hot pepper jelly, etc.)

Lesson 8: Pickled Vegetables

Video: Pickled Red Onions

Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato Tacos with Feta Cheese, Pickled Red Onions and Black Beans

Refrigerator pickles are one the tastiest things you can do with vegetables. They're crisp, they're bright, they're acidic, and they add a delightful pop to many dishes. Pickling is much easier and less daunting than canning and it’s especially useful for vegetables that have started to get soft.

Lesson 9: Veggie Burgers

Video: Quinoa and Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Recipe: Quinoa and Black Bean Veggie Burgers with Avocado & Chipotle Crema

Homemade veggie burgers are a delicious alternative to store-bought meat substitutes. Homemade veggie burgers are insanely healthy. With quinoa (a complete protein), black beans, and pecans, these are chock-full of healthy protein. Fresh veggies of peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic provide healthy carbohydrates and fiber. The black bean puree and ground nuts hold the burgers together and act as a binder.

Lesson 10: Sponge Cake

Video: Sponge Cake Batter & Baking

Recipe: Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

Sponge Cake is one of the most versatile kinds of cake you can make, it follows a simple ratio of equal parts flour, egg, sugar, and fat. Sponge cake on its own is a delicious dessert but it's also a base for many other desserts. It's light and fluffy, as its name suggests, it absorbs liquid very well, meaning that any desserts with soaked cakes come from a sponge cake base.

$19 for lifetime access