Everything Tabitha Brown Cooks in a Day [Exclusive]
Tabitha Brown never dreamed of being a chef. As a young girl and self-proclaimed tomboy, she enjoyed climbing trees and playing outside; she left the cooking to her mother, granny, and sister. “I thought, I don’t need to learn to cook when I grow up. I’m gonna be a famous actress,” Brown tells The Kitchn.
Once she got married, that all changed. She called upon her family for help in the kitchen and followed along as they taught her recipes over the phone. “I messed up many meals in the first couple years of our marriage, but I learned very quickly how to get it right,” she says.
After struggling with chronic pain, Brown switched to a plant-based diet to ease her symptoms. She began sharing her journey online, and her reaction to a Whole Foods sandwich — the TTLA (tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce, avocado) — quickly went viral. The video amassed one million views on Facebook in a week, causing Whole Foods to make the sandwich a permanent staple on their menu. And her popularity has grown ever since.
Fast forward to today, Brown has garnered a huge following on social media due to her warm, infectious personality and delicious vegan recipes. She has her own line of products at Target, hosts the Emmy-award winning children’s show Tab Time, has published multiple books, and has even acted in shows like The Chi.
For this edition of Cooking Diary, Brown shares her favorite healthful snacks, go-to vegan pantry staples, and the dish her husband always requests.
Is there a dish you’re famous for making for family and friends?
My macaroni and cheese. Anytime people come over and taste it, they’re whispering, “Girl, I thought you were vegan. Ain’t this real cheese?” And I’m like, “No, it’s vegan!” My mac and cheese does it every time.
What’s one thing you always have stocked in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?
I always have my seasonings. My Very Good Garlic, which is my own seasoning blend by McCormick. I always have coconut aminos; when I’m making food that usually would be meat-flavored or you’re using something as a substitute for meat, it serves as a meaty flavoring. I mix that with my Like Sweet Like Smokey, which is a seasoning I have with McCormick as well. That combination gives me everything that I need. In my refrigerator, I always have almond milk or cashew milk for smoothies. It’s a must. And in my freezer, I love to keep frozen fruit and vegetables.
Earlier this year, you added more items to your collection at Target. Can you share a little bit about what the process was like, and do you have a favorite food item from it?
I am a foodie, of course, and the process has been pretty amazing. It’s almost like family. I’ve been working with Target for the last four years. You know, you go into these test kitchens and meetings, and the hope is that they listen to you and feel inspired by you. And that is what happens with Target. I say, “Okay, I know it might sound crazy, but I love a dill pickle in my salad. So can we do that?” And they were like, “I think we can figure that out.” It does require a lot of time, but it is worth it to be able to know this is exactly what I wanted. This is my idea. This is my flavor, taste profile, all the things.
So I’m super excited about the salad bags — and the dill pickle salad is one of the number-one sellers. I’m also a wine-lover and have a red blend called “Hello There!”. Then, of course, [there’s] the moscato, which I created for my husband called “Love Y’all!”. He loves a little sweet, chilled wine, and I feel like it’s just something to bring us closer together for evenings and date nights.
It’s an average day. What do you normally have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
I’m one of those people who eats something different almost every day. I start my morning with water. I have a bottle of water by my bed every night, and as soon as I wake up in the morning it’s the first thing I do to kind of flush my body. Then I work out. After I work out, I do a fresh, cold-pressed juice. Normally it’s greens and ginger, or I do a smoothie. I love a berry smoothie with spinach, blueberries, cashew or almond milk, banana, a little bit of peanut butter for some protein, cinnamon, and agave. It’s so good.
Then for lunch, sometimes I’ll do a salad, or depending on the time of year or what mood I’m in I might do tacos. Honey, I love a taco, like jackfruit tacos or sweet potato tacos.
Then for dinner, it really just depends. If I don’t have a salad for lunch, sometimes I’ll have that for dinner. I love a good vegan Caesar salad. I make my own Caesar dressing. I use a vegan mayo with some capers, a little bit of coconut aminos and nutritional yeast, garlic powder or chopped garlic, a little lemon juice, and a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Blend it up real good. I’ll do Tuscan kale, and massage it with a little bit of roasted garlic, olive oil, and a splash of lemon juice. Add in some white onion, thinly sliced cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, and maybe black olives; mix that all up with that Caesar dressing, and oh my God. Now I know that salad ain’t necessarily Caesar, but I add all those toppings on because that’s my business, but it’s so good.
What is your favorite sweet treat?
I’m not a big sweets person. I eat sweets, as my granddaddy would say, by spell. I really have to be in the mood for it, or it’s the holiday season. I love a good vegan donut, if I can find a gluten-free one. I also love parfaits, which probably ain’t the most fun for some people. But I love a good coconut [yogurt] parfait with fresh berries and granola. Or an acai bowl with fresh granola and berries, a little bit of kiwi and coconut shavings, some hemp seeds, and some agave. Ooh, it’s very good.
What’s the most requested dish by your husband or children?
My vegan lasagna. It is my husband’s favorite thing that I make. He’s not even vegan anymore, but even now he wants my vegan lasagna. My daughter loves my spaghetti, and my son loves my bagel pizzas.
What are your go-to healthful snacks?
Of course, I love my Target popcorn. People love the Dill Pickle and the Roasted Garlic & Parmesan [popcorn]. I love almonds. I love fresh fruit. I have orange trees in my backyard. Baby, I go out there and get me a blood orange, rinse it off if I feel like it, or not, slice it up, and eat that. I also just love an avocado. I’ll slice an avocado, put some lime juice, a little sea salt, and a sprinkle of Kelly’s Croutons Lemon Pepper Parm. Get you a spoon and eat to your heart’s desire. It’s an amazing snack.
Any shortcuts or hacks you use for speeding things up in the kitchen?
One-pot recipes. Honey, if you do a good old sauté, it’s so quick. You just throw everything in a pan and sauté it. If you’re having a brunch, [take some] vegan sausage, or mushrooms, chickpeas, onions, peppers, some diced tomatoes and sauté it all up. Then chop up some kale, throw that in there with a little bit of olive oil and a little bit of liquid aminos. When you plate it, you can put fresh avocado on top, fresh tomatoes, more of that lemon pepper Parmesan, and it’s a full meal. People think, Oh my Lord, it’s so colorful. It’s delicious, especially if you put pico de gallo on top — it just heightens the flavor. It’s just a beautiful presentation. Chef’s kiss, honey.
You have a children’s book coming out next year, and host Tab Time. Why do you love working with kids? And what’s an easy recipe to make with kids to get them involved in the kitchen?
Yes, I have Hello There, Sunshine that I’m super excited about. I absolutely love, love, love working with children. One of the things about children is that they are so free and fearless, until they are taught not to be. One of the reasons I wanted a children’s show is I thought if I can get their minds to understand they are perfect just how they are, no matter how different they may feel from the rest of their friends or the world, those are their feelings, and they matter. To be free and to be fearless and to use your imagination is your superpower, and my hope is that the children that I encounter, or touch their lives as children, will hold on to that. And when they grow and become an adult, they’ll still feel the need to stay free, to love themselves, to love the thing that’s different about them, and to always just be in touch with their feelings.
On Tab Time, I do snack time. I’m always making fun snacks for the kids, and my son is a very picky eater. But the one thing about a child, if you allow them to help, they’re more inclined to try it. So he loves making smoothies, and he will even put spinach in his smoothie, because you lay everything out with the different colors. So I encourage people to show their children how to make a smoothie, because it helps them also learn how to eat a healthy snack. Also, little bagel pizzas. Put out all your toppings and tell them how to do it step by step. Maybe even make a little smiley face. My son did that with olives and tried it because it was smiling back at him. I think there are so many ways that we can help our children use their imagination and create something magical in the kitchen. It makes them excited to go back and do it again and try new things.
What’s one food you think gets unnecessary hate?
Okra. People be hating on okra. I was one of those people when I was a kid, because I hated the slime. But it’s so good, and it’s so good for us. I think that as we expand our palates and we explore food in a new season of our life, we also give okra another chance. Throw it in the air fryer, baby, and thank me later. That’s my secret. It takes the slime away. Make sure you chop it up in pretty thin slices, but oh, it’s crispy and delicious with no slime.
If someone’s never eaten plant-based before, where should they start? And what are some easy swaps to make?
I always say start with your why. Why do you want to do it? What’s your reason? Because once you figure out your reason, you’re more inclined to stick to it and explore it. Think of your favorite non-vegan meals and try to create the vegan version. Tacos are always super easy, because you can use so many things to make a taco bar. You won’t even think, Oh wait, I don’t have meat. But if you feel like you need the texture of meat, you can always use vegan substitutes.
I also like to do a pecan meat. First you boil the pecans; add peppers, onions, garlic, and mushrooms; and blend it up in a food processor. It looks exactly like ground beef. I have fooled many people. And you cook it and season it the same way you would regular meat.
I think sometimes we just overthink it, because we hear the word plant-based, or we hear the word vegan, but vegan is just food in its natural state. We’ve all eaten vegan before. Who hasn’t eaten a potato or greens or broccoli or rice or bread? Think food in its natural state. If it’s not a meat, it’s vegan before we start adding things to it. So I always say, don’t overthink it, and you’ll be just fine.
Further Reading
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