It’s September and with this new month we have the pleasure of introducing our Featured Retreat Chef of the Month: Zoe Smith of Lily & Lotus.
Zoe gave us some great answers in our little interview which I am sure you will enjoy.
Don’t forget to check out her listing here and get in touch with her for bookings via the “Message me” feature or her contact/social media information.
1. How did you get into cooking in the first place? Was it a family member, a passion for healthy food?
My Dad has always been a really keen cook and when I went veggie at 8 he loved it as an opportunity to cook up all sorts of exciting foods. So 8-year old me, who only wanted jacket potato with cheese and Quorn chicken nuggets with baked beans was having to eat aubergine and tofu and was soon regretting all my choices! I held firm though due to a strong belief in not wanting to eat animals and my parents rule that I had to then eat what was put in front of me. Now vegan I also love exploring cuisines and dishes I haven’t tried before! I think the best way to spend a free Saturday is by cooking up a storm of something you’ve never tried before and enjoying it over a slow Saturday night dinner with friends or family.
2. Do you have a favourite dish? If you could only cook & eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be? What makes it so special that you’d never get tired of it?
This is impossible to answer – I’m struggling to imagine eating only one dish for the rest of my life! If I had to choose, it would probably be all-in-one sticky rice with broccoli, squash, chilli & ginger – a recipe from The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer. It’s so flavourful, with veg, rice, nuts, and aromatics all in one tasty pot… so minimal washing up for maximum flavour – winner!
3. And a signature dish you love making on retreat?
I love making a chickpea tagine on retreat. It’s so versatile as you can use root vegetables for vata (autumn & winter) season and summery courgettes and aubergines veg in pitta (summer) season making it brilliantly adaptable for every season. It fills the kitchen with a wonderful smell as it slow cooks and it’s so lovely to serve with jewelled couscous and a variety of flavoured yoghurts alongside additional seasonal sides.
4. What is your favourite cookbook and why?
I love Deliciously Ella cookbooks. It’s the first time I discovered healthy food recipes, especially her sweets and treats, that don’t just taste like you’re eating health foods!
5. Do you have a favourite cuisine? Which country/region and why?
This one is really hard to answer! Either Indian or Middle Eastern because of the amazing multitude of strong flavours you get. If I had to pick on the basis of having to eat that one cuisine for the rest of my life, I would choose Indian.
6. Do you have a top tip for chefs and/or foodies? An ingredient you can’t imagine being without, a tool or a method you love using? Or even something you avoid doing like the plague?
I couldn’t imagine being without tofu (what a stereotypical vegan!). It’s amazingly versatile though with silken tofu being used for puddings, dips, and creamy pastas, firm tofu for feta, scrambling on toast, and replacing chicken in every recipe the list goes on!
