If you’re one of those folks who shies away from vegan food because you love all the eggy, cheesy, meaty goodness of omnivore life…well, I get it. I was a vegetarian for a looooong time because I couldn’t imagine not eating cheese.
I think that’s probably one of the biggest misconceptions about vegans and plant-based eaters: no one goes vegan because they just don’t like the taste of cheese and steak. They do it for their health. Or the animals. Or the environment. And when they crave all of those flavours and textures they grew up with, they turn to Sam Turnbull for her highly craveable recipes. 
Sam is the creator, recipe developer and cookbook author behind It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken, a mini online empire of teaching people how to eat the foods they love, plant style.
Sam grew up in a house of hunters, butchers and chefs and she thought she was the last person on the planet who would ever go vegan. And as she started exploring the world of plant-based eating years ago, she realized that there was a lack of hearty, protein-forward recipes that would satisfy her tastebuds. So she did it herself. Vegan steak? You bet. Vegan Eggs? No problem!
Sam creates an incredible world of flavours and textures using whole foods like nuts, legumes, tofu and seitan…and if you don’t know what seitan is, we’ll cover that too.
Sam has a new cookbook out, called (you guessed it!) Craving Vegan so I had to take this opportunity to grill her for all of her best advice on building flavour so delicious that even a meat eater will sit up and take notice. There are TONS of good cooking tips in this episode, along with a behind the scenes look at what it really takes to be a successful creator.

About Sam Turnbull:
Sam Turnbull is an award-winning, and 2x bestselling cookbook author, and recipe blogger. Known affectionately for her sunny personality, she will brighten your kitchen with delicious plant-based meals that everyone loves (vegan or not)! She is the author of Fuss-Free Vegan and Fast Easy Cheap Vegan and now her latest cookbook Caving Vegan! Sam also runs an online cooking school called The Ultimate Vegan Kitchen, a subscription meal planner called The Easy Vegan Meal Plan, and you can always find her on her popular blog It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken where she posts weekly vegan recipes to her millions of readers.

On this episode we chat about:

How Sam’s very non-vegan upbringing influenced the type of vegan recipes she creates
The biggest misconception meat eaters have about vegans
How she started her blog, It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken
Real talk on what it tastes to be a successful recipe creator
The inspiration behind Sam’s new book, Craving Vegan
Sam’s genius tips for swapping out more expensive or hard to find ingredients in recipes
Sam’s must have staples for building flavour
Tips for saving a recipe that doesn’t taste right
Where Sam likes to eat in Toronto
The traditional vegan staple that’s primed for the spotlight


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Full show notes including episode links and recommendations at desireerd.com/podcast