I’ve been writing my vegan blog, Cooking in Color, for about 2 years. I knew I needed to branch out into a cooking blog when recipes started to appear on my 8-year-old knitting blog, Knitting in Color. Frankly I think most of the people who read my cooking blog are knitters,and because I think many of my readers don’t know much about plant-based cooking I try to be as user-friendly and helpful as possible.
I am in a year-round CSA, Los Poblanos Organics, and my recipes focus most on vegetables, bread baking, salads, pizza, and New Mexican foods. Some of the recipes from my blog include: Papas Con Chile Colorado, Tempeh Reuben Panini, Tomato and Olive Tart, No Knead English Muffins with Oats and Cornmeal, and Chipotle Black Bean Soup. I try to focus on the most colorful photos for the blog. I also do vegan cookbook reviews (testing at least three sample recipes) and discuss cookware on the blog.
Initially one of my goals with Cooking in Color was to show all the wonderful resources for food lovers in New Mexico, especially Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The blog has highlighted the process of buying big bags of roasted green chiles from Hatch, a special store devoted to oil and vinegar in Santa Fe, and the annual lavender festival in Los Ranchos.
I’m currently in the process of moving to beautiful southwestern Colorado so I’ll focus more on that area in the future. Unfortunately I won’t have a Trader Joe’s in Colorado – but I will finally have a much-needed pantry for my kitchen. I’m also working on putting together an ebook with all the recipes from my blog, plus roughly 20 more new recipes.
My rescued house rabbit Bubbles occasionally appears on my blog. She’s a “meat breed” and was rescued from a feed store where she had apparently been attacked by an animal. (She’s missing a few toes.) She’s one of the most delightful pets I’ve ever known and she inspires me every day to try to do more to help animals.
Nanette Blanchard’s first cookbook was vegetarian, not vegan (‘Tis the Season: A Vegetarian Christmas Cookbook, Simon & Schuster). Last year she published a small cookbook of her favorite New Mexico recipes called Fiesta Vegan that is available in print, as a PDF, and on the Kindle. She has had articles published in Vegetarian Times, Vegetarian Journal, Herb Companion and Costco Connection.
** Weekend Blog Reads is a weekly column where we feature great vegan blogs to help spread the word about people doing great things for the vegan movement. Do you have a vegan blog to share? Email editor@veganmainstream.com.
