Plant-Based Kicked Meat-and-Potatoes Ass on National TV!

I am not one to brag...but I think that Chef AJ and I might have made plant-based history today....

As far as we know (and please correct me if I am wrong), there has never been a plant-based team competing in a reality TV cooking show. Chef AJ and I auditioned and were accepted to compete against two other meat-and-potatoes teams on the new TLC show called Kick-Off Cook-Off. We spent a day baking ourselves in the sun (we both look like lobsters) on a football field with a famous football star, a famous Chef judge, and AJ's famous recipes competing for the title.

There was so much resistance to what we stand for by the other teams, the hostess, and the judge. Nobody hesitated to make commentary about their preferences for fast food, junk food, and their beloved meat and potatoes. Heaven forbid we should mention the ease and health benefits of cooking without oil. It was a huge controversy that it is possible to use only whole food ingredients when preparing full meals. In fact, the judge and competing team members kept coming over to see what we were doing and check our ingredients!

Now, of course, I cannot reveal the results (that would be too easy...and, anyway, it is much more fun to actually watch the show)...BUT, the judge, who had never had a plant-based team before on this show and had never heard of the majority of our ingredients (apparently, miso, cacao, and date syrup are not yet popularized in the world of traditional chefery), LOVED our food! His eyes lit up and he had nothing but wonderful comments to make...surprised as he was!

Regardless of what the ultimate results were, AJ and I are thrilled that- even though we were laughed at, heckled, and not taken seriously- the food walked the walk and we were able to show the world that plant-based whole foods can not only compete with the Standard American Diet...but can exceed the expectations of all those closed-minded folk. We make "healthy taste delicious" so watch out world, here we come!