Teaching the Blind to Cook

Hosted by

Abbie Jaye (aka Chef A.J.) is the Executive Vegan Pastry Chef at Santé La Brea. She recently taught "Healthy Cooking" at the Braille Institute.  Most of her students lost their sight from Type II Diabetes, and her course taught them how to make healthy choices when preparing their own meals.  

Chef A.J. has several vegan recipes on her site, like this one:

Cinnamon Raisin Almond Bread
3 cups almond pulp (leftover from making almond milk)
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil or safflower oil
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract
 
Grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder or blender. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until fully incorporated. (Hands work very will for mixing.) Place batter between two Teflex sheets or parchment paper and roll out to about 1/4" thick. Cut into squares or use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Dehydrate on a dehydrator screen for 8-12 hours at 115° until firm. Delicious served with fruit spread or almond butter!

Music break: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer by Los Straitjackets