Thug Kitchen: Vegan Food With Attitude

By Ann Binlot November 21, 2014

thug kitchen vegan food attitude eat like you give a fck cookbook — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway, the creators of the bad a*s vegan food blog Thug Kitchen, grew up like many of us did, making quick dinners at home slathered in cheese. Processed food wasn’t looked down upon on that era, and drinking green Hi-C and dipping your fries in purple ketchup was okay. Fast-forward a few years to when Davis and Holloway realized that the food of their youth wasn’t the way to go. It’s all about fresh, organic vegetables! That’s when the two decided to create Thug Kitchen. For those of you who don’t know, the blog has a no holds barred approach to creating tasty, healthy vegan food. It’s not one of those pretty blogs that’s oh so perfect, the foul-mouthed pair just don’t give a damn, and now you can find a bunch of their recipes in one handy book.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck is filled with bad words and recipes for dishes with titles like Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos, Pumpkin Chili, and Grilled Peach Salsa. Davis and Holloway want to make healthy vegan cooking easy and fun. Just Because It’s Vegan, Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Badass, goes the first commandment of Thug Kitchen. We have to admit, we love our meet, but this cookbook showed us that vegan food can actually be delicious and oh so satisfying. So do yourself a favor if you want to elevate your cooking skills, eat healthy and be a bad a*s all at once — go grab a copy of this cookbook and get cracking!

For more information, visit thugkitchen.com.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…

Food & Drink

How to make food less salty: 5 easy fixes when you make this common cooking mistake

Don't toss it just yet, you can probably save it with...a potato?

Happy man adding salt while cooking for his friends in the kitchen.

Over-salting food is one of the most common culinary blunders, falling perhaps only just below one more common cooking crime - under-salting food. It's a finicky art, to be sure, and finding just the right balance can be tricky. After all, every palate is different, every dish unique, and recipes are often inconsistent. What does "season to taste" mean anyway, many wonder. While this term may be frustrating to those who prefer to follow a recipe down to the letter, it's really just a common phrase that means, "Everyone likes it differently, so just use your best judgment."
The problem with that mentality is that if you're new to cooking or really need to follow that recipe, mistakes can be made - often in the form of over-salting. After all, it's easy to get carried away when in chef mode, slicing and dicing away, fingers sinking into the briny granules inside the salt cellar, and dramatically raining the mineral down with skilled - albeit heavy-handed - expertise.
Over-salting food has gotten the better of us all, even those of us who are professionally trained, so there's no shame in the matter. Still, the mistake can be embarrassing and ruin all of your hard work in the kitchen. Nobody wants to spend hours lovingly preparing a meal only to be choking it down with a gallon of water because of a silly mistake.
If you're wondering how to make food less salty after you've already been too generous in your seasoning, there are some handy hacks you can use. So don't toss that dish just yet. Reach for one of these ingredients, and you'll be back on track in no time.

Acid

Food & Drink

The 9 best olive oils to add to your kitchen ingredients today

Cook with these, make your own salad dressing, and more

Pouring olive oil in a salad

There's not much good olive oil can't do. Sure, it's great on pasta or drizzled over a toasted baguette. But it's also phenomenal with roasted vegetables, atop pizza, and even as a main feature in your next favorite dessert.

Shoot, if the oil is good enough, it can be enjoyed on its own. Some even believe it has restorative properties and like to apply a little to their skin. You can use it in a good olive oil cocktail or make a bowl of lentil soup with a healthy pour of it. In much of Italy, where olive oil is practically sacred, it's essentially a healthier substitute for butter. All said, you can count on one hand the dishes that wouldn't benefit from a little bit of good olive oil.

Food & Drink

A registered dietitian tells us the best foods to eat for an energy boost

Boost energy with these caffeine-free foods

Blueberries in a purple pitcher

When you're dragging in the morning, or the 3 p.m. slump sets in, heading to the coffee machine for a fifth cup of Joe is natural. Other caffeinated beverages, like energy drinks and sodas, may also provide a temporary boost. However, one dietician says the keyword is temporary. Reaching for foods that give you energy instead of defaulting to a beverage can better help you power through your day.
"Food provides our body fuel throughout the day, rather than just a quick burst of alertness like caffeine," said Kelsey Costa, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant for the E-Health Project.
Letting coffee or caffeinated or sugary beverages fuel your day without stopping to consume food could be zapping your energy.
"Unplanned, unstructured skipping of meals can lead to significant drops in blood sugar levels, which may cause sluggishness, lightheadedness, headaches, and fatigue," Costa explains.

Ditch all that by loading up on these energy foods that rival so-called energy drinks.