Spotlight: The Blissful Chef

Christy Morgan aka The Blissful Chef is a great inspiration to vegans (like me) who haven’t found our “voice” in the kitchen yet. Her recipes take into mind the planet, animals and bliss; sounds like a wonderful combination to me! She is also creating vegan awareness and yummy dishes in a place most of us wouldn’t associate vegan food with, Dallas Texas. Here is veganconsultant.com ‘s interview with The Blissful Chef so we all learn more about this blissful chef! Also, be sure to look for her new cookbook this September.

1.  What is your favorite “vegan comfort food” to make?

Being from Texas I really love Mexican food. So that is my “comfort food”. Mexican food in other parts of the US and the world does not compare to the Mexican food you can find in Texas. I just spent most of the last 6 months in Asia. There was no Mexican food in sight. So the first thing I did when I got back home to Dallas was have a huge plate of vegan nachos with chili, Daiya cheese, guacamole, tofutti sour cream, the works, from Anvil Pub. They have a no grease kitchen and many vegan choices like chili cheese fries, quesadillas, and nachos. I mean their vegan choices are not particular healthy, with Daiya cheese involved, but comfort food to me usually means it’s going to be more fattening than what I normally eat on a regular basis. For weeks I was making Mexican food for my dad; enchiladas, black bean tacos, guacamole and fresh salsa, yum!

2.  What inspired you to become “The Blissful Chef”?

It kind of happened organically. I had been teaching and personal cheffing in Los Angeles for over 3 years under a different business name and that name just didn’t fit me. I needed a brand that was a true expression of myself and what I wanted to spread to others. I’m a big fan of Joseph Campbell and his catchphrase “follow your bliss”.  To feel bliss is to experience extreme happiness or spiritual joy. That’s is what I feel when eating a healthy vegan diet and what I experience teaching others how their food choices affect their mind, body, and spirit. So The Blissful Chef was born.

3.  What type of services do you provide?

I offer public and private cooking classes, diet and lifestyle coaching, corporate team building events, and consulting for restaurants that want to offer more vegan choices on their menu. I’ve taken personal chef services off my list because I really want to be teaching full-time rather than being stuck in a kitchen.

4.  What is life like being vegan in Dallas, Texas?

Honestly it is better than I ever could have dreamed. There isn’t as many vegan restaurants as there was  in Los Angeles, but there is a growing vegan community that has welcomed me with open arms. There are events happening every week, Mercy For Animals has a branch here, we have Vegan Drinks and other meetups, so I have plenty of activism and events to attend. I have found the vegans here to be super kind, genuine, and dedicated. It’s really great!

5.  What’s next for The Blissful Chef?

Since Dallas is lacking in vegan food choices I want to do more outreach and consulting with restaurants to get tasty vegan options on more menus. I’m developing a 7 day vegan challenge program for corporations which I hope to launch soon. Being here for my dad gives me a great opportunity to use my knowledge to help the many people here in Texas with health issues. In May I will start offering weekly cooking classes. My first cookbook Blissful Bites: Vegan Meals That Nourish Mind, Body, & Planet comes out in September and a book tour will take me to the west and east coast. The tour will start in Portland and Seattle, so come and see me on the west coast in September!

6.  When you are not cooking, where is your favorite stop for yummy vegan food?

Since I’ve been cooking for my dad mostly I haven’t had a chance to explore all the vegan restaurants here in Dallas, but I do love Spiral Diner, Kalachandji’s and for Mexican food I love Sol’s, which is vegan but has brought in Daiya cheese, vegan sour cream and soyrizo for us. We are trying to get more restaurants to be vegan-friendly since we don’t have enough vegan choices yet!

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