 Welcome to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host for today, Dave Molinaro. Lucky husband of our interview today, the candidate for the show and the normal host, Lillian Vegan. Lillian, welcome to the show. Thanks Dave. Thanks for taking out the time to do this Aloha. Quite welcome, it's a pleasure. Lill, we're here to talk to you today and see a bunch of photos about your upcoming book, which is out the 30th of October, Hawaii, a vegan's paradise, and I know that has been a labor of love. It's a beautiful book and I want to give you the opportunity to show and talk about it. So Lill, I'll turn it over to you. I know we've got a lot of photos to go through, but again, congrats and let's talk. Thank you. Yeah, it really is so exciting for me. I mean, it's my first ever cookbook and that it happens to be featuring and showcasing food in Hawaii is just, you know, so, so much fun and so exciting for me. It's titled Hawaii, a vegan paradise, and that is exactly what I think of Hawaii when I think about Hawaii because we're so blessed to have, you know, fresh fruit and vegetables in season all year long. I mean, this is truly the place if you're going to be vegan, you know, do it here in Hawaii. And I do have my first advanced copy, the very, very first copy that I've actually had got in my hands that I unboxed just over a week ago. So that was a very awesome moment and it's a stunning book. It's a hardcover with over 120 plant-based recipes and you probably tried every single one of them in the book. Oh, I did and everything was fantastic and I want to add to it. It is a beautiful book and I'm very proud of what you've created. Lill, you talked a little bit about how special Hawaii is. What was your inspiration to create a vegan Hawaiian cookbook? That's a good question. And in all honesty, the opportunity came to me from a publishing company here. It was inevitable, I think, in my career that someday I would write a book, but I did not think that I'd be writing a book showcasing Hawaiian food. So it was a challenge. I'm not an expert in Hawaiian food, but the lucky thing is that I happen to be half Fijian. So my mother cooks for us all the time when I was growing up in Australia and I am very familiar with Polynesian food. Basically, the Fijian food is very similar to Hawaiian food. But Hawaii, a vegan paradise, my new cookbook is not only about traditional Hawaiian food. It's about food that's found in Hawaii that is popular. Things like the Asai bowl, the Buddha bowl, the loco moco, stuff like that. It's just so when you look at dishes like that, you immediately are brought back to gorgeous Hawaii. So I hope that this cookbook does remind everyone of their time's travels or the people that live here will just be blown away by how I've managed to veganize all of these Hawaiian favorites. So I'm really looking forward to the reaction that people have when they finally see it. And I did actually prep some photos for the viewers, Dave, so we can show some of the dishes that are in the book. So let's take a look at this. Yeah, please do. Thank you. This is the Hawaii Simon soup. This is a soup that I actually was not familiar with until I moved to Hawaii. And I see that it's everywhere. It's in restaurants all over Hawaii, a very simple broth. I have actually made the broth from kombu dashi, otherwise known as kelp granules. So it's a type of seaweed. And I do use kombu dashi throughout the book. I think this is something, one of my tips and one of my tricks when it comes to cooking vegan food is starting with the really awesome stock or broth, which will bring a lot of depth and savory flavors and umami to the dishes. So a very, very relevant dish in the book and one that is used throughout the book in various dishes. Umami is quite correct. It is delicious. And I love that soup. And I just saw another polo pop up. What was that? This is called the humble apple pie. Now, this is one of those dishes. It's not Hawaiian, but you know, apple pie is something that is found really pretty much in every cafe, you know, on many menus, dessert menus, and definitely an American favorite. So I had to, I had to add an apple pie recipe and also one of my favorites. So that's, that's a recipe that's easy to make as well. Yeah, I'd like to apologize to you on air about eating more than one sample of that pie. It was delicious and I really enjoyed it. So that's, that's the thing about vegan food, Dave. If you go in there with an open mind and you're, you know, you're open to trying something new, even forget the word vegan, because I think this word can tend to scare people away. And where I'm going with this book is I am trying to, to make, you know, plant-based food and, and dishes approachable, easy to, easy to get to, easy to make attainable, fun, delicious, tasty, all those things. And I think in my book, Hawaii Vegan Paradise, as you go through the rest recipes, you'll see that they all actually are very doable. You've seen me spend months, close to a year writing this book and testing out the recipes and, and you know all too well that some of the recipes can, and a lot of them are actually able to be made in under 30 minutes. They are some amazing dishes and yes, the simplicity but yet the complex taste that comes out of your, your creations is, is really remarkable. And let's, let's pop into another pick. I know our audience really wants to see some more of your delectable delights. Now here's one. This is the chili, chili and garlic edamame. Dave, I lived in Japan for 30 years and I had never, ever seen edamame in a restaurant with any, any type of dressing on it at all. So this dish to me screams Hawaii. I've never seen it outside of Hawaii. And again, it's not like what you would consider a Hawaiian dish, but definitely garlic edamame is, it is a Hawaiian thing. And it's a really good thing. So this has actually become one of my favorite poo-poo's or something I love to enjoy, you know, with cocktails and drinks and stuff. Cocktails and poo-poo's and edamame is a perennial favorite here in Hawaii for sure. And again, those are absolutely hit the spot after a long day of work. Definitely. Good cocktail. Yeah. And the thing is, you, you look at a dish like that and you think, well, that's got to be vegan. And although the recipe in my book is vegan, often the edamame with dressing on it that you find in restaurants is not vegan. So you do have to check. This is one of the things that I talk about in the book. And that is that always be sure that you know what you're putting in your mouth, whether it is, whether you're in a restaurant or you're shopping for food, learn to read labels, ask questions. Edamame found with dressing in restaurants often will contain some sort of fish stock or it could be animal stock, consomme or something like that. So or fish oil, yeah, is often found in it as well. So you have to be careful. And I do guide you through that. I talk always about how the book is not only a recipe book, it's in fact an excellent guide for anyone who's looking to eat more plant-based, who wants to learn more about veganism. It takes you through all the steps on how to equip your pantry, your kitchen, you know, the tools, essential tools to be able to cook all these dishes. And actually I'm not using any fancy gadgets at all. I use the stove and the oven. That's it. I don't use any, you know, anything fancy. So all of these recipes are doable. And again, there's so much guidance throughout this book that I hope it becomes very useful for anyone, whether you're a kitchen newbie, a novice chef, a five-star chef. This book is, you know, really going to teach you something, whether you think you know it all or you think you don't know anything at all. Okay. I'm going to probably ask you the toughest question of the show is, do you have a favorite recipe in that book? I actually want to hear your answer to that. I'm a bit, I have too many favorites in there, but I will say that definitely the loco moco, I think is a wonderful dish. It's on, it is on the cover of my book. And there it is there. It starts with the, you know, gorgeous creamy velvety mushroom gravy at the bottom, some white rice. I have a bean patty there instead of the regular meat patty. And then on top, can you believe that's a vegan egg? No, I can't imagine that being a vegan egg, but I know it is a vegan egg. And by having a great opportunity to taste that creation, it is delicious. And it is definitely tastes like a real egg. So my hats off. And yes, you stole my answer. That's my favorite in the book as well too. But there are so many, as you mentioned, 120 great recipes in your creation. It's just, it's hard to pick one. So what do you want people to learn from this book? I know you talked about it's not just a recipe book, but it also talks about the ins and outs of being a vegan and how to prepare and your kitchen and so on and so forth. But are there any other lessons you want people to learn? The one thing I want people to learn is that vegan food can taste good. That's it. There's, you know, there are so many people who are still skeptical and I hear this all the time that vegan food, it's boring, it's bland. I can tell you now, I can guarantee none of the recipes in this book are bland or boring. And, you know, unless you change the way you think and you go into trying new food, whether it's vegan or not, you absolutely have to have an open mind. I mean, if you go into trying something new in regards to food, if you're immediately in your mind you're telling yourself it's going to taste bad, well, it's highly likely that it will. So go into this plant-based thing with an open mind and just let your taste buds do the rest of the work. The dishes in this book are going to blow your way. And I think if there's anything you can learn it's how to get food to taste good, how to get vegan food to taste good. There are lots of tips, lots of tricks. Again, when I talk about umami, one thing that you'll learn throughout this book is that salt is not the only flavor enhancer there is. There are things like vegetable stock, obviously the kombu dashi powder I talked about earlier and, you know, just other other seasoning foodie kake that I'll go into in the second half of the show because we do have to go to a break. But yeah, just keep an open mind that vegan food does taste good and I think you'll agree that your taste buds are going to enjoy it too. So Dave, shall we take a break for some messages and then come back after for part two? Absolutely, well, obviously not Lillian, but I'm her husband Dave and it's a pleasure to be able to interview Lillian today about her upcoming cookbook, Hawaii of Vegan Paradise. Hello, welcome back. I know we've got a bunch of photos to get through and let's show your audience your next creation. Now these are actually a favorite of yours, am I correct? Yes, they are, absolutely. Vegan pancakes with a fresh mango sauce. That mango sauce is so delicious. Again, this is something that has actually in you can make eight of those pancakes and there's one tablespoon of oil and only one tablespoon of sugar. Pardon me, two tablespoons of sugar. So although I am not against using oil, sugar or salt at all because I think, again, food has to taste good and as long as you're, you know, keeping it within moderation, getting your fresh fruits and vegetables, leaning towards a whole foods plant-based diet, I think you should be right. So we can also have sweets on a plant-based diet. Yes, we can and those are delicious pancakes and one thing that you and I've talked about is that your desserts are delicious and you really scale back on the sugar portion of your desserts and that's really important because some of the vegan desserts that we've had are really sweet. I actually take the sugar content down to about half of what would be an irregular American dessert recipe and that is also due to the fact that I think spending 30 years in Japan has taught me one thing and that is that sweet food doesn't have to be sickly sweet to be able to enjoy it. So definitely you'll find the sugar content to be quite low. But going back again to what I said earlier, I do discuss oil, salt, the various oils you can use, various salts you can use. There's one salt I do want to talk about and it may be in the next photo if we can pull up the next one. Oh, this is a teriyaki, this is actually a beef less teriyaki which is made from tofu and tofu is one of the things that I have quite, I have an actual chapter on tofu called Tofu One and One which shows you how to prepare tofu the right way which is by either freezing it or draining it because tofu is a waterlogged block of soy being curled and contrary to what most people think it does not soak up flavours unless you drain it really, really well or freeze it so that you can change its texture and then it becomes really fun to play around with and use in recipes. Definitely the tofu section, I think you'll learn something there. Yeah, the tofu, your creativity with tofu has just blown me away. So many different varieties, so many different styles and very, very versatile and they're all really great to say the least. So what do you say to somebody who's hesitant about a plant-based diet, maybe picking up this book on, you know, it's vegan and I just don't know, what do you want to say to your painful customers out there in your audience? Yeah, I want to say exactly what I say in the book to anyone who is like that and that is that I'm not here to turn anyone vegan or turn anyone onto a plant-based diet, you are all on your own journey, you know, whether you're interested in going that route and becoming more plant-based that's totally up to you. This is only a guideline. I think any vegan book really is only a guideline how you choose to live your life is up to you and I really hope that when you read my book you'll see that I approach it in a very friendly manner. I don't criticise anyone or anyone's lifestyle, I don't force mine upon anyone, I just offer up some guidance and just some really great recipes so that's the only advice I have Dave is live your life the way you want but you know so many studies are showing that a whole food plant-based diet is probably the healthiest diet on the planet at the moment but you know whatever you choose to do some people, I know you always say you'll never go vegan but you're pretty much 80% there because our home is vegan, you only eat vegan food in the home so what would you say to someone who's yeah thinking about going more plant-based? You know what don't hesitate to do it. I think you're absolutely right. I when when I first started to eat and all I eat is vegan in the home and Lily's you mentioned to him not completely vegan but most of my diet probably 75 to 80 percent is vegan. There's a little bit of angst about hey where am I getting my protein from all at nonsense it's completely out the door and it is delicious you show me a lot of creativity and diversity and that is out there in the vegan diet and this book certainly showcases that with respect to Hawaiian food, local favorites so again it knocks it out of the park. I wouldn't hesitate in fact I'd say why don't you start by me eating one vegan dinner or meal a week I increase that to two or three and next thing you know you're going to be eating a majority of vegan so that's what I tell your audience if they're concerned about going vegan. Yeah I mean the obvious there are obvious things you can do if you're interested in starting a plant-based diet and I do go through that in the book you know just by experimenting I think take yourself to a supermarket any supermarket in Hawaii you will find you know plant-based foam meats the impossible burgers and sausages the beyond burgers there's a whole section of vegan cheeses available in most supermarkets just look at the dairy aisle now I mean the non-dairy milk aisle now I I can't believe how you know how much non-dairy milk is flying off the shelves and that just goes to show I mean there are a lot of black toast intolerant people and I think I think supermarkets are clever incorporating more more plant-based food into their stores it's an it's a win-win situation and as long as the as long as there are a lot of you know plant-based substitutes out there why not go and try some you might just surprise yourself and enjoy them and I do again go back to flavor enhancers things like that venture out learn how to use different spices to enhance your dishes like salt is not the only one there's also the Hawaiian sea salt aliea salt which I have learned to love and I'm a huge fan I have a one of my recipes is a focaccia just a you know typical Italian bread I know it's not not Hawaiian but focaccia is all over restaurants in Hawaii and I make mine with the Hawaiian salt so it does have a very nice little Hawaiian twist to it things like that you know that that really make cooking fun and I think the more interested cooking becomes the more it's going to entice you to spend time in your kitchen and when you do that you're going to you're really going to reap the benefits because you'll know exactly what's going into your food and therefore your body unlike you know buying processed foods and and ready-made foods in just in stores you when you start getting into cooking I think you're going to notice some changes both physically and really with the way you feel I think you're going to feel better at the end of the day you often shited me and jumped within me about you're going to be craving salads and I'm like now it never happened it does I'm here to tell you that I'm hooked on vegan and I do feel so much better on a predominantly plant-based diet so um Lil let's set we have some more photos to get through yes so going yeah this is a an awesome example of how you can enhance you know your food with different spices furikake now furikake although has its roots from Japan is so big in Hawaii I see furikake crusted fish here all over restaurants um it's just an awesome awesome uh you know spice or sprinkle that you can really enjoy with anything I often put or add furikake to pasta dishes rice dishes fried rice noodles anything and of course salads so what I did in the book Dave was I I do have a recipe for furikake seasoning and I have actually married that with vegan parmesan cheese there's a recipe for vegan palm parmesan cheese and then I've married the two together to make a parmesan furikake seasoning which is amazing it is amazing I was just going to say that too so um and uh I think we might have a photo but as well if not I'm going to do one another favorite of mine is the vegan sushi which just flows me away not only is it taste great but it's so visually appealing and uh it's delicious and again those those seasonings and spices that you put on have just been fantastic so yes they are a lot of fun really true they really are and I think that's the beauty of Hawaiian food Hawaiian food looks great uh you know Hawaii really knows how to utilize its fresh you know produce both fruit and vegetables fruit fresh fruit is you know all over their smoothies and our side bowls vegetables here we get all year around so we're very blessed and very lucky and it's all about just putting all these all these things together and getting them onto one plate and making them taste good so I want to show you another photo Dave please please do this is uh lemon chicken Pam's lemon lemon chicken a neighbor of ours um was gracious enough to let me you is one of his recipes from his late wife Pamela and this has become one of my favorites it's just a simple local you know lemon chicken recipe that's made from tofu and is amazing again the way you prep the tofu is it is very important and I do take you through that there is one other photo I think Dave that I want to show yeah let's please oh yes another great one this is the last one yeah so when we talk about flavor enhancers what making vegan eggs please to anyone watching do find color namak color namak black salt it's actually pink in color it because of its high sulfur content it actually makes food taste eggy and smell eggy and it does make a difference lil let's talk again hawaii a vegan paradise let's talk about where we can purchase the book we know it's going to be out uh 30 october uh hawaii vegan paradise there it is yes you can you can order thank you Dave you can order the book directly from the publishing house mutual publishing dot com here in hawaii there is going to be an amazon link uh on october 30th which I will post on all my uh vegan pages please look find me at lily and vegan on facebook instagram youtube and my web page also lily and vegan you'll get all the information there and links on where to buy the book so I do also want to mention mutual publishing who are gracious enough to work with me and create this awesome book together I have nothing but love and admiration for the team at mutual publishing and what an awesome awesome book we've managed to put together so huge mahalo to them and thank you Dave for doing the show with me and and all your support throughout the year thank you especially for marrying me back helping you create the books but been awesome and yeah it's your beautiful lady and the book is wonderful it just shows so much passion and elegance that's the best way to describe hawaii vegan paradise thank you so to all the viewers I thank you so much for tuning in I look forward to seeing you again on millions vegan world thank you Dave aloha and stay safe everyone bye