Yes, please! Teya Brooks Pribac with Junction 142 manager Stephen Bradley (right) and Joshua Bradley, about to savour the three-ingredient coconut balls.
Story and photos by Linda Moon
Healthier for us and better for the planet and purse, plant based food is trending. A local expert can show you how to turn plant foods into mouth-watering creations.
Key Points:
Statistics show interest in plant based food is booming with Aussies among those leading the charge.
Local author and academic, Teya Brooks Pribac from PlantInspired, is running monthly cooking classes in Katoomba to teach us how to make plant foods fun, creative and delicious.
Leaving animal foods off the plate is associated with a longer life span in many studies. A Seventh Day Adventist study of over 73,000 people, for example, found vegans had a 15 per cent lower risk of dying over the study period compared to those eating meat.
Under the guidance of PlantInspired’s Teya Brooks, we start with caramelising onions. Some of us take turns stirring the onions; another participant washes lettuce leaves at the sink. We learn the caramelising process takes a slow 45 minutes on very low heat and that soaking lentils overnight makes them cook quicker – just some of the tips you don’t normally learn from a cookbook, but take home in a fun, intimate, face-to-face class like this.
Today we’re learning how to make a three-course meal: a lentil and vegetable burrito, a Mexican-inspired sang choy bau stirfry encased in a lettuce leaf, and a coconut sweet. There’s also a free recipe handout to take home.
A class participant and Teya Brooks Pribacget creative in the kitchen.
The secret of great taste: it’s all in the spice and salt
Teya’s goal is to start with simple ideas accessible to people without expensive kitchen tools. The focus of the classes is on cheaper cooking techniques and healthy, plant based ingredients using pantry staples. The menu features inexpensive ingredients anyone has in their cupboard – no sign of almond flour or pomegranate here.
“A lot of people want to eat more vegetables but don’t know to make them taste good,” she says. “They steam them. What I want is to teach people how to make vegetables in a really nice, tasty way.” According to Teya, that magical element of deliciousness is really just about adding salt and spice.
Fresh ingredients for the burrito. Colourful plant foods like these are high in antioxidants, good for you and the environment.
Plant-based passion
Teya, (who is Slovenian-born and has a PhD in animal grief from the University of NSW), is passionate about vegan food: “It’s cheaper, healthier, better for people and the planet and kind for animals”. It was actually her husband (poet, David Brooks) who taught her to cook. “I started to cook with him, then I got better than him,” she reveals with a smile.
She also began experimenting with vegan cheeses. It’s a culinary journey that resulted in a cookbook, the aptly named Not Just Another Vegan Cookbook. It’s been praised by icons in the vegan world, like Lynda Stoner.
The delicious final result: veg and lentil burrito and veg stir-fry in lettuce leaf. Yum.
Teya never expected to end up in community work, but at this stage on her path feels more useful in the community than in the academic world. Along with her community cooking classes, Teya, who has been vegan since 2005, hosts Sip and Savour afternoons at Good Earth Bookshop in Wentworth Falls (a delightful chance to sample plant-based delicies and wine), plus other community cooking events and classes through her community cooking project, PlantInspired.
Teya from PlantInspired serving it up.
The joy of cooking and eating together
There’s something so natural and traditional feeling about cooking and eating together. Bonds form quickly over food. Menu and food ideas are traded along with local news.
By the time we sit down together to feast at the end of the two-hour class, we’re all comfortable with each other, chatty and hungrily tucking in. The three-course meal is restaurant quality, visually attractive and utterly tasty. For the $10 class fee, it’s a bargain. There’s also plenty to go round and Teya shares food with others at the Junction 142 centre.
Plenty to share. Eating together is the spice of life.
Those who fear or loathe baking, or simply don’t have time, will love the coconut dessert. The tasty treat has only three ingredients: coconut, sugar and vanilla. For something so simple, it’s surprisingly delicious and dressed up with some chocolate bits, looks great.
Creative fun with coconut.
Come to the next class
If you missed Teya’s cooking class and want to attend the next one, here’s all you need to know:
When: Teya’s cooking classes will be offered monthly for two hours between 11am and 1pm. Each month will feature a different menu with new, fun plant-based recipes to explore and enjoy.
Where:Junction 142, at 142 Katoomba Street, Katoomba. Go towards the back of the building to the entrance beside the Sweet Charity Op-shop.
Cost: $10 donation to help offset the costs of the social enterprise project and fund those who can’t afford it to partake. The class is free for concession card holders.
To book or enquire: Call or message Teya on 0434 691 496
Learn from a master of vegan cookery. Teya Brooks Pribac from PlantInspired demonstrating how to make coconut balls.
Take Action:
Book the community cooking class with Teya on 0434 691 496.
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
If you haven`t yet tried the deliciousness of Good Fat Pastry you`ll be in for a treat at the Food Security Fair on Sat 18 October! Join Michael, the creative baker producing these mouthwatering plant based (and mostly gluten free) treats for breakfast, where he will inspire you to rethink everything you know about baking:
"Baking is both borne and constrained by convention—as are our expectations. Since Ancient Egypt and Rome, eggs, dairy, and cereals have been used in baked goods for flavour and functionality. The enormity of cakes, pastries, biscuits, and desserts we know and love—and the countless we have no awareness of—have been discovered and created through spontaneity and experimentation. Almost always resting on the magical transformations of these key ingredients under heat and energy.
Yet as the realm of food is one of creativity and sensory inquisitiveness there are inherent possibilities for alternatives—in replicating the familiar as well as creating novelty. This path can follow the complexities of molecular gastronomy or the simple pragmatism of substituting with what`s on hand. Find whatever works for you."
Spaces are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
One of the highlights of our Food Security Fair on Sat 18th October is our Weaving with Weeds workshop at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. In this relaxing and enjoyable workshop Erin Hall will help you identify common invasive weeds that are ideal for basket making, and teach you the basic skills to weave a range of different objects. At the same time you`ll be removing and repurposing weeds that are destroying habitat for our wildlife! Places are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
We’re thrilled to announce that tickets are now available for Ferment the Season with Holly Davis at the Blue Mountains Food Security Fair on Saturday 18th October at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. Holly will demonstrate how to ferment the season to create more nutrient rich and digestible food. She is the co-founder of Sydney’s Iku Wholefoods and author of ‘Ferment - A Guide to the Ancient Art of Culturing Food’ and ’Nourish: Sustenance for Body and Soul”. Learn the foundational principles and several techniques for fermenting seasonally abundant produce. Fermentation increases nutrition and eating a little ferment with every meal has unlimited benefits for our overall wellbeing and the planet! Places are limited so book early here (Food Security Fair link in profile for tickets): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
Thank you to everyone who so generously contributed to our celebration of the centenary of World Animal Day, and our tribute to the life of artist, poet, author, Animal Liberation founder, and animal rights activist, Christine Townend, at the Planetary Health Centre yesterday. At a packed event we feasted on delicious plant-based food, inspiring art and poetry, and memorable conversations, as we shared our love and respect for the extraordinary world of animals of which we are a part. Join us for further celebrations at our Food Security Fair on Saturday 18 October. Register here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
We`re thrilled to announce that tickets are now on sale for our inaugural Blue Mountains Food Security Fair at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba on Saturday 18 October! Register here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/food-security-fair-or-planetary-health-initiative
The day will include stalls, talks and demos about growing, sourcing, cooking, preserving and enjoying plant based food and protecting habitat for wildlife.
Our fabulous line up of speakers and workshop tutors includes Dr Milena Bojovic on the Future of Food; Holly Davis, co-founder of Iku and author of `Ferment`; Michael from Good Fat Pastry; Nev Sweeney from Under the Choko Tree on how to build a Solar Powered Food Dehydrator; Lloyd Sharp from Mid Blue Mountains Seed Savers; Marnee Fox from Forage to Feast; Teya Brooks Pribac from Plant Inspired; and Erin Hall on Weaving with Weeds. Stalls will include EarthRising Mushroom Farm, edible native plants, the Planetary Health Cafe and more. Each session needs to be booked individually as numbers are strictly limited.
This event is being supported by a sEEd grant from the Australian Association for Environmental Education.
This Saturday 4 Oct, on the centenary of World Animal Day, you can meet other people passionate about protecting our wild neighbours, and contribute to restoring habitat for wildlife with them, by coming along and joining our dedicated team of Planetary Health Bushcarers as we regenerate the bushland at the Planetary Health Precinct. Learn more and register to attend (1.30pm) here: (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/planetary-health-bushcare-spring-summer-2025
Woohoo! We are so thrilled. Katoomba poet David Brooks has just won the Prime Minister`s Literary Award for Poetry with his book "The Other Side of Daylight: New and Selected Poems". Come and celebrate with us this coming Saturday night when he`ll read from his work for a World Animal Day celebration at the Planetary Health Centre. Bookings here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/world-animal-day-raising-the-bar-for-nature
(apologies for dodgy screenshots ... we`ve been watching the awards streaming on YouTube tonight)
Join us next Sat 4th Oct to celebrate the exciting news that Katoomba writer David Brooks has been shortlisted for the Australian Prime Minister`s Literary Awards for his book of poetry: "The Other Side of Daylight: New and Selected Poems". It will be a night of art, poetry and delicious food as we also celebrate the centenary of World Animal Day, with David reading from his work alongside local poet Louise Wakeling, a tribute to artist, poet and founder of Animal Liberation, Christine Townend, and an Open Mic for poetry about the extraordinary species we share our world with. Bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/world-animal-day-raising-the-bar-for-nature
With each extreme weather event more hazardous materials enter our environment and impact human and planetary health, which is why, for 2025, we’re bringing together the Australian Bushfire Building Conference and the Asbestos & Hazardous Materials Management Conference in Katoomba on 20-22 Nov, to address how we can all work together, from design to disposal, to both reduce disaster risk and the risk of hazardous materials. We urgently need to design, build and live differently, as well as better manage those hazardous materials that are already impacting our health and the health of our frontline emergency staff and volunteers.
At Full Cycle 2025 we’re bringing together leading experts to address how we can do this.
We`re thrilled to announce that Shane McArdle, Head of International Projects for the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) in Sydney, will present on local and global actions for eliminating asbestos and dust-related diseases. Shane has spent almost 10 years at the Australian Government Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA) overseeing awareness raising and international strategies to prevent exposure to asbestos and to eliminate asbestos-related diseases.
Early bird registrations for the conference close on 7 October. You can learn more and register here (link in profile): www.fullcycleconference.com.au
The last six years have seen catastrophic and unprecedented wildfires in Australia and California. At the Full Cycle Conference on 20-22 Nov, A/Prof Owen Price will share his research which compares the patterns of housing loss in the NSW and Californian wildfires. With every fire, more hazardous materials are dispersed through the environment.
Owen has spent the past 18 years analysing empirical evidence of the effectiveness of bushfire mitigation strategies. This has included examining the effectiveness of prescribed burning, the drivers of fire spread and severity, fire suppression and house loss. He has published ~140 research papers and he is the Director of The Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires (CERMB) at the University of Wollongong. Owen is one of many leading speakers who will be joining us at Full Cycle 2025 to explore how we can reduce disaster risk and hazardous materials in a changing climate. Early Bird Registrations close on 7 October. Visit the website to learn more and register here (link in profile):
Keynote speaker Julian Cribb AM announced as anticipation builds for the inaugural Full Cycle 2025 Conference which will address some of the most critical issues of our time, and what we can do about them. Julian Cribb will speak on how we can cleanse our polluted planet and tackle the existential megathreats of the 21st century as he sets the context for the two day conference and community expo that`s a collaboration between the Australian Bushfire Building Conference, the Asbestos & Hazardous Materials Management Conference and the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative.
Co-founder of the Council for the Human Future, he has written over 9000 articles and 12 books, including How to Fix a Broken Planet, Earth Detox, Poisoned Planet, Surviving the 21st Century, The Coming Famine and Food or War. He will outline how climate change and the toxic tsunami of hazardous substances engulfing the world are two of ten megathreats that need to be addressed together and at the same time, urgently, and he’ll propose a plan for doing this.
Early Bird registrations close on Tuesday 7 October and there is still time to make a submission to be part of this seminal event. Read more about the conference and register here (link in profile): www.fullcycleconference.com.au
We had a fabulous dinner meeting last night to launch Rotarians 4 Planetary Health. It was exciting to bring together so much expertise and care for our community and the health of our planet! Initially we`ll be meeting fortnightly on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month from 6pm. If you`d like to join us register for the next meeting on Monday 13 October here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-rotarians-4-planetary-health
Linda Moon has lived in the upper Blue Mountains since childhood and is a freelance writer for Australian media. A qualified naturopath, permaculture designer, mother and former student of social work, her passion is building local community, gardening, mental, emotional, social, housing and environmental health – all of which are linked!
On the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima the Planetary Health Initiative and the Blue Mountains Peace Collective hosted a Peace Symposium and Community Picnic to provide pathways for everyone to take steps for a more peaceful future.
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