Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Luyendyk.
Hi Laura, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been an animal lover since my earliest memory, and other kids even gave me the nickname, “Mother Nature”. This was going to be an integral part of my life which I didn’t know at the time.
After graduating college with an art degree and working in the design and printing field, I took up calligraphy, which I still do professionally for weddings and events, and was honored to be featured in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. Twenty years later in 2013, after becoming curious about plant based eating due to the treatment of animals on factory farms, I decided to try out vegan, plant based fare. Figuring that I’d just try it out for a week or two, I was surprised at the abundance of delicious, simple foods that I enjoyed, and I felt more energetic and vibrant. This led me to complete Cornell University’s plant based nutrition program based on Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s “The China Study”; followed by completing the Rouxbe Plant Based Cooking School certification. My creative background and passion for animals formed my new passion: plant based vegan cooking.
Since then, I created a website and YouTube channel, Laura’s Vegan Table, that I am still very excited about, and continue to develop recipes and cooking videos that I love to share with others. Because of my Italian heritage, I particularly love to recreate plant based versions of the foods I grew up on, and have even included recipes that my great grandmothers from Southern Italy had made.
I truly believe that if we eat beautifully, we age beautifully, and midlife glow starts in the kitchen.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“Necessity is the mother of invention” phrase by Plato could not be more true for me. Being determined to create delicious plant based dishes from foods I grew up eating and loved has always been a driving force. I like the challenge of it, especially when I can’t find a plant based recipe for the dish in mind when I’m searching online. This pushes me to develop something different and delicious. I have made a lot of mistakes along the way with dishes that did not turn out as I had hoped. But that’s always ok because I still learn the lessons of what works and what doesn’t.
Dining out can be challenging for sure. Though I’ve learned to navigate that and I always call restaurants ahead of time to see if they can accommodate. Most restaurants are more than happy to offer options.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I still do calligraphy professionally for weddings and events, and enjoy the creativity, and helping people with that detail that sets the tone for their event.
My main passion is food and plant based cooking. I love being inspired by a dish or idea, then putting all the ingredients together, and turning something simple into something memorable. Then I love to take photos of the food and create the recipe on my website. I continue to create cooking videos to show people exactly how I make the dishes. We eat with our eyes first, so I love to show how beautiful the food is, how tasty the food can be, and how easy it is to make. Being 55 now, I believe that eating this way has helped me avoid some common health issues. Because of my Italian heritage where food was always front and center, I’m really motivated to always develop recipes that others will enjoy, or give that nostalgic feeling of eating something they loved that they thought they may need to give up if eating plant based.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Martha Stewart has been my muse since the 90’s. She has always been a source of inspiration and making the mundane things beautiful. I admire her high standards, commitment to quality, creating beauty in the home and garden, and living an extraordinary life by design. I want to be the Martha Stewart of plant based cooking!
I also enjoy and I’m inspired by The Dan Buettner Podcast, hosted by Dan Buettner, who has done a ton of research on this topic and followed the habits of people who live in the Blue Zones. A Blue Zone is a demographic or geographic region where people live measurably longer, healthier lives, with a high concentration of centenarians. The people in these areas live well and enjoy long, healthy lives by eating a mostly plant based diet, enjoying the simple movement of walking and gardening, and have a good community. It’s a daily practice that all of us can adopt into our everyday lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://laurasvegantable.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura_luyendyk/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurasvegantable/featured
- Other: https://yhcalligraphy.com/
