The Nourished Chef: Wattle Grove mum Clarissa Kocovski’s Instagram success

One Sydney mum is finding a big audience for her vegan recipes and has shared five of her go-to plant-based meals. Would you swap beef mince for a texturised vegetable protein?

A Sydney mother of two who quit meat cold turkey has found a second career as a plant-based chef, sharing easy-to-make vegan meals on Instagram.

Wattle Grove’s Clarissa Kocovski, known online as ‘The Nourished Chef’, has already built a social media following of more than 42,000 people in two short years.

She credited the success to her marketing background, photographic ability and focus on kid-friendly meals which time-poor parents can make.

“I try to make recipes as easy as possible,” Ms Kocovski said. “I know that mum life can be a little hard sometimes.”

Ms Kocovski, who is of Macedonian heritage, said eating meat was such a big part of her European culture and that it was a big shift for her family when she decided to go vegan overnight.

“A lot of people don‘t want to be full vegan because it can be limiting,” she said.

“In the beginning, it can be daunting. It’s very different from conventional cooking. Once you get over the teething period it’s all uphill from there.”

Make your own meat, not nut milk

While supermarkets have more plant-based meat replacements than ever before, they’re still generally more expensive than the meat you’re replacing.

Ms Kocovski’s go-to meat alternative is texturised vegetable protein — or TVP — which is a dehydrated soy protein, and often cheaper than other meat alternatives.

“It‘s literally a one to one replacement for meat,” Ms Kocovski said.

“So if you’re making spaghetti bolognese, instead of using 500g of beef mince, you can substitute it with TVP.”

Then there’s the option to make your own meat replacement at home.

Seitan is a gluten-flour based dough which takes the protein from wheat and turns it into a texture closer to chicken.

All you need is the gluten flour, water, and some spices to season it.

“So that gives it a lot of elasticity and texture to create a mock meat,” Ms Kocovski said.

“You bunch in some water, stock, spices, and it‘s almost like you’re kneading a dough.”

As for expensive nut milks, like almond, she says it’s worth buying them out instead of trying to make them yourself.

“I‘ve done a bit of research and I used to make a lot of plant based milk at home. They spoil really fast,” Ms Kocovski warned.

Here are five of her go-to recipes she recommends for time-poor people wanting to add plant-based meals to their repertoire.

Breakfast Oats

One you can prep before going to bed if your mornings are a little hectic, Ms Kocovski recommends oat milk, cinnamon and spices with chia seed.

Breakfast-friendly muffins

A plant-based meal you can grab out of your fridge on the way out in the morning, Ms Kocovski says they’re great if you’re a type of person to skip breakfast.

Schnitzel Buddha Bowls

If you’re a fan of store-bought schnitzels, the plant-based replacements are very close in taste and texture. Ms Kocovski adds that her kids love eating plant-based nuggets and tenders too, and can’t tell the difference.

Oat Fritters

Satay Skewers

These are really fun to make with the kids Ms Kocovski said, and helps bring them into the kitchen. “They love playing with the little skewer swords.”