ASHLAND – (TNS) Irvine native Jan Brandenburg had two paths before her, and she took both.
“I’ve been cooking since I was really young,” Brandenburg, a University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy alum, said. “I received one of those Easy-Bake Ovens as a child and was hooked.”
For her career, she chose pharmacy and has practiced for 40 years. The love of food has lingered, though, leading her to publish “The
Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia,” which includes familiar recipes that have been adapted for a vegetarian lifestyle.
The two areas of interest have their common ground, Brandenburg said.
“The biggest parallel between pharmacy and my love of cooking is that they both serve people,” she said. “People feel special at the pharmacy counter when you take the time to talk with them. and people also feel special when you cook for them.”
She said they also share the goal of creating.
“In pharmacy, your ingredients must be exact,” she said. “In cooking, you have more latitude. You don’t always have to follow a strict formula. The important thing is to get in there and do it.”
Brandenburg worked weekends during her school years at an eatery in Somerset where her grandmother worked. At home, cooking wasn’t just a necessity; it was an experience that permeated her life.
In the mid-1990s, Brandenburg became a vegetarian and she experimented with recipe she grew up enjoying.
“After pharmacy school, I brought my mortar and pestle home to grind herbs and seasonings. The more I cooked and learned, the more reasons I found to continue the journey,” she wrote in the introduction to her cookbook.
Eventually, she became vegan and made comfort food for her family, all with vegan ingredients.
“Veganism or even vegetarianism are not yet common in my area,” she said. “I do hope that this cookbook, which fully embraces our traditional recipes, could be a nudge for those who worry about what they might have to give up. I also love to add that those who are dairy intolerant or avoiding unhealthy fats and cholesterol will also find a culinary home here.”
As a clinical pharmacist at CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Berea, she often combines her knowledge of medicine and food to the benefit of her patients.
“So many people don’t realize the strength of the connection between diet and health,” she said. “I’m always willing to share information if someone is ready to receive it.”
Brandenburg said the key is to cook with in-season vegetables and fruits.
“In the summer, I love making peach crisp,” she said. “Or a fresh corn salad with cucumbers and white vinegar dressing. and all the summer pasta salads, those are big-time favorites.”
Her cookbook includes more than 130 recipes, as well as personal anecdotes, family stories and tips on vegan kitchen tools and ingredients.
