Audrey Enjoli
Successful recipe creator, food blogger, and entrepreneur Remy Park joins us to chat about veganism and wellness—and shares a yummy recipe to try.
Online, she goes by @Veggiekins. And in person, her enthusiasm for veganism, health, and holistic wellness spills over. Speaking from the heart, Remy Park sat down with us to share a deeply meaningful perspective on veganism—along with fresh, insightful advice for how plant-based cooking can become a space to share love with family and friends.
Based in NYC, Remy Park runs a successful food blog jam-packed with whole-food, plant-based recipes. “I create vegan and gluten free recipes with a focus on whole food plant based ingredients and the healing power of plants,” she says.
Remy's journey into plant-based eating began when she went vegan in college. "In addition to physically feeling better," she says, "I felt a new, strong connection to food and found appreciation for how food could heal and nourish me." After that, she started incorporating wellness into every area of her life. Now, she's a certified yoga and meditation teacher, a holistic nutritionist, and a mindfulness coach. She joined us to talk about her inspiring journey into plant-based eating and how it intersects with other aspects of her identity.
What does veganism mean to you?
Veganism, to me, means a compassionate way of living. It means an empowering choice when it comes to food, the things you wear, and how you navigate the world.
In many cultures and families, food is a means of continuous connection to each other and to a shared history. Sometimes going vegan can seem intimidating because people fear that they will lose that means of connection. What would you say to those folks/that perspective?
Coming from an Asian family, I can definitely relate to this fear. I think it can be a bit of a culture shock for your family at first. Being able to share food is such an important part of family connection—it’s how Asian people show love to each other. So sometimes when you're straying away from what your family makes for you, they have no other way of connecting with you on such an intimate level.
To anyone who's worried about this or is seeing things from that perspective, I'd say the best thing you can do is to look for existing dishes in your culture that are naturally vegan. (You might be surprised to find that there are a few!) Then, teach yourself to veganize some of the recipes that you loved growing up, and involve your family in the process.
I was actually able to connect with my family a lot when I went vegan, because I asked for their help in figuring out how to make vegan versions of some of my favorite soups and noodle dishes they’d make for me. I think involving family in the process—and inviting them to cook vegan with you—is a way to show them that they can still share love with you through food.
Involving family in the process—and inviting them to cook vegan with you—is a way to show them that they can still share love with you through food.
Do people in your family, friend group, or wider community have eating habits similar to or different from yours? Does that impact your choices, and if so, how?
I’m the only vegan in my family and also most of my friend groups. It doesn't really impact my choices very much, but I do think my choices have had an impact on my family and friends, even though I never explicitly talk about going vegan or ask them to change their diets. I think that leading by example is a really amazing way to show that it’s so easy to eat vegan! And, naturally, because I'm always trying so many fun vegan things and cooking a lot, they try the food through me—and any stigma about vegan food being “weird” or “different” is immediately addressed.
Once you have your “why,” it’s a lot easier to stick to the vegan lifestyle. That way you understand why you're doing it, and you're less influenced by others who might not be doing the same. Because it’s definitely kind of going against the grain!
Does any specific dish or recipe come to mind as being especially important to you?
For me, a lot of Asian dishes were really important—dishes like Bimbibap, which is a Korean rice bowl, or even Japanese food that uses a lot of dashi, which is fish based. I wasn’t able to eat those things when I went vegan, and those were the things I'd crave when I was having a bad day or whenever I wanted comfort food. Not being able to have comfort foods anymore was definitely an adjustment, and that inspired me to try learning how to make them vegan.
What kinds of foods did you grow up eating, and who cooked them? Where did they come from? Were animal products a regular staple in your diet?
I’d say animal products were a pretty regular staple in my diet. I actually grew up loving cow's milk. I’d drink full-fat cow's milk and I loved it. I would just drink it on its own, so I was “that kid.”
Growing up in the States, dairy and meat were everywhere. I'd even eat processed meats and stuff like that! But when my family moved to Asia for a little bit, it became a lot easier to eat more vegetables. The Asian diet is not very dairy-heavy (especially in China, for example), and there were usually a lot more vegetables on the table. My parents always cooked, and even though we were eating meat when I was growing up, my mom and dad were always great about having so many vegetables on the table to choose from. I think that's always stuck with me and made it easier for me to transition.
Growing up, what conversations did you have about food—especially regarding meat, milk, cheese, and eggs?
In our conversations around food, I think one misconception was that going vegan was some type of diet fad for me, and that it was all about health. So, as soon as I went vegan, my parents started making me this outrageously healthy food—like dressing-free salad. Once I had a conversation with them, they understood that it was a lot more about an ethical way of living, and not necessarily health-related (although I do love to eat a healthy meal!).
For my parents, being vegetarian wasn't a crazy concept—they knew vegetarian people in their lives. But once I cut out the milk, cheese, and eggs (and even the honey), I think that’s when it started to feel a bit extreme from their perspective. But then it kind of became a family activity, where we’d all go out to try a vegan restaurant together once in a while. So it was actually quite an easy transition once we started having conversations.
Have you altered your consumption of animal products over time? If so, when and why? Is it something you think about today?
The first thing I cut out was actually dairy, first and foremost, because a lot of Asian people have lactose intolerance or are just not able to break down dairy efficiently. I was having a lot of stomach issues, so I decided, let me just try and see if I feel better with no dairy in my diet. Naturally, I ended up finding a bunch of vegan recipes, because I was looking for a dairy-free mac and cheese and it just so happened to be vegan. It kind of piqued my interest, so I started looking into it more.
It all kind of made sense to me. I tried it for a week, and the difference I felt in my health and my energy was incredible. That was it for me. I went vegan after that and never went back! It’s definitely something I think about today, though, because I find that for a lot of people, doing a 180 overnight is really difficult.
I think that with a lifestyle change of any kind, it’s really important to make it sustainable for you and also realistic for you. I'm a big fan of encouraging people to switch to alternative milks in their lattes or doing Meatless Mondays. I don’t think it has to be black and white—thinking that if you’re not doing vegan perfectly, you aren't doing it right. I think it’s better to have everyone on board with eating less meat and less dairy, and making that transition step by step rather than nobody doing it at all.
Can you identify any barriers in your life regarding your access to food? (This could be anything from income to grocery store proximity to food access or allergies.)
The first time I felt like there really was a barrier in terms of access to food was in college, because I was on such a tight budget. Although my cafeteria technically had vegan options, it was very limited. My campus Vegan Club was trying to get us better options every week, but it was still difficult to find good, healthy, balanced vegan meals that were filling enough and varied enough. So that was the first barrier. Learning to cook in college on such a small budget was really difficult, but it was also a fun challenge and helped introduce me to cooking for myself. However, at the time, I was just figuring out how to cook vegan, so I felt like I had to stick to the basics and keep it really simple.
When my family moved to Asia, it also became a little more difficult to find vegan ingredients, because I wasn’t sure how to speak the language. Sometimes, in the places we’d move to, I didn’t know where to find nutritional yeast or Tofurky, for example. I had to shift the way I was cooking and my reliance on processed vegan foods. I think what I've come to realize is that you can find vegetables pretty much everywhere. At the same time, I know that not acknowledging that there are people who don't even have access to fresh produce would be absolutely wrong. That’s another reason why I'm so for making reasonable and sustainable changes that make sense for an individual’s lifestyle. It’s all very personal.
Where do you generally do your grocery shopping, and what’s on your list?
I kind of do a mix of various markets. I love H-Mart, which is the Korean market, or Asian markets in general. I love the farmer’s market, because it’s a great look at what’s in season and you’ll find some things that you’ll never see at the grocery store. I like the average grocery store, too, because you can find fresh vegetables at any grocery store (I love that!). Big fan of the frozen fruits and vegetables section as well. I do love a good Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s run for fun items, especially fun vegan items. And if I’m really splurging, I really like Erewhon from time to time, but I don’t really do my grocery shopping there. It’s more for fun snack browsing!
How are your values reflected in the work you do as a Changemaker/Influencer?
I think the core of all my content is veganism. When I started my account, it was very much with the intention of sharing vegan recipes to make it easier for people to learn to cook vegan meals for themselves. Even though I’ve branched out to share lifestyle content—a little bit of sustainability, fashion, even, and travel—there’s always that element of veganism tied into everything I do. It’s the lifestyle I live, and it’s something that comes up in everything I do—even when I'm not thinking about it.
For example, if I’m sharing something fashion-related, I'm definitely going to be wearing all vegan-friendly materials and brands. I’ll be sharing alternatives for people who are used to the traditional materials, like leather and wool. If I’m wearing makeup, I always shop for vegan makeup and I suggest cruelty-free, vegan brands to my audience.
With everything I do, I approach it with the lens of being a vegan individual, first and foremost. And then I like to encourage people to make small changes in their lives. I think leading by example is the best way to show people that it can be done, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and it’s not as hard as you might think.
I think leading by example is the best way to show people that it can be done, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and it’s not as hard as you might think.
What do you eat in a day?
I usually start my mornings with a matcha latte of some kind. I usually like oat milk, but I also really like soy milk in my lattes. For breakfast, I love avocado toast, but I also really like pancakes on the weekends—vegan pancakes, of course! Another thing I love to eat is tofu scramble, if I'm feeling like I want a little more protein in the morning.
For lunch, I really love kale Caesar salad. I'll add vegan protein—Daring chicken, tofu, chickpeas, anything—because you get the healthy fats in, the protein, and veggies.
Dinner is a little bit heartier for me. I love curries, stews, noodle soups—really warming foods. There are so many amazing restaurants in LA that sometimes it’ll just end up being a vegan burger from, say, Burgerlords, or pizza from Pura Vita.
And I love dessert! I have something dessert-y almost every single day, whether it’s an actual dessert or a frozen banana with melted chocolate. I have to end the night on a sweet note.
Try one of Remy's recipes!
Vegan Kale Caesar Salad with Croutons
Salad 6–7 leaves of lacinato kale, thinly sliced 1 head romaine lettuce, thinly sliced
Dressing 4 heaping tablespoons tahini 1/4 cup water (adjust to suit how thick or thin you like your dressing) 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast jucie of 1 lemon 1 clove garlic, grated (or use 1/2 tsp garlic powder) 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard 2 teaspoons white miso paste (optional, but adds great savoury flavour) salt/black pepper to taste
Croutons crusty bread, diced 1 tbsp neutral oil 2 tsp nutritional yeast 1 clove of garlic finely minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder pinch of smoked paprika pinch of salt
Optional additions to really caesar it up: top with some vegan parmesan, capers, red onion, or dulse flakes to mimic anchovy flavour.
Method
- Whisk together all dressing ingredients and adjust to taste.
- Massage the dressing into the kale and romaine mixture and toss to coat.
- To prepare the croutons, whisk all ingredients together (except bread), then add to a large bowl with bread and toss to coat. Airfry for 5 minutes at 375F or bake in the oven until nice and crisp.
- To assemble the salad, top with croutons and any desired vegan protein of choice and enjoy!
