Chef Ed Harrisof Food Network'sChopped and Iron Chef Internationalfame is bringing anew approach to his creations, dosing his dishes with a heftyhelping of plantsin his new cookbook Veganish. Harris, who studied culinary at the Art Institute of New York City and built his resum at iconic restaurants including Jean-Georges and Rivers' Caf, found his passion for cookingthrough his time in the kitchenmaking food for his family as a young boy in St. Lucia.

In many ways, Harris' new cookbook ventureactually represents a return to his roots, as Caribbean cuisine is deeplyentrenched in plant-based traditions. I chatted with Harris to learn about his plant-based journey, and what pushed him to explore the world of veganism. Read on for tips, inspiration, and a delicious plant-based recipe from the chef himself.

Chef Ed Harris: Yes, everything in the cookbook is vegan. I see 'Veganish' as a friendlier term because the concept of Veganism can be intimidating to some.

EH: I love the mushroom stir fry, the parsley rice,charred cauliflower stir fry, and potstickersas some of my favorites, and also basics like the aromatics and the tomato sauce which is a hybrid of Italian and Nigerian flavors. My wife is Nigerian, and I was inspired by the way that they make tomato sauce and married that with the traditional technique. It creates a really robust tomato sauce that you can add to anything for flavor.

EH: One thing I pride myself on doing a lot is trying to make recipes easy to follow. You don't need to be a pro any home cook can do this. A beginner, a foodie, it really doesn't matter. Some recipes take a lot of skill but are broken down in a way that's easy enough for a new cook to follow. There's one particular recipe the aromatics: The onion, garlic, ginger, and chilis is something I believe in so adamantly because you don't realize how much flavor you can develop just by having thiscombination as something you add to fried rice or stews or beans. Even for breakfast, making hash browns and adding a spoon of this will literally take your recipe from 1-10 in an instant.Not to mention, all of the immune-boosting benefits from garlic, ginger, onions, and chili peppers.

EH: I am working on cutting out some animal products still. Being that I am a chef, when I travel, especially internationally, there are dishes that I want to try just so that I can get a feel for the flavor,. I feel that if I can try it, I can understand it a little bit better, and then really make something plant-based that can replicate that item.

EH: There was definitely a point: My whole family, my wife, and our three kids, we sat down and watched What The Health on Netflix and that to me was really eye-opening. I knew most of what they were saying but to actually see it and hear it, that just made it even more clear for me.

EH: The way that factory chickens were being bred. From inception to a full adult,the whole process is so unnatural and unhealthy. What really got me was that the chickens were getting big so quickly that their legs couldn't even support their own bodies. For them to be sitting down all day and not getting any exercise, which is what makes chicken legs really delicious in the first place, because of the workout that they got, it threw me for a loop.

EH: Growing up in the Caribbean, we do eat tons of vegetables and fruits, that's just part of our diet. I just love eating meat as well. As I got older, I realized that it wasn't really great for me, so I leaned in towards cooking a lot more vegetables, cut down on eating meat only twice, three times a week. I really focused more on plants, fruits, vegetables for lunch, and dinner until it because every day.

EH: YesMushrooms, all kinds. You can do so much, pickling, grilling. When you take time to understand different varieties you can use certain ones to mimic the mouthfeel of meat so you don't miss it. When I can't find good mushrooms, I love using beans,tofu, all kinds of plant-based proteins.

EH: My new line of spice blends, called World Traveler, is my pride and joy. There are five of them, Bollywood, Chinatown, Taco Tuesday, Caribbean Heat. The names are kind of self-explanatory- Bollywood I use for curries, Chinatown for dumpling fillings. They're all-natural, non-GMO.

EH: Veganish focuses onSoutheast Asian cuisine Indian, Southeast Asian, Chinese, Thai flavors. Those are my favorite to cook, and those are cultures that are very easily made vegan.

Recipe backstory: Chef Ed originally learned the technique while working at Buddakan in NYC. The oven-dried pineapple technique adds a dimension of flavor and natural sweetness. It is also beautiful to look at and eat.

Preparation Time: 30 minsCooking Time:45 minsServings: 4

For the Oven-Dried Pineapple Fried Rice

For the Pineapple

For the Fried Rice

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Ed Harris Wants to Help You Eat More 'Veganish' With New Cookbook - The Beet