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Joe Yonan

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Joe Yonan
BornJoe Yonan
Albany, Georgia
OccupationVegetarian and plant-based food writer and cookbook author
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin; Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
GenreFood writing
Website
www.joeyonan.com

Joe Yonan is an American vegetarian/plant based food writer and cookbook author who currently serves as the Food and Dining Editor for The Washington Post. He is also a cookbook author whose most recent work is Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques (2024).

Early life and education

Yonan was born in Albany, Georgia,[1] and is the grandson of Assyrian refugees.[2] He grew up in San Angelo, Texas,[3][4][5] the youngest of eight children.[6] He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Journalism in 1989,[4][7] and from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in 2000.[8]

Career

Yonan initially worked as a reporter for Boston media outlets.[6] After many years in "hard news," however, and not receiving a promotion from The Boston Globe, Yonan explored a career change.[9] He read What Color Is Your Parachute?[6] and realized that he wanted to focus on food writing.[6][9] He recalls that, “I knew I didn’t want to become a chef... I just wanted to combine my biggest passions and that was writing, journalism and food.”[9] Realizing that he needed a culinary background, Yonan joined the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in 1999,[6][9] and graduated in 2000.[10] In 2006, he joined The Washington Post as a food writer, where he wrote the "Cooking for One" column for five years.[8]

Although Yonan grew up on a diet of "T-bones" and "the first thing he remembers learning to make as a kid was chicken-fried steak,"[4] he publicly "came out" in 2013 as a vegetarian via a column in The Washington Post.[11] He states that he made the switch for health and environmental reasons,[12] and credits growing up in San Angelo as vital towards his interest in beans, due to his constant consumption of Tex-Mex.[3] Some of his favorite vegetarian cookbooks are Ten Talents (1968), Moosewood Cookbook (1977), and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997).[13]

Yonan currently writes the Weeknight Vegetarian column.[8]

Honors and awards

Winner

James Beard awards and nominations

Yonan is the recipient of two James Beard Foundation Awards.[17]

Winner

Nominee

  • 2022: Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 (Single Subject)
  • 2017: Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication (Washington Post Food)
  • 2011: Food Section of a General Interest Publication (The Washington Post)

Cookbooks

Yonan's first book, Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One, was born out of his monthly column for The Washington Post, "Cooking for One." His goal was to help, "single folks to realize that they don’t have to resort to takeout all the time, or processed food."[18] He notes that he while he was able to learn cooking from his mother and step-father, many people "don’t learn how to cook before they have to live on their own...cooking for yourself is the first step in eating more healthfully,"[18] Later, when describing his 2013 book, "Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook," written as he was transitioning to a vegetarian diet, Publishers Weekly, argued that the "greatly appealing dishes in this collection open up a whole new culinary world for veggie lovers."[19] In 2023, Tasting Table listed Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes as one of “The 14 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks That Even Meat Eaters Will Love,"[20] and in 2024, Food & Wine listed it as one of their "Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks."[21]

  • Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques. Ten Speed Press, 2024. ISBN 978-1984860644.
  • Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes. Ten Speed Press 2020.ISBN 978-0399581489.
  • (Editor) America The Great Cookbook. Weldon Owen, 2017. ISBN 978-1681882826.
  • Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook. Ten Speed Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1607744429.
  • Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One Ten Speed Press, 2011.ISBN 978-1580085137.

Personal life

Yonan lives with his husband and their son in Washington D.C.[8]

References

  1. ^ Diego, CG (2020-02-15). "Why Southerners, and Just About Everyone Else, Love Beans". Garden & Gun. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  2. ^ Yonan, Joe. "About Me". Official Website. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  3. ^ a b Pierce, Ellise (2020-09-21). "Cool Beans: A New Cookbook and Recipes from Joe Yonan". Cowboys & Indians (magazine). Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  4. ^ a b c Cohen, Jason (2013-03-09). "Let Joe Yonan Show You What to Do With All of Those Beans". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  5. ^ Witts-Francini, Judy (2020-03-25). "Bean Eaters Unite! "Cool Beans" Author Joe Yonan on Why He Loves Legumes". Saveur. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Food Editor Joe Yonan". The Special Sauce Podcast (interview). 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  7. ^ "Joe Yonan". Better Homes and Gardens (magazine). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  8. ^ a b c d "Joe Yonan". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  9. ^ a b c d Tran, Julie (2011-06-06). "UT alumnus heats up kitchen with singles cookbook". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  10. ^ Yonan, Joe. "Joe Yonan". Linkedin. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  11. ^ Yonan, Joe (2011-03-05). "A former omnivore comes out as vegetarian". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  12. ^ Zuraw, Lydia (2013-03-09). "Career Suicide Or Lifesaver? Why A Professional Foodie Went Vegetarian". NPR. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  13. ^ Swift, Sally (2017-06-01). "Joe Yonan's three must-have classic vegetarian cookbooks". spendidtable.org (interview). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  14. ^ "Our Winners of the 2020 IACP Awards, Including Book of the Year for JUBILEE". Penguin. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  15. ^ Spiegel, Alison (2018-02-25). "The 2018 IACP Award-Winners". Yahoo. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  16. ^ "The Washington Post Food Team Wins Five Association of Food Journalists Awards". The Washington Post. 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  17. ^ "James Beard Awards: Joe Yonan". James Beard Awards. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  18. ^ a b DiNardo, Kelly (2011-03-31). "Q&A with Joe Yonan, author of Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One". Washington Independent Review of Books. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  19. ^ "Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  20. ^ Fawzy, Mary (2024-09-25). "The 14 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks That Even Meat Eaters Will Love". Tasting Table. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  21. ^ Soll, Megan (2024-07-20). "Our Editors' Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks". Food & Wine. Retrieved 2024-09-25.


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