We Asked Vegan Black Chefs What They’re Cooking for Juneteenth
Get some inspiration for your celebration menu.
Ace Anderson
Though Juneteenth was officially recognized as an American holiday in 2021, the holiday’s history extends to the mid-1800s. Once all African Americans in Texas became aware of their emancipation — despite the supposed enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation two years prior — they began hosting celebrations to mark “Freedom Day,” the day when African Americans in Galveston were finally notified of their freedom.
Celebrations emerged in and around Texas, and today, African Americans and people from across the African diaspora celebrate the holiday all over the U.S., often through food. Staples of African American foodways like collard greens, cornbread, and black-eyed peas often make an appearance, as do red-colored drinks and sweets, which acknowledge some of the holiday’s more painful history. For vegan chefs and chefs who cook plant-based food, the holiday presents a unique opportunity to highlight produce and plant-based cooking through the lens of African American history. Here are nine vegan dishes that Black chefs across the United States plan to prepare for Freedom Day.
Kai Chase
Kai Chase – Vegan Black-Eyed Pea Fritters
Kai Chase has worked as a private chef for figures like Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige and even Barack Obama. It’s Kevin Hart, however, who really helped her take her vegan creations to the next level. Though not vegan, the chef launched a spice line, Creations by Kai, and transforms her soul food classics into vegan-friendly dishes. This Juneteenth, she’ll be serving her vegan black-eyed pea fritters, paying homage to the culture’s love of the legume.
“They were tender, they were satisfying, and they gave you that sense of the Southern Creole taste,” she says.
Angela Means – Black-Eyed Peas and Jasmine Rice
Angela Means is busy. While finishing up two cookbooks, she’s also excited to celebrate Juneteenth with black-eyed peas and jasmine rice. Pointing to her love of jasmine rice (jasmine rice is just so well behaved; it’s so flavorful), and the significance of black-eyed peas in African American celebrations, the chef sees similarities in the message of emancipation through plant-based cooking, and through Juneteenth.
“We’re talking about emancipation, we’re talking about the freedom on Juneteenth,” she says. “The vegan community is talking about emancipation. Juneteenth just aligns with the vegan community’s message overall.”
Lyana Blount – Puerto Rican Wrapped Collard Greens
The owner of New York favorite Black Rican Vegan is looking to influences from across the African diaspora to inform her celebratory dish for Juneteenth. Her dish for the holiday, pasteles and arroz con gandules wrapped in collard greens, takes inspiration from her native Puerto Rico, and African American foodways.
“I just thought of incorporating both the pasteles and the rice inside of the collard greens because the collard greens are very significant to African American culture,” she says.
Pasteles, which the chef described as grated root vegetables that are seasoned, then steamed or boiled to be cooked through, and arroz con gandules, a special rice dish that Blount remembers from Puerto Rico, preserve the business owner’s heritage, and allow her to celebrate the American holiday.
Joslin Mar-Dai Pickens – Strawberry Lemonade, Red Velvet Cupcakes and Good Luck Food
The color red is deeply significant to Juneteenth. Most scholars say it represents the blood shed by the enslaved Texans who were forcibly migrated to the state and forced to toil in the state’s hot fields under brutal enslavers, while others say the color’s significance can be traced to traditions from West Africa, and reflect practices the enslaved Yoruba and Kongo people brought with them to Texas during enslavement. It’s not uncommon to see red drinks or desserts at Juneteenth celebrations to commemorate this painful history. Shreveport’s Vegans on the Run owner Joslin Mar-Dai Pickens plans to commemorate two ways: through strawberry lemonade, and dairy-free red velvet cupcakes. She’ll serve these with “good luck” foods and food that’s significant to the Black diaspora, such as sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas and cabbage. And to give back to the community, the restaurant is adding a spin to this year’s celebration. Mar-Dai Pickens and her team are offering a community cooking class for young locals.
“It’s super important for us to always acknowledge and celebrate the freedom, so we’ve tried to find a creative way to do it every year,” says Mar-Dai Pickens.
The restaurants already have 25 college and high school student sign-ups, and Pickens is hoping it inspires them to learn more about Black history and food sovereignty.
Gabrielle Reyes – Red Bell Pepper Soup
For Gabrielle Reyes, Juneteenth presents an annual opportunity to pay homage to a diverse range of influences. As a child of parents from Haiti and Puerto Rico, the chef and actress didn’t really learn about Juneteenth until moving to Texas — the state where Juneteenth celebrations began more than 150 years ago. A role in Dream Girls at the Dallas Theater Center that just so happened to run during the month of June was when she really recognized the significance of the holiday.
“Juneteenth was during that show, so of course, we had a huge celebration,” she recalls.
Since then, the chef has dug deeper into her heritage, tracing plant-based eating and vegan cooking to various places across the diaspora.
“It’s a way that I can truly honor my ancestors, by utilizing the same spices, the same herbs, the same legumes, the same grains, the same nuts that they were using,” she says. “Everything that was in abundance for them, I can still utilize today.”
This year, in addition to the callaloo, black-eyed peas and fried mushrooms, the chef plans to celebrate the color through her red bell pepper soup, a fragrant, peppery soup that adds color and vibrancy to her dinner table. The soup doubles as dip, too. Reyes pairs the soup with grilled cheese, pasta and even adds it to sandwiches. The chef blends together tomatoes and bell peppers, and adds an array of spices, including smoked paprika, cumin, basil or parsley, and an African spice blend.
Naijha Wright-Brown and Gregory Brown – Pulled “Pork” with Shredded Mushroom Oysters
Couple Gregory Brown and Naijha Wright-Brown are used to serving celebrated figures like Stevie Wonder, Angela Davis and Danny Glover at their Baltimore vegan restaurant. But what makes them really excited is making the vegan soul food that’s made their restaurant, Land of Kush, so popular. They’re known for vegan barbecued “rib” tips, smoked collard greens, “crab” cakes, candied yams and their kale Caesar salad, whose garlic avocado dressing, Greg says, makes it one of their top sellers. For Juneteenth, they’re offering the fan favorites, as well as a pulled “pork” sandwich, stuffed with shredded king oyster mushrooms.
“We like to take traditional dishes, and make them vegan and give them a little healthy twist,” says Brown.
Lemel Durrah – Jackfruit “Ribs,” Mac and “Cheese” and Collard Greens
Lemel Durrah made a name for himself by offering plant-based ribs and soul food plates at his Compton, California food truck, Compton Vegan. Navigating the worlds of pop-ups, food trucks and now retail ventures, the chef is prioritizing celebrating Juneteenth by providing culturally relevant, plant-based food to his community.
“We’re hoping to offer traditional food in our community through healthier alternatives.”
Food truck favorites like jack ribs, collard greens and mac and cheese will be on the menu for Juneteenth, but like Mar-Dai Pickens, Durrah is hoping the celebration extends beyond the plate. The chef hopes to recreate a “Juneteenth giveaway,” where he plans to supply essential goods like water and toiletries to Compton residents.
Babette Davis – Vegan Almond and Cashew Dessert/Pie
Chef and actress Babette Davis may look familiar from her features on shows like Extraction and Insecure. Those appearances are connected to the 72-year-old chef’s Inglewood vegan restaurant, Stuff I Eat. While she’s usually working on dishes like veggie stir-fries, organic nut burgers and enchilada pies, she’s bringing a sweeter side to the table this Juneteenth. “I’m going to do a vegan layered dessert, and it’s going to be fantastic,” Davis says.
Davis, who named the dish, “Come Together Raw Dessert,” says the dessert, filled with almonds, cashews, walnuts and coconut cream, will pay homage to healthy eating, and to the themes of Juneteenth. The layered dessert will have layers of brown, highlighting the beauty of the ingredients, and the many shades of Blackness.
“This year,” Davis says of her Freedom Day celebration this summer, “instead of us hanging out in the past or, or trying to live in the future, I think maybe we should just enjoy our moments here more. That’s what I plan to do.”
Lauren Von Der Pool – Cornbread “Chicken” and Waffles
As a child of immigrants, Lauren Von der Pool says food has always played an important role in her life. Referencing heritage from countries such as Guyana, Cuba, China and India, the chef, who also holds Native American roots, will be showing reverence for the holiday with her cornbread “chicken” and waffle sandwich.
“I'll be making a cornbread chicken and waffle sandwich, which highlights soul food,” says Von der Pool. “It also highlights a lot of Native American ingredients as well. It allows us to celebrate what is indigenous to us, what we brought over from Africa, and what we merged amid with what we came face to face with on this side of the world.”
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