Jessica Hylton-Leckie is the Jamaican creative behind the super-successful, vegan cooking blog, Jessica in the Kitchen.
Over the last decade, Hylton-Leckie has amassed over 600 recipes on her blog and an Instagram following of over 265,000 and growing. She has also worked with many international mega-brands, including Silk, Ghirardelli, Fleischmann’s, and Morningstar Farms. Her work has been featured across international media such as Huffington Post, SELF, Country Living and Yahoo! Food, to name a few.
Formerly a lawyer, years ago after she found that vegetarianism transformed her health, Hylton-Leckie stepped away from her career to devote herself to the blog full-time. Considering the profound change the lifestyle has had on her, elevating her global audience’s physical and mental wellness through simple, easy recipes is core to her mission.
Here are three vegan versions of traditional Jamaican dishes, created by Hylton-Leckie for Jessica in the Kitchen.
Vegan Ackee & Saltfish
To create a vegan version of ackee & saltfish, which is Jamaica’s national dish, Hylton-Leckie uses hearts of palm to replace codfish used in the dish.
Hearts of palms are the very core, or hearts, of palm plants. It’s a highly nutritious, low-calorie vegetable that provides plenty of fiber, and is a good source of iron, zinc, magnesium, B vitamins, and potassium. According to Hylton-Leckie, she decided to use hearts of palms because it “flakes just like saltfish, and I know that it’s very capable of absorbing flavor.”
If you’re trying this vegan version of ackee & saltfish, Hylton-Leckie provides one important piece of advice. “Putting an accurate salt amount is difficult here,” she writes on her blog, noting that the brine from the can of hearts of palm can leave the dish tasting too salty. “I would start with ½ teaspoon and add from there. The same with pepper,” she suggests.
Jamaican Jerk Tofu
On her blog, Hylton-Leckie notes that her Jerk Tofu recipe includes a jerk sauce that is “saucy and spicy; sweet and savory; chewy and crispy.”
“The secret to perfect jerk tofu is starting with the best Jamaican jerk seasoning. You can definitely make my homemade Jamaican jerk sauce which is 100 percent authentic and absolutely delicious. Or, you can save time and effort by buying it, and my favorite is Walkerswood. It’s made in Jamaica, it’s vegan, and it’s miles better than the dry jerk seasoning blends you can buy in American grocery stores.”
Yep, according to Hylton-Leckie, the famous Walkerswood jerk seasoning is already vegan. As she explains, jerk is simply a mix of natural herbs and spices that don’t contain animal products. “Jerk seasoning is a Jamaican spice blend that typically includes allspice, thyme, Scotch bonnet peppers, and cloves. Some jerk seasonings also have ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar,” she explains.
Jamaican Rice & Peas
In her Jamaican rice & peas blog post, Jessica Hylton-Leckie exclaims, “My favorite thing about this rice and peas recipe? I did not need to “veganize” it. Jamaican Rice & Peas is naturally vegan.”
Some people may use butter in their rice & peas, but as Hylton-Leckie notes, the basic recipe does not necessarily need to include butter.
Hylton-Leckie’s vegan version of traditional Jamaican rice & peas includes dried red kidney beans, long grain rice, full fat coconut milk, sea salt, scallion, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic, pimento berries or allspice, and thyme.
To get the recipes for each of the vegan versions of these traditional dishes, visit Jessica in the Kitchen online at jessicainthekitchen.com.
