The story below is from our November/December 2020 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
This “Chef Queen” shares her journey to veganism, along with a holiday recipe everyone can love.
Shaqueena Snyder is quick to tell you: she’s the last person she’d have ever guessed would go vegan … much less become a professional vegan chef. A soul-foodie raised on her family’s Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking, “Chef Queen” – owner of Royal House of Vegan, previously called Queen’s Vegan Café – once couldn’t imagine life without her favorite meaty, cheesy favorites, from heavily spiced chicken stews to bubbling-hot mac-and-cheese.
But at 23, she began to experience health symptoms that demanded a wake-up call.
“I was just getting increasingly exhausted. I was the biggest I’d ever been … and I was very, very uncomfortable,” Snyder remembers. “I said, at the age of 23, I shouldn’t have horrible back pain. I shouldn’t get exhausted walking up and down stairs.”
A quick look at her family’s medical history convinced Snyder that it was time for a change.
“High cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure – I didn’t want any of that,” she says. “I wanted to better myself for my son.”
A Coast-to-Coast Shift Toward Greens
Like many people who eventually go vegan, Snyder first considered cutting out meat as a simple health and weight-loss tool.
While she didn’t know it, she was part of a growing number of individuals exploring plant-based eating. Across the country and on the other side of the world, campaigns like “Veganuary” – in which folks vowed to nix animal products throughout the month of January – would soon popularize the lifestyle. And while curious newbies like Snyder often approached veganism as a way to get fit, new research was suggesting there might be other, bigger reasons to delete meat.
Take, for example, a 2018 study associated with the University of Oxford, published in Science to considerable media attention. In it, researchers J. Poore and T. Nemecek asked the best way to reduce food’s environmental impact, using a swath of data from some 38,000 farms. Their conclusions were startling: even the lowest-impact animal products still did more environmental damage than their vegetable counterparts – sometimes a lot more.
In other words: swapping out animal-based foods for plants could be a lot more than just a “healthy” dietary move; it might also be a seriously green lifestyle choice … particularly if a person focused on eating sustainably-grown local fruits and veggies.
As Snyder researched her own nutritional choices, she was quietly tapping into a broader conversation happening all over the world … one that increasingly convinced her to give veganism a go.
She didn’t know it yet, but the shift was about to change her body … and her career.
A Bold Transition
“When I decided to go vegan, I just cut it all off,” Snyder remembers.
The cold-tofurkey approach was brave. But she quickly realized that veganism wasn’t going to stick unless she could figure out how to veganize the foods she loved most.
“Ethiopia food, Eritrean food, it’s rich in spices and flavors – it’s something I’m extremely passionate about,” says Snyder. “I said, I need to learn how to cook good stuff so I can be happy.”
So she threw herself into adapting her favorite recipes, visiting store after store for new ingredients and experimenting until she ended up with a slew of crave-worthy meatless meals. “Chickpea curries, jerk jackfruit ... Delicious comfort food. I was like, if I can do this, then shoo, go ahead,” she recalls.
As Snyder began to shed pounds, she gained energy and confidence, and her friends and gym buddies took notice. The next thing she knew, they were asking for help in going vegan … and requesting that she’d meal-prep for them, too.
It was through that homegrown, word-of-mouth model that Queen’s Vegan Café was born… a fact that Snyder says still humbles her.
“Obviously,” she says, “losing weight was good. But the thing that stuck with me the most was when my peers would come to me and say I was a motivation … that they would never have tried a vegan meal if it wasn’t for me… It’s weird when I think about it.”
Educating a Community
Soon, Snyder was performing cooking demonstrations at farmers markets, churches and community centers. A woman on a mission, she wanted her community to know two things: first, they didn’t have to accept the unhealthy eating habits they’d been taught. And second, vegan food could, in fact, be sinfully delicious.
“You can talk and talk all you want, but if [people] don’t visually see it and taste it and experience it, then you’re just talking to a wall,” Snyder says. “You don’t have to sacrifice flavor for good health.”
These days, “Chef Queen” does brisk business as crown regent at the Royal House of Vegan: at-home consulting, personal meal-prepping, private catering, and pop-up cooking events. She also sells her Royal Black Bean Patties, herbal teas and mason jar smoothies at the West End Farmers Market.
She attributes her ability to handle the demand to skills gained in a culinary training program at the Community Solutions Center in Northwest Roanoke, run by Feeding SWVA.
“I met some amazing people there, and it helped me sharpen my craft, learn how to bulk cook,” she says.
But perhaps the most surprising lesson she’s learned is how enthusiastic folks can be about her food … even if they aren’t committed vegans.
Take Donna Brown, for example. While Brown isn’t vegan herself, she’s tried Chef Queen’s three-day and 21-day cleanses, showed up for black bean burgers at pop-up events and even ordered special vegan plates for Thanksgiving.
“Everything she does is truthfully bursting with flavor,” says Brown. “Her macaroni-and-‘cheese?’ You’d swear up and down it’s cheese, right from your grandmother’s oven on Thanksgiving Day!”
And it’s just that mentality – the idea that great vegan food isn’t just for vegans – that Chef Queen wants to share with the community.
“You don’t have to go completely vegan if you don’t want to,” she says, stressing that even a partial adoption of the lifestyle achieves positive health results. “Incorporating meatless Mondays, additional vegan days and vegan nights, increasing your veggie intake… I’m encouraging people: if I can do it, you can do it.”
To find out more about Chef Queen’s catering, consulting and pop-up events, visit her website at royalhouseofvegan.com, or like her Facebook page at facebook.com/royalhouseofvegan.
Decadent Love Loaf
Searching for a meatless holiday recipe that even omnivores will enjoy? Whether you’re feeding a vegan guest for Thanksgiving dinner or just hankering to try an adventurous new dish, this savory chestnut loaf – which can be sliced like meatloaf and slathered with mushroom-and-onion gravy – is laced with all the rich, nostalgic flavors of the season. Recipe by Shaqueena “Chef Queen” Snyder.
- 2 ½ cups mixed nuts
- 1 ¼ cups cooked chestnuts
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 fresh thyme stalks
- 1 tablespoon veggie bouillon
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup dairy-free milk
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Pulse mixed nuts in blender or food processor until very small chunks form. Then pulse chestnuts separately until slightly fine.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large dutch oven or pan, sauté onions in oil on medium heat until soft. Combine all ingredients together in hot pan. Mix and mash together until mixture becomes thick. Transfer to an oiled bread pan, pressing down firmly to help cohere, and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool completely; then enjoy.
Pro tip! Top with mushroom gravy.
The story above is from our November/December 2020 issue. For the full story subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!