Vegetarian food has come along way since Deborah Madison walked into a professional kitchen in the late 1960s. In this Google talk the  New Mexico-based cookbook author, chef and teacher talks about how vegetarian cuisine went from being ''heavy, dark and gray'' to looking like food people actually recognize.

"I did the backwards thing...I introduced butter and cheese," Madison said while explaining how she contributed to the evolution of vegetarian cuisine. Her philosophy is very simple:  people want to eat a pancake that looks like a pancake and lasagna that looks like lasagna, even if it's vegetarian.

Madison recalls her days at Chez Panisse and the challenges she's had operating her own restaurants. Watch her enlightening talk below and afterwards swing by Madison's website to check out her latest cookbook The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Via Eater