Modern mountain meals: Eastern Kentucky native reimagines Appalachian recipes

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 17, 2025) — It all started with a classic childhood toy. 

“I’ve been cooking since I was really young,” said Jan Brandenburg, a University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy alumna. “I received one of those Easy-Bake Ovens as a child and was hooked.” 

That spark of childhood wonder led Brandenburg down two parallel paths: one in science and medicine, another in the kitchen. Today, after nearly 40 years as a practicing pharmacist, Brandenburg has published “The Modern Mountain Cookbook: A Plant-Based Celebration of Appalachia,” a tribute to her Eastern Kentucky roots and a vibrant exploration of how food — like medicine — can nourish, heal and connect. 

A native of Irvine, Kentucky, Brandenburg grew up surrounded by family recipes, handwritten notes and the scent of Appalachian staples simmering on the stove. Her paternal grandmother helped run two small restaurants in Somerset, where Brandenburg worked weekends during high school and throughout pharmacy school. Those early kitchen memories laid the groundwork for what would later become a deep passion for cooking — and reimagining — traditional regional dishes. 

But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s, after becoming vegetarian for health and ethical reasons, that Brandenburg began experimenting with the recipes she’d grown up on. 

“After pharmacy school, I brought my mortar and pestle home to grind herbs and seasonings,” she wrote in her cookbook’s introduction. “The more I cooked and learned, the more reasons I found to continue the journey.” 

By 2006, she had embraced a fully vegan lifestyle, transforming her Appalachian family’s meals into comforting, plant-based creations without sacrificing flavor or heart. 

Brandenburg sees clear similarities between her career in pharmacy and her evolution as a cook. Both, she says, are grounded in care.  

“The biggest parallel between pharmacy and my love of cooking is that they both serve people,” she said. “People feel special at the pharmacy counter when you take the time to talk with them. And people also feel special when you cook for them.” 

There’s also a kind of alchemy that connects her two worlds — the precise compounding of pharmacy and the improvisational mixing of ingredients in a kitchen. 

“In pharmacy, your ingredients must be exact,” she said. “In cooking, you have more latitude. You don’t always have to follow a strict formula. The important thing is to get in there and do it.” 

Still, her scientific background never leaves the table. Brandenburg now works as a clinical pharmacist at CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Berea, Kentucky, where she continues to blend her knowledge of pharmaceuticals and food. Her patients often benefit from both. 

Brandenburg often finds herself offering guidance to patients with diabetes or high cholesterol, not just on medications, but on food choices, too. 

“So many people don’t realize the strength of the connection between diet and health,” she said. “I’m always willing to share information if someone is ready to receive it.” 

And she's just as happy to share recipes.

“In the summer, I love making peach crisp,” she says. “Or a fresh corn salad with cucumbers and white vinegar dressing. And all the summer pasta salads, those are big-time favorites.” 

Brandenburg’s approach to food is rooted in what’s growing, what’s colorful, what’s flavorful and what brings people together. Her recipes reflect the land and seasons of Appalachia, not as relics of the past, but as living traditions infused with compassion and creativity. 

“You know, we like comfort foods in Eastern Kentucky,” she said. “That didn’t change just because I adopted a plant-based diet.” 

Her cookbook includes more than 130 recipes — from soups and stews to jams and gravies — alongside personal anecdotes, family stories, and tips on vegan kitchen tools and ingredients. It’s as much a love letter to her heritage as it is a guide for home cooks curious about plant-based living. 

In the foreword, Brandenburg’s friend and neighbor, Beth Feagan, calls her “a one-woman campaign to get people to eat more vegetables and love every bite.” 

“My maternal grandmother wouldn’t have known the word ‘vegan,’” she wrote in her book, “but she could conjure incredible meals from the simplest vegetable ingredients harvested as she walked the rows of her backyard garden.” 

That legacy of Appalachian resilience, care and flavor is what Brandenburg hopes to pass on. In a world where wellness often feels overcomplicated, her message is refreshingly simple: healing can begin in the kitchen.

The Modern Mountain Cookbook is available from the University Press of Kentucky. UK faculty and staff may use the promo code FA20 to receive a 20% discount on online purchases. The cookbook is also available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit the publisher’s website for Brandenburg’s upcoming cookbook signings and events. For more recipes, follow the author on Instagram at @appalachianvegan.