Zakiya Courtney, whose first career was in education, is known as a chef whose recipe box contains more than a little magic. Her forte is good, old-fashioned comfort food, especially soul food, that happens to be vegan. There is almost no dish she won’t make meatless. The day we met Zakiya, she was getting ready to prepare her version of Kentucky fried chicken and mac and cheese with bacon for Tricklebee Cafe, a pay-what-you-can restaurant, where customers routinely clamor for her Southern-style greens and peanut stew. Zakiya went vegan close to 30 years ago for family health reasons and says she feels so much better without the animal products. She has tested recipes on her family, a tough audience, to ensure her dishes will pass muster. She’s the mother of a blended and extended family of 15, a grandmother to 52, and a great-grandmother to 16. So, that’s a lot of testing. Even while working a corporate job, cooking was more than a hobby. Friends would demand her vegan biscuits and other soul food specialties, and Zakiya competed in and won some greens cook-offs. When she was nearing retirement, she started gardening at Alice’s Garden, where director Venice Williams suggested she cater an event. That’s where she met Christie Melby-Gibbons, Tricklebee’s owner. Zakiya’s business, Vegan Soul, does catering, events and markets. Before Zakiya made her life in the kitchen, she was an educator. She got a master’s degree from Cardinal Stritch University, worked for the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University and as regional director for Catapult Learning, which provides outcomes-based learning programs. She was also the director of Parents for School Choice in Milwaukee.