The Vegetarian Review

Cooking For One

2011-07-16T18:36:00.005-04:00

When marriages begin, there are lots of announcements. We take out notices in the newspaper. We send out invitations. When marriages end, however, we are rather more discrete, embarrassed even. Changing one's status on Facebook seems tacky, a post quickly and quietly deleted. The legal blotter lists petitions for dissolution of marriage, alongside the birth announcements ironically, but these are in tiny print, buried on page 5 of the local and cannot be relied on to share your news. We do not invite friends and relatives to ceremonies for divorce, indeed no ceremonies exist to mark such a transition. There seems no proper way to announce the change to friends and neighbors, to shopkeepers and owners of restaurants you frequented with your ex.

I am single. I have joined the 82 million single adults in the US. We can boast several categories of statistics. My new home is now one of those swelling the rising percentage of single person households. Twenty-five percent of all US households belong to single people. Fifteen percent of those singles are women. That’s a lot of single serving Ben and Jerry’s. But other statistics suggest that these single women are not wallowing in shabby apartments poor and alone. Twenty percent of all new homebuyers are women, the second largest group of homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors, behind couples but ahead of single men. These women are likely to be professional and active. Like me, they work full time. They have dinner with friends. They jog, practice yoga, walk their dogs, travel, and mow their own lawns. Many of them, like me, are single mothers. They do the diapering, feeding, bathing, doctoring, soothing, tickling, and disciplining alone.

Marriage is not a 50/50 arrangement, but a division of labor arranges itself. I cooked, but

rarely washed dishes. I washed baby bums, but not cloth diapers. I brought things into the

house, but did not take them out. When you are single, who takes over when you're tired

and hungry and have to pee and the baby has just spit up the only food you've managed to

get him to eat all afternoon? Who carries the heavy grocery bags while you carry the baby?

Who scratches your back? Who zips the zipper on your dress? Who pokes you when you’ve slept through the alarm? Who takes out the trash, or kills the bugs? Singles have to tackle all these tasks on their own. This can be exhausting and frustrating and sometimes a little sad and lonely. Frances Mayle remarked that the most surprising thing about divorce is that it doesn't kill you. Yet, there are small joys in single-hood. When you live alone you can drink milk from the carton. Singles never have to close the bathroom door or wear robes. I especially enjoy leaving my shoes all around the house. I control the volume on the television. No one squeezes the toothpaste in the middle but me. I can listen to Madonna or NPR without complaints. No one uses my towel or eats my cookies. I do still share the bed, but my current bedmate is much smaller than the previous and doesn't complain if I snore. I zip my own zippers. I take out my own trash. I carry all the groceries.

I also do all the cooking and all the washing up. These days, I am cooking for one, well one and a quarter; the baby doesn't eat much yet. And I'm the meatatarian these days. A whole, organic, free range roast chicken is a lot of food for one and a quarter. But, I still cook and I still eat at the table nevertheless. Judith Jones calls cooking "one of the great satisfactions in life" and argues that cooking for one is both an honor and a pleasure as you have only yourself to please.

Steps to Healthier Eating

2010-07-03T09:29:00.009-04:00

I've been talking and writing so much about food choices lately, with the nurses here at the hospital, with friends and with family. Last week's post offered web sites and books I've found helpful. This week's post suggests steps to eat better for you and the planet.

1. Shop the periphery of the grocery store. The dairy, meat, and vegetable aisles tend to be located on the four walls of the store. Shop the center aisles for only those packaged foods you've written on your list and absolutely do not want to make yourself: bread, jelly, crackers, toilet paper. I have big ideas of making my own own crackers and cookies and canning my own jelly. It doesn't happen so I buy these.

2. Read the label on every thing you buy that comes in a package. Avoid corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, bleached, enriched flour, and food dyes. Avoid products with more than 6-10 ingredients and if you or your kids can't pronounce some of them, pass. Most grocery stores stock organic or at least clean, all natural packaged foods. Don't be fooled by the words all-natural. There's no regulation on this so read the ingredients. Check out Self Magazine's list of the best packaged foods each year too: http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2009/09/healthy-food-awards-shopping-list. Here's my list too. I get them all at Publix:

Back to Nature cookies, granola, and crackers. These are really delicious versions of traditional favorites like Ritz, Wheat Thins, Oreos, and Chips A-Hoy, but they are all natural and have only a few ingredients.

Arnold Bread Whole Grain. I buy the organic whole grain wheat or honey oat or honey wheat and their whole grain English muffins. This bread has a lot of fiber and protein.

Grape Nuts and other Post cereals: few ingredients, whole grains, usually no corn syrup or hydrogenated oil, but read the label. These are usually high in fiber and protein too.

Eden Organic canned beans. They are made with sea salt and kombu (a sea vegetable but you can't taste it. I think it's for thickening) and their cans don't include bpa plastics.

Stonyfield Farms yogurt

Organic Valley milk, butter, and cottage cheese. Organic dairy really is much healthier than conventional, even conventional that claims not to use growth hormones. Organic dairy has higher levels of good fats and low levels of the bad fats. Check out the Cornucopia Institute's ratings of organic dairy producers and this article about organic dairy.

If you use margarine, get Earth Balance, NOT Smart Balance. It comes in sticks and a tub and is great for cooking, baking, and on toast and muffins.

Use olive oil rather than vegetable oil like Wesson or Crisco.

Polaner All Fruit jellies and jams

Smucker's Natural peanut butter

2. Buy fresh or frozen veggies and fruit. Buy the precut if you are really short on time even though these are more expensive than whole. If you end up throwing away whole fruit and veg because you can't get around to preparing it (I'm notorious for this), you haven't saved any money. Recycle the packaging though :-) Frozen fruit is great for smoothies. Check out this article about storing fresh vegetables and fruit. Here's a list of what's worth it to buy organic. I figure that spending a little money on organic now saves me health care costs later.

3. Write a menu a week ahead. Include breakfasts, lunches and snacks for the kids. This takes me a whole evening to do, but is worth it because if I don't know what I'm going to prepare before I get home, I haven't shopped, I'm not into it and then we just go out. Include nights on the menu when you think you do want to go out or when you will need to get take out because of other time commitments. Check out this article from Self Magazine on healthy snacks: http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2009/06/30-healthy-snacks

4. Let the grocery store do the cooking for you: rotisserie chickens are great. My husband eats this with frozen veggies and white rice. I can have dinner on the table in 20 minutes. Same with a slab of salmon or other fish--throw it on the grill, or more usually for me, in the oven at 400 degrees and it's done in 20 minutes. I put nothing on the fish but olive oil and salt and pepper. Buy wild caught if you can. It tastes MUCH better and is way better for you. Check out last week's post for a site on healthy fish choices.

5. Get the kids involved. Kids like to prep and cook and shop and are likely to eat what they've picked out. It might take longer, but it becomes part of play time. There are some great kids cookbooks. I confess I like the old fashioned Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook. You can get it at Barnes and Noble or Amazon. There are plenty of more contemporary books too. I also like Jessica Seinfeld's book.

6. Buy whole grains: brown rice, old fashioned oat meal, quinoa, amaranth, pearled barley (not technically "whole," but good in soups and stuff), millet. All these are even delicious for breakfast with real maple syrup, not the corn syrup kind like Mrs. Butterworth. Again, it's more expensive, but is actually cheaper because you only need a tiny bit. I add whole grains to soup, which I make a lot because it's easy and makes a ton. We eat it for leftovers and lunches. Whole grain pilafs are good and easy too: just some onions, green peppers, carrots, and garlic cooked mixed in with the grains. I often add something sweet too like raisins or dried cranberries.

7. Buy nuts and dried fruits as snacks. A little goes a long way.

8. Have a bowl of fresh fruit sitting on the counter.

9. If you have time, cut up fresh veg and leave it in the refrigerator for snacks. I buy the pre cut like carrots and celery to just grab for work or snacks. Buy some hummus for dipping or use peanut butter or cottage cheese.

10. Portion control. I actually measure out a cup of yogurt, half cup of fruit, half cup of cereal, half cup of ice cream. I don't always only eat the recommended serving, but at least I know what I'm getting.

11. Finally, a few no cook or quick ideas:

get a crock pot and don't pay attention to the recipe instructions to cook veggies first. Just throw everything in. There's tons of recipes online. Crock pot is good for cooking beans or grains overnight or during the day too.

you can throw anything into a wrap and people will eat it. Slather it with hummus or even mayo and you can make beans, leftover meats and veg and grains and beans taste delicious. Add some cheese and you've got a quick lunch or dinner

make salads with the pre-washed organic spinach or lettuce mixes and buy other pre-cut or shredded veggies. Open a can of beans, rinse them, and throw them on top with some cheese or even shredded or diced meat if you are into that and again, a quick, no cook meal.

Sites on Organic and Sustainable Food

2010-06-27T13:33:00.009-04:00

My blogging time is now divided between this blog, still focused on food, and The Roo Report at http://rooreport.wordpress.com, a daily dairy of my hospital bed rest. Food has been even more on my mind during my pregnancy and especially now that most of my meals come from the Winnie Palmer Hospital food service kitchen: read no organics, little variety, lots of packaged foods including corn syrup and food dye. Thank goodness for my family who brings delicious, whole foods from home.

I'm hoping that the first 6 months of healthy whole foods I fed my developing baby will compensate for 2 months of less than whole, less than nutritious food. All this has got me thinking too of sites and books I've valued over the years for information on making healthier food choices. Perhaps I've shared these in the past, but I find them worth reposting.

The Cornucopia Institute rates organic milk and soy producers
The Omnivore's Dilemma--a real watershed for us on food production
Feeding Baby Green by Dr. Alan Greene is an excellent resource for pregnant and nursing mommies, but also for anyone who wants to benefit from a variety of whole foods
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman is an excellent reference work for vegetables and grain. I use it as a reference work for side dishes and ideas for what to do with cool stuff I find at the farmer's market
Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson includes lots of quick cooking and no cook ideas for every meal.
The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone is a great introduction to vegan and macrobiotic cooking. Silverstone's voice is friendly and her plan to introduce whole foods into American diets is simple and fun. She sells it by touting the beauty benefits of whole foods. Whatever works. The site is quirky, but the recipes and forums are smarter than most I see on the Web.
Smart Fish Calculator--stay away from farmed salmon for heaven's sake. I'm stuck eating it here in the hospital, but seek out wild salmon when you can. The frozen Alaskan salmon from the health food store is good in a pinch. Noah's Market has wild from Scotland, but it is not nearly as good or as fresh or as in season as the Pacific salmon
Laurel's Kitchen is still my go-to book on vegetarian and whole foods nutrition. It includes pages and pages of nutritional information on a variety of fruits, legumes, and vegetables and excellent information on dietary needs for men, women, children, and pregnant and nursing moms. Plus, the essay on bread baking is compelling.
Epicurious, Bon Appetit, and Gourmet taught me so much about cooking real food
EatWild.com and LocalHarvest.org connected me with find local food producers
Evan Kleinman's KCRW radio show Good Food is always inspiring and directed me to urban homesteading resources
The Environmental Working Group is a clearinghouse for primary and secondary research on everything from food to household chemicals and cosmetics
The Daily Green consumer friendly advice

Ecofriendly, Sustainable, and Green Baby Gear

2010-05-25T14:12:00.003-04:00

A List in Progress . . .

No Compromise Organic Mattress by Naturepedic
Bummis Cloth Kit
Green Mountain Diapers
A Natural Home
Baby EcoTrends
Room and Board
Erik Organic
Green Cradle
Pristine Planet
Our Green House
Still Made in the USA/Baby Gear
Crib 4 Life

If You Can't Eat It; Don't Put it On Your Face!

2010-04-27T15:35:00.008-04:00

For some women it's shoes. Or handbags. For me, it's cosmetics. And I'm not talking about eyeliner and lipstick. I mean creams, lotions, and serums. I call these "the beauty potions." Every few months whether I need to or not, I drop $100 on moisturizers, exfoliators, under eye creams, nighttime serums, body lotions. I'm very picky and while easily seduced by colorful packaging and beautiful models, I'm easily disappointed by heavy scents and sticky residues. I rarely give a product even a week. One or two applications and if I don't love it, I stop using it. My friends and colleagues benefit from this fickleness. I pass on barely used bottles and jars. I also expect immediate results. No 4 to 6 weeks of use for me. Who has time for that when there are so many other products to try?

Last week, the "free gift" lured me to the Clarins counter, a place I haven't visited in years. Clarins products are super silky, but strongly scented and, according to the Environmental Working Group, toxic. The EWG Cosmetic Database evaluates thousands of products for toxicity and purity and posts ratings and reviews. Before buying any cosmetics I usually search the Cosmetic Database first, but this time, despite knowing Clarins' scary rating, I dumbly succumbed to the "free facial" and free gift with purchase. For a week now, my skin has glowed. Others have complimented me, but I've been wilting under the guilty cloud of parabens and fragrances.

Parabens are preservatives used in nearly all mainstream cosmetics like soaps, creams, shampoos and conditioners, and make-up. A number of studies have identified parabens as human endocrine disruptors and linked the chemicals to breast cancer and reproductive toxicity. Like soy, parabens behave like estrogen in the body. Because many cosmetics also include ingredients that increase absorption, our skin--the largest organ in the body--can absorb parabens and process them as too much estrogen. Bad for breasts and bad for baby boys. Parabens are among what cosmetic purists call the "Dirty Dozen." Check out the list below and check out the labels of your own cosmetics.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfates/SLS
Parabens
Propylene Glycol
Phthlates
Petrolatum
Cocamide DEA/Lauramide DEA
Diazolidinyl Urea
Butyl Acetate
Ethyl Acetate
Toluene
Triethanolamine
Butylated Hydroxytoluene

If you have a bottle of hand lotion in your pocketbook or a compact of pressed powder, chances are it includes most or ALL of these chemicals. Even products labeled "natural" or "organic" are likely to include at least a handful of the dirty dozen. Now imagine how many products you use each day and how many chemicals each is composed of and you can imagine that our exposure to these dirty chemicals is not insignificant.

If your morning and evening toilette is anything like mine, you might use at least 13 products:

Shampoo
Conditioner
Face wash 2 x day
Body soap
Exfoliator
Toothpaste 2 x day
Toner 2 x day
Anti-aging serum 2 x day
Moisturizer 2 x day
Under eye cream 2 x day
Sunblock
Deodorant
Body lotion

If you wear makeup, add up to 10 more products:

Foundation
Concealer
Blush
Eye shadow
Eye liner
Mascara
Lip liner
Lipstick
Lipgloss
Powder

That's 25 different products! I envy my husband who uses 3 products: he showers with a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. He swipes on some deodorant and he's done. No 3 step skin care system. No expensive body lotion. No perfume.

Recent research on the health hazards of cosmetics is nothing new. In the middle ages, for example, everyone knew that lipsticks, face powders, and creams could damage the skin. White pancake makeup became fashionable in the first place to cover the pock marks and burns women suffered from creams containing mercury or silver. Some scholars have speculated that Shakespeare's Dark Lady herself was made ugly as he describes her in "My Mistresses' Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun" by caustic cosmetics. In the 1920s, authorities warned men not to kiss women wearing red lipstick because the lipstick contained arsenic. No one warned the women, by the way, who might have ingested up to 7 pounds of lipstick over their lifetimes from licking their lips. Yikes!

Like an alcoholic waking from a binge or an adulterer slinking home after a fling, I've shunned my chemical laden, but luxurious Clarins and returned this week to my clean and green cosmetics. There are lots of safe cosmetics available these days in health food stores and even at Target. Shopping online opens a word of organic and chemical free to conscientious shoppers.

My favorite brands are Weleda, Keys Soap, Pangea Organics, and Suki. I'm also dying to try Giselle Bundchen's new line called Seeja. All these receive top ratings from the EWG. Weleda's fragrance free almond line is perfect for sensitive skin and its rose under eye cream is rich, but not greasy. The scents in most Weleda products, which come from essential oils, are mild.

Keys Soap is vegan and 85% organic. Its products include very few ingredients and all are food grade. The scents are heavy and vegetal, however. Try Solar Rx sunblock, a chemical free mineral sunblock. It doesn't leave skin ghostly white like some mineral sunblocks and doubles as a daytime moisturizer.

For the best bar of soap you can buy, try any variety from Pangea Organics. My favorite is the Pyrenees Lavender with Cardamon. Their French Rosemary with Sweet Orange Toner smells light and leaves skin silky smooth. It works great as a midday skin refresher and moisturizer too.

Suki is a top of the line skin care system also made with organic and food grade ingredients. Its products are light and ideal for oily skin or those who don't like the feel of heavy creams in hot weather. My favorite Suki product is its sugar based Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser and its carrot serum called Pure Facial Moisture Nourishing. In the winter, I massage this oil onto my face, hands, elbows, and knees.

You can find all these lines at Whole Foods, but try Saffron Rouge, the organic answer to Sephora. Saffron Rouge sells skin care, body care, and color cosmetics.

To reduce the stress on your skin and reduce your exposure to chemicals, even natural ones, look for products that do double duty. Pangea soaps are mild enough for even sensitive skin like mine. Moisturizers usually reserved for your face can do double duty as body lotions or make up removers. Skip the eye make up and opt instead for a few minutes in the sun, good food, and cheek pinches for color.

My goal is to breeze out of the bathroom wearing only a few products and to still look young and beautiful, but natural. I'm on the cosmetic wagon again until at least the fall when Clinique advertises its free gift with purchase.

For Love or Tomatoes

2010-04-24T08:05:00.002-04:00

There are only two things money can’t buy: true love and homegrown tomatoes. I don’t know much about the former--I’ve been married and divorced, coupled and singled, in and out of lust, and even once dumped for a bleach blonde named Faith--but I do know quite a lot about tomatoes. I’ve grown them, peeled them, cored them, boiled them, seeded them, blanched them, eaten them warm from the garden, smushed them into sauces and salsas, and studied them carefully.

Tomato eating and growing are blends of science and art in Florida where I first got my hands dirty in a tomato garden of my own. Growing tomatoes requires of the gardener patience, knowledge, and financial security. A large dose of stoicism won’t hurt either. Tomatoes are hardy weeds when they want to be and fickle little hothouse flowers when they feel like it. They are susceptible to freezes and frosts, tasty snacks for snails and cutworms, a happy little haven for aphids and hornworm larvae, and damn picky about soil ph. One season the lackadaisical, nearly negligent gardener will have so many tomatoes he can’t give them away fast enough. The next season the assiduous, attentive gardner will get worms, worms, worms, blossom drop, and end rot. There’s just no telling.

Sort of like love. Cultivate it, lavish time and money on it and you end up poor and pouting. Ignore it, treat your lovers like dirt in a deserted garden, and love follows you around like a dog. Like love, the love apple is finicky and fussy. When the most perfect homegrown tomatoes do grow in your garden though, you are joyful, blissful, orgasmic. You think you might not need love after all, but if you do, you could try tantalizing lax lovers with a few of your homegrown tomatoes.

You might have lured lovers with the looks of the love apple a few centuries ago, but if you actually fed tomatoes to your amore, you might have been arrested for attempted poisoning. Until 1800, most folks in the US ranked tomatoes with oleanders: pretty, but not for dinner. Indeed, the tomato is the only part of the tomato plant that isn’t poisonous. The tomato plant is a nightshade and looks an awful lot like its deadly nightshade sister, belladonna. Poisonous leaves and seeds were no deterrent to the industrious conquering Spaniards in the fifteenth century. They gathered tomato seeds along with gold amulets and silver goblets into their treasure throve for the trip across the pond. The Europeans were smitten with the tomato’s shiny skin, but mostly cultivated them as ornamentals, not hors d’oeuvres. The family resemblance to poisonous posies scared off many potential tomato epicures in Northern Europe and Britain. The carpophagous Mediterraneans ate them, though, with olive oil as early as the sixteenth century and even our homegrown Thomas Jefferson was growing tomatoes in 1742. No one knows for sure whether he ate them. If he did, he might have enjoyed them like I do, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (a gardener’s treat even older than tomatoes), and sprinkled with sea salt, pepper, and a little julienned fresh basil.

Because folks usually eat tomatoes with green leafy stuff and on top of grainy stuff rather than with syrupy sweet stuff, the US Supreme Court deemed the tomato a vegetable in 1893. The fact that Uncle Sam imposed heavy tariffs on veggies and not on fruits might have had something to do with the name change: veggies meant money in the coffer; fruits did not. Despite such lawyerly maneuvers, the tomato is a fruit. The distinction between fruits and vegetables? Fruits have their seeds on the inside: think peaches, grapes, mangos, apples, and oranges. Vegetables grow from flowers, like carrots, broccoli, cabbages, and other cruciferous crunchies. This fruit-veggie category business is a slippery slope. If seeds inside equal fruit, are cucumbers, crookneck squash, and pumpkins fruits fit only for after dinner dessert? Pumpkin pie is a dessert staple. Is Cucumbers Foster next? Tomato ice cream is not out of the question. Chop one cup plum tomatoes or any homegrown variety. Toss the tomatoes in a blender along with 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, and one to two cups ice or one bag frozen strawberries. Blend on high for 30 seconds. Scoop out this pink sorbet and eat it with biscotti.

Frozen tomatoes in ice cream are one thing, but don’t go freezing or refrigerating your homegrown tomatoes. They won’t last any longer than if you leave them to sunbathe on the kitchen windowsill and they will get all mealy inside and tough outside. If you’ve just got to get those tomatoes in the cooler, chop them up into salsa first. Chop one small red onion, one medium green bell pepper (or jalapenos for the hotties), 8 to 10 sprigs fresh parsley leaves from your garden, a big pinch of cilantro, and two large homegrown tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in half first and give each half a good squeeze to extract the juice and seeds. If you are really persnickety about texture, blanch the tomatoes for 30 seconds in boiling water before cutting them and slip off their skins. Combine the onion, green pepper, and parsley in a food processor. Pulse until the veggies are finely chopped. Add the chopped tomatoes and pulse some more only until you have a chunky sauce, not a soup. Bits of onion and tomato should be bobbing around in there. Transfer the salsa to a bowl and stir in three tablespoons red wine vinegar and one tablespoon lemon juice. Toast up one tablespoon whole cumin seeds in a small pan and stir into the salsa or whip in one tablespoon ground cumin. Salt and pepper the salsa and eat this all by yourself with a big bag of salty tortilla chips. Refrigerate any leftovers if there are any.

Chips and salsa are good refueling foods after a day of tomato gardening in the hot Florida sun. Tomatoes enjoy the Florida sunshine until long about August. They wither and wilt and just punk out by the end of summer, but you need only wait four more weeks until the first day of autumn to plant your fall crop of baby tomatoes. If you have scads of time on your hands, you can coax along three tomato plantings in Central Florida: one in the spring if you plant in February, one in early summer if you plant in May when the spring plantings are just beginning to set so much fruit you are filling every pot, pan, and canvas bag you own, and one in the fall if you plant the third week in September.

If you’ve got this many tomato plants growing in your garden and are eating even a fraction of their fruit, you will have volunteers. Volunteers are garden gold. These are plants that sprout with no encouragement or effort on your part. Volunteers are evidence of Darwinism at work in your garden ecology. Wind, birds, and insects spread around the seeds of everything you grow and everything that winds up in the compost pile. The fittest of your plants’ offspring survive and poke their little seed-heads out of the soil. These plants, especially volunteer tomato plants, tend to be very hardy and to produce prolifically even if they don’t live very long. If you don’t want twenty-five tomato teenagers hanging out in your garden, you’d better pluck the sprouts as soon as you see them. They look like weeds anyway so you are likely to pull them along with odd bits of grass struggling to take root.

My favorite summertime tomato dinner is fresh tomato sauce with penne pasta and fresh herbs. Pinch off several handfuls of basil, flat leaf parsley, and oregano. Quarter three large tomatoes or use two cups of cherry tomatoes. Toss the tomatoes and herbs in a food processor along with one 28 once can Italian-style plum tomatoes for body and flavor. Add two cloves chopped garlic, one teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese, one teaspoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 3/4 cup pitted black or kalamata olives. Pulse only until blended and the tomatoes are roughly chopped. Serve at room temperature on penne for a refreshing summer supper. Invite friends for dinner on the patio surrounded by your bushy green tomato plants, sun yellow marigolds, fire engine red chili peppers, and the buzzing of the bees making this garden grow. You many not have true love, but you’ve got homegrown tomatoes and that is as close to love and heaven as anyone can get.

Easy Earth Day Ideas

2010-04-22T15:37:00.008-04:00

A baker's dozen of easy changes to reduce your carbon footprint and save time chasing all that trash.

Carry cloth bags to the supermarket AND to the mall, to Target, to the farmer's market, everywhere. Keep them in your car.
Buy a Klean Kanteen for water and To-Go Ware for your take out lunches.
Ask servers to package your leftovers in aluminum foil, which you can recycle at home rather than in plastic or styrofoam boxes. Skip the plastic bag to carry it in.
Refuse the plastic or paper bags at shops. Stuff your purchases in your pockets, carry them out in your hands, or see #1 above.
Buy bar soap instead of body wash.
Buy condiments in reusable glass jars rather than plastic squeeze bottles.
Buy at least a dozen cloth napkins and kitchen towels from the thrift store. Use these instead of paper towels or paper napkins.
Buy unwrapped fresh produce. Try the farmer's market or a buying club.
Choose products packaged simply in recylable paper or with as little plastic as possible.
Skip the receipt at the ATM, the gas station, and at Starbucks. You're just going to crumble it up and throw it away.
Unplug small appliances when not in use like the coffee maker, microwave oven, and the toaster and electronics like TVs and your computer.
Install low flow showers and low flush toilets (do this on the cheap with a small brick, a rock, or a small plastic bottle filled with gravel or stones--these take up space in the toilet tank and fool it into filling less)
Reuse a plastic spray bottle and make your own all purpose and glass cleaner. Mix 50% water and 50% white distilled vinegar. Add a drop of essential oil or tea tree oil if you want. Use this everywhere except on natural stone surfaces.
I know, 14 is not 13--wrap fresh produce in cloth kitchen towels instead of plastic wrap or plastic Ziploc style bags.
And 15 is still not 13--wrap messy foods in unbleached wax paper or aluminum foil (you find both made out of recycled materials and both are recyclable). Better yet, use glass or stainless containers with lids. I found a great set of glass bowls at Target for $29 that includes 4 sizes. We loved it so much, we bought two.

Calculate your carbon footprint with these interactive quizzes . . .

Earth Day Footprint Quiz
Is Your Lifestyle Sustainable?

And for inspiration, check out Beth Terry's blog Fake Plastic Fish

The Soup Where I Come From

2010-04-18T11:39:00.005-04:00

My mother has a scar on her wrist, long, spidery, deep, beveled like the Appalachian Mountains on a topographical globe. I used to trace the scar with my finger, like tracing a map. A window sash crashed down on her arm and her wrist when she was a young mother, not yet 30. She had been washing the windows inside and out in cutoff denim shorts and a red bandana-plaid halter-top. A blue kerchief held back her hair. I did not see this accident happen. I asked her once while she was chopping onions or buttering bread, I can’t remember, how she got that scar. She was thin, short, her belly white, but arms and legs brown as berries from working in the sun to build a pool deck or mow the lawn or paint the porch. She was always working hard at remaking our home when I was a child. She painted, she wallpapered, she laid carpet, she plastered, she landscaped, and at the end of the day she cooked dinner. She was always working, always in control, always the powerful force in my family. No one ever asked her how she learned to use power tools or lay concrete or how she learned to cook. She just knew and we just assumed that no one else would do those things. No one ever did and no one ever asked why or why not. We did think to ask what was for dinner, though, but my mother was the only one we ever thought to ask.

No one else ever cooked in my family except the women, not the children, not the men, not even at barbeque. My mother dragged the round red charcoal grill from behind the garage. My mother hoisted a 20-pound bag of Kingsford onto her shoulder and dumped it in the open mouth of the grill. My mother scraped a long wooden match on the paving stones she laid and swhoosh! The charcoal was alight. My mother patted the hamburger patties, shucked the corn, wrapped the white baking potatoes in aluminum foil, and turned every one of dozens of hot dogs. My father might have been there looking on, strutting around the yard he did not mow in skin tight bathing bottoms, but more than likely he was not around. I never knew where he was. He was often working teaching grammar to seventh graders in town or selling Brooks Brothers suits to baseball players. But he was just as often sneaking off to the Poconos with his girlfriend. He didn’t like my mother’s cooking anyway.

In summer, he missed great big steaks grilled well done. He missed Stay-Puff marshmallows poked in the coals from the long sticks gathered in the woods behind the pool. He missed watermelon chunked up and cold. He missed the best baked beans thickened and sweetened by Heinz 57, French’s yellow mustard, and gobs of dark brown sugar. In winter he missed meatloaf, my favorite meal, always my birthday dinner with buttered white potatoes and those gooey baked beans. Heinz ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, more French’s, more sugar, and crushed up Keebler Saltines made this poor man’s roast beef. We were poor men and moms and girls so we ate the meatloaf many nights, Thom Eaton home or not. In winter he also missed the soups.

The women where I come from controlled the soup. My maternal grandmother controlled the chicken noodle soup. The chicken went in the pot and on the stove by 5:00 a.m. She chopped celery, quartered onions, and chunked carrots. She measured half a pot of water drawn from the spring across the street and delivered to her by my cousins and me in milk jugs on the back of a Radio Flyer. The other half of the pot she filled with canned chicken broth or bouillon, 49 cents at the Giant Eagle. The whole lot cooked until lunchtime. For lunch, we had scraps of the boiled chicken, now falling off the bone, a little white rice, and Town Talk bread slathered with oleo. Grandma never sat down to eat with the kids or with Pap. Grandpap lived in the basement in an apartment he fashioned for himself twenty years earlier after my grandmother kicked him out of her bed and off her floor of the house one night in punishment for returning home late again and drunk again. They lived together for thirty more years on separate floors of the house.

Gram fixed a plate for Pap, salted and peppered his food for him and then sent the littlest grandchild down the stairs with it. Occasionally she flung open the door at the top of the stairs to bellow down to him and to whatever grandchild he was corrupting with fried bologna and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Meanwhile the chicken soup went on. Gram strained the broth through an ancient wire mesh colander covered over with an even more ancient swatch of cheesecloth. Fresh bits of carrots, celery, and onions were next cooked in the clear, rich broth. At the end of 20 or 30 minutes, Gram added the shredded chicken, only the white parts; she fed the dark meat to Pap, or to the dog. She boiled flat, starchy egg noodles in another pot. Onto these, she ladled the soup. Gram dished out the soup in Corning Wear bowls, smooth and white. The soup was golden yellow and green and orange and smelled strongly of black pepper and celery. We would eat it slurpily at the kitchen table with Saltines and cans of Sprite.

My mother made the beef broth soup. Like all the foods that came out of the Baker women’s kitchen, this soup is a model of frugality. For less than ten bucks, beef broth soup can feed four children and several adults at least twice. Mum started with the cheapest roast she could buy, two or three pounds of pot roast, chuck roast, or rump roast. Mum tells me to buy “whatever is on sale. Don’t pay more than $3 a pound for it.” She remembers buying soup bones for 50 cents and using bones instead of meat or for really rich soup on really flush days, a soup bone, and the roast. Mum is less regimented about cooking than Gram. She never starts cooking before lunchtime. The roast goes on top of the stove in the big Dutch oven or six-quart stockpot early in the afternoon. This soups starts with two roughly chopped onions and a few stalks of celery. Mum boils the roast on high for a few minutes and then simmers the whole thing for hours until the meat is fork tender. She removes the meat to a platter and then refrigerates the pot of broth and the roast overnight. You’ve got to make the broth a day ahead to include this step, but refrigerating the broth makes skimming off the fat easy. Next day, she pours the broth through a sleek metal strainer. More onions and more celery along with one or two cans of Swanson’s beef broth make for richness. When my mother was feeling spicy, she added a cup or two of red wine, 15 ounces of V8, or half a large can of plain tomato juice. She would ladle the hot broth onto creamy egg noodles and serve the soup to us with Saltines and margarine and lots of ketchup. It is still what we ask for when we come home to visit.

I have only recently learned this recipe from my mother. I had to ask her for it. I never watched or listened or thought before how the soup appeared on the table. It was always ready when I was ill or when the weather was cold. It was always frozen in Rubbermaid tubs wedged into the over-stuffed Frigidaire. She told stories as she ticked off the ingredients. My sister hated the rump roast. My grandmother learned the recipe from her Scottish grandmother. When I was thirteen and vegan I refused to sit at the table with the meat platter. My grandfather used to suck the marrow from the soup bones. My stepfather, who eats the roast beef slathered only with barbecue sauce, loves my mother’s cooking and has never felt the need to go to the Poconos. The women where I come from are full of stories like these although no one really ever asks for them. But most of us do think to ask about the food.

At The Farmer's Market

2010-04-17T13:39:00.005-04:00

It's Saturday afternoon and I've missed the Saturday Farmer's Market at City Island again. It's a shame too because I'm sure I missed fresh blueberries from Gainesville. Maybe Q still has strawberries. If I'd gotten there before nine, the little organic farm from Holly Hill might still have organic tomatoes, peppers, and onions. The guys from Samsula would have huge bundles of collards or mustard greens for $2. Their lettuce is always fluffy and damp and zucchini firm and dark green. In the summer, they have those beautiful pale yellow pattypan squash.

All this is from local farmers, some of it is organic, but all of it is fresh and usually pretty cheap. But you have to ask. Unlike California, where only farmer's or their employees may sell direct to consumers at markets, anyone can set up a table at a Florida farmers market. Many of the vendors at the City Island market are really wholesalers. They sell the same produce wrapped in plastic shipped from all over the world that you are likely to see at your local supermarket. If you ask them where their eggplant or bell peppers or potatoes or plums come from, they may not know, but they really don't care. They couldn't be bothered. But sometimes, you'll be surprised to learn that the mangos come from south Florida. The watermelon from central Florida, and the arugula from Pierson, Florida. Stock up on homemade jams and jellies made right here in Volusia County.

Know what's in season in your area and region. Check out this link from Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the interactive peak season map from Epicurious.com. In the summer, the best peaches Q sells come from South Carolina, not from Georgia. The strawberries from central Florida are best in February and March and if you are very lucky into April. The blueberries are here for only a few short weeks in May and June. Look for Okra from Gainesville (the same couple sells this who sells the juiciest, sweetest blueberries) in the summer. Wait until August for the ripest cantaloupe and buy them cheap even if they are about to rot. Cut them up right away for smoothies or snacking while you clean and cook your farmer's market haul. In the winter, buy oranges, grapefruit, and sometimes beets.

Carry your own basket and cloth bags. Offer to return and reuse plastic or cardboard containers. Be firm, but fun. Q, for example, does not want to release his perfect peaches to just any old basket. He'd rather wrap them in a plastic bag for you, but if you smile sweetly, he'll relent and might even carry your haul to the car.

For recipes, my favorite market book is The Santa Monica Farmer's Market Cookbook. Although the Santa Monica Farmer's Market is more diverse than our local market, Amelia Saltsman always offers me ideas and flavor combinations that bring out the best in fresh produce with eating seasonally in mind.

Locations

For strawberries, peaches, and cantaloupes, Qs stall is the first on the row furthest east, closest to the courthouse.

A nice family from Gainesville sells blueberries, okra, brussel sprouts, broccoli, onions, sweet potatoes, homemade tarts, and BB-Q from a tiny little table a few south of Q in the same row and on the opposite.

Walk around the corner to the last row, the row closest to Beach Street and in the last stall closest to the library, you will find local farmer's from Holly Hill. They sell out early so get there before 9.

Turn around and you'll be looking at another tiny table laden with jams, jellies, and eggs. Buy one of each.

Flagler Organics

2010-04-14T12:53:00.003-04:00

By the third week, I'd already fallen behind. A huge head of orange cauliflower crowded my refrigerator's crisper drawer. A head of green cabbage lay languishing on the shelf. I had no idea how to cook the pound of fresh peas and the bunch of green chard. I knew that in just a few days I would receive another bushel of fresh organic vegetables and fruits and I had to either start cooking or give some away. I gave it away.

I've been dreaming of a CSA membership (community supported agriculture) since the late 1990s, but my small, tourist community had nothing like this. I found one once in DeLand, Florida, but as soon as I did, the little farm cancelled its subscriptions. More than a decade later, I'd heard about EatWild.org and LocalHarvest.org, two Websites devoted to connecting consumers with farmers. A few farmers selling mostly poultry and a few veggies that I already grew in my own garden were close to my home, but my email went unanswered and I was too lazy or embarrassed to drive to their farms and knock on the door. I gave up for a little while and drove my sorry self 90 minutes away to the closest Whole Foods. This was exciting, but my food wasn't exactly local.

I visited Eat Wild and Local Harvest often, but it was Meetup.com that finally brought me to Flagler Organics. Flagler Organics is really a buying club not a CSA, but it does supply some local produce and eggs when available. The club is managed by Mirit and Alton. Mirit is a short woman with long salt and pepper hair pulled back into a low and loose ponytail. She's fit and energetic, which isn't surprising since she used to own a yoga studio in Flagler Beach. She directs the local pick up from a small yoga studio in the Trails Shopping Center in Ormond Beach. One large folding table buckles under the baskets bulging with fresh food. Mirit types into a small laptop computer pushed onto an already crowded little desk in the corner of the room. This isn't a glamorous operation, but the door swings open and closed as members visit for their week's harvest.

On my first visit, I was cold--it was March--and nauseous and my pants were too tight. The baskets of fruit were the only thing that looked delicious to me. I was 3 months pregnant and generally queasy. Nothing tasted good except fruit. I gushed over the baskets of strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, and apples. I cried when Mirit handed me a small box of blueberries. And they were the most satisfying blueberries piled on top of yogurt and Grape Nuts.

The next week I enjoyed the most delicious mango I've ever eaten. This was a honey mango, not local, but organic. The basket included green beans, beets with their greens, carrots, celery, leafy red lettuce, bananas, oranges, strawberries, more blueberries, watercress, kale, and other green things I've already forgotten. And this is only a half share.

Organic black kale, Roasted Beets, and Barbecue Tofu

I feel both full and virtuous after eating this meal. Who knew roasted beets were so delicious? This reheats deliciously the next day for lunch too.

Ingredients

One bunch kale, washed and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small shallot chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil (I always use extra virgin, but you do as you like)

3 or 4 beets

1 block firm tofu, sliced lengthwise into pieces and pressed for at least 20 minutes

1 c. The Barefoot Contessa's barbecue sauce (recipe to follow)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Cut the greens from the beets. Wash and chop to cook with the kale. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and cook in the preheated oven for at least 60 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Meanwhile, parboil the kale and beet greens in boiling water for no more than 8 to 10 minutes until just tender. Drain. Arrange the sliced tofu on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet sprayed lightly or coated with olive oil.

During the last 45 minutes of the beets' cooking time, bake the tofu. After 15 minutes, flip the tofu. Bake another 15 minutes. Then coat the tofu with the barbecue sauce for the final 15 minutes. Bake until the sauce is caramelized and gooey and the edges of the tofu are just beginning to brown.

When the tofu is almost ready, heat a large saute pan on medium high heat with 1 tbsp. oil. Add the shallots and cook until tender, just a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for no more than 2 minutes. Don't let the garlic burn or it will be bitter. If you use a stainless steel pan and/or a glass cooktop (a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone), turn the heat down to medium. Add the greens and whatever cooking water still cling to them. Cook the greens, stirring often until wilted. Take off the heat. By this time, the tofu and the beets should be done. You may wish to peel the beets before you serve them. They are hot so be careful and just resign yourself to purple stained hands and fingernails for a day or two. It's worth it.

Barbecue Sauce Copyright, 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup tomato paste (10 ounces)

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

In a large saucepan on low heat, saute the onions and garlic with the vegetable oil for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 30 minutes. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator.

Vegan Mofo 2009 #8: Foodista & Other sites

2009-10-22T09:11:00.003-04:00

Intrigued by the wiki recipe site http://http://www.foodista.com/. A search for vegan returns 2200 hits and some look good like vegan doughnuts. Who doesn't love doughnuts. Want to try the Vegetarian Times vegan doughnuts, but need to buy a doughnut baking pan. More tools? Ugh. I'm cleaning out my kitchen of tools. Like Laurie Colwin, I'm thinking I need bowls, a knife, and a few pots.

Excellent food sites and podcats
http://www.splendidtable.org
http://www.kcrw.org/goodfood
http://www.epicurious.com

Writing ideas
Arugula
Lunch (again)
Snacks
Tofu
Rice milk

Vegan Mofo 2009 #7: On the Road

2009-10-14T13:32:00.002-04:00

Going to Boston and looking for good vegan eats. Wheeler's Ice Cream is there and we are super excited about that. Only found one other place that sounds good for a night out: http://www.theredlentil.com/ I can't find anything like Blossom, Candle Cafe, Candle 79, or Angelica's Kitchen. And then of course there are the bakeries.

Vegan Mofo 2009 #6 Lunch

2009-10-10T18:09:00.009-04:00

Lunch is such an unfortunate meal most times, a couple handfuls of crackers, a banana, a few cookies. If I'm at my office, I can't cook. If I'm home, I often don't have the time to cook a proper lunch. And packing a lunch to take to the office? That means preparing the night before or first thing in the morning. Neither of these is likely to happen. I only eat a healthful and filling lunch when there are leftovers to be heated through. Sandwiches always seem like an easy choice, but what does one put in a sandwich? Sandwich spreads? I'm never quite sure what these are or what to do with them? The only truly delicious sandwich I don't have to cook is composed of ingredients made in my kitchen or grown in my backyard: basil pesto, homemade Italian herb bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, and arugula. This is so delicious, I packed two the night before my husband and I flew to France this summer. The foil wrapped packages caused quite a stir with airport security.

Vegan Mofo 2009 #5:Baseball and Vegan Eats

2009-10-07T17:54:00.003-04:00

No cooking tonight--it's the first day of the playoffs. Just watched Philadelphia beat the Rockies 5 to 1 in nearly a shut-out. The Rockies scored in the top of the 9th with 2 outs. Off to a quick bite out and then home to the watch the Yankees and the Twins.

So excited about the box of homemade jams and chutneys from my friend Dana in Santa Monica. Will put a loaf of bread together to bake in the morning so we can spread it with one of these jars of deliciousness.

In the spirit of the baseball playoffs, what's good to eat vegan or veg at the ball game? Our little beautiful single A baseball park, Jackie Robinson Stadium, has the worst food. Good beer, but bad food: soggy cheesy meaty pizza, hot dogs, bratwurst, hamburgers, old pretzels, and freezer burned ice cream. Even if I ate meat, these foods are bad, bad, bad. Suppose I could cook and bring with, but what to bring secretly into a ball park? Do any major league parks have good vegan food?

Vegan Mofo 2009 #4: Gourmet Magazine & Vegetarian Times

2009-10-05T18:03:00.011-04:00

Conde Nast announced today it will close Gourmet Magazine, continuously in print since 1941. This is a sad blow to food writing and food photography. A consultant told Conde Nast that Gourmet should make the chopping block in an effort to save money. I've often lamented that such good writing and gourmet recipes don't exist in the popular vegetarian mags. I love Vegetarian Times for the idealism and lifestyle it offers each month, but I'm often disappointed with the quality of its recipes, many of which call for processed food. An exception is the October issue and the recipe for Curried Red Lentil Soup. Gourmet and its sister publication Bon Appetit always inspire with a different idealism, a world where I make BBQ sauce from scratch every time, throw super fun costume cocktail parties, and whip up granita for dessert.

Even better are back issues of Gourmet. Last year I found two years worth of back issues from the 1960s in a used book store. I sent them to my mom for Mother's Day. She was delighted. What window on the past. This summer, I found two back issues from the 90s thrown in a pile at the visitor's center to DeLeon Springs, itself a time machine to pre-Disney World Florida. These I read just as eagerly as I do recent issues. This time I was delighted by a 15 page article on sourdough bread by La Brea Bakery founder Nancy Silverton.

Now, can anyone tell me how to take photographs as beautiful as The Voracious Vegan?

Vegan MoFo 2009 #3: Homemade Soymilk

2009-10-04T20:20:00.006-04:00

Soy milk, like bread or yogurt or granola, exudes hippie counter culture, back to nature simplicity. Three ingredients: soy beans, water, oil. Basic method: soak the beans, cook the beans, blend the beans. But like bread or yogurt or granola, store bought soy milk is SO much more convenient and tastes pretty good, organic even and unsweetened. Store-bought is also SO much more expensive and even at its simplest organic-ist, is filled with extra ingredients you might prefer to do without. Enter Laurel’s Kitchen. Laurel, Carol, and Bronwan encourage thrift. In fact, they elevate housewifely drudgery to community-building, save the planet, restore the family divine goddess goodness. I want to be a goddess too so I make soymilk at home.

Like making good homemade bread or yogurt or granola, making good homemade soy milk never turns out to be so simple or so basic. The instructions to the “Cornell University Method” for making soymilk cover three pages. There’s lots of boiling, pressing, and mixing. There’s fortification with B-12 and calcium. Mess it up, the book warns, and the soymilk will taste bitter and strongly beany. I’m intimidated. I turn to Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer instead. Their recipe from How It All Vegan, which is very good by the say, appears on one page and even includes fun drawings of milk glasses with twizzly straws. What to do? Follow the “Cornell Method,” of course because it “inactivates lipoxidase” as you blend the soybeans with 180 degree Fahrenheit water. Use a thermometer or keep the water at a hard rolling boil. The results are indeed delicious if a little grainy. No matter. Just shake, shake, shake before you drink.

Ingredients
1 cup dry soybeans
6 cups boiling water (plus 2 cups boiling water to heat the blender)
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons agave nectar, maple syrup or barley malt extract or to taste
1 tablespoon vanilla (optional)
1800 milligrams vegan calcium carbonate (optional)
25 to 50 micrograms vitamin B-12 (optional)

Directions

Sort and rinse the soybeans then soak them in 3 cups cold water for as little as 4 hours or overnight
Drain the beans and rinse them and drain them again
Boil 8 cups water
Divide the beans into 3 equal portions
Preheat the blender (I use my Vita-Mix, but use what you have being careful with glass pitchers—the boiling water can crack glass if it’s cold so warm it up a bit from the tap) by blending 2 cups of the boiling water for 1 minute then dump out this water into another pot for watering your plants or filling the cat bowl later.
Add two cups beans and two cups boiling water to the blender. Blend 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the soymilk into another pot or very large pitcher.
Add two more cups beans and two more cups boiling water. Blend 2 to 3 minutes. Add this to your pitcher and blend up the final 2 cups beans and 2 cups boiling water.
Now you are ready to strain, sweeten, and fortify. If you’ve used a very powerful blender like the Vita-Mix, you might not have to strain, but otherwise line a strainer with cheese cloth, muslin, or a clean kitchen towel. Set this over another large pot or bowl—you’ll be washing up for a while, but you’re after goddess-hood here so suck it up—then pour over your soymilk pressing to strain all the milk from the pulpy residue.
Heat the soymilk in a double boiler for 30 minutes. You can fashion a double boiler out of your largest bowl placed over a pan of boiling water, but you can also just heat the soymilk on low in your largest pot for 30 minutes, stirring CONSTANTLY to prevent scorching. Note how many cups of soymilk you add to the double boiler at this point and add water if you want to account for evaporation.
Stir in the oil, sweetener, and the calcium and vitamin B-12 if using
Decant to pitchers or bottles with lids. The soymilk will taste best refrigerated for 7 to 10 days.
Don’t forget to shake it before you drink it, especially if you’ve fortified it.

Vegan MoFo III 2009: #2 Laurel's Kitchen

2009-10-02T09:27:00.006-04:00

Six years ago, when I was recently singled and living alone for the first time, I lay in bed at night and read Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey. While old-fashioned even in 1976 when it was first published and some would say anti-feminist, Laurel's Kitchen opened a window onto a world of food community. These women cooked together, ate together, shared recipes, taught each other how to cook, and encouraged a reverence for whole food that much more serious in a way and with more profound implications that the other cookbook authors I had until then been following. A garden and Nigella Lawson taught me how to cook and how to eat, simply with little fuss. But Laurel's Kitchen taught me how think. In many ways, Laurel's Kitchen is to vegetarians what Nigella Lawson's How to Eat is to gourmets or The Joy of Cooking was to post-war suburban women. All of these books have attitude. A friend from San Francisco tells me that all her mothers had Laurel's Kitchen on the shelf like Midwesterners had Joy of Cooking or The Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. Their authors share more than just recipes; they share a lifestyle. Laurel's Kitchen is my reference book for nutrition and basic vegetarian cooking, like cooking beans and grains. We pull down off the shelf often while sitting at the dinner table just to answer questions about broccoli or beets or protein or iron.

A few things I learned from Laurel's Kitchen:

Bake bread
To eat well, someone needs to shop well, garden, and cook often
Mushrooms have nutritional value (again with the mushrooms; I know I'm onto a little theme here--more on that later)
Homemade soy milk is time consuming, but cheap and delicious (recipe to follow tomorrow)
Veganism is easy if you eat from the four food groups for vegans (list to follow tomorrow)

Vegan Mofo 2009 #1: Lentil Soup

2009-10-01T10:13:00.004-04:00

Lentils are blood building food, rich in B vitamins and proteins. So instead of lamb or beef, eat lentils. And lentils remind me of France: lentils, shallots, eggplant, tomatoes, and rice sauteed in our rented cottage kitchen. Red wine, fresh bread, simple and delicious.

Lentil soup recipes include basically the same ingredients: lentils, broth, and aromatics like shallots, onions, garlic, or leeks. Herbs and vegetables change the flavor profile: cumin or fennel or thyme or herbs de Provence, carrots, celery, tomatoes. Ina Garten and Isa Chandra Moskowitz are my inspiration for lentil soup. The Barefoot Contessa's recipe yields 8 to 10 servings, but halfs easily, only keep the measurements for the aromatics and herbs, but not the salt.

Ingredients for 4 to 6 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 chopped leek
2 cloves of minced garlic
***For Vata and Pitta constitutions, substitute 1 to 2 tsps. or to taste asafoetida for the aromatics, stirring the spice into the broth***
2 teaspoons dried thyme or herbs de Provence or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon cumin or crushed fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pound Gimme Lean soysage (optional)
1 pound lentils
2 quarts water or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
salt to taste

Directions

Parboil the lentils by adding them to a bowl and pouring over boiling water just to cover. Set aside while you get on with the aromatics
Heat olive oil in large soup or stock pot over medium heat
Add the aromatics--onion, garlic, and leeks if using
Cook the onion, garlic, and leeks over medium heat 7 to 10 minutes until soft and translucent, but not browned. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the aromatics if you want while stirring to prevent browning, but stir often so they don't stick and burn: burned garlic is bad, but so is salty soup so don't go in there with a heavy hand especially if you are using soysage
Stir in the thyme, cumin, and pepper
Add the soysage if using, breaking up into small pieces and sauteed for 3 minutes or so
Drain the lentils then add them to the soup pot
Add the broth and tomato paste, tasting at this point for salt. Salty broth and salty soysage will make salty soup so you may not need any additional salt
Bring the soup to a boil for just a short minute, then turn down the heat so the soup simmers for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender
A few minutes before serving, stir in the red wine or red wine vinegar

It's cheesy to tell you to serve this with "crusty bread" and "a green salad," but that is indeed how we eat it. We like any kind of bread actually and a mild spinach salad with sweet figs or grapes, cool cucumbers, and maybe a handful of toasted pine nuts. Drizzle the salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and viola! Deliciousness.

Vegan MoFo III 2009

2009-09-30T20:18:00.007-04:00

30 days of vegan cooking, vegan writing, and vegan fun. I'm hungry already. And, I'm set on a research project (in addition to the mushrooms), I am searching for the perfect vegan homemade Grape Nuts recipe. All the recipes I've found call for milk, but why oh why when the ingredients on the box are salt, yeast, wheat. Seriously.

What a great idea and what a challenge to add my voice to the rich, rich world of vegan blogging. I'm veg; my husband is not, but he is lactose intolerant so we eat vegan A LOT and all the baking is vegan. I have more questions than answers so I hope the vegan blogosophere and Vegan MoFo can help me out.

Question #1: Can I use tofu (refrigerated or aseptically packaged) past its Use By date?

The Science of Mushrooms & the Stuffing of Cabbage

2009-09-26T08:01:00.003-04:00

Tonight's menu: Savoy cabbage stuffed with brown rice and lentils braised in a red wine sauce from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. Anything simmered in red wine doesn't suck.

Today's research project: why mushrooms release their juices. I am not the scientific cookery type. Alton Brown does not excite me. Nigella Lawson and Ina Garten excite me. They cook with their hands. They swoon over the smells and textures of ingredients. They are both raven haired and voluptuous suggesting to me sex and delicious food, two of my favorite things. Still, food chemistry does intrigue me, not because I want to analyze it, but more in the way figure skating intrigues me. There is a wow factor here.

Recipes instruct you to chop mushrooms, add them to a hot pan, and cook "until they release their juices." What a fabulously sexy phrase. Come on. You thought it too. I stir them, and add more olive oil because you can never have too much olive oil, and magically, the mushrooms release their juices. Suddenly where there was dry, tastelessness, their is now earthly sauce. That is magic.

What I Learned in France About Cooking & Food

2009-09-24T14:06:00.004-04:00

The best French food is not in Paris
The best French food is in small towns
Always agree to the chef's selection tasting menu
You can learn to speak French by reading menus
Oatmeal tastes best cooked on top of the stove by your husband in a tiny Parisian studio kitchen
Le Puy lentils really are more delicious than grocery store brown lentils
Use sea salt instead of table salt and store in a small open bowl next to the stovetop
Coffee made in France in a French press is more delicious than coffee made in America in a French press or by Starbucks
Peel the stem ends of white asparagus rather than snapping them off
Tiny organic strawberries from a tiny country farmers' market are entirely different and entirely tastier than any hard little grocery store strawberry.

What We Didn't Cook

2009-09-22T18:20:00.005-04:00

I've got a Savoy cabbage stinking up my refrigerator, at least I thought it was the cabbage doing the stinking up. That's the thing about stinky refrigerators: once you begin the exploration, you've got to keep going. Week old black beans smell very badly, so does week old cooked broccoli and brown rice. Did you know that chevre spoils? It does and smells like skunked beer and cat piss. It tastes worse.

The cabbage arrived all crisp and soft green. It was so lovely in Whole Foods I had to buy it. But after three days, it's limp and sort of white. I wrapped it in kitchen towels and moved it to the beer frig in the garage. After its eviction and the dumping of the beans, broccoli, and chevre, the refrigerator stills smells sour and so, therefore, does my kitchen every time I open the refrigerator door. Damn.

So this is a blog post about what I didn't cook, not about what I did. I have plans for that cabbage, something with pressure cookers, old world grains, and marinara, but not today. Instead, we ate a ludely red heritage tomato that was about to rot on the counter. You don't have to do much to a tomato like that. Sprinkle it with sea salt. Drizzle over 12 year old balsamic. Eat it at the kitchen counter and then go out for a proper dinner.

Hitting the Wall & Cinnamon Rolls

2009-09-20T11:29:00.002-04:00

You know those commercially made cinnamon rolls stinking up the food court at the mall and the airport? Cloyingly sweet and stupidly large? These cinnamon rolls are not those cinnamon rolls. Thanks to Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch for these soft, doughy, fragrant breakfast buns. I felt all homespun rolling out the dough with an old fashioned wooden rolling pin, sprinkling the brown sugar and cinnamon topping, dotting around the diced Earth Balance, rolling the whole lot into a log and finally, satisfyingly, slicing the roll into perfect bun-sized pieces. The house smelled like cinnamon and not in an airport sort of way.

I did all this last week of course after my first 7 mile run in a year. My shins and knees were aching after spending hours on the tiled kitchen floor. Don't be fooled. These little suckers are delicious and totally worth the effort, but Isa is just a tad euphemistic when she warns "these take time and patience." Yeah, like 4 hours.

Today, I thawed a little unbaked log left over from last week. After today's grueling 8 mile run in 83 degree heat and 90% humidity during which I didn't exactly hit the wall, but sort of bounced off it a few times, I needed sugar and white bread. Defrosted, week old, and over baked, the cinnamon rolls sated my carb craving, but baked up hard and flat.

On tonight's menu: grilled eggplant, zucchini, and red peppers with goat cheese, pesto and spinach on whatever fancy bread I can find without driving more than 5 miles. I suppose this is sort of a muffuletta ala Veganomicon, but not exactly, with the goat cheese and all and no olives. Maybe black beans on the side and leftover fried plantains from Whole Foods.

I know I'm supposed to photograph all these foods and post the photos too along with my commentary. I love food blogs and cookbooks with lots of photos as much as the next guy, but honestly, by the time I get everything plated we are so hungry, all we can think about is eating.

Chickpeas Cutlets, Frappuccinos, and Anger

2009-09-19T21:49:00.004-04:00

When some people are annoyed with their spouse or angry over some slight real or imagined, I suppose they take it out on said spouse, slam a few doors, or even get drunk. When I'm cranky, I don't recycle. "Fuck the environment, god damn it," I fume. Pathetic. I also drink too much caffeine and eat too much sugar. Today was one of those days. For no reason, well, for a reason, but never mind, I awoke from a nap in a foul mood. I wanted to shout at my spouse and to slam a few doors and to walk out without even saying goodbye, but I didn't. It's not easy to be bitchy with a conscience. More pathetic still. So I faked a smile and asked my meatasaurus if he needed anything at the store and I left in a silent, inwardly violent huff. One Java Chip Frappuccino (the plastic cup tossed in the trash mind you and not carried home to be rinsed and recycled--I was angry after all) and 30 minutes later, I was ready to make dinner.

I have decided that if I ever become a lesbian, I want to marry Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She's funny and a very good cook. Nevermind the fact that we are both already married. Chickpea cutlets, piccata style from Veganomicon rock. Even the meatasaurus, who without fail sneers when in answer to "what's for dinner?" I respond with anything other than "meat," loves Isa's recipes. Roasted beets and boiled buttered potatoes on the side made for a satisfying and delicious dinner.

The cutlets and the beets taste even better the next day as leftovers. Eat the cutlets hot or cold. The microwave oven doesn't harm them. Slice the beets then saute in olive oil over medium-high heat, perhaps splashing in a few tablespoons of orange juice after a few minutes.

Vegetarian Muffaleta

2008-07-18T20:03:00.006-04:00

I rarely prepare a recipe twice. There are just too many recipes, too many tastes, and too many foods. But we loved the Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich from the July/August 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. The meatatarian suggests I serve these sandwiches to vegetarian skeptics, to company even. They are that delicious. I used homemade pesto made with basil from our garden, homemade wheat bread, and homegrown eggplant.

The saltiness of the tapenade counters the grassy, heady garlic pesto. The eggplant and squash are smoky and meltingly tender.

Ingredients

1 small eggplant, 1 small zucchini, and 1 small yellow squash, all cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 large loaf of ciabatta bread, halved or 4 slices of thick homemade bread
1/3 c. pesto
1/3 c. olive tapenade
2 jarred roasted red peppers, sliced
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions
Brush the vegetable slices with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Grill the vegetable slices over medium high heat until tender and just charred, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the slices to a plate. If using the ciabatta bread, slice it in half lengthwise and hollow out each side. If using sliced bread, grill it lightly then spread one side of the bread with pesto and one side with tapenade. Layer the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and roasted red peppers on one side of the bread. Drizzle the vegetables with the balsamic vinegar and the remaining 1 tbps. olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Press the two slices of bread together. Wrap the sandwich tightly in wax paper or a clean, soft towel. Place it on a baking sheet and weight it with a cast iron skillet or two large cans for a few hours or overnight. Unwrap the sandwhich and cut into slices.

We skipped the pressing part and ate these fresh.

Bon appetit!

Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup

2008-05-05T20:22:00.004-04:00

For a whole year once, every time I went out for lunch and ordered the soup of the day, I was served broccoli cheese soup. I love broccoli cheese soup, but I never imagined I would make it at home until my VitaMix arrived along with its companion recipe book, Recipes for Better Living. I am partial to my VitaMix, affectionately known around here, as the Vitameatavegamin in honor of I Love Lucy. Allow me to wax on here a moment about it. My dear friend Bruce quipped about the $400 blender, "that's a big commitment to a kitchen appliance." Yes, indeed it is. But, it really is so freaking wonderful, I mean, wonderful. I can . . .

grind coffee
make powdered sugar from white sugar
make incredible smoothies
juice mounds of fresh veggies without hardly peeling them
whip up homemade nut butters
blend everything and anything hot or cold
make tasty broccoli cheese soup
among many other thousands of things I'm sure that I have never bothered to try

This soup tonight is surprisingly rich, so rich I can barely finish the whole bowl. It is shockingly green. Imagine the green ectoplasm from Ghost Busters if you're old enough to remember that or the green slime from Nickelodeon. The soup is that green: puce. Just imagine now all those good for you vitamins and micronutrients that must be in there. Eat colorful food is my second favorite food mantra. The first is eat dessert first, but that's another post. Onto the soup.

Ingredients:

1 c. plain soy milk, steaming hot
3 slices or 1/3 c. vegan cheese (I used cheddar flavored Rice Dream slices and they taste like honest to goodness cheddar cheese. Who knew?
1 c. broccoli, steamed until tender
1/2 tsp. vegetable bouillon or soup base (try Better Than Bouillon)
1 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in the order listed in your VitaMix or powerful blender and blend for 3 minutes until smooth and piping hot. I suppose you could also use an emulsion blender for this, but I haven't got one so you'll have to let me know.

And that's it. This was so easy and really very delicious.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Vegan Chili

2008-05-04T19:52:00.013-04:00

I'm from Western Pennsylvania, better known for pierogies than chili, but my mom is famous for her chili. She has won several chili cook-offs with it. I have never liked her chili, however. Mostly because it had lots of meat and not much else besides tomato juice. A few years ago, I stumbled across a vegetable chili recipe in a free cookbook that came along with my newspaper subscription. The music reviewer is veg and this is my riff on Rick deYampert's Vegetable Chili.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. red or yellow onion, chopped

1 large red or green bell pepper, chopped

10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 package soy crumbles (I use Ives)

3 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with juice

3 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (I know it sounds weird, but trust me; the cocoa gives the chili depth and complexity)

2 tbsp. ground cumin

salt to taste

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 large zucchini, diced

1 10 oz. package frozen corn or fresh

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, pepper, mushrooms, and soy crumbles. Cook on medium-high stirring frequently un

til vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, chili pow

der, cocoa, cumin, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Add the beans, zucchini, and corn. Cook at a simmer until thick, about 60 to 90 minutes.

My husband loves this chili and he asks for it frequently. I serve it often to guests and especially to people who think that vegetarian chili is an oxymoron. I always serve homemade corn bread with chili. I substitute soy milk or rice milk and the corn bread comes out cake-like. SO good. We slather it with Earth Balance and eat half the pan. I also sometimes offer up a bowl of Lays Organic Blue Tortilla Chips for dipping.

Tonight I made a fresh, cool salad to complement the heat of the chili.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Fauxstess Cupcakes

2008-05-01T09:34:00.004-04:00

It's been several months since my last post. The daily ritual of blogging proved more difficult to maintain than I had anticipated. One of the reasons I finally decided to begin my blog was for the practice of writing, everyday: "never a day without a line." But life gets in the way of writing and that is why so many aspiring writers don't write. It is easier to do the laundry, rearrange your sock drawer, talk on the phone, pet the cats than it is to sit down and write, even something as fun as a food blog.

The other reason I very quickly became a lapsed blogger is that there are already so many fabulous vegetarian bloggers. I certainly cannot add much to the blogosphere on this subject. I was surprised such a rich and vast vegan/vegetarian blogging community existed. Not surprisingly, however, this community is close-knit and supportive. I feel privileged to participate in even my own small way.

My most recent adventure with vegan cooking was Fauxstess Cupcakes. These appear on many blogs and Web sites. You can also find the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I found the recipe on an old Live Journal blog by Isa: http://isachandra.livejournal.com/26438.html You can find the recipe here too so I won't type it in.

I made the cupcakes for my friend Jessica's 26th birthday. I punked out on the little white squiggle in the interest of time, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly even seeking out powdered soy powder for $14, black cocoa powder, and a cake decorator's piping bag and tips. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. It blends Dutch processed cocoa and dark chocolate cocoa. I also used it to make the Chocolate Stout Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World also by Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The stout cupcakes, by the way, rock. The stout gives them a musty tang that my friends and I loved.

The fauxstess cakes were rich and tasted much like Hostess Cupcakes minus the off chemically aftertaste of course. The ganache was rich and not too sweet, but the filling was grainy. The recipe calls for superfine sugar which I could not find even in a specialty baking store. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World suggest making your own superfine sugar by whirling it in the blender. I did this, but the sugar did not dissolve in the margarine and shortening. The white filling was fluffy, but it wasn't very sweet either. Still, my husband and Jessica loved them. I'll try again to achieve a smoother, sweeter fluffy white filling.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Sloppy Joes

2008-02-03T17:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the Super Bowl. Go Eli! I often throw a party for 10 or 12 people on Super Bowl Sunday, but this year the meatasaurus requested a quieter venue so tonight will be just us and one of his eight siblings (yes, my man is the youngest of nine children). For dinner, the meatasaurus requested--meat--but I've opted for Snobby Joes from Veganomicon. They are SO good. My man ate two and said "make these again." I served them on French hamburger rolls with homemade guacamole and Lay's Brand Organic Blue Corn Chips on the side.

Ingredients:

1 c. uncooked lentils
4 c. water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. chile powder
2 tsps. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 8 0z. can tomato sauce
1/4 c. tomato paste
3-4 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
4-6 rolls

Directions:

Add the lentils and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook lentils for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the lentils and set aside to get on with the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and cook the onions and green pepper until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about another minute. Add the chile powder, oregano, salt, and lentils. Stir gently to combine. Next, stir in the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook on medium low for about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and the mustard. Stir again to combine and take off the heat. Let the sloppy joe rest for the flavors to combine. Spoon onto the buns and serve with pickle relish.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Lentils Braised in Red Wine with Spinach

2008-01-24T21:19:00.002-05:00

Last night was black beluga lentils braised in red wine served with wilted spinach over garlic toast from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers. It was so good and satisfying. The weather is cool and damp in Central Florida and I want comfort food. We ate this seated on the sofa and covered in blankets. We even had seconds.

I am more inclined lately to give Vegetarian Suppers a better review than I have in the past. Although I flip the pages of this book frequently, few things strike me as "gotta make that!" Most recipes are for light suppers too and my 6'3" 200 pound meatasaurus needs hearty meals most nights. Still, the lentils and bread in their winey sauce proved quite hearty enough. Two caveats: Madison assumes the reader is already an experienced cook. She sometimes doesn't suggest cooking temperatures but instead directs us just to "cook" and even the simplest recipe like an omelet will dirty all the pans in your kitchen if you are not careful.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. French green (Le Puy) or black (Beluga) lentils (I can NEVER find Le Puy even at my tres expensive gourmet shop so I often substitute ordinary brown, but I was lucky enough over the holiday to discover Beluga lentils at a tiny wine shop just down the street)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 c. each diced onion, carrot, and celery (I only had onions last night and the lentils were still delish)
2 garlic cloves, 1 crushed and 1 halved
1 1/2 c. dry red wine
1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. prepared Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1 big bunch (or one bag) spinach or other greens like Kale, washed
1 tbsp. Earth Balance
4 slices thick country bread

Directions:

Pour the lentils in a large glass bowl and then pour enough boiling water over to cover. Set aside while you prepare the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook for several minutes until just browned. Add the crushed garlic, the mustard, and the wine. Stir to combine. Add the water. Drain the lentils and add them to the pot as well with 1 teaspoon salt. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, season the greens with salt and pepper to taste and then wilt the spinach in a hot pan with just the water still clinging to it. This will take from 3 to 7 minutes or so depending on the size of the leaves and the amount. When the lentils are cooked, stir the cooked greens into the lentil pan, add a tablespoon of Earth Balance and swirl around until it melts into the sauce.

Finally, toast the bread and while it is still warm, rub the cut garlic over it. Cut each piece into thirds and arrange the pieces on the serving plates. Top with the lentils and greens.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Vegetable Pot Pie

2008-01-23T20:04:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I made the most delicious vegetable pot pie from Moosewood Celebrates. The pie is part of the Christmas menu which includes (weirdly) Salmon Baked in Parchment, Brussels Sprouts with Chestnut Beurre Blanc (sounds yummy minus the brussels sprouts), Stuffed Yams, Pearl Onions Braised in Red Wine, Roasted Chestnuts, and a Chocolate Cranberry Tart. If I made all of those recipes, Moosewood promises me I would spend 10 hours in the kitchen. Based on my experiences with Moosewood Celebrates I would double that. The Vegetable Pot Pie should take 1 1/4 hours to prepare, 50 minutes to bake, and 15 minutes to cool according to the Moosewood Collective. I spent 3 hours in the kitchen that day chopping vegetables, making a sauce, and rolling out pie dough (a slight disaster but more on that later). The recipe will serve 6 as a main course not the 8 it might as part of the ensemble. Still, my meatasaurus raved over it Saturday for dinner and Sunday for lunch. The pot pie was creamy and rich and warming for a very dark and stormy night we had here in Central Florida.

Be prepared for lots of ingredients, lots of steps, and lots of time in the kitchen with Moosewood. The results are worth the effort, but effort it is indeed. In a fit of irritation a year or so ago I flung my Moosewood Celebrates into the give-away pile of books and passed it on to my friend Kim. I was missing it though and found a used copy for $4 and so here we are. Moosewood recipes are usually filling and satisfying and perfect for special occasions rather than weeknight cooking.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. chopped onions (about 1 large, not huge onion)
3 bay leaves
2 1/2 c. cubed potatoes
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. chopped celery
1 c. vegetable stock
2 c. cut green beans about 1 in. pieces
3 c. peeled cubed butternut squash (peel the squash with a vegetable peeler)
2 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 2 tsps. dried (I didn't either but didn't miss them)

Cheese Sauce:

1/4 c. butter or Earth Balance
1/3 c. unbleached white flour
2 c. vegetable stock
1 1/2 c. grated cheese (the recipe calls for havarti, but I used goat gouda)
salt and ground pepper to taste

Pastry:

1 3/4 c. unbleached white flour
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 c. butter or shortening (I used Earth Balance and this might be where I ran into trouble)
1/4 c. ice water

Okay, get ready for the lengthy directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and the bay leaves and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, salt, celery, and the vegetable stock. Cover the pot and bring to a boil then lower the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. This is the pattern for all the vegetables. Add the beans and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the squash and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, parsley, dill, and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Keeping the pot covered will cook the vegetables faster, but just be sure they don't burn. Once the vegetables are just tender, not too mushy here because you will be cooking them again a long time in the oven, remove the bay leaves and add them to your compost bowl. Cover the pot and set the vegetables aside while you prepare the sauce and the crust.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter or Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for a couple minutes stirring the whole time so the roux doesn't burn. Whisk in the stock and cook on medium heat, stirring often until the sauce thickens. This won't take long at all. Stirring is important for a smooth sauce, but it's no bother really. You don't have to stand there slavishly stirring like you might for risotto. Whisk in the cheese and stir it all together until the cheese melts.

Pour the filling into a 9 x 12 x 2 inch baking dish or a 10 inch deep dish pie plate and set the pan aside.

For the pastry crust, mix together the flour and rosemary in a large bowl. Work in the butter or shortening with two forks or a pastry cutter until the dough resembles course meal. Sprinkle the ice water over the dough 1 tablespoon at a time and lightly mix it in. Form a ball with the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the crust to fit your pan or do as I did and make cut outs. The only cookie cutter I own is a heart (given to me my 82 year old mother-in-law the year I was married). Align your cutouts or crust and then pop the whole thing in the oven and cook for 40 or 50 minutes. If you are using one crust, cut vents in the crust for the steam and the sauce to escape. The filling will get bubbly and the crust should turn golden and puff just a little.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Sweet Things

2008-01-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

This post is for my friend Jessica who made the most delicious tofu brownies. Look for her recipe soon in the comments to this post.

One of my favorite sweet things comes not from a vegetarian cookbook, but from The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Garten's recipe for granola has become a staple in our home. I enjoy it every day with homemade yogurt (see the December 26 post) and berries in the summer or with raisins in the winter.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients (you can vary the ingredients to taste and availability; I sometimes just use the oatmeal, a cup of whatever nuts I have on hand, and the wheat germ):

4 c. old-fashioned oatmeal

2 c. shredded coconut

2 c. sliced almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, and/or sunflower seeds

1 c. wheat germ

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. honey or agave nectar

2-3 c. assorted dried fruits (mix and match your own; I like dried cranberries)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix the oats, coconut, nuts, and wheat germ in a large bowl. Next, mix the sweetener and oil in a small bowl. Add the honey and oil quickly to the dry ingredients and mix until the oats and nuts are evenly coated. Spread the granola on a large cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. Check the granola every 10 or 15 minutes and stir it to prevent burning. Once the oats and nuts are evenly toasted and beginning to smell delicious, remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes or so. Once cool, mix in the dried fruit and decant to an airtight container.

Faux Meat Failure

2008-01-12T12:03:00.000-05:00

It's been two weeks since my last blog entry. I have been enjoying my vacation from working, but feeling guilty already for not writing. In the past two weeks, I have tried several vegetarian recipes from my cookbook collection and even ordered a new book, Moosewood Celebrates. I owned Moosewood Celebrates a few years ago and while I found the recipes delicious, I also found them time-consuming. Still, I was yearning for some festive food and I knew Moosewood could deliver. More on that book in later posts (there is a vegetable pot pie that I am excited to try).

In the meantime, I share my first attempt and first failure with homemade faux meat. La Dolce Vegan frequently calls for seitan and includes a recipe to make mock beef, chicken, and even tuna from it. Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker includes a recipe called "Not Your Mama's Pot Roast" that calls for Seitan Quick Mix, so I thought I'd make my own using Sarah Kramer's recipe.

Seitan is simply vital wheat gluten and water: a tasteless dough, ostensibly a flavor neutral like tofu. Its purpose is to simulate the mouth-feel of meat rather than substitute as a protein source. One cup of beans has more protein than one serving of seitan. La Dolce Vegan calls the mixture Basic Instant Gluten. I simmered my gluten dough in water, tamari soy sauce, vegan Worcestershire sauce, nutritional yeast, chili powder, and dried sage until it had absorbed all the liquid. I admit it looked similar to chunked beef and smelled slightly spicy and warming. Next, I chucked it into the crock-pot with baby potatoes and baby carrots, onions, red wine, vegetable stock, and pot roast spices like thyme, black pepper, and two cloves of crushed garlic.

The result was definitely not my mama's pot roast. My mother, a none too adventurous eater I must admit, would not have eaten nor ever dreamed of making this mock pot roast recipe. The potatoes and carrots were soft and tasty if a little off--perhaps the tamari soy sauce added to the crock-pot? Perhaps the seitan itself?--but the seitan had the texture of an eraser and only a very mild, almost imperceptible taste. We ate two meals from this crock-pot recipe, but I wouldn't recommend it.

After three meals from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker (cassoulet, Vindaloo Vegetables, and mock pot roast), I'm afraid I can't recommend the book. The crock-pot certainly is convenient, but I suggest modifying traditional slow cooker recipes for things like soups and stews with vegetarian ingredients like beans. I'll keep trying recipes though and post as I go. Next on the table might be Cream of Wheat Berries with Cranberries and Cardamom.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

2007-12-31T19:09:00.000-05:00

I never met a carb I didn't like and that means potatoes prepared in any fashion. Potatoes are comfort food. Their whiteness, starchiness, and carbohydrate heaviness fill empty bellies and go a long way to soothing broken hearts too. Who wouldn't feel better curled on the couch eating a bowl of mashed potatoes? We know carbohydrates elevate mood. Potatoes are what schoolmarmish nutritionists call "bad carbs" or high glycemic. Their high sugar content spikes blood sugar and probably increases levels of dopamine or seratonin or some such brain chemical. The point is that potatoes make us feel good for an hour or so. I also believe potatoes elevate the mood of the cook as well as the eater because potatoes are so easy to prepare. Scalloped potatoes are less easy than mashed or baked, but the payoff, for me anyway, is greater.

These vegan scalloped potatoes lack the sludgy creaminess of those made with heavy cream and whole milk, but boiling the sliced potatoes in plain soy milk first releases the potato starch and softens the potatoes so much that the sludginess remains without any of the heaviness. I served these for Christmas dinner along with creamed spinach and sliced carrots as sides. This easily serves 10-12 so cut it in half for a small family dinner.

I've adapted this recipe from Nigella Bites and The Passionate Vegetarian.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 lbs. all-purpose potatoes, scrubbed and sliced or peeled and sliced
4 cups plain soy milk
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 c. vegan margarine (Earth Balance)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Spray a 2 qt. ceramic or glass baking dish or a roasting pan with cooking spray. Spray a large dutch oven or 5 qt. stock pot with cooking spray. I don't tend to peel the potatoes here before I slice them, but traditionalists would. Either way, prepare the potatoes and slice them in scant 1/4 in. slices. Add the sliced potatoes, the soy milk, onion, garlic, and salt to the stock pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook at a gentle boil for 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are tender, but not falling apart.

Pour the potatoes and their now starchy cooking liquid into the oiled gratin dish. Cut the butter into chunks and top the potatoes with it. Sprinkle on the thyme. Cook in the 500 degree oven for 15 minutes until the butter has browned. I like the especially crispy burned pieces around the edges, but that's just me. When the top is browned, remove the dish from the oven, cover it with foil, and let the potatoes stand for 15 minutes or so.

Gingerbread People

2007-12-26T18:11:00.000-05:00

I know two posts in one day are a little excessive, but it's Christmas break and I'm home and cooking. Today, Boxing Day, was an especially around the house day so I wanted to read, bake, and post, and eat. My goodness, we have been eating all day. My dinner is leftover vegan scalloped potatoes and sliced carrots. I'll post about those potatoes later. For now, I wanted to share a recipe for gingerbread people. Inspired by VeggieGirl's vegan baking blog, by the beautiful book The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and by the funny "maimed gingerbread men" cookie cutters featured in December's issue of Bon Appetit, I want to bake!

Ingredients

3 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter (try Earth Balance sticks)
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer (Ener-G Egg Replacer or equivalent to equal 1 egg--get Ener-G at a health food store or try whipping 1 tbsp. ground flax seed with 3 tbsp. water)
2/3 c. unsulphured molasses

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Gather all the ingredients and bring to room temperature.

Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer until fluffy. Add the egg replacer and molasses and beat for 1 minute. Add the flour mixture in several additions and beat until smooth. You want a dough here so if you need a little more moisture, add water 1 tbsp. at a time. Divide the dough in half and form into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

When you are ready to make the cookies, roll out one disk onto a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Keep turning the dough as you roll and add more flour a little at a time if the dough sticks. If the dough gets too warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes or so. Cut the cookies and place on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar or decorate with baking baubles if you are not going to ice the gingerbread people. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until they just brown on the edges. Transfer to cooling racks.

Gather up the dough scraps, refrigerate and flour as necessary. Roll out and cut the scraps and then the remaining dough disk.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Breakfast

2007-12-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are not vegan, I have the best homemade yogurt ever. Most commercial yogurt is full of sugar or corn syrup, thickeners, and sometimes even gelatin. These are not the most appetizing of ingredients and they are just unnecessary. Yogurt making is simple, somehow rewarding in a Little House on the Prairie way, and satisfyingly healthful and delicious. I usually make my batch shortly before bedtime or first thing in the morning on a Saturday. The yogurt will need 8 hours of undisturbed souring time (although you actually do nothing during this time).

Ingredients

The basic recipe for yogurt is 1 qt. milk + 1 c. yogurt = 1 qt. yogurt

4 c. milk (whole milk will make a sweeter yogurt, lowfat or skim will make a thinner more sour yogurt. Lowfat milk also produces more whey--the liquid on top of the yogurt after it has soured)
1 c. yogurt with live active yogurt cultures (you can use your homemade yogurt as a starter or buy a quart of organic plain yogurt. Read the label and buy only a yogurt with live active cultures and no added sugar, sweeteners, thickeners, fruits, or gelatin. I like Stonyfield Farm brand).

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off and open the door.

Boil the milk in a medium saucepan. I heat the pan on high for less than 10 minutes, but watch it carefully, and stir so the milk doesn't scorch on the bottom of the pan or boil over. Both are too messy for words. Once the milk boils, remove it from the heat and let stand until it reaches about 110 degrees, just above body temperature. This should take about 40 minutes or so. I poke my finger into the milk to test for temperature. Too hot and the yogurt cultures will die. Too cold and the milk won't sour.

Once the milk has reached 110 degrees or so, stir in 1 c. yogurt. Pour your young yogurt into a glass bowl, cover with the pan lid or even a plate and put into the warm, but not hot oven overnight or for 8 hours. Alternately, you can warm the yogurt with a heating pad set on medium low. Wrap the pad in a towel then wrap the yogurt bowl with a towel and place in a warm corner of the kitchen away from drafts. I've never tried this, but Laurel's Kitchen and Miriam Kasin Hospodar, author of Heaven's Banquet: The Maharishi Ayur-veda Cookbook, both recommend this procedure.

After the requisite culture-forming hours have passed, refrigerate your yogurt. I scoop mine into an old Stonyfield Farm yogurt container. Save 1 c. for the next batch.

Cookin' in the Crock Pot

2007-12-22T18:29:00.000-05:00

Crock-pots are cool again. Who knew? Not me, but I've been lusting after one just because it sounded easy and was a kitchen appliance I might actually use. After donating $3 to a local charity thrift shop called the Secret Attic II, I carried home a 1970s tangerine orange crock-pot. This model auctions on ebay for up to $100 and as low as $10. Those come with the recipe and instruction booklet, which I would love to own, but I found a $10 cookbook at Barnes and Noble that is almost as good. Last night's dinner and tonight's leftovers came from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are by Robin Robertson. White Bean Cassoulet was comforting and very delicious, if a little too salty.

The recipe requires canned or pre-cooked beans and asks us to cook onions, carrots, and garlic first in a skillet and then add the vegetables, beans, tomatoes, broth, wine, and spices to the crock-pot. The pre-cooking seemed to defeat the point of the crock-pot, but since I burned my veggies, this caramelizing did add some fire-roasty flavor to the cassoulet. Next time, I might try skipping this step. I did skip precooking the beans to acceptable if not perfect effect. Had I soaked the beans overnight or even two hours instead of a scant one hour, they might have softened a bit more. As it was, the beans on top were rather too toothsome while those below were soft, but not meltingly so as you might want them for cassoulet.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
8 oz. baby carrots, cut in half (I used 5 small whole carrots, chopped)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 c. cooked white beans or two 15.5 oz. cans white beans (I used navy beans, but you could use Great Northern or Cannellini if you can find them)
1 tbsp. tomato paste (A neat trick I learned from Crescent Dragonwagon and The Passionate Vegetarian is to flash-freeze tablespoons of tomato paste: scoop out tablespoons of the paste onto waxed paper and put into the freezer for an hour or so. Once frozen, peel the paste blobs off the waxed paper and pop into a freezer container or Ziploc. You'll have just what you need when you need it and you won't have to bother with opened cans of tomato paste languishing in the back of your refrigerator. Thanks, Crescent!)
1/2 c. vegetable stock (I use Swanson's Organic, but you can make your own)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1/4 c. white wine (invite over your friends to finish off the opened bottle. I served my opened bottle to three fabulous friends who spent the day with me baking Christmas cookies)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
8 soysauge links
1/2 c. bread crumbs

Directions

Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots, and garlic in the covered pan for 5 minutes or so until tender. Or, skip it and chuck these veggies into the waiting crock-pot. Add all the ingredients except the bread crumbs to the crock-pot. Grind in some pepper and add a bit of salt. The canned tomatoes, the packaged broth, and the soysauge will taste plenty salty so add salt judiciously. Turn the crock-pot on high for 1 hour then turn down to low for 7 more hours. If you are leaving the pot to cook away happily while you are out, set the temperature to low for 8 hours. When you get home, toast the bread crumbs in the remaining 1 tbsp. oil and sprinkle on top of your cassoulet. Don't forget to give the now fragrant, tomatoey, beany stew a good stir first.

The standard French accompaniments would be a salad with homemade vinaigrette and French bread, but we ate ours heaped into bowls as we curled up on the couch.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Viva la Vegan

2007-12-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

Last night I cooked from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. I admit I was a bit skeptical. Sarah's copy is fun, straightforward, and practical, but the book and Sarah are, well, funky, in a good way though. Some might already know Sarah from her site GoVegan.net or from her other cookbooks How It All Vegan! and The Garden of Vegan. All have been successful judging from her readers' praise and from the fact that La Dolce Vegan is in its fourth printing since 2005. Pretty good for a funky tattoo artist from Canada.

Members of GoVegan.net and readers of Sarah's blog at Sarahstourdiary.blogspot.com contributed many of the recipes in La Dolce Vegan. This too made me wonder about just how good the recipes could be (I mean who are these people, right?), but Sarah tested and tested so we wouldn't have to. A member nicknamed Wolffie from Florida shared the Southwestern Corn Casserole I served last night. Think soft cornbread only better if such a thing is possible. The top and sides brown and crisp up just a bit. The center is satisfyingly gooey, like the insides of a molten chocolate cake. There's no chocolate in the casserole, but you get the idea. It was good, surprisingly good, good even though I misread the recipe and added not 2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar but 2 TBSP! EEK! The whole kitchen spelled like vinegar, an odor I loathe, but we enjoyed the casserole enough to have seconds and thirds. Sarah tells us that the dish will serve 2 or 4, but I'd say three.

Ingredients

1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. soy or rice milk

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (note this is teaspoons NOT tablespoons)

1/2 c. soft or silken tofu

2 tbsp. vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)

2 tsp. sugar (again, I misread the recipe and added 2 tablespoons, but I think it helped so go for it)

1 12 oz. can corn niblets, drained (I measured 1 1/2 c. frozen corn)

1/3 c. flour

1/3 c. cornmeal

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 medium onion, chopped (scallions would be a nice substitution here)

1 small can chopped green chilies, including liquid

1 small jalapeno pepper, minced (I left it out)

1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (this is my addition, but the beans add color and more protein)

another addition to good effect would be chopped red pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray and 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray or oil lightly. In a food processor or blender, blend the soy or rice milk, vinegar, tofu, margarine, sugar, and 1/2 of the corn. Blend on high until smooth and set aside to get on with the flours. Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the blended tofu and milk mixture, the remaining corn, the onion, the chilies, the pepper if you are using it, and the beans. Mix this with a spatula just until moist and then pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 60 minutes (check the casserole after 50 minutes--a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean and the edges will brown).

Serve the casserole with a spinach or arugula salad dressed simply with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We enjoyed our friend Jessica's tofu brownies for dessert. Miss Jessica has promised to post the recipe for these fudgey, cakey, uber-chocolately brownies. Omigod are they delicious.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Eggs for Dinner

2007-12-20T18:02:00.001-05:00

When I was a child, my mother would sometimes make breakfast for dinner. She claimed breakfast foods like pancakes and eggs required too much precision and too much fiddling early in the morning. But for dinner, she coped well with the griddle. She never made omelets, however, and I don't think we ever even heard of a frittata. My good friend Casey first made me a frittata, but until recently, my attempts at frittatas and omelets failed sadly. They were mostly tasteless, rubbery blobs of eggs. What I have learned after reading Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison and from a little experimentation is that frittatas require an ungodly amount of salt and cheese and pepper. But don't let that put you off. They are good and worth the calories and cholesterol.

One frittata I improvised from Vegetarian Suppers is a Spinach Frittata. These amounts will serve 2 lightly. I doubled for 3, two big men and me. The recipe makes too many dishes for an egg supper because you have many things going on at one time. This is common to Vegetarian Suppers so ask your honey or children nicely to wash up for you. Vegetarian Suppers is a beautiful book, large format with sumptuous color photographs on nearly every page, but the binding on my copy split almost immediately. Disappointingly, the pages now feather to the floor when I open the book.

Ingredients for Spinach Frittata

2 bags spinach leaves (10 oz.)

2 tbsp. butter or margarine like Earth Balance

4-6 eggs

2 scallions, sliced or one small onion chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

a handful of mushrooms, sliced (optional)

5 oz. crumbled goat cheese like chevre or better a harder cheese you can shred

salt and a lot of freshly ground pepper

Directions

Heat a little of the butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach with a pinch of salt and a little water, perhaps a tablespoon. Cook the spinach until wilted and tender. This will only take a few minutes. Let the spinach cool a bit and chop it up if the pieces are large. If you are using the mushrooms, saute them in a little butter or olive oil for 5 minutes or so until they are tender.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl with salt, pepper, the scallions or onions, the garlic, the spinach, the cheese, and mushrooms if you are using them.

Heat the rest of the butter in a 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Tilt the pan to coat it with the hot, foamy butter. Add the eggs, turn down the heat to low, and cover the pan. Cook the eggs just shy of 10 minutes until they are browned on the bottom and just beginning to brown on the edges. The eggs should puff a bit too. Next comes the crazy inversion process, but if you like your eggs firm and brown on both sides you've got to do it. Slide the frittata onto a large plate. Being very careful with the hot skillet, invert the pan over the plate, grasp the plate (as you would a cake pan and cake rack) and flip the whole thing. Cook for a few minutes and then slide the eggs onto a plate again.

I served this with a large plate of dried figs, sliced cucumbers, pita bread cut into small triangles, and a bowl of hummus.

Bon Appetit,

Heather

Minestrone Soup and Vegan Hot Chocolate

2007-12-18T13:25:00.000-05:00

Last night I cooked a thick, filling minestrone soup fragrant with rosemary and the pungent saltiness of pecorino romano cheese. For dessert, we sipped steaming hot chocolate made with rice milk. My husband cannot eat cow's milk so while he is definitely not vegan, I cook many vegan and vegetarian foods. The pecorino romano is a sheep's cheese, often well tolerated by folks who otherwise suffer after eating cow's cheese.

The minestrone comes from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver. I modified the recipe of course to add more protein and rib-sticking heartiness.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced in half moons

3 medium carrots, diced (I often use the food processor for this)

1 medium white potato, peeled and diced

1 rib celery, chopped

1/2 lb. or so green beans, tipped and tailed and snapped in half

1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained

6 c. vegetable broth (I use Swanson's organic broth)

1 small cabbage, sliced (although I often leave it out)

1 sprig fresh rosemary

2 cloves garlic, sliced not

1 19 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed or 1 c. dried beans, cooked*

1 c. small dried pasta like ditalini or acini di pepe (for extra protein, look for a protein pasta like Barilla Plus)

Salt and pepper to taste

shredded pecorino romano cheese for serving

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft but not browning. Add the carrots, stir, and cook for a few minutes. Add each vegetable except the cabbage separately, stir, and cook for a few minutes. When the vegetables have softened, add the drained tomatoes, stir and cook for a few minutes. If the pot is getting too hot and the onions are sticking, turn down the heat to medium. Add the stock, cabbage, rosemary, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Taste for seasoning at this point. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remember that the canned tomatoes, stock, and beans may be plenty salty. Cook at a simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender, but not mushy.

Add the beans and pasta. Bring to a boil again. Turn down the heat to medium-high and cook at a slow boil until the pasta is soft. The soup will be thick, but add more water or broth if the pasta has absorbed too much liquid. Adjust the seasonings. The cheese will add a tangy saltiness to the soup so go easy.

Ladle into warmed bowls and shred the cheese on top.

*To cook dried beans, add them to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain, add more water to cover. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cook for a few hours until tender but not mushy. Don't overcook or stir too often because then the beans break apart. Cooking times vary with the type of bean and the age of the bean. Keep checking the beans and add more liquid so they don't burn.

The weather turned c-o-o-l-d last night in Central Florida. We craved cocoa in front of the Christmas tree. This Vegan Hot Chocolate comes from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. It's not quite the same as hot cocoa made from cow's milk, but for my sweetie who hasn't had cocoa in more than 2 years, it was heaven.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tbsp. sugar (look for all natural vegan sugar rather than the overly refined stuff)

2 1/2 c. rice or plain soy milk (the rice milk has no fat and is thin, so the chocolate separated. The soy would be a little thicker)

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract (don't punk out and buy artificial; it's not worth it)

1/8 tsp. salt

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of cayenne pepper if you have it (I didn't so did without)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan for stove top cooking or in a large glass measuring cup for microwave cooking, stir all the ingredients together and bring to a boil on high heat (about 3-4 minutes in the microwave). On the stove top, stir constantly to prevent the milk from scorching. Once your hot chocolate boils, take it off the heat and whisk it like crazy until it froths. Pour into waiting mugs, blow on it a few times so you don't burn your tongue, and snuggle up with your honey.

Welcome to The Vegetarian Review

2007-12-18T10:33:00.000-05:00

Good cooks need inspiration and for me, that inspiration comes from cookbooks. I read cookbooks like some people read novels or pornography. I cook from them too--the cookbooks, not the porno. Each week I gather four or five books from a shelf bulging with cookbooks, food magazines, and slips of paper scratched over with recipes. For hours, I turn pages, read recipes and introductions, and linger over luscious photographs. I imagine grand dinner parties and finally I choose the week's menu.

Some meals are better than others. Sometimes the mediocrity is my doing: I forget to include an ingredient. I make an ill-advised substitution. Other times, the recipe is bland or just plain odd. Hopefully, the minutes I spend on the floor in the bookshop flipping through cookbooks prevent too many oddities from making their way into my kitchen, but books always appear so much more promising and appetizing in the store than on my counter. Sure, the cover copy claims deliciousness and ease and delight, but I often wish someone would test a few dishes for me and report back a little kitchen recon. I wish this especially for vegetarian cookbooks. It is not too difficult to make a roast chicken taste good or to grill up a juicy steak, but flavoring a pot of cannellini beans or a block of tofu is a different story.

My household sports a strapping meatasaurus--I'm a veg. I want to please us both and I want leftovers. I'm always trying new recipes and new books. My meatatarian wishes I spent money on food and less on books. But since I love books and love food and love cooking, there's nothing for it but to venture on. I'll share my reviews, my successes, and failures with you on The Vegetarian Review.

Bon Appetit,

Heather