Where's the Beef?
Or who really needs it? I’m starting to feel less possessive of the parts of my diet that have always distinguished me from vegetarians, or in their strictest sense vegans.Last Saturday my friend Adrianne, a dinner guest, actually offered to bring the main dish. That was an offer I couldn’t pass up! In keeping with a fellow Blogger’s preference for a vegetarian diet, she made Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon.
It was such a huge success that two of us immediately ordered the book from Amazon. I must say as I paged through it, my mouth watered at recipe after recipe. And here I thought being a vegan meant continuous sacrifice!
Tonight I made Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms accompanied by Tomato Couscous with Capers. Even my husband declared both to be winning recipes.
I mentally calculated how much tonight’s dinner had cost and quickly concluded that we could be healthier and save money at the same time – a winning combination.
I really have no philosophical problem with eating animals or eggs or dairy. But the bottom line is that we don’t really need those things and my husband is severely lactose intolerant.
So the plan is to make something out of this book a couple of times a week. Tonight’s recipes actually made enough for a second meal.
Of course the true test will be whether we are farting all day tomorrow from the beans. If so, I may have to curtail the bean dishes. But I soaked those suckers for a long time and so far, no gas.
My whole life of cooking has been one of continuous evolution. I have gone from frying breaded veal cutlets in chicken schmaltz to making white beans with mushrooms in a little olive oil. From a health standpoint, probably a good move.
I’ll be curious to see if this new-found interest continues or if Veganomicon finds its place on a crowded shelf with cookbooks that seldom inspire dinner. Time will tell.
What about you? Could you go vegan a couple of times a week?
posted by Barbara at 7:59 AM
11 Comments:
Wow! I am so flattered, both by the review of the ziti recipe and the fact that I have at least one convert (and possibly two)!
Other cookbooks that make "going vegan" easy and delicious are:
-- "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein (which also has a white bean recipe that I unfortunately have not figured out how to perfect yet -- the only recipe in the book that has not been a complete success from the outset).
-- "Vegan Planet" by Robin Robertson
-- "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman -- Bittman's classic "How to Cook Everything" has long been my favorite cook book, and I found myself sad at the thought of not being able to use it as much when I decided to stop cooking animal products at home. Then I discovered that Bittman had come out with a vegetarian version of the old classic. Aside from the section containing egg-based dishes, most recipes either are vegan or can be made vegan by an easy substitution (oil instead of butter, using an egg replacer, etc.). Plus, Bittman spends a great deal of time teaching technique, which is very useful for someone learning to cook in a completely different way.
Happy vegan cooking, and definitely keep me posted on how it goes!
here's a snippet of an interview with Dr. M. Oz ( a nyc heart surgeon) Dr. Oz did heart surgery on a friend of ours --and the doc never forgets a face a name or patient details it seems--he genuinely cares. And he's brilliant.
snippet:
Q: How do you maintain a healthy diet?
Dr. Oz: My wife, Lisa, is vegan so at baseline the food we eat at home is healthy. I love nuts and eat many times daily, but small meals at each sitting.
I agree with Dr. Oz and try to follow his example. But he's not vegan.
I am not vegan, because I do enjoy honey, egg white omelets, & fish on a fairly regular basis. I eat a lot of raw fruit and veg though-- a lot.( a LOT) I do eat whatever I want, I never ever enjoyed a diet heavy in dairy and meat, so it's never been an issue for me. In 2008 I had one cheeseburger and two steaks, and that was it for beef consumption for the year so far. I'm not terribly fond of poultry. I was strict veg for a few years when my whole family was, (my niece started us on that path) we all decided to relax the rules about the same time. We traveled the world a lot at the time and just wanted to sample all foods.
If a person has health issues like high cholesterol and high blood pressure a vegan diet can help out a lot.
I am extremely healthy (my doctors say they are impressed) and I think a lot of it is due to the fact that I eat a lot of veggies and fruit and always have.I enjoy trying out vegan recipes.
I am the sole nutritionist and cook for our little family of two. After consultation with a Kaiser nutritionist, I have started making small changed in our diet about two years ago. I have upped our vegetables and downed our meat (but not completely eliminated it). As part of the infrastructure work that I do, I pack our lunches and my breakfasts, this way we don't eat out as much as we used to do. I used to drive through McDonald's for breakfast almost every day last year, but this year not at all. So, healthy eating is all in degrees. Putting vegetables in every meal (yes, even breakfast!) requires a little more work, but is sure paying off in increased health. Would I give up meat? We have a couple of meatless dinners, miso soup, nut butter and fruit a couple of times a week, but that's more a function of being too tired to really cook than anything else. Because I have to restrict my eating of carbs and fats, without the proteins that meat provides, I am hungry within an hour of a completely vegan meal (yeah, broccoli is great, but alone, it doesn't stick to your ribs).
Happy Saturday!
Adrianne -- I'm only signing on to be a part-time vegan at this point. Who knows, I may like it so well that I simply decide to go all the way!
Thanks for your inspiration and good example. You hooked us with that ziti recipe!
Squirrel -- It sounds like you have a healthy approach to eating. I have always loved food and cooking, but as I get older the things I like most are fruits and vegetables. Giving up cheese completely would be hard for me!
Thanks for sharing the interview with the heart surgeon.
Kellyann -- It sounds like you and Mr. R are cleaning up your (food) act this year! You have posted some wonderfully healthy recipes with photos. I'm convinced that eating healthy food doesn't need to diminish the joy of eating in the least!
I am a vegetarian (well pescadorian--I eat fish and dairy but not much dairy)...and I have to say, cutting out chicken, turkey, and pork was hard but I have never felt "cleaner".
I do miss the taste and the ease of preparing and eating those things, but I prefer fish anyway so its all good.
I have not had red meat since I cut it out when I was 11 years old. Its interesting because one of my sisters is a hardcore vegan and it is a strict lifestyle but she is so energetic and healthy that sometimes I wonder if I can go there too.
I always tell people who are on the fence to read The Omnivores Dilemna (there is no bias just facts and experiences) and Fast Food Nation (not the MCD docu but the film).
You will never look at beef the same way again.
But again, I see nothing wrong with people eating meat, I just find the veggie lifestyle more to my liking, personally.
I have to second Adrianne's cookbook suggestions.
Esp the Mark Bittman book. Fantastic.
:)
Kassy -- I started to make changes in the way I shopped for food and in what I cooked after joining a CSA and reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. I actually drove 150 miles to get a Thanksgiving turkey at Polyface Farm, featured in the book, which suggests a more humane and healthful way to raise the food we eat. From this book I learned startling things, like the fact that farm-raised fish are fed corn, negatively altering their Omega-3 levels.
I would like to keep an open mind about eating, trying hard to balance healthful ingredients with reasonable cost. Our bodies are actually fairly forgiving, but I hope I can minimize the potential damage from food with additives.
Greetings from your upper respiratorily challenged friend,
You mentioned the potential for gas from eating too many beans. For that, there is a product called Beano, available at some grocery stores, drug stores and health food outlets.
This is an enzyme that counters gas. The slogan is "Eat Beano, and there will be no gas." You eat the tablets prior to consuming beans or veggies such as broc. It works!
I definitely could go vegan a couple of times a week. I basically do. I don't use much in the way of animal products (but I'm perfectly OK with the fact that others do).
I'm already vegan many times per week (thank god for peanut butter!) and mostly vegetarian all the time. Every once in a while I eat chicken and fish, but not commonly.
Oh yes! The turkey post. :) I actually just read that.
Isn't the book fascinating?
While the title "Skinny Bitches" is a wee annoying...it is another great veggie source book as well.
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