Cooking vegetarian at home: Not (just) your mother's Moosewood

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The Independent Weekly, FEBRUARY 6, 2008

 

Cooking vegetarian at home: Not (just) your mother's

Moosewood

 

BY SHERYL CORNETT

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A173234

 

 

" Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. " —Michael Pollan,

In Defense of Food

 

When Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation reached the public a

few years ago, rumor had it that a wave of overnight

conversions to vegetarianism took place. Whether this is a

passing panic, an enduring movement or even true, is

debatable, but forms of vegetarianism are ever more

mainstream. ... Even conscientious carnivores can benefit

from centering meals on plants (especially in-season,

locally grown plants) and reducing their meat intake.

 

There are as many ways to be a vegetarian as there are

vegetables, grains and meatless proteins. Take the

religious approach, for example, as in Zen vegetarianism,

or Hindu vegan cooking. How about the uniquely Asian or

original Mediterannean and African (East, West, North and

South) approach? Or the " locavore " angle, in which we don't

eat anything that isn't produced within a 100-mile radius.

Whatever form, a little help is always welcome.

 

To newcomers and seasoned cooks alike, vegetarian cooking

can seem like an overwhelming full-time job... So where to

begin?

 

Below is a sampling of handbooks and cookbooks to get

started or help along the way. The choices reflect a mostly

American core (recipes built from ingredients that are both

familiar and available), with plenty of global flavors, an

emphasis on simplicity, and can-do, how-to information. For

people who like to read cookbooks even before they plunge

into trying out recipes, all the titles make good reading.

Some address the history, some the current state of

vegetarianism. The titles come to me by way of experience

(as a vegetarian wannabe and via my history of sowing

bigger gardens than I can maintain) and recommendations

from expert home cooks who are full-time vegetarians (and

also have jobs, like the rest of us).

 

 

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes

for Great Food by Mark Bittman(John Wiley and Sons, $35)

 

My friend Daun, an avid, skilled cook, owner of an enormous

cookbook library, and a longtime vegetarian, says: " This is

the best and most significant cookbook I've bought in

years. " I can see why. Bittman, who writes " The Minimalist "

column for The New York Times, has authored many cookbooks.

This one is very friendly to beginner cooks and new

vegetarians. In this 1,000-page collection of 2,000 recipes

that " just happen to exclude meat, poultry and fish, " he

also gives guidelines for converting to veganism.

Informative sections on getting started (equipment, terms,

techniques, ingredients, substitutions) remind me of the

reference work-with-recipes scope of the Joy of Cooking.

" Fast Tomato Sauce " can be made fresh in the time it takes

the pasta water to boil; his suggestions on varying

vegetables used in quiche injects this mainstay with new

color and life.

 

 

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison(Broadway

Books, $40)

 

Madison's books seem wildly popular with semi-vegetarians,

vegans and everyone in between. The tome is encyclopedic,

with 1,400 recipes. Her authoritative experience as chef

(founder of Greens vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco),

home cook and local produce activist is present throughout

her writing. See also Madison's The Vegetarian Table:

America (Chronicle Books, $23). This second small volume is

great for beginners who are visual learners: Inspiring food

styling is lushly photographed. Savory " Corn Pudding " makes

a hearty winter (you froze corn last summer, from the

farmers' market bumper crop, right?) or summer (right off

the cob) main dish.

 

 

Laurel's Kitchen: A Handbook to Vegetarian Cookery and

Nutrition by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, Bronwen

Godfrey and new edition contributor Brian Ruppenthal (Ten

Speed Press, $22)

 

This classic is philosophical, influenced by Robertson's

spirituality (Quaker by birth, Hindu by choice) and

commitment to eating with earth-minded integrity. This

thorough guide has been in print since the mid-'70s, valued

not only for its recipes, but for its researched

nutritional tables (backed up by a Berkeley professor), and

entries on " Purchasing Whole Foods, " " Politics of

Transition " and " Nutrition for a Meatless Diet. " The

section on introductory bread baking is excellent for

beginners.

 

 

Simple Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin

(HarperCollins, $24)

 

In this sunny cookbook, the author streamlines techniques

and equipment use and pep-talks us through time-saving

tricks. The layout is reader-friendly: uncluttered pages,

bold large-type headings to recipes. (One of six Lemlin has

written; Quick Vegetarian Pleasures is also popular). Her

signature style is simple, fast and low-fat. The homemade

vegetable stocks are worth a copy of this book alone, but

there's much more, including cheerful chapters on

breakfast.

 

 

Skinny Bitch in the Kitch: Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry

Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking

Hot!) by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (Running Press,

$15)

 

A " Generation Y " call to culinary arms? This vegan-recipe

collection grew out of the surprise bestseller Skinny

Bitch. As part of their animal rights activism, the authors

decided to put their message where their mouths are in

their daily eating habits. Now, they urge their vision on

others. As the title suggests, the tone is not for the

easily offended, nor is the information and vision just for

women. The recipes are heavily dependent on vegan

" chicken, " " burgers " and " sausages. "

 

But for women (and men) on the run, the slim paperback

volume, sound advice, and straightforward, mostly easy

menus and combos could be very liberating.

 

 

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant and all the Moosewood

Restaurant Series by Mollie Katzen and the Moosewood

Collective (Fireside, $24)

 

Especially popular for the Sunday brunch world menu focus,

Katzen has quite a following for her take on all things

vegetarian. Even people (in my informal survey) who weren't

yet born when this series was launched claim it as their

standby. An enduring collection that speaks for itself in

30-plus years of sales.

 

 

The Vegetarian Epicure I & II (originally Vintage, $19) and

The New Vegetarian Epicure (Knopf, $20) by Anna Thomas

 

This is another set of classics. The attitude throughout

the Epicure series is one of celebrating life around the

communal table. The neighborly, often humorous tone and

anecdotes make this comfort reading. Thomas' recipe for

cream scones is one of the best American versions of the

British classic (they should always be eaten fresh-hot from

the oven) that I've come across, and has graced many a

rainy afternoon at our house, accompanied by a brown betty

pot of steaming tea. Her entries on (and recipes for)

turkey-less traditional holidays are timeless: Serve

stunning combos of local produce in several relaxed-paced

courses.