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People's Grocery.On Ruminations on food, class, and Carlo Petrini posted 2 years, 5 months ago 17 Responses

My Vegan Cooking System

With so many great recipes in the various books, online, and from other people here, rather than add to that pile, I'm just going to add to methods and techniques--formulas that make vegan cooking really fast and simple, so you won't even need to be looking at recipes. For me, everyday cooking happens without cookbooks, and depends more on knowing what to do with what you've got, rather than going step by step through a recipe - cooking from a book is a great learning experience, and it brings you outside of your everyday patterns, but it also slows you down. So for those days when you don't have time for all of that, here is the vegan default, quick and totally home cooked meal...

Menu:

Braised Tofu
Leafy Green
Rice (or quinoa, or potatoes, or some other starch--I'm assuming you already know how to make that)
Salad
(I'll leave dessert up to you)

Once you're used to the system, you can whip out this meal in half an hour - it's true: you put on the rice first, and by the time it's done, so is everything else!

Braised Tofu

Get yourself a block of tofu (firm or firm +; you can keep some in the freezer if you like; that gives it a chewy texture)

Cut it into slabs 1/4 to 1/2 in thick.

Put a thin layer of oil in a frying pan, med heat

Lightly brown the tofu slabs on both sides

Add the sauce* and turn up the heat. Braise until the sauce is the consistency you like (from wet to shiny glazing - your call)

*Sauce? Yes... what you put in the sauce is up to you--you can even use a ready-made TJ's sauce, but it's really easy to make one yourself:

something wet + something salty + something sweet + something savory = sauce

The sky is really the limit on what these ingredients can be. Just mix and match; here are some examples:

Wet = water, wine, broth, beer, etc

Salty = salt, soy sauce, miso, veg bullion cube, etc

Sweet = brown sugar, aloe syrup, honey if you're into it, maple syrup, rice syrup, etc

Savory = thyme, sun dried tomatoes, oregano, pepper, basil, garlic, cumin, mustard, citrus peel, etc

Just combine one from each category to make a little more than a half-cup of liquid per tofu block.

Leafy Greens 1 - Steamed

Insanely easy: Get leafy greens, cut them up, put them in a steamer, steam them, eat them.

This works with any leafy green: kale, collards, spinach, chard, dandelion greens, mustard greens, turnip greens...

Cooking times vary; just open the steamer, pull out a piece, taste it, and if you like it, it's done.

If you want to gussy them up a bit, you can toss the steamed greens with a simple dressing of olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt (or any other simple dressing for that matter)

Leafy Greens 2 - Braised

Get leafy greens, cut them up, put them in a hot pan with a little oil and a little garlic, stir till they wilt, add a little liquid (see above) and cover and turn down heat to simmer. When you feel like they're about done, remove cover, turn up the heat to drive off excess liquid, and you're good to go. You can add lemon juice and garlic and other savory things at any point during this process (different flavors depending on when you do it, so experiment)

Salad

Don't overlook salad! It doesn't have to be just boring greens and ranch dressing from a bottle: you can easily elevate it to where it belongs - an integral part of the meal, crammed with fresh, raw veggies.

So here's my salad formula:

Salad = Leafy Base + veggies + fruit + pickled item + fat item + dressing

Every one of these things, including the Leafy Base, is optional. You just mix and match according to what you like. Here are some examples:

Leafy Base = lettuce, bagged or bulk salad mix, spinach, arugula, amaranth leaves, pea shoots, etc

Veggies = broccoli or cauliflower florets (raw or steamed and cooled), carrots, boiled potatoes, bean sprouts, etc

Fruit = pomegranate, apples, raisins, grapes, tomatoes, bell peppers, oranges, grapefruit, dried cranberries, currants, etc

Pickled item = pickled beets, hearts of palm (sustainably harvested, please), olives, seaweed, etc

Fat item = avocado, nuts (roasted or raw), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, croutons, etc

Across those categories, try and mix up the consistencies - crunchy, creamy, crisp, etc

Also, for an added touch, think about how the different colors go together.

For the dressing, use a readymade, or follow this simple rule:

Dressing = fat + acid + flavoring + optional creaminess agent

Fat = oil (any kind, but the quality makes the dressing, especially if it's a simple one: fancy olive oil here really pays off)

Acid = vinegar (any kind), lemon juice, lime juice, etc

Flavoring = salt, pepper, crushed garlic, thyme, lemon peel, mustard, wasabi, umeboshi paste, curry powder - go wild!

Optional creaminess agent = vegan mayo (Wildwood is best), tahini, almond butter, nutritional yeast, mashed avocado, etc

Get an old jar, put in one of each of these things (start with 2:1 fat to acid ratio and adjust from there; use less oil if your using an optional creaminess agent), shake it up, and you're enjoying salad!

Tools that really, really help (not necessarily with these recipes; more in general):

Salad Spinner - not just a yuppie indulgence anymore! Get the kind that seals so you can store it full in the fridge. That way, you can cut up and wash a couple of heads of lettuce and then for several days a salad is just a matter of grabbing a few handfuls of leaves.

Pressure Cooker - I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record (remember records?) about this, but these things are like magic: check out these cooking times for beans: http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtobeantypes.html

Hand Blender - the kind you can just stick into a cooking pot; it opens a whole new world of soups and sauces

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

Ecstatic!

Thank you CostCo for doing what I was unable to do!

I'm going to put together my top ten fave easy vegan recipes and send them to you...

... stay tuned!

And enjoy every bite! (even and especially the gristly ones at your mom's place...)

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

Pressure Cooker!

Not long ago, our household acquired one of these Pressure Cookers:

http://www.fagoramerica.com/fagor/express.htm

And our diet has been transformed. Imagine going from dry beans to hearty, delicious chili in little more than half an hour. Or raw potatoes and leeks to warming soup in under fifteen minutes. It's just amazing; an actual magic wand.

Everyone should have one in their kitchen, for both the time and energy savings. I wish someone had turned me on to pressure cookers decades ago!

Though it's an initial cash outlay, it makes it incredibly easy to eat things that cost very little, like dry beans. And you use WAY less engergy to do it.

I haven't figured out wha the payback is, but the difference is so dramatic is has to be pretty quick.

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

On Eating Food: Get a Pressure Cooker

Tom:

Yes, it's true; it's all-too-easy for a veg diet to be a diet of over-processed industrial aliments.

Not long ago, our household acquired one of these:

http://www.fagoramerica.com/fagor/express.htm

And our diet has been transformed. Imagine going from dry beans to hearty, delicious chili in little more than half an hour. Or raw potatoes and leeks to warming soup in under fifteen minutes. It's just amazing; an actual magic wand.

Everyone should have one in their kitchen, for both the time and energy savings. I wish someone had turned me on to pressure cookers decades ago!

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

earth balance

i get the kind in the red tub

(no idea how that turned into an ellipsis when i posted...)

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

Heritage, Driving, Helping David

Tom:

There is plenty of human cultural heritage we've thankfully put behind us, starting with ritual cannibalism and slavery, extending through absolute monarchy and total subjugation of women, and into many, many things we're still working on, like racism, homophobia, and abusive levels of economic inequality.

All of those things were (and some still are) "robust living traditions." But we have transformed them as we have progressed. So now it's possible to, for example, admire the Taj Mahal without longing for the political and cultural systems that brought it about.

Is vegan pho still pho? It's different, that's for sure, but I submit that it is still a way to connect with the good parts of human cultural heritage contained within that steamy bowl while moving on from the bad parts.

Mihan:

It's not an either/or thing... it's a process and we're all working towards making the world better in whatever ways we can. I've been fortunate that I've been able to give up both meat and car ownership. Neither was "easy" but both have been rewarding.

David:

Forgive my enthusiasm. I forgot to ask: how can I help?

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

Magic Wand

Indeed, there are no wands to be waved, and it's critical to take practical steps right now rather than wait around for a sudden magical transformation, but it's also important to have a vision to work towards -- something that informs the day-to-day practical steps.

It's like compact flourescents... by themselves they're not going to address the massive structural energy problems our civilization faces, but right now they are a practical step that everyone can take. They are meaningful. But they're not the end of the path; just the first step.

So you work on getting everyone to eat a little less meat; I'll keep pointing out where I think we need to head (while also trying to get people to take that first step and eat a little less meat -- you can do it dave!) and together we're part of a broad front for positive change on our planet!

What fun!

(and thanks also Tom, for the Ethicurian plug; I hadn't seen it before and now I'm trapped there, chewing the right thing...)

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

Why do you eat meat?

Thanks once again Tom for your excellent coverage of the eco-food nexus!

I just want to jump in here quickly to add one item to this mix; something for everyone's consideration, that I think is unaccountably absent from the slow/eco - food discussion (as much my fault as anyone's, I guess...)

I became a vegan seven years ago for many of the reasons being articulated here. Basically, I realized that, as an environmentalist, I had a lot of explaining to do if I was going to eat animal products. I looked more closely and concluded that for a person living in an industrial society, eating animals on a regular basis is not supportable. Our diet is the one thing we have the most control over--we raise our food to our mouths with our own hands--and it's easier to have a profound environmental impact by cutting out animal products than it is by any other lifestyle means. For most people, cutting out driving is, as a practical matter, more difficult than cutting out meat, thanks to the physical layout of our built environments. (for now)

I was also looking to avoid the health impacts of a diet overflowing with fat and protein, and low on the good stuff.

So I just tried it. And I felt great.

But then a funny thing happened. I suddenly came to see an even more profound basis for veganism: reducing animal suffering. Freed from my dietary dependence on violence towards innocent animals, I suddenly saw that I had been rationalizing my meat eating for so many years. Even after visiting slaughterhouses and killing animals myself, I had gone on eating meat for years. It was only once I no longer had a psychological need to protect myself from the idea that these are suffering beings, just like me, that I was able to understand that clearly--and to find an even stronger reason for veganism. (And I'm not just talking about industrial agriculture. Something seems wrong with the idea that animals can be "humanely raised" only to be killed.)

Here's something I wrote about my veganism for my column a while back (disguised as a celebrity profile). My current thinking on veganism can be summed up thus:

I have four reasons for doing it:

1 - It is better for my body
2 - It is better for the planet
3 - It is better for other people
4 - It is better for the animals

There are always exceptions one can imagine about one or another of these points, or certain extenuating circumstances, but as a general way of being, I think it demands careful consideration by anyone trying to live a rational, conscious life.

Indeed, I think it demands that the question be turned around; it should not be "why are you vegan?" it should be "why do you eat meat?"

my books: The Coffee Book | Window Seat

You're Right!

Capt Kevin;

Thanks for commenting -- you're right that there are a lot more very, very interesting tourism operations in the Great Bear than I was able to include in the story.

I'm going to follow up on this, because I believe the Great Bear is one of the places where the promise of ecotourism can be fulfilled completely: an unequalled natural area can be protected because of its tourism potential, and the work of conscientous tourism operators can be the key element in making that happen.

As we all know, protection thorugh ecotourism is not a foregone conclusion--some of the original ecotourism destinations were long ago loved to death. But in other cases, there is reason for hope.

What you and others are doing in the Great Bear is a perfect example of that.

GregoryOn In B.C., a landmark rainforest-protection agreement was just the beginning posted 3 years ago 3 Responses

oops

Sorry; the correct link for that Bill Walsh quote is here.

The other one's relevant too, and worth checking out if you want more info.

All About Me.

North Carolina Coffee

North Carolina's coffee scene is a real regional gem; an untold story that gets lost between West Coast java snobbery and Northeast coffee ineptitude. (sorry... with a few notable exceptions, it's true)  

This spring, the Specialty Coffee Association's annual conference was in Charlotte, so I got to check it out for myself. (what, you ask, was I doing at the conference? Plugging my book, The Coffee Book, of course -- and thanks for asking!)

There's a great scene there of small local roasters supplying their communities with really tasty, really conscious, largely Fair Trade and organic beans.

Besides Three Cups, check out Larry's Beans, Counter Culture, and Cafe Campesino, which is part of the same scene but in Georgia.

These guys really mean it--they're like small, sustainable aid organizations really raising awareness (and alertness) in their local communities and changing lives in coffee-producing regions, all without the fuss that gets attached to everything in more manic media markets.

All About Me.