HOW TO BEA E ARIA There's no question that a mainly plant-based diet is better for us and for the planet. But it presents so many herbivore's dilemmas: Am I getting enough protein? Plenty of nutrients? And what do I make for dinner? Here are the strategies, recipes, and cookbooks that will help you eat right.
TEXT BY JENNY ROSENSTRACH RECIPES BY SARAH CAREY PHOTOGRAPHS BY RAYMOND HOM
WHOLELIVING.COM / 103 About 15 years ago, I was chatting with two women at a cock all party when one of them noted she was a vegetarian. Other than feeling a flash of pity-poor thing can't eat a steak-
I didn't think much about it until she wandered the health benefits, too, of course. People who con away to get a Pinot refill. At that point, the other sume a plant-based diet weigh less, have lower woman whispered, "Well, that's a pretty good sign incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and many can that she's not a lot of fun!" We snickered and shoved cers, and on average live longer than meat eaters. THE PRICE a few more pigs in blankets down the hatch. So why aren't we all vegetarians? Why can't [ OF MEAT I've thought about this conversation a lot in the enlightened Me, post-Pollan, post-Schlosser, post-I COW xpel past few years. When I replay it and think of my know-the-provenance-of-the-food-on-my-plate methane. a glib response, it feels like watching a pregnant Betty Me-become a vegetarian? greenhouse Draper in Mad Men throwing back a martini: How Anthony Bourdain, meat's most vocal cheerleader, gas that.s could she not know? How could I have dismissed this will tell you the answer is "bacon;' as he did on woman when it was likely that some major soul Larry King Live last fall. But our attachment goes searching had gone into her decision to stop eating beyond sheer pleasure. Tara Austen Weaver (who 23 meat? How could I not have known? was raised a vegetarian, developed thyroid issues, Maybe it was because that cocktail party was and was advised to eat meat by an acupuncturist tlmesmor about eight years before Eric Schlosser's book Fast a journey she chronicles in her new memoir The potent hanCO:1. Food Nation described the disturbing conditions Butcher & the Vegetarian) claims there's no other of the slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants feed food with which Americans are so emotionally con ing the country's fast-food system. And before nected. "People give up things all the time," she Michael Pollan asked us in The Omnivore's Dilemma says. "Look at how many people are on gluten-free to question everything on our plates and how it diets right now-but it's not this personal affront. got there. It was way before investment bankers were What is this love affair with meat?" OF U.S. leaving Wall Street to start organic chicken farms For me, the love affair was this: Growing up, I sat SOY and before new dad and literary darling Jonathan down at 7p.m. every Single night to a meat-veg BEANS AND 46 Safran Foer proclaimed Ln his 2009 vegetarian starch dinner. To give up one third of that equation PERCENT manifesto, Eating Animals, "We are equally respon would feel like giving up one third of my family OF U.S. sible for what we don't do. In the case of animal history. But it goes beyond that. [ love to cook. As [ CORN slaughter, to throw your hands in the air is to wrap write, the smell of a roasting chicken permeates FEED FARM your fingers around a knife handle." my house; in my freezer, I have about eight pounds ANIMALS. of organic pork products. For me it came down to: THAT'S THF MEAT OF OU PROBLEM Meat Eating =Fun, therefore Vegetarian =Boring. ALOT Today, anyone interested in food or the environ But last year [ was forced to rethink that formula. OF LAND. ment (or anyone who reads the newspaper) knows Not only was the chorus of pro-vegetarian heavy how hard it is to ignore the evidence mounting hitters getting too loud to ignore, but my husband against factory-farmed meat, which, according to was diagnosed with high cholesterol as well. So I GOING an analysis of USDA and EPA data by the advo started down the path toward significantly reduc VEGAN cacy group Farm Forward, is 99 percent of the beef, ing our family's meat consumption-and I found pork, and poultry sold in this country. Raising it led to some surprising places. SAVES livestock for food is one of the largest contributors to global warming, accounting for 20 percent of A TRIP ROUND T E WORLD man-made greenhouse gases emitted each year. On a bleak, leafless day in December, [ was in The Meatless Monday movement, an initiative in my neighbor'S kitchen sampling Sichuan pepper association with the Bloomberg Johns Hopkins corns that he had briefly pan roasted and then School of Public Health, states that if all Americans smashed into a paste with his mortar and pestle. 1V2 skipped their daily eight ounces of meat one day He hadn't eaten meat in 15 years; plus his teenage ton 0 C02eq. comparod per week, we could save more emissions over the son was a newly converted vegan. He had been en to the ave rag course of a year than if we gave up traveling by thUSiastically exploring the spices and flavors of Am rlcan dl t. cars, trains, planes, and ships combined. There are Asian cuisines, which, he explained, are traditionally
WHOLELIVING.COM / 105 vegetable-based. The peppercorns were a revelation-smoky and rich, VEGAN TILL DINNER spicy but in a beautiful, lingering way. He pulled out Fuchsia Dunlop's Food journalist and New Sichuan cookbook The Land of Plenty and began pointing out his favor York Times columnist ite recipes. Next to that cookbook was David Thompson's 688-page Mark Bittman is a "Iess Thai Food, which had worked my neighbor into a frenzy of dog-earring. meatatarian" Before Try this relish. Read this recipe. Go to this town for this sauce. 6 p.m., he eats only There was clearly no lack of fun in his kitchen. fruits, vegetables, whole He sent me home with a stack of Southeast Asian cookbooks and grains, and legumes; directions to a nearby Asian superstore. I'd probably driven past it after six. he has what 800 times in the six years I'd been living in the neighborhood but had ever he pI ases never once noticed it. Some of my new recipes called for ingredients 16 B+5: What prompted you to that sounded like what you'd find at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and TIMES change your diet? Wizardry-pumpkin tendrils and bird's-eye peppers-but all of them MB: I noticed that the quality more fossil were available right here. I left with tamarind water, a peppery hot of the food most people were fuels are sauce called mala, and a can of mandarin juice. At home I stared at my eating was getting worse, bounty, and the ensuing endorphin rush ignited a cooking frenzy. animals were being treated needed Later that week I had a bag of gram flour procured from the local worse, the environment was to create Indian market (3.2 miles away) for a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's suffering, and people-myself one steak included-were getting fatter World Vegetarian: chickpea flour "French fries" served with a fresh than to tomato sauce. The next week I was introducing my kids to Korean and less healthy. My goal was pa jun (scallion pancakes). How fun was this? to encourage people to eat produce a more consciously overall. plate of REIMAGINING DINNER (A D LUNCH. AND BREAKFAST ..) B+5: When did you notice broccoli, The more I talked to chefs, cookbook authors, lifelong vegetarians, reSU lts? eggplant, "Hexitarians," and hard-core vegans, the more I learned how, for almost MB: After a few months, my all of them, refusing meat was never a limiting proposition. If you cholesterol went down, and I cauliflower, approach it the right way, everyone kept saying, it's the opposite; it can lost about 35 pounds. and rice. be a world-expanding adventure. Kim O'Donnel, the former "A Mighty 8+S: Whet do you eat? Appetite" online columnist for The Washington Post, who took a Meatless MB: Today I had cooked multi Monday pledge with her readers, says this attitude can be a smarter grain cereal with maple syrup way in than the save-the-planet angle. "You don't have to label yourself for breakfast, and I'm going 0/0 to a vegetarian restaurant for something different," she says. "This is not a sacrifice-it's a celebra OFTHE lunch. If I were home, I'd tion. My incremental approach is more about diversifying diet than it WORLD'S probably eat rice and beans is pushing anyone toward an ism." or a stir-fry over some grain. assessed Il5hery While I'm not yet a wholesale vegetarian, this revelation has thrown stocks are my dinner strategizing into a tailspin. My process used to go some B+5: Has eating less meat "overexploited thing like this: I have some pork chops. What farmer's-market bounty changed the way you cook? or depleted" might I surround them with? Did I have it all back-ovard? Does every MB: I like tofu more. But I still according to a one of us majorly carnivorous Americans have it backward? Shouldn't don't like tempeh (and I'm not 2008 estimate sure anyone else does either). it instead be: I have kabocha squash. What meat should I have as a from the Food and Agriculture side dish? Or: I have this huge bag of masoor da!. Maybe tonight's the B+5: The diet must be cheaper. Organization. night I debut a curried red lentil soup with yogurt. MB: It's absolutely cheaper. I have also taken the Meatless Monday pledge, which I've noticed Forty dollars' worth of grains has rather insidiously begun to morph into Meatless Morning and and vegetables is a ton of Meatless Afternoon pledges. How far willi take it? I can't say for sure, food. Forty dollars for fish and meat and cheese won't go but at this point, I'd be crazy not to keep my options open. + nearly as far. -SARAH KARNASIEWICZ
'" I B+S ONLINE To swap recipes and ~ ideas wilh other veggie- minded folks, visil wholeliving.com/veggie-Iovers
108 / WHOLELIVING.COM Vegging Out: A Strategy Guide Recalibrate psychologically. It's not about denial-it's about bounty and adventure. Seek out ethnic grocery stores: Their aisles are filled with inspiration. (Can you say Chinese Forbidden Rice?) Pick up vegetables you've never tried before: ivory eggplants, Tuscan kale, Jerusalem artichokes. ABOUT Don't do anything radical. "You can't just say, 'I'm not Meatless Proteins going to eat meat anymore,''' says author Kim O'Donnel, 98 who embraced the Meatless Monday pledge. "Institute "People dor1't know you can get change in baby steps." Her book all your protein from a good POUNDS Licking Your Chops, OF BEEF, coming out later this year, will offer 52 meat-free menus. mixture of reasonably in tact Build your meals around a vegetable or flavorful ingre grains, legumes, f ruits, and 67 dient like ginger or coconut milk instead of a piece ve getabl es, " says T. Colin of meat. In most cuisines, meat is served as a side dish. POUNDS Campbell , profes or emeritus OFPORK, The vegetables and grains get equal real estate. of nutritional biochemistry AND Eat out at ethnic restaurants (Mexican, Thai, Chinese, at CO I'nell University. We 18 Indian) where vegetarian dishes are standard. At American qUl r" abo ut half a gram 102 restaurants, vegetarian dishes can often feel more like of protein fo r each pound something "done special: says Tal Ronnen, author of POUNDS of body weight. -- J. R. OF CHICKEN The Conscious Cook, "like a bunch of side dishes thrown ARE together, which means you leave feeling unsatisfied." FOR VEGETARIANS WHO EAT PRODUCED Consider transitioning with meat substitutes. Look for EGGS AND DAIRY FOR EACH products made without additives, like Gardein. Ronnen, (lacto-ovo vegetarians) AMERICAN who worked on the development of Gardein products, ------=------ 1 percent milk (1 c.) . __ .8 9 ANNUALLY. says, "You're more likely to succeed with your family if Yogurt (6 oz.) .. __ 6g R E ~ O TED you replicate their favorite chicken pot pie instead of just BY KArHARINE springing a quinoa pilaf on them out of the blue." Large boiled egg. ____ . 7.5 9 MIE 6 Z KOW SKI Don't call yourself a vegetarian. Cornell nutritionist Cheddar cheese (1 oz.) __ . _____ .. 7 9 T. Colin Campbell says, "That term is so loaded," and it can sometimes set you back. (He prefers calling it "a FOR STRICT VEGETARIANS WHO plant-based, whole foods" diet.) Ideologically, you take EAT NO ANIMAL BYPRODUCTS some of the pressure off by ignoring the politics and (vegans) just concentrating on the extraordinary health benefits. Lentils (1 c. cooked) __ __ . ______18 9 Make sure your meals have a stick-to-your-ribs Black beans (1 c. cooked) .. 15 9 quality. As author Tara Weaver says, "Make hearty food , Veg9ie burger ______. about 13 9 using beans and grains and other ingredients that will stay with you, especially in winter. Don't subsist Chickpeas (1 c. cooked) ...... 12 9 on lettuce and carrot sticks." Quinoa (1 c. cooked)...... 8 9 Use strong flavors. Says Weaver: "You never want to Peanut butter (2 Tbsp.) . . 8 9 feel your dinner is a paler version of what it once was." Almonds (1 oz.) ______. 6 9 She recommends experimenting with flavors that rep Soy milk (1 c.) ______8 9 licate meat sensations. "So many people don't know Bulgur (1 c. cooked) 5.5 9 about smoked paprika!" she says. "It's not super spicy Wheat bread (2 slices) . .7g and has this wonderful smoky flavor that people who Cooked spinach (1 c.) _. __ __ 59 like ham and bacon are used to." And caramelized onions, she says, "are the bacon of the vegetarian world," Cooked broccoli (1 c.) .4g adding a viscosity and a "sort of greasiness" that meat Tempeh (4 oz.) 41 9 eaters can sometimes miss when they switch. -J.R. Seitan (3 oz.) ______. 31 9
The Vegetarian Bookshelf
+ Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone + Vegan Soul Kitchen + Licking Your Chops by Deborah Madison by Bryant Terry by Kim O'Donnel + How to Cook Everything + The Enchanted Broccoli Forest + Hot Sour Salty Sweet Vegetarian by Mark Bittman by Mollie Katzen by Jeffrey Alford and + World Vegetarian + The Conscious Cook Naomi Duguid by Madhur Jaffrey by Tal Ronnen + Chez Panisse Vegetables + Super Natural Cooking + Moosewood Cookbook by Alice Waters by Heidi Swanson by Mollie Katzen
110 / WHOLELIVING.COM Veggle Love-Hearty Satisfying Recipes
TOMATO SOUP WITH Roast for 10 minutes. Toss in the scallions 1 Soak leeks in cold water 5 minutes; lift POACHED EGGS and roast for 15 minutes more. Push out and drain. Repeat until no grit remains SERVES 4 mushrooms and scalli ons to one side and on bottom of bowl. Set aside. 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more place spi nach on empty side, roast until 1 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium for toast and drizzling wi lted, about 3 min utes. Let cool briefly, high heat. Add leeks and salt and sa ute 3 to 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, plus then sq ueeze spinach dry. until leeks are te nde r, about 2 mi nutes. Stir one clove for toast J Brush an 11 -by-7 -inch rectangular tart In asparagus, then wate r. Simmer covered Pinch of hot red pepper flakes pan with a removable bottom (or a lO-inch for 2 minutes. Add snap peas and rad ishes, 1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely rou nd pan) lightly with some of the remain cover, and simmer for 2 minutes more. chopped, with juice ing oil. Working with one piece of phyllo at l Stir in mustard until well combined, then 3 c. water a time an d keeping the rest covered with swi rl in butter and herbs. Serve immediately. 1'12 tsp. kosher salt plastic wrap , brush a sheet of the pastry very lightly with olive oi l. Fit into tart pan, '/. tsp. freshly ground black pepper SPICY CAULIFLOWER leaving a one-inch overhang. Brush a sec 4 large eggs SERVES 4 0 ond sheet with oi l and fit into pan. Repeat 3 Tbsp. grapeseed oil 4 slices rustic bread with remaining sheets, creating a crust 3/. tsp. whole cumin seeds Shredded basil, for garnish (optional) that is at least fi ve layers thi ck over the bottom of the pan. Fold edges at top. 1'12 tsp. whole mustard seeds l In a straight-sided skillet over medium . Crum ple a double layer of alu minum foil 1 large onion, thinly sliced (about 3 c.) heat, cook the oil, sl iced garlic, and pepper into a rectangle the size of the bottom of '/. c. finely shredded peeled ginger flakes until garlic is just beginning to turn the tart and fit into crust to weight down 5 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced golden, about 5 min utes . Add the tomatoes, center. Place on a baking sheet and bake 1'I, tsp. kosher salt water, sa lt, and pepper. until edges are golden and beg in to set, Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat 1 medium head cauliflower, about about 7 mi nu tes. Remove foi l and bake 2 Ibs., cut into large florets to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes. until golden all over, about 3 minutes more. J Crack one egg into a small bowl . Ca refully 3,4 c. water (Remove from oven, leaving baking sheet. lower edge of bowl into simmering liquid, 1 c, cooked chickpeas Tent edges with foi l if bro wning too qui ck.) all owing egg to slip into pot. Repeat with 1-2 small red chiles, thinly sliced, seeds 5 Red uce oven to 375°. In a blender, remai ning eggs. Cover pot and cook un ti l removed for less heat puree the goat cheese, eggs, mi lk, and re whites are cooked through , 3 to 4 minutes. main in g ,/. teaspoon salt until smooth. Add I Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high .. Meanwhile, brush bread with oil and herbs and pul se to combine. Sp read vege heat in a large skillet. Add spices and cook broil un ti l golden; rub with garlic. Pl ace tables over crust and po ur custard ove r top. un ti l fragrant and golden, 30 seconds to one sli ce In each of four shallow bowls; 6. Place tart back on baking sheet In 1 minute. Stir in the onion, 3 tablespoons spri nkle with basil. Spoon so up and poached oven and bake un ti l custard is set, 20 to 23 ginger, 3 tablespoons garl ic, and % tea eggs over toast, drizzle with a li ttle more minu te s. Pull tart from oven and let cool spoon sa lt. Cook until onions are tender oil, and serve immediately. 10 mi nutes on wi re rack. Remove sides and golden at the edges, 4 to 6 min utes . of pan and cool at least 10 mi nu tes more, Remove from pan and set aside. MUSHROOM SPINACH, AND un til ready to serve. If not serving rig ht l Wash and dry pan and return to medium SCALLION TART away, slide off of bottom and onto wire ra ck. high heat. Add 1 tab lespoon oil; heat until SERVES 8 shimmering. Add half the ca uliflower and lib, mushrooms (combination of button SPRING VEGET BLE AGOUT brown on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and shiitake), trimmed and sliced 'I2-inch thick SERVES 4 from pan, and repeat with remaining oi/, cauliflower, ginger, and garli c. 5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil Serve this light ragout over pasta, polenta, Combine batches of cauliflower in pan. or tortellini to make it a main di sh. Sprinkle tsp. kosher salt Add water and remaining sa lt. Bring to a with Parmesa n and drizzle with oil. 12 scallions, ends trimmed and cut into sim me r, cover, and cook un til te nder, 5 to 7 2-inch pieces, washed and shaken dry 3 medium leeks, white and pale green minutes. Stir in chickpeas and chiles; cook 3'/, c. (about 4 oz.) flat-leaf spinach, parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly uncovered un til chickpeas are heated stemmed, washed, and shaken dry sliced into half moons (about 2 c.) throug h and liquid is gone, abou t 3 minutes. 10 sheets phyllo dough, 14 by 9 inches each Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil . Stir in on ions and serve. 6 oz. fresh goat cheese (about 213 c.) tsp. kosher sa It 3 large eggs 12 oz. asparagus, trimmed and cut into '13 c. milk 1-inch pieces (about 2'12 c.) Vegan no animal derivatives 3 Tbsp. chopped mixed fresh herbs, such 1 c. water o Special diet no dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, as dill and cilantro 6 oz. sugar snap peas, cut into 1-inch peanuts, or tree nuts pieces (about 1'12 c,) 1 Preheat oven to 425°. 8 radishes, quartered 2 On a baking sheet, toss mushrooms with tsp. Oijon mustard 2 tablespoons oil and % teaspoon sa lt. Tbsp. unsalted butter Tbsp. minced fresh herbs, such as chives and tarragon
112 / WHOlElIVING.COM SPI CY CAULIFLOWER SHALLOT-MARINATED TOFU WITH MISO DIPPING SAUCe SERVES 3 T04 Sli ce one container extra-firm tofu marinade, and set mar na IOto 'IJ-Inch pieces. Place a double Heat a non tre k pan over me lay r of paper towels on a baking sheet, heat. Add tolu in a si ngle layer an d arr an ge tofu un towels. T p with coo,", until crisp. about 6 mi nu e double layer of pa per towels and a Turn and cook the other side. 3 baking sheet. Weight down with a few utes more. Remove from pan. cans for 20 mlnutes_ Add shallots and remaining man Whisk together 3 Tbsp_lemon nade to the pan. Simmer until shall juice, 1'12 tsp. gra ted lemon zest, are tender, about 6 minutes Spo n 3 Tbsp. orange juice, 3 Tbsp grape over tofu and serve immediately w t seed oil, 3 thinly sliced shallots, mlso dipping sauce. 2Tbsp. finely shredded cilantro, and 1 tsp. Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk tOf.j etlw r '/4 cup orange juice, Transfer tofu to a baking dish, and 1 Tbsp. miso, 2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil, pour marinade over top. Refrigerate 1 tsp. grated ginger, 1 tsp. grated for 1 hour. garlic, 1 tsp rice vinegar, and '/. p. RemDve tof Ll, sc raping off excess kosher salt.
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COLD PEANUT NOODLES SERVES 4 Cook 112 lb. whole-wheat spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water. Whisk together 112 cup natural creamy peanut butter, 2 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce, 1tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1112 tsp. chile garlic paste, 112 tsp. grated ginger, 1 tsp. grated or minced garlic, and V2 tsp. sugar. Thin with IIJ cup water. When noodl!> 'Ire done, drain and rinse under co ld water. Toss sauce with pasta, and thi n wi th more water if needed. Serve topped With a salad 01 sh redded bok choy and carrots dressed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Iit~e toasted sesame oil. Season With salt. FOR MORE RECIPES. SEE PAGES 111-112.
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