Posted Nov 19, 2012
Now, this time between seasons, is when garden plots everywhere are brimming over with bounty — and choices. Use this golden moment to experiment with all that growing greenery. Don’t relegate vegetables to side dishes, let ’em be the stars of dinner.
There’s plenty of inspiration out there that you can reap for your own dietary advantage, however you define it. Cooks, chefs and cookbook authors are expanding the boundaries of what it means to enjoy a vegetable-centric diet. At one end, it might be all about going vegan — no animal products at all, including honey or dairy. At the other, it might be cooking just one dinner a week where meat or fish or poultry isn’t the star protein.
This reality is noted in a new cookbook, “The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods” (Ten Speed, $25).
“I eat a vegetarian diet with a few sustainable seafood options on occasion — my husband eats everything and I plan to let my kids make their own decision,” writes the author, Sara Forte. “I don’t draw a hard line and suggest that the choices I make are right ones for everyone, but I do believe that you are responsible for making wise choices in the proteins you choose to eat.”
Lisa Ekus, who represents many food writers and authors at her eponymous agency in Hatfield, Mass., is seeing more “vegetable-driven” cookbooks, with emphasis on the veggies even if some of the recipes contain meat as well.
People are willing to try new ingredients, she says, and meat or fish doesn’t have to be the protein on the plate. A number of those who do cook and eat meat have a family member who is vegetarian, she adds. Unwilling or unable to cook two meals at a time, these cooks are “eating less meat and looking to do more than a simple nod to vegetarians,” she says.
That range of choices is highlighted on the cover of the new cookbook “Grain Mains: 101 Surprising and Satisfying Whole Grain Recipes for Every Meal of the Day” (Rodale, $24.95), from Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. There, above the title, are the words: “Meat friendly. Vegan. Vegetarian.”
“Some people are so excited to see the vegan recipes in there,” says Weinstein, “while all of my meat-loving friends and family are saying, ‘Thank God, you didn’t do a vegan book.’ … We wanted to make sure we have offerings for everybody.”
The pair, Weinstein says, wanted to “highlight the deliciousness” of whole grains in a variety of dishes. The book focuses on adding “real” foods like whole grains to one’s diet rather than cutting foods out.
“I hope we’re evolving out of that Puritan mind set of don’t eat this and don’t eat that,” he says. “We should eat everything, we are designed to eat everything.”
Moroccan stuffed squash
Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 40 minutes Servings: 4 servings
Note: This recipe is adapted for vegans from Sara Forte’s “The Sprouted Kitchen.” It can be embellished following the variations below for nonvegans or carnivores.
Ingredients:
2 medium acorn squash
3 tablespoons coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup quinoa
1 can (13.5 ounces) light coconut milk
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon each: ground coriander, ground cumin
1/4 cup thinly sliced preserved lemon peel or 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives, plus more for garnish
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Rub 1 tablespoon coconut oil on the cut sides; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Place the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Pierce the skin a few times with a fork. Roast in the oven, 20 minutes. Flip squash over; cook until you can easily poke a knife through the flesh at its thickest part, 10-20 minutes depending on size. Remove from oven; let cool.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa; drain. Heat the coconut milk to a gentle boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add the quinoa; turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Cook until the liquid is absorbed, 15-18 minutes; turn off the heat. Let the quinoa steam in the saucepan, 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons coconut oil, the paprika, coriander and cumin to the quinoa; toss to combine. Add the preserved lemon peel, mint, cilantro, orange juice, pomegranate seeds and olives; toss together.
3. Divide mixture among the squash cavities. Garnish with chopped olives. Serve.
Nutrition information: Per serving: 400 calories, 18 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 57 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 516 mg sodium, 8 g fiber.
Variations –cheese: Replace the chopped olives with 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese.
–shrimp: Grill or saute 1 pound shrimp. Roughly chop shrimp; add to the quinoa mixture.
wdaley@tribune.com
©2012 the Chicago Tribune
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