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On Food

zuzu

One thing I’ve noticed from being a commenter at Steve Gilliard’s blog for a while, is that the posts that get the most comments are the food posts, followed by the going-off-Cary-Tennis-relationship posts.

I’d like to do more food posts; particularly because I’m now trying to adopt a vegan way-of-eating, using Mediterranean and Indian recipes-that-have-always-been-meatless. I’d love to get links to other peoples’ blogs or their recipes in comments.

So, bring it!

20 thoughts on On Food

  1. i’m not vegan and hardcore, as i adore cheese, but the “kripalu cookbook” is full of delicious, often vegan, recipes.

    and “how it all vegan” is fun, if not as unfailingly delicious. their tofu scramble has become a weekend staple ’round here.

  2. There’s a whole world of food blogs out there, and probably the best resource is Food Porn Watch, which shows you all the updated foodblogs by the hour. My hands-down favorite foodblog is Ideas in Food run by Alex and Aki, a married couple and chef team that creates amazingly creative yet accessible food at a resort that I could never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever afford to stay at. They are able to blow my mind every day.

    And zuzu, thanks for the enthusiasm on this subject. I initially got into blogging via foodblogging, but have been neglecting it since starting my politicsy blog. Now I’m inspired to cook and eat and write more.

  4. I’m pretty sure I could live on a diet of Samosas. Endless, endless somosas. Samosas forever. In fact, when I die, I don’t want a coffin…I want to be buried in a giant samosa. Just stuff me in there with a bunch of potatos and peas and I’ll be happy. Well…I’ll be dead, but, you know…happy.

  7. Hey me too Zuzu! It’s only been a couple of weeks, but so far so good.

    Anyway I would reccomend govegan.net. They have a message board and people share tons of recipes as well as give vegan baking tips.

    And I can’t say enough about “How it all vegan,” “The Garden of Vegan” and “La dolce Vegan.”

    The recipes are, for the most part, quick, cheap and tasty.

    Right now I’m in love with the Aloo Gobi recipe from “La Dolce Vegan.”

  9. Wow, great ideas!

    I’m really liking Donna Klein’s “The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen” because it’s got a lot of variety and no fake meat anywhere.

    I’m having a good time with this, experimenting with ingredients I’ve never used before and figuring out snacking options, such as olives, dips and spreads. I had been in such a rut with my cooking and eating before I started doing this, and now I’m getting excited about it again. Today I’m going out to get a food processor and will make up some sauce and some lasagnas to put in the freezer.

  10. teany, a tea cafe on the Lower East Side, until recently served an abundance of yummy veggie and vegan sandwiches and treats (as well as a huge selection of great teas). The management has since decided to concentrate on the teas and pare down the food menu, but “teany book” has a number of good vegan recipes.

  11. I’ll just mention this because I’ve heard people make this mistake numerous times at Indian restaurants:

    Paneer is real dairy cheese and not tofu, though tofu can make a good replacement for it. Also, most Indian food is cooked with ghee, which is clarified butter. Since I assume you are going to be cooking this at home and not eating out at a restaurant, it might not be a concern. However, I have found cold-pressed Safflower oil to be a pretty good replacement.

    That might be redundant, but I thought I’d mention it just the same.

    I’ll dig up my halavah recipes, I have some pretty good versions I created myself over the years…

  13. Get Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking. No, it’s not vegan, but many recipes are and many can be easily adapted. It’s by Yamuna Devi. Also, she’s been around for ages and also is not specifically vegan, but Madhur Jaffrey has several good vegetarian cookbooks featuring recipes from around the world. I turn back to both of these time and again.

  14. I’m pretty fond of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

    BTW, sundried tomato spread is *awesome*. If you use the kind packed in oil, just toss them in a food processor with some oregano, garlic and a little chili powder for heat. so yummy on pita bread and similar.

  15. Ditto to foresmac’s commentary above. In fact, paneer is generally fried quickly and lightly in ghee before its addition to whatever else is going in the dish. Not vegan friendly at all.

    My fave Indian-inspired dish is also my favorite “what the hell do I make with what’s in the fridge?” dish:

    Sautee onions, garlic, tomatoes either in a skillet (like a real chef!) or in a pot of some sort that will hold the rest of the ingredients (like someone who hates doing dishes!)

    Add broth, salt, and whatever masala spices you like
    Add whatever else (I recommend lentils, carrots, celery, cauliflower, potatoes, chick peas, etc.)

    Cook until done & serve on basmati rice 🙂

    It’s totally not a recipe, but that’s why I love it. It’s different every time, it’s delicious every time.

  16. Bachelor Aloo Mattar:

    1 (15oz) can peas
    1 (15oz) can sliced potatoes
    1 (12-16oz) jar curry sauce

    Open containers. Drain water out of cans. Empty containers into cooking dish. Heat. Serve over rice or couscous.

    Anybody who turned up their nose at the above is welcome to come over and cook for me 😛

  17. I do know that much vegetarian Indian cooking is not vegan — from what I’ve been told, the whole “Hindus worship cows” thing is overblown — it’s just that a cow, alive, provides much more value to a village what with all the cheese and butter, than a cow, slaughtered.

    I just bought one of Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks, and she does recommend substitutes for ghee. So it’s quite possible to do a lot of good stuff from her recipes.

    Oh, Thlayli. Canned potatoes? When fresh ones cost next to nothing, and have a much better texture?

    Also, frozen peas are much better than canned.

  20. gswift: Although a vegan diet lacks one specific B vitamin: B12, there’s no shortage of B12 in supplemented cereal, soy milk, vitamins, etc. Also a little lasts for years, though I’m a better-safe-than-sorry type, and I take a supplement.

    (We won’t talk about all the lovely vitamins and antioxidents that are lacking in a meat-based diet.)

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