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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Book Review: The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.

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The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook, by Neal Barnard, MD
Publisher and publication date: Da Capo Press, 2010
Amazon link: Buy it here

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’ve been cooking at home more over these past six months than I have probably ever. Now, I love cooking, and we’ve always had most of our weeknight meals here at home, but with this little Temporary Worldwide Insanity situation, we’ve been eating at home five nights out of seven – and every breakfast and lunch, to boot. And with more limitations in terms of how often I’ve been getting to the grocery store, I’ve needed some simple, healthy meals that fill us up without adding to our Quarantine 15.

Enter Dr. Neal Barnard’s “The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.” I’ve loved Dr. Barnard forever, from the days when I’d read his magazine columns in “Vegetarian Times” all the way through my several stints with the PCRM 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, so I knew I was in good hands when I came across this cookbook at the library earlier this year. I checked it out, brought it into the kitchen and got to work – and, because our libraries are still closed, I’ve kept it with me for lo these many months! It’s become a constant companion.

What I love most about Barnard’s book is the ease of use of his recipes. Now, I do love rolling up my sleeves in the kitchen and getting down and dirty with a labor-intensive recipe, but in these past few months, what I’ve really needed is a nighttime meal that doesn’t give me any sass. I’ve needed no-muss, no-fuss recipes that don’t require a ton of prep work or a plethora of pots and pans. And good old Dr. Barnard, God bless him, has come through for me.

One of my favorite recipes from the book is Ginger Tofu, a deceptively simple meal that spices extra-firm tofu up in a pan with broth, hoisin sauce, sherry, crushed red pepper, ginger (of course), and more. Paired with brown rice and some steamed broccoli, it’s an amazing meal that comes together in truly 15 minutes (not counting the rice cook time!). And it tastes like it’s been simmering all day. It didn’t take but a minute for Ginger Tofu to enter our regular recipe rotation!

Or for something a little spicier, try the Three-Layer Tortilla Casserole. Now, full disclosure: I did not expect to enjoy this recipe. Oh, sure, I thought it sounded intriguing when I first selected it and bought the ingredients, but by the time it came up on my menu plan, the thrill was gone. Suddenly it just looked so plain. So bland. So … boring. How wrong I was, friends! How wrong indeed. This tortilla casserole is teeming with flavor and pizzazz! I don’t mind telling you that the first time I made it, LeeLee was out of town (clearly, this was in the Before Times), and I ate on that casserole for the whole workweek – and looked forward to every serving. That is the hallmark of an excellent recipe indeed around here.

Barnard also has recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks and entertaining, and they run the gamut in variety. But one thing ties them all together – they’re tried and true, road-tested recipes that will keep your nutrition on the straight and narrow without sacrificing taste. Who can ask for more than that?

:)

Book Review: The Chinese Takeout Cookbook.

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The Chinese Takeout Cookbook, by Diana Kuan
Publisher and publication date: Ballantine Books, 2012
Amazon link: Buy it here

I am an avid collector – and all-around reader – of cookbooks. Vegetarian, vegan, homestyle, Ladies’ Auxuliary, salad, dessert, nondairy cheese-making, bread-baking … you name it, I love it. And though LeeLee and I have been vegetarian for going on 20 years now (!), I don’t eschew the meat-based books either. I just modify them, veg-i-fying the dishes as I go, as I’ve done for years. (As an aside, one of my cardinal beliefs in the kitchen is that if you’re having trouble making a meat-based dish vegetarian, you’re just not being creative enough.)

I’ve been in love with Diana Kuan’s “The Chinese Takeout Cookbook” for a long, long time. I stumbled across it at our local branch of the Alexandria Public Library years ago, checked it out at once, and to be perfectly honest, that same sweet copy has been at my home more often than it’s on the library shelves. LeeLee says I should just buy my own for home, buy at this point this book, this particular copy, is a dear friend of mine, and I would hate to say goodbye to it for a new one. 

So the photos you see here of the book are, indeed, the public library’s edition. As I type it sits here by my side, an amiable companion from week to week. With our current quarantine situation, the library is shuttered for the foreseeable future, so its stay in my home is even longer than usual. I think we’re both enjoying the journey.

What appealed to me first and foremost about this book is its promise to bring Chinese takeout cooking to your home for less time and less expense (and, honestly, less hassle) than ordering takeaway from someplace. As someone who has always adored the topic of Chinese takeout cuisine, this is a high bar indeed. But Kuan delivers; I’ve yet to make a recipe from her collection that hasn’t turned out great, a far better testament to her instructions than to my cooking. 

Take, for instance, her Dan Dan Noodles recipe. Oh man. I can’t think of greater comfort in a bowl, and it comes together in a snap. The sultry spice of the chili oil and Sichuan pepper (Kuan blessedly allows red pepper flakes to stand in for the latter if you get in a bind) infuse beautifully with the Chinese noodles, and the saucy ground veggie-beef that tops the dish brings an earthiness to everything that bursts with flavor. And – this may be the best part for me – it doesn’t take all day! Just 20 minutes from end to end and you’re on your way to an impressive dinner.

Quick and easy – and wonderfully tasty – are also the watchwords for Kuan’s Moo Goo Gai Pan recipe, which is a frequent attendee at our dinner table. We simply substitute chik’n strips or, more often, seitan for the chicken and go about our merry way with no ill effects whatsoever to the final product. Mushrooms, snow peas, garlic and ginger make the dish sing with a deeply rich umami flavor as well as some high notes, and the seitan pulls everything together into prefect cohesion. And, like the Dan Dan Noodles, the whole thing comes together in less time than it takes the accompanying rice to cook. Amazing. 

And the list goes on. Kung pao chik’n. Mongolian beef. Fried rice. A passel of desserts. Veggies on the side. It’s all here. And it’s all delicious. Make this cookbook your friend in an instant and it is sure to become a bestie in very short order.

:)