VeggieTalk

I’m a huge advocate of having dinner as a family as many nights as possible. For my family of four it has been relatively easy but for others, I know it is very challenging, with work, sports, and lessons all in conflict with the dinner hour. For people whose lives make it impossible to gather at the table very often, why not try a weekend brunch as an alternative?

I actually don’t remember the time when there wasn’t a weekend brunch ritual, except perhaps for the few years when my sons were very young. When it was just my husband and me, we always made French toast and read the Sunday Times. When the boys reached school aged, we most often made pancakes. A few years ago, we grew weary of pancakes, and I started to make tofu and potato hash browns and Israeli salad, served with toast and juice.

This is a nice combination of hearty and filling / fresh and raw. It’s a little quirky, but it seems to suit everyone. For my hungry teenage boys, it makes a heaping helping suitable for their voracious appetites (these days, my older son is more like a guest at these brunches, now that he’s away at college). I like it better than pancakes, as I’m not crazy about sweet breakfasts and brunches (I think I had more fun making the pancakes than eating them). And my husband likes it because potatoes bring back good childhood memories. And that’s as it should be, since favorite food rituals are often associated with comforting memories from our earlier years.

Unlike dinner, when we chat while we eat, we read the local paper and the New York Times during our Sunday brunch. I’m reasonably sure that this weekly ritual will be one that my sons will remember fondly!

Following this post are the very simple recipes I use for our Sunday brunch. Do you any of you have any weekend breakfast or brunch rituals to share?

Here are the recipes I use for our weekly family Sunday brunch. These are so simple that I don’t really need to follow the recipes when I make them, and after once or twice, you won’t, either! We serve well-toasted whole wheat bread with this meal (you’ve just got to have something to soak up the tasty liquid from the Israeli salad), and some sort of juice as well.

Tofu and Potato Hash Browns

from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook

4 to 6 servings

Have potatoes cooked ahead of time and this easy and tasty dish will have your family eating in short order. Leftovers are wonderful for breakfast. Or, if you make this expressly to serve in the morning, make sure to microwave the potatoes the night before for a head start.

• 4 to 5 medium or 3 large potatoes
• One 16-ounce tub extra-firm tofu
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (see Tip)
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper, minced, optional
• Paprika
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Bake or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done but still firm. When cool enough to handle (ideally at room temperature), peel and cut into small dice, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

Cut the tofu into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Blot well between paper towels or clean tea towels, then cut into approximately 1/4-inch dice.

Heat the oil in a large, wide skillet. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the diced potatoes, tofu, and optional bell pepper. Sauté over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is golden brown all over.

Sprinkle in a small amount of paprika, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Israeli Salad

4 to 6 servings

Use this basic recipe as a guideline; there really are no exact amounts you need to use. The idea behind Israeli salad is that everything is cut very fine, not more than 1/4-inch dice. One of the great features of the salad is the liquid that forms from the olive oil, lemon juice, and tomatoes. A good crusty bread served with this is a must!

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
• 4 medium flavorful ripe tomatoes, finely diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, finely diced
• 4 to 6 radishes, 1 medium peeled turnip, or a small chunk of daikon radish, finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped olives
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, or to taste
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients in a serving container and toss well. If time allows, let the salad stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or so before serving.

Here’s a veg blog that has been around for some time (which is probably why it was able to nab the perfect name, The Veg Blog). I like The Veg Blog as a source for vegetarian and vegan-related news items, particularly ethics; I’ve also enjoyed following the journey of its host, Ryan McMichael, from new vegetarian to committed vegan. Aside from news and ethics, The Veg Blog covers books, recipes he has tried from various sources, and other various fun and fascinating items

I’m glad that there are sites like VegBlog to cover news and ethics; I’ll probably be sticking more with the what to cook and where to eat angle of the veg lifestyle!

This has been a strange winter here in New York’s Hudson Valley—oddly warm. Though I fear it’s another sign of global warming it’s still a nice reprieve from the two last freezing cold, snowy winters. Today it’s pouring rain but balmy; I feel less like making soup than serving salad.

When the weather is cool, I like to make salads of mixed baby greens embellished with winter fruits. Winter tomatoes are better than they once were, and I do use lots of them in salads, but at least once a week I make a green salad with fruits rather than tomatoes. There’s something very uplifting about it, and it’s a nice accompaniment to hearty winter main dishes. Here is a basic recipe; use it as a template. Vary it and embellish as you’d like.

Mixed Greens Salad with Fresh Fruit and Nuts

4 to 6 servings

• 4 to 6 ounces mixed baby greens (mesclun), or more as desired
• Fresh fruit (choose one or two): 1 medium-large crisp apple, diced; 1 large ripe but firm pear, diced; 1 large or 2 medium asian pears; 2 to 3 clementines or other small seedless oranges, peeled and sectioned; or 1 medium ripe mango
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted nuts, such as slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, or chopped cashews
• 1/2 cup peeled and diced white turnip or daikon radish
• 1/2 medium crisp cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries, optional
• Several thinly sliced rings of red onion, optional
• Your favorite dressing (this is nice with a raspberry vinaigtrette) or olive oil with lemon juice, as needed

Combine the ingredients in a serving bowl, toss well, and serve.

Just before dinner, I happened upon an article about how the Bush administration is allowing some super-toxic pesticide to be used through at least 2008, because its manufacturer contributed $420,000 to his campaign. I forgot the name of the pesticide, but it is put into soil for the sole purpose of making veggies look shiny and pretty in stores. It causes convulsions and sometimes comas in workers who come into frequent contact with it. Nice, huh?

So, what does this have to do with Spicy Sesame Broccoli? Not much, just a rant. Still, it’s a good opportunity to remind everyone to use organic produce as much as possible, if not always. Sure, the Bushies have managed to water down organic standards too, but it’s the best we have. And the most any of us can do about situations such as the above, apart from feeling helpless, is to vote with our shopping dollars.

Onto the broccoli—here’s a side dish I made for our dinner tonight, which went with a veggie-filled rice stir-fry and a salad. Salty, sweet, and spicy, this made a perfect foil for the rice dish.

Spicy Sesame Broccoli

Serves 4

• 2 large or 3 medium crowns broccoli
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine or water
• 1 tablespoon natural granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• Red pepper flakes to taste

Cut the broccoli crowns into bite-sized florets.

Gently heat the soy sauce, oil, and wine in a medium skillet. Stir in the sugar. Add the broccoli and stir quickly to coat. Turn the heat up to medium high and cover.

Cook until the broccoli is bright green and just tender-crisp. Uncover and stir-fry until any liquid remaining in the skillet is reduced. Stir in the sesame seeds, season with red pepper flakes, and serve.

… has co-written The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Living (with husband Ray Sammartano). Just released, this easy-to-follow volume covers all the ethical, nutritional, culinary, and lifestyle angles of the vegan way of life. Chef Beverly is a talented cook and baker practicing her culinary arts in Oregon. Visit her web site, The Vegan Chef for lots of great recipes. My sons clamor for her Brownie Bites (cookies). I’ll be doing an in-depth review of this new book in the March issue of the Vegetarian Kitchen newsletter. Please subscribe if you haven’t already!

I’d like to thank Beverly for acknowledging me so generously in her book. It’s such an honor, and a double honor just to be mentioned in the same paragraph as John Robbins.

It has been three years since we adopted our cat, Jasime, from a local shelter. My two sons have always been “cat people,” and for some years worked on us to get a cat. One of our hesitations was thinking that we would have to feed a cat the crap that comes in cans. But what alternative was there, we thought, since cats are natural carnivores? Our clever sons helped overcome this obstacle by finding a source of vegan cat food that is especially formulated to give them all the nutrients they need, such as taurine.

We transitioned Jasmine to Evolution Feline vegan cat food as soon as she joined our family. It was not at all an issue, as she took to the food right away. We order the food in bulk from Vegan Cats.

Of course, one can argue that a vegan diet is not natural for cats. I fully agree. Jasmine, though an indoor cat (we do let her out on our deck daily, with supervision), would be a natural hunter, given her interest in birds. A natural diet for a cat would be rodents and birds. How often to you see canned food that contains mice, shrews, or songbirds? No, cat food is often made of cow, chicken, lamb, and fish. I doubt that in the history of the world, a housecat has ever hunted down and felled a steer, nor have they overcome their natural aversion to water to go fishing.

When we were researching pet food, we read some truly repulsive information. Some sites reveal cruel testing on animals by major pet food manufacturers (see Iams Cruelty); others, some of the disturbing ingredients contained in pet food, including the ground up remains of companion animals from shelters.

Jasmine, I may add, loves to sit with us at the dinner table and wait for scraps to come her way. She goes mad for corn kernels, but also loves green peas, red and black beans, and seitan. As I prepare dinner each night, she positions herself next to my chair, patiently waiting for the rest of the family to join her.

I would venture to say that Jasmine is the Poster Kitty for a vegan diet. She’s gorgeous, with lustrous fur and sparkly eyes. I’m not sure that every cat would take to this way of eating, but we’re happy (and relieved) that ours did!

My favorite place to eat out in the Hudson Valley is Luna 61 in Red Hook. It’s a boring 45 minute drive from our house, so we don’t get up there too often, but my younger son, Evan, was yearning for their Jerk Seitan. So, being out and about yesterday, we paid this little vegetarian cafe our semi-annual visit.

Luna 61 is currently only one of two all-vegetarian eateries in the mid-Hudson Valley, the other being the equally long-standing Rosendale Cafe. Though this region is filled with great places to eat, if one doesn’t mind fairly long drives, my family and I don’t eat out much because:

1. I like to cook at home and
2. there are few places where there are many choices suitable for our vegan needs.

So it’s a rare pleasure to look at a menu with a wealth of choices. Last night I wavered between the Jerk Seitan that my son loves so much and Havana Joe Tofu Rojo. I ended up with the former, and my husband got the latter. The Jerk Seitan was really tender, spicy but not overly so, and mixed with baby spinach. On the plate were quinoa, black beans, and a salad of baby greens, and grated carrot, daikon radish, and red cabbage in a sesame balsamic vinaigrette. The Tofu Rojo was an equally delicious meal (my husband and I switched plates about halfway); two fresh corn tortillas came topped with mild but tasty tofu and were accompanied by fresh salsa, black beans and rice, roasted new potatoes, and the same salad that came with the seitan dish.

The food at Luna 61 is hearty but never heavy, and all the various components of the meal come plated so nicely. The effect is much like a well-thought-out home-made meal that is simple, delicious, and healthy. Some of the other dishes we’ve enjoyed at Luna 61 on past visits were the Cuban Press, a big sandwich consisting of portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, olives, and spinach, served with roasted potatoes; Pad Thai, a tasty take on the classic Asian noodle dish; the Avocado Hummus wrap, and one of my favorites, the Salad Rolls, a delicate rice roll-wrapped appetizer. Luna 61’s menu divides into Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches, Meals, and Kid’s Menu. Most of the selections are vegan, and the rest can be made so by simply omitting cheese. Another great, rare feature is that mainly organic ingredients are used.

Luna 61 is located at 61 East Market Street in Red Hook, NY, phone 845-758-0061. The food rivals some of the best meals I’ve had in renowned NYC vegan restaurants. If you ever find yourself within an hour’s radius of Red Hook, NY, this tiny, homey cafe is well worth a visit.

If you go on a taste-testing tour of NY then reserving some NY airport parking ahead of time can help save money since some discount airport parking services are out there to help lower your New York airport parking prices.

OK, I’ve joined the 21st century. VeggieTalk will present a variety of musings, info, and opinions on all things vegetarian and vegan, from health issues, to travel and restaurants, to what I made for dinner the night before, and more. I welcome your comments and look forward to yet another way to connect with my readers. So without further ado, I’ll begin posting.