VeggieTalk

I get a fair number of books from publishers and authors who send them to me for review in my monthly newsletter. I love food-related books, though these days, it’s difficult for me to make things from other cookbooks while working on one myself. Yes, I am writing a new one, and often, I use you, the readers of this blog, as guinea pigs for new inventions (like the Mediterranean Tofu, previous post). Some of these new experiments may not make it into the book, so please—if a recipe is not credited to one of my books, I’m more than open to critique!

By the close of the weekend, I’m often left with little bits and pieces of leftovers, none of which is enough to go around again. But when combined with other leftovers, they can make a fun meal for which everyone composes their own plate of whatever they want. Her are this week’s leftovers, starting at about 9:00 and going clockwise: vegan macaroni and cheese, chana masala (a simple spiced chickpea, onion, and tomato dish), broccoli, the leftover spicy tofu filling from my younger son’s weekly breakfast burritos; in the center is curried quinoa with peas and dried cranberries; and in front are not big chocolate chip cookies, but “Zesty Black Bean Patties” from one of the new books, The Nut Gourmet by Zel Allen. Even when I’m serving leftovers, I can’t stand not to serve at least one thing I’ve made fresh.

Here are the books I’ve received most recently: Blithe Tomato (by Mike Madison, brother of Deborah Madison) is an account of an organic farmer’s life told in bite-sized essays; The Nut Gourmet, as mentioned above, is a cookbook, and Veggie Revolution by Sally Kneidel, Ph.D. and Sara Kate Kneidel, which looks at the benefits of a veg diet, with a strong environmental angle. I just ran an excerpt from the latter in my June newsletter.

I really like The Nut Gourmet, and it will be especially useful to me this summer, having to get a lot of calories into my two active teens. Nuts are such fantastic, nutrient-dense foods, and I’d like to use them more creatively. So far I’ve made Peanut Butter Carob Pie (though I used the chocolate variation she lists), which was heavenly and completely outrageous (perfect for the boys), and the bean patties, pictured above, which were a nice complement to all the other little dishes. The patties are very easy to make—basically, everything goes into the food processor—and the combination of ground walnuts, pine nuts, and black beans works very well and is surprisingly low in fat, according to the nutrition data. By the way, Zel Allen and her husband Reuben run the Vegetarians in Paradise monthly on-line magazine, where you’ll find lots of fascinating and fun news, and of course, recipes.

As you can see, I’ve put post-its on pages with recipes I’d like to try, like Sunny Carrot Cashew Soup (a completely raw soup that just needs to be blended) and Cheezy Tofu Spread with Pine Nuts. I will likely be running a full review in my newsletter, with a sample recipe, in August.

Another great use for beans is in bean bags, used to make comfortable bean bag furniture of various shapes and sizes. You may find that bean bag chairs make a more interesting conversation piece than if you didn’t use bean bags to replace your chairs.