A Crash Course in Vegetarian Cooking

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A Crash Course in Vegetarian Cooking

 

 

“Hey, I wont say I’m a bad cook, but all the flies chipped in to fix the screen

door.”

(Rodney Dangerfield)

A CRASH COURSE IN VEGETARIAN COOKING

It is only because I get asked for cooking advice so often that I dare to share

my favorite kitchen hints. Remember, you are getting these suggestions from a

guy who, as a college graduate, still thought " allspice " was a mixture of all

the spices together in one convenient jar.

1. If there is one secret of vegetarian cooking, it is salt. Grains and legumes

(peas, beans and lentils) really need it for good taste. Now don't go off

worrying that you are getting too much sodium. Homemade foods have less salt

than most store-bought processed foods, and certainly are less salty than

restaurant or fast foods. Use enough salt to get a good taste, or no one will

want to eat your good food, including you.

If you overdo it: Too much salt can be removed by cooking a halved raw potato

into your mistake and then removing the potato before serving. Adding more

water, or more of all the other ingredients will effectively reduce the salt

concentration, too.

2. Taste your cooking as you go. If you like it, others probably will.

Learning from mistakes is less costly if you own a nice, hungry, tolerant

doggie. Such animals are readily available from your local pound or humane

society. Believe me, anything you were previously thinking of tossing out is

far better than the stuff that goes into most commercial pet foods.

3. Consult easy vegetarian cookbooks. I especially like Deaf Smith Country

Cookbook (M. W. Ford et al, Collier Books, 1973) and Laurel's Kitchen (L.

Robertson et al, Bantam, 1978). Health food stores tend to have a good selection

of cookbooks, and often have free recipes for the asking.

4. If you are not sure whether to put in an ingredient or not: when in doubt,

leave it out. I've made bread with just whole wheat flour, water and salt.

Period. It yields a flatbread or Johnnycake, but it tastes great. I never add

shortening or oil to my raised breads, and you really do not miss it.

5. Over the years, you will save a fortune cooking vegetarian. My family of

four spends only about one third as much on food as any of my neighbors do.

Maybe you didn't get that raise, and we know that taxes never go down. We have

here a way to make money getting healthy. In my 18 year marriage, my son

conservatively estimated that simple eating saved us over $35,000.

6. Start small, but when you get experienced try to cook in quantity. A big pot

of soup will feed you all week. Keep it in smaller, meal- sized containers in

your refrigerator. Open one of those instead of a can of something.

7. Be sure to cook beans and dry legumes thoroughly. They taste dreadful if you

don't. After checking to remove any little stowaway stones, soak your legumes

tonight to reduce cooking time tomorrow. Change the soaking water twice before

cooking to remove dirt or soap residues.

8. If you are not used to baking with whole wheat flour, work it in gradually.

Start with 2/3 white (unbleached) flour and 1/3 whole wheat. Then try half and

half. Over time, you can increase the fraction of whole wheat so subtly that

no one will hardly notice.

9. Baking with 100% whole wheat (or any other whole grain) generally requires

more leavening and more cooking time. Pull up a chair by the oven and check

from time to time.

10. Baking with honey requires less liquid, because honey is one. Honey tastes

sweeter than sugar, so 2/3 to one-half as much honey is enough.

11. To stimulate your cooking, I submit that you should keep LESS food in the

house. The more convenience-crutches we have, the less we work at

self-reliance. Stock up on grains and legumes. Being dry, they keep a long

time in glass jars or plastic bags. With salt, oil, some herbs and spices, and

of course fruits and vegetables, you are 90% set. Butter and yogurt are part

of our menu, but need not be for some. Tofu (bean curd), tempeh, sprouts or

seed for sprouting, honey, molasses and fruit juice fill out our cheap diet. We

are most creative in the kitchen when the pickings are slim.

12. The above statement is more subversive than it looks. Food stamps and other

well-meant programs encourage spending. That may be good for the economy, but

it is not good for the body. My First Law of Nutrition: The best foods in the

supermarket are the cheapest; the worst foods cost the most. Take along a copy

of the Supermarket Handbook (N. and D. Goldbeck, Signet,1976) to help you shop,

and always eat first.

13. Do not fret if you succumb to a " Big Mac " Attack or wolf down the occasional

box of chocolates. To me, it is not a matter of life or death if you have

turkey at the holidays (though it is to the turkey). What matters is not what

you did on any one day but on the other 364. In total, are you doing it right?

Check your debts; check your medicine cabinet; check the bathroom scales: if

they are all going down, you are doing fine.

14. Your spouse or children may not necessarily go for all of this. The rest of

the world should be so lucky, but they are not. You know, the reason the

Chinese eat lots of grains, legumes and vegetables is not because they are

seeking health. It is because they can't afford to eat any other way. Their

lower rates of heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis are a by-product of

frugality.

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. From the books QUACK DOCTOR

and PAPERBACK CLINIC, available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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