A Crash Course in Vegetarian Cooking

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A Crash Course in Vegetarian Cooking

 

Cooking Vegetarian

 

“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.