Fw: Compassionate Cooks Food for Thought - April 3, 2006

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mmmm felini's..had another happy brunch there this weekend-----Forwarded Message----- "info" Apr 3, 2006 11:02 AM ebbrewpunx Compassionate Cooks Food for Thought - April 3, 2006

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: COMPASSIONATE COOKS NEWSLETTERApril 3, 2006

Fellini Restaurant Celebrates our DVD Sign up for April Cooking ClassNEW: Frequently Asked Questions Food Lore - Avocados Recommended Cookbook: The Enlightened Kitchen This I KnowCompassionate Quote

 

 

 

 

 

FELLINI RESTAURANT CELEBRATES OUR COOKING DVD!Visit Fellini Restaurant in Berkeley on any given day, and you're bound to run into some fellow vegetarians. The owner, Jeff Davis, is committed to serving the vegan community by offering delectable plant-based cuisine at his non-vegetarian Italian restaurant. Pizza with ooey, gooey non-dairy cheese, risotto, pasta dishes, and an array of vegan brunch specialties (Tofu Benedict, Mushroom Hash, French Toast) fill the menu. We appreciate his dedication to serving delicious vegan food as well as his kind words about our DVD:

"With the Vegetarian Cooking DVD, Colleen and Alka put the passion into compassion and helps to usher conscious cooking a few steps further into the mainstream - with humor, humility and a heartfelt dose of humanity." ~Jeff Davis, owner Fellini Restaurant

PURCHASE YOUR COPY TODAY

 

 

 

 

HEALTHFUL MEDITERRANEAN MENU: APRIL 15TH, 2006Join us as prepare dishes from one of our favorite cuisines. We will feature uncomplicated recipes, debunk myths regarding plant-based eating, eat yummy food samples, and have a lot of fun! Join the Compassionate Cooks at our Vegetarian Cooking Class on April 15th (from 10:00 am-1:00 pm) when we demonstrate five delicious, nutritious dishes, including:*Basic Basil Pesto with Polenta Squares *Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spread) *Elegantly Simple Stuffed Bell Peppers *Asparagus Soup with Fresh Herbs *Light Lemon Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Register online

 

 

 

 

NEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS IN AUDIO!Visit our new page of audio FAQs, a unique feature that will continue to expand. You can also to the podcasts and encourage friends to do the same. New recordings will be added each week. This week we added:

*What's wrong with eating eggs since chickens aren't killed in order to get her eggs?*Isn't it better to buy free-range eggs than eggs from battery cage hens?

 

 

 

 

FOOD LORE: AVOCADOS Avocados get a bad rap. Have you ever seen anyone order a hamburger - but ask to "hold the avocado" because of the fat? I'll let you ponder that for a bit. Yes, there's monounsaturated fat, but there's also fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid. Don't fear the avocado! HISTORY: The avocado apparently originated in Central America, where it was cultivated as many as 7,000 years ago. It was grown some 5,000 years ago in Mexico and, but the time of Christopher Columbus, had become a food as far south as Peru, where it is called palta. Legend has it that Hernando Cortes found avocados flourishing around what is now Mexico City in 1519. The English word "avocado" is derived fomr the Aztec ahuacatl, which the Spaniards passed along transliterated as aguacate."CHOOSING & PREPARING: Because they go so quickly through ripeness into over ripeness, you’re better off picking slightly unripe ones and letting them ripen on the counter. Ideal avocados to purchase are dark green and hard, and they become slightly soft to thumb pressure as they ripen. Remove the flesh by cutting the fruit in half lengthwise. The large pit easily comes out by thrusting a sharp knife onto the pit and twisting it. It will come right out.

RECIPE: EASY GUACAMOLE: Mash two ripe avocados in a bowl, and add 1 minced garlic clove, 1 chopped tomato, the juice of 1 fresh lime, and salt to taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED COOKBOOK: THE ENLIGHTENED KITCHEN

I've been saying for years - every since I first discovered Japanese temple cuisine at Cha Ya, a Berkeley restaurant that specializes in this ancient cuisine - that I could eat this way every day. And now I can - at home! I was thrilled to discover this cookbook, The Enlightened Kitchen: Fresh Vegetable Dishes from the Temples of Japan, and even more thrilled to have made a half-dozen dishes from it in the week I've owned it, only to discover that each one is as delicious as the next. Many of the recipes call for only 5-7 ingredients, some of which may be unfamiliar at first - until your trip to the Asian grocery. If you don't have a Cha Ya near you - and even if you do! - I highly recommend this gem of a cookbook. Purchase it using the above link or by clicking on the graphic to the right, and a portion of your purchase goes to Compassionate Cooks.

 

 

 

 

THIS I KNOWI recently received a very interesting comment from someone who attended one of my cooking classes. Her criticism, that I should "tone down my 'creature compassion' during a class that is supposed to be about cooking," struck me as very ironic. I thought, didn't she know she was coming to a class taught by Compassionate Cooks? I wondered if, in registering for my class online, she had noticed any of the photos of me and the 'creatures.' Or perhaps she didn't read the quote in the signature of my email when I sent her her confirmation that says "Be Kind to Animals. Don't Eat Them."

I don't hide the fact that my work is dedicated to the 45 billion land and sea animals killed annually for human consumption, but I am also aware of the fact that everyone is on a different point on the path when they come to a vegetarian cooking class. In the beginning of each class, I tell my story - about how I grew up eating meat and was misled by my parents and all of society who encouraged me to love certain animals but to not give a hoot about the ones whose bodies they fed me. I talk about the serenity and joy of living in such a way that reflects my values of kindness, compassion, and non-violence and how this issue touches all the other social justice issues we say we care about: human rights, environmental integrity, labor rights, etc.

I wondered what could have triggered such a strong response in this person ( she also called me "militant," an oft-used label meant to undermine the validity of animal rights activism). Could it have been when, in response to a question about B12, I explained that it grows on bacteria and that bacteria is really attracted to "meat" because...bacteria is attracted to rotting corpses? Was it when I talked about the absurdity that humans drink another animal's milk - even though the offspring of that mammal don't drink that animal's milk when they are adults?

Was it the truth of these statements that offended her? If so, I can understand. When doublespeak and newspeak control our perceptions about animals and their purpose on this planet, I can see how a little dash of truth could be offensive. And yet, I wouldn't change a thing about how I conduct my classes.

I have the privilege and the honor of watching countless people awaken to the truths that have so long been kept from us, compromising our health, our spirits, our values. I get to witness this transformation taking place - I can see it on people's faces, I can hear it in their voices. What may have upset this student will touch others. That's just the way it is. I am truly sorry she found my "creature compassion" offensive, but speaking for the voiceless is not something I can apologize for. How could I when they suffer so much injustice and pain? Besides, I'd have to change my name from "Compassionate Cooks" to "Cooks." And that doesn't have quite the same ring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"It's a bad world for animals" ~Rowf, one of the main (canine) characters in Richard Adams' novel The Plague Dogs, about two dogs who escape from a research laboratory.

 

 

Compassionate Cooks is dedicated to empowering people to make informed food choices and to debunking myths about vegetarianism through cooking classes, nutrition courses, farmed animal sanctuary tours, lectures and workshops, cooking DVDs, and our upcoming 30-Day Veg Challenge.

 

 

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