Hello!
Pull up a spot at the counter and pick up a vegetable or three -- and let's eat!
I wanted a place to put my adventures as a new vegetarian. I've been cooking since I was a teenager, and mixing stuff up since before then, and have come to be a good -- no, an excellent -- cook. And a few months ago, I reached the point where I could not justify eating animals to myself or anyone else, so decided to make a change in my own diet.
What will my family say about this change, I wondered, as I sat in my driveway listening to the story that tipped me all the way away from eating meat. But they turned out to be game, for the most part. Quickly we found a compromise that they liked: We would cook and eat vegetarian at home, and they would buy lunch meats and eat meat when we went out. I thought this would be really hard for our daughter, but she has embraced it.
A funny thing is happening these days too: When I order vegetarian dishes when we're out (acknowledging I live in a ridiculously unrepresentative place in many respects), my food looks so good to my dining mates that they say they wish they'd ordered what I had. I ordered a dish called a "vegetable plate" at Denver's Cherry Creek Grill on Thursday. Some people (my Pop is one) would find that description of an entree spartan and unappealing. When my plate came out from the kitchen, out of the corner of my eye I saw the women having salads next to me marveling out of the corners of their eyes at the colors and textures on my plate (while I was sneaking peeks at the smoky, grilled artichoke on the plate of the woman next to me).
And recently, we brought home some Pho for dinner from Chez Thuy in Boulder. My soup came with tofu chunks, baby corn, shiitakes, bok choy, cooked carrots and broccoli, plus the standard garnishes: fresh onions, lime wedges, basil, and bean sprouts. After we'd eaten all the soup (over the next couple of days), my daughter was more enthused about the tofu and baby corn from my dish than about her own brisket soup and she declared next time she will order the same thing I did. Instead of the pork chop she liked, my daughter most recently ordered a salad I had liked on earlier visits to Under The Sun, a new gastropub here in Boulder (and sister restaurant to the Mountain Sun, the Southern Sun, and the Vine Street Pub in Denver -- and soon a Longmont outpost).
Going vegan is still just an idea I turn over in my mind, but it is becoming more plausible over time. I keep my friend's advice in mind: "It's a process." (Incidentally, said friend was vegan when she gave that advice, but a change in her health for the worse made her feel it was too extreme and she has resumed eating some meats and animal products again.) I'm still on the hunt for something I can substitute for milk and cream in my coffee. It was easier to stop eating meat than it would be to stop drinking coffee, I admit.
I also continue to wrestle with eating fish and shellfish, which are animals too, but I'm not eating much. Mostly I am consuming vegetables and fruits, grains, legumes, and I am still eating some dairy products and eggs, with shellfish or fish added once or twice a week.
Let me know what you like and don't like when you cook vegetables and fruits and other delectables. I'll share good recipes and experiences at local restaurants.
Here's one of the things we're having for dinner tonight:
Chard and Shallots
2 bunches (8-10 large leaves) swiss chard (of any color -- green, red, or rainbow)
1-2 medium shallots, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh-ground black pepper
Rinse the chard and cut the ribs out of the leaves. (You can chop the ribs and put them in the freezer for a gratin--Jacques Pepin has a recipe--if you like, or you can compost them.)
Chop the chard leaves roughly into 2-inch square pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering but not smoking. Add the shallots and a couple of pinches of Kosher salt and cook the shallots, stirring frequently, until they start to turn brown. Add the chopped chard to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the pan with the chard and shallots. Cook another 2-3 minutes and remove the skillet from the heat. Season to taste with additional salt and ground black pepper, and drizzle with a little olive oil before serving.
Pull up a spot at the counter and pick up a vegetable or three -- and let's eat!
I wanted a place to put my adventures as a new vegetarian. I've been cooking since I was a teenager, and mixing stuff up since before then, and have come to be a good -- no, an excellent -- cook. And a few months ago, I reached the point where I could not justify eating animals to myself or anyone else, so decided to make a change in my own diet.
What will my family say about this change, I wondered, as I sat in my driveway listening to the story that tipped me all the way away from eating meat. But they turned out to be game, for the most part. Quickly we found a compromise that they liked: We would cook and eat vegetarian at home, and they would buy lunch meats and eat meat when we went out. I thought this would be really hard for our daughter, but she has embraced it.
A funny thing is happening these days too: When I order vegetarian dishes when we're out (acknowledging I live in a ridiculously unrepresentative place in many respects), my food looks so good to my dining mates that they say they wish they'd ordered what I had. I ordered a dish called a "vegetable plate" at Denver's Cherry Creek Grill on Thursday. Some people (my Pop is one) would find that description of an entree spartan and unappealing. When my plate came out from the kitchen, out of the corner of my eye I saw the women having salads next to me marveling out of the corners of their eyes at the colors and textures on my plate (while I was sneaking peeks at the smoky, grilled artichoke on the plate of the woman next to me).
And recently, we brought home some Pho for dinner from Chez Thuy in Boulder. My soup came with tofu chunks, baby corn, shiitakes, bok choy, cooked carrots and broccoli, plus the standard garnishes: fresh onions, lime wedges, basil, and bean sprouts. After we'd eaten all the soup (over the next couple of days), my daughter was more enthused about the tofu and baby corn from my dish than about her own brisket soup and she declared next time she will order the same thing I did. Instead of the pork chop she liked, my daughter most recently ordered a salad I had liked on earlier visits to Under The Sun, a new gastropub here in Boulder (and sister restaurant to the Mountain Sun, the Southern Sun, and the Vine Street Pub in Denver -- and soon a Longmont outpost).
Going vegan is still just an idea I turn over in my mind, but it is becoming more plausible over time. I keep my friend's advice in mind: "It's a process." (Incidentally, said friend was vegan when she gave that advice, but a change in her health for the worse made her feel it was too extreme and she has resumed eating some meats and animal products again.) I'm still on the hunt for something I can substitute for milk and cream in my coffee. It was easier to stop eating meat than it would be to stop drinking coffee, I admit.
I also continue to wrestle with eating fish and shellfish, which are animals too, but I'm not eating much. Mostly I am consuming vegetables and fruits, grains, legumes, and I am still eating some dairy products and eggs, with shellfish or fish added once or twice a week.
Let me know what you like and don't like when you cook vegetables and fruits and other delectables. I'll share good recipes and experiences at local restaurants.
Here's one of the things we're having for dinner tonight:
Chard and Shallots
2 bunches (8-10 large leaves) swiss chard (of any color -- green, red, or rainbow)
1-2 medium shallots, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh-ground black pepper
Rinse the chard and cut the ribs out of the leaves. (You can chop the ribs and put them in the freezer for a gratin--Jacques Pepin has a recipe--if you like, or you can compost them.)
Chop the chard leaves roughly into 2-inch square pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering but not smoking. Add the shallots and a couple of pinches of Kosher salt and cook the shallots, stirring frequently, until they start to turn brown. Add the chopped chard to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the pan with the chard and shallots. Cook another 2-3 minutes and remove the skillet from the heat. Season to taste with additional salt and ground black pepper, and drizzle with a little olive oil before serving.
