“It sounds like you have to have house-wife tendencies to be
a vegan”.
When asked last night by a friend how I spent my Columbus
Day vacation day, I recounted the various dishes I had made and the shopping I
had accomplished to get ready for the week. Her response was the quote above.
Now, admittedly, I thoroughly enjoy a day or two in the
kitchen. Yesterday was one of those. I have an extra-long weekend with the
College closed Monday and Tuesday this week for a mid semester break. I seldom
have enough time on the weekend to dedicate a solid 6-hour block to cooking, so
I took advantage of the day.
I picked the remaining peppers and tomatoes from the garden
together with a large bunch of basil (frost is coming…its just a matter of days
until I wake up to find a garden full of black, rotting basil) and decided to
make a ratatouille with the eggplant from Saturday’s farmers market. To ramp up the fiber and protein, I added ¾
cup of tiny red lentils and increased the juice from the tomatoes a bit. Lots
of basil and garlic, a couple of onions and a piece of jalapeno pepper 2 ½
hours of slow coking at 325 degrees produced an intensely fragrant and
flavorful dinner served over brown rice.
When the prep for the ratatouille was complete, I started a
soup from the last of my carrots and sweet potatoes. Beginning with leeks and
shallots (also from the farmers market), I sautéed them in olive oil until they
were wilted and turning sweet, added some finely minced fresh ginger and then
the chunks of carrots (about 6 medium sized ones) and three peeled and chunked
large sweet potatoes. Vegetable broth, some garam marsala seasoning and salt
rounded out the ingredients and I let it simmer for a while. Needless to say,
the house smelled mah-valous!
I finished the soup off off with a bit of Sriracha for some
spice, blended it with my immersions blender and stirred in some light coconut
milk, a hint from the chef at St Joe’s for making creamy vegan soups. Divine. Some
will be frozen, some went with Peter to work for his lunch and what's left will be my
lunch tomorrow.
Next.
Oh yes, there is more. Applesauce.
Not-so-pretty Cortland apples were being sold inexpensively at the farmers
market by the 5-pound bag, which made me see jars of applesauce in my winter
larder. I washed them, cored them, and cut them into chunks, leaving the skin
on. The deep red skins produce a rosy sauce that is flavorful, but also just
darned pretty. With a bit of water, set
on low heat, the apples began to break down and perfume the kitchen even more.
I later put the apples with skins through a food mill, which
produced a smooth, silky and down right gorgeous treat. I added some vanilla
and cinnamon to the sauce (no sweetener), re-heated it to a simmer and canned
about 5 pints in a boiling water bath. Added to steel cut oats or in a whole
grain applesauce cake, todays fruit project will be deeply appreciated in late
January.
Ok, so, do you need “house-wife tendencies” to be a vegan?
Nope. However, it certainly doesn’t hurt to love to play in your kitchen.
I’ll leave darning my husband’s socks and ironing the sheets
to someone else.
From Beth's husband (not house husband):
ReplyDeleteBeth is a great cook. And yes, that helps as we try a new cuisine.
But, It is simply a matter of cooking homemade meals. If someone is dependent on pre-made frozen dinners, than it would be hard to switch to a vegan diet.
I don't have Beth's cooking expertise but made vegan red beans and rice Thursday to bring to a pot luck supper. I just followed a recipe, the same way I would have done if I was making a meal with animal products. Judging from how much got eaten, it was appealing to the entire crowd, not just us vegs.
So it isn't hard to cook vegan meals. If it was, I couldn't do it.
PS. My hummus is killer. I would put it up against any store bought variety.