Easier than you thought?

Last Sunday was a lot of fun for me. My friend wants to pull off some extra weight, and invited me to help him with a meal plan for the week.... Loads of groceries later (more -allegedly - than have ever graced his countertop in a year) we were cooking.

I knew I was in trouble when she came downstairs in hysterics. She had run upstairs to shower before dinner. As she opened the door of the bathroom, she smelled something different... What her nose must have identified as a warm, heated molecular scent. She concluded "the house must be on fire!!!!". Nope - it was just the smell of us cooking! I love these two!

We started with two simple techniques that almost every single dish begins with. Chopping an onion, and smashing and mincing some garlic. Armed with lots of both, we began. I had no meal plan to speak of... just loads of fresh vegetables and raw materials, and what I hoped was a healthy dose of inspiration...

On the advice of both me, and his personal trainer, we are trying to cram as many fruits and veggies into him as possible. The omnivores think the secret is "limiting" the protiens and the carbs, but that's his problem since I think the solution is to just eat lots of plants instead. My new, vegangelical self...

We hollowed out some gorgeous whole peppers, and stuffed them with a combination of cubed eggplant, garlic, a can of cubed tomatoes, peppers, onions, a can of black beans, some chopped green onions and some cubed zucchini.

Next, we blanched a TONNE of green veggies by boiling a pot of salted water, with a separate bowl of iced water next to it on the counter. Once the veggies go seriously green, out they go into the shockingly cold ice water which simultaneously stops the cooking, perserves the green and is actually quite fun to do. Lots of veggies for munching, hummus-dipping or adding to salads.

Then, we made a homemade tomato sauce. We sauteed more chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. When they got to know each other we added a can of cubed tomatoes, some red wine, some balsamic vinegar, some salt and pepper and some italian spices. Simmer and serve over whole wheat pasta (I brought him a brand which has ONE ingredient! Whole wheat) Imagine....

Next, the better half of the partnership joined me in the kitchen as male boredom set in. We made a gorgeous thai stir-fry by simmering some coconut cream in a sautee pan, adding more chopped onion and garlic, some ginger, some red pepper, some hot sauce and finally tossing it with some of the blanched broccoli hubby had made. It took about 2 minutes.

We peeled three huge sweet potatoes and cut them into discs. Let's go African, I thought. We poured the balance of the coconut milk into another sautee pan, added a half a cup of peanut butter, more hot sauce, more onion, garlic and ginger and some cinnamon. We added some apple juice to the pan to make it liquid, and then tossed it over the sweet potatoes in a bowl. Adding some chopped dried fruit (apricots, mangos, apples, plums?) we put the slices into a roasting pan for the oven. I almost left it uncovered, but Melanie's instinct was to put some foil over top... And it was a great one. The potatoes would definitely cook faster, and the steam would keep the potatoes tender.

I have got to check in with them today to see how the week has unfolded, and to get some new appliances and tools for our session on Sunday. For starters, although they had a fabulous cleaver, they are in need of a good chef's knife. And a BIG cutting board. And a magic bullet blender. And beyond that? I think they're well on their way...

A Veal Picatta by any other name would taste as good...

My friends often ask me, when they learn about my vegan choices, "don't you miss meat?". And every so often, I do.

I was obsessed with the flavour of ribs last week, and satisfied that craving with a nice healthy dipping of smoky BBQ sauce for some nice wedge potatoes, or a hearty, smoky baked bean dish.

When I can't get the thought of a steak out of my mind, I grill a portobello with steak spices, and then make a nice red wine reduction for the top.

When I crave a nice chicken sandwich, I ask Rock Bottom to substitute two onion rings in my usual cajun chicken sandwich, or in a spicy midwest crispy chicken wrap.

When I want burgers, there are the BEST veggie burgers called Amy's California Veggie Burgers - and you can actually identify and pronounce all the ingredients! I throw mine on the George Foreman grill and they're a great fast food.

Meatballs are also easy - President's Choice makes a great meatless version, called ironically "World's Best Meatless Meatball".

Chicken Wings are the yummiest. President's Choice also makes a "World's Best Meatless Chicken Nugget" which goes great with any type of wing sauce, which I have perfected, using a combination of melted Earth Balance, coconut oil, hot sauce and dijon mustard... and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Most of these cravings can't be separated from scent - from how great things smell as we're eating them... and that's where it is quite easy to fake out your palate and still love every morsel that you eat.

But the last impression I would ever want to leave a reader with is that the transition is effortless. Most of the time it's not. But I am conscious of the immense savings to my arteries, my budget, my figure, my immune system and my time - and that keeps me motivated to keep eating this way.

Except... we were at a Gala last week, and they put the most perfectly cooked beef tenderloin at the table. Bill and I had our vegan entree, a delicious stuffed pepper with zucchini, garlic, tomato, and rice that was just a poem of flavours. But I couldn't help myself - so I had a bite or two of tenderloin.

Yes, it was good (ie: perfectly cooked, and tasted the way it should have) but it wasn't great. I ate maybe a bite or two and didn't finish it. When met with judgmental stares from my beloved, I exclaimed "Honey, it doesn't mean anything! It was only a piece of meat!" which did NOT amuse him either...

His reasons for being so disciplined are different from mine, and he is almost never ever tempted. Having said that, he doesn't share the same core-rocking passion for food that I have, so I suppose that is to be expected.

As long as dinner is filling, voluminous and delicious, he just doesn't see what the big deal is about meat. He also hates it when I try to "veganize" traditional meat dishes like veal picatta or beef bourguignon and give them meaty names - he'd prefer just to call it vegetable stew or zuchini with pasta.

Like it's all about an eat an run! Like there's no romance at all in what it's called! Like a dish can't be made even more delectable by how it's described.

Maybe it's the name (of course, Bill's real name is William)... and it was another William who wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"...

So, here is my shakespearian tribute... "A Veal Picatta by any other name would taste as good".

Zucchini, cut into 1/3 inch strips, coated with olive oil and panko bread crumbs, were sauteed on both sides in a hot pan until the crumbs were golden.

Add some finely diced shallots to a pan with minced garlic, olive oil and the zest of one lemon. Sautee until shalots are translucent. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/4 cup of vegetable stock, and 1 teaspoon of flour. Stir until thickened. Add the juice of the lemon, and 1 - 2 tablespoons of capers. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Right and Wrong Bread

I am obsessed with making bread lately. It is the only recipe I know that gets better the LESS you do! But, there is a right and a wrong way. What better way to turn 3.5 cups of flour, 11 mg of yeast, 1.25 cups of tepid water and 2 tbsp of salt into a heavenly and satisfying bite of "I-can't believe I made this...". Listen to the SOUND! It's gorgeous. The second picture is of a loaf that went "wrong-side-down" onto the pizza stone for baking, and you can see what a difference it made in volume - although it tasted quite good in any event.