Intersection: NightLife Goes Primal
Goodness. Three years of eating a “flexible vegan” diet are now under the bridge.
I enjoyed them. Being flegan expanded my culinary skills and leaned my body. The prodigious consumption of fresh produce virtually eliminated my seasonal allergies and longstanding arthritis pain in my bunions. I felt virtuous and strong.
Until I tried to get stronger.
Last March, a good friend got me started on bodybuilding. No, not the steroid-laced hoax whose ultimate goal is the perfect(ly grotesque) photo of a musclebound body that can’t perform real work.
I’m talking about real bodybuilding. Pushing, pulling, and lifting bodyweight and iron. Building functional strength that can drive a fence post, buck hay, run for miles, and ride an endurance horse as effortlessly through mile 45 as at the starting line.
For several months, all went well. I ate my usual flegan meals based on whole grains, legumes, and plenty of vegetables. My push-up count climbed. My sprint times fell. By June, I could see the beginnings of six-pack abs…but I could also feel the strain.
Slower recovery times, cottony muscles that performed hard workouts in the morning but wanted to nap by afternoon, and reduced sleep quality all had me looking for answers. I knew nutrition was almost certainly a major factor, but wasn’t I already offering my cells a glorious buffet of healthful, whole foods? What was going wrong?
Intuition, research, and discourse with my bodybuilding friend led me to one of the more obvious solutions: protein. Even the most protein-rich vegan foods, many of which are highly-processed soy products, don’t hold a candle to animal products.
I stopped selling my chickens‘ eggs and started eating them. Two a day. It helped. I kept reading, scouring the library and internet for ideas supported by published, independent, peer-reviewed research rather than the industry-financed, politically-motivated stuff of conventional wisdom.
Patterns emerged. Startling patterns that warred with my existing nutritional construct. Patterns backed by research. Patterns I couldn’t ignore. Protein, it transpired, was the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s what I learned:
- Whole grains are bad for you. Legumes aren’t much better.
- Carbohydrate reduction — not calorie reduction — is the key to fat loss and good health.
- Large quantities of natural dietary fats, including saturated fats, are beneficial.
- Animal products are important for thriving health.
Scores of articles, chapters, blog posts, and research papers passed under my review as I evaluated these ideas. Meanwhile, I added a daily serving of fish to my diet….and felt better. I took the huge step of eliminating all grains and legumes….and felt much better. Reluctantly, I reintroduced more meats while maintaining my usual, high rate of vegetable consumption…and felt better still.
But what did I eat? How does a person who has relied for calories predominantly on grains and legumes survive without them? By replacing them with natural, healthful fats and proteins, that’s how.
My daily diet shifted from this “flegan” menu:
Pre-workout: Green drink (smoothie made with bananas, pear, grapes, kale, and flaxseed)
Breakfast: More green drink and oatmeal with walnuts, dried fruit, and unsweetened soy milk
Lunch: Spinach salad with chickpeas, mixed raw vegetables, and olive oil vinaigrette
Snack: Natural peanut butter
Dinner: Barley pilaf with artichoke hearts
2,287 calories, 314 grams carbs, 100 grams fat, 74 grams protein
…to this “primal” menu:
Pre-workout: Banana with almond butter
Breakfast: Spinach salad with tuna, olives, sunflower seeds, mixed raw vegetables, and olive oil vinaigrette
Lunch: Hot vegetable curry topped with 2 hard boiled eggs
Snack: Walnuts
Dinner: Gazpacho with avocado and grilled chicken, mango, and jicama salad
Dessert: Blueberries with coconut milk
2,271 calories, 135 grams carbs, 147 grams fat, 137 grams protein
Same number of calories. Half the carbs. One and a half times the fats. Twice the protein. All the produce!
Since that shift, I’ve played around with the carbohydrates a bit and found that I do best on slightly more than your typical “primal” maintainance level, given my penchant for extreme(ish) fitness and extensive physical activity. I’ve leaned out, chiseled that six-pack, built and cut some serious muscle in my limbs and back, and banished the bloating and low-energy that had plagued my flegan self.
So. So long, fleganism. I loved ya, but it’s time to move on.
Needless to say, this shift from “ideal eating” (according to conventional wisdom and the vegan crowd) has caused quite a stir among my acquaintances, particularly those who shared a vegetarian bent. Several people have expressed downright alarm. Many have asked the same questions I did, questions no doubt raised by this post:
What on earth is wrong with whole grains and legumes?
Are you sure fat is healthful?
Animal products? Seriously?
So, you’re doing Atkins now? (Nope!)
What does “primal” mean?
I don’t claim to have all the answers — but I do have some, along with a lot of logic and research to back up my own, anecdotal experience. Instead of trying to regurgitate all of it here, allow me to refer those who are interested to a few resources, just for starters:
Mark’s Daily Apple (Primal nutrition and fitness)
Fitness Spotlight (Low-carb nutrition and fitness)
The Vegetarian Myth (book review by Dr. Michael Eades)
Cholesterol and Health (Fat and cholesterol research)
Food Renegade (Real food & related politics. Home of Fight Back Fridays!)
Good Calories, Bad Calories (Book regarding the science of low-carb eating by Gary Taubes)
Note: Most of the above links will take you to main pages; be sure to click around and read the sites more deeply. I’ll link directly to articles on particular topics in future posts.
And so, my friends, NightLife turns down the primal path. Shall we see where it leads?
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Vegetable & Mung Bean Noodle Salad with Creamy Teriyaki Dressing
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when a recipe with a name like this one has would have scared me off. Asian flavor profiles have never been my strong suit, and an ingredient list like this one takes some getting used to.
Tofu…miso…sambal oelek… Not everyone has purchased these items before. Don’t worry; they’re easy to find in any large grocery. Check the refrigerated produce section for tofu (often near other “specialty foods” like ginger root, fresh herbs, and bottled garlic) and the Asian foods section for everything else that sounds strange. Though the products may be unfamiliar, I guarantee you’ll recognize their aromas and flavors. They may even become new staples in your kitchen, as they have in mine.
Though it involves stir-frying, this recipe is more easily managed than many Asian dishes because it is intended to be served at room temperature. So, there’s not need for that sweaty rush from wok to table. Speaking of woks: If you don’t have one, a deep, heavy-bottomed skillet works fine. I prefer to use a Dutch oven to make tossing the ingredients easier.
Vegetable & Mung Bean Noodle Salad with Creamy Teriyaki Dressing
Dressing:
4 oz firm silken tofu
1/3 cup spicy miso teriyaki sauce
1 Tbs sambal oelek (ground fresh chili paste)
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbs lemon juice
1Tbs sesame oil
Combine dressing ingredients in food processor and blend until creamy. If you prefer more heat, add additional sambal oelek to taste. Bear in mind that the dressing will taste milder once combined with the vegetables and noodles. For a saltier dressing, add a dash of soy sauce.
Salad:
1 (6 oz) package saifun (mung bean noodles)
6 cups thinly sliced vegetables (I used carrots, broccoli, celery, and bell peppers. Sugar snap peas, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and more would also be tasty.)
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted
3 scallions, chopped
Stir fry vegetables (except scallions) in sesame oil, over medium-high heat, until crisp-tender. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, cook saifun according to package directions (boil, don’t fry). Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
Combine saifun, vegetables, and dressing in large bowl, stirring gently to combine. Serve topped with sesame seeds and scallions.
Makes 4 dinner servings.
Side dish suggestion: Mix hot, brown basmati rice with onion, garlic, and kale lightly sauteed in sesame oil and drizzled with soy sauce.
Curried Coconut Coercion
My mother isn’t fond of the spice that gives curries their name, so I wasn’t introduced to this marvelously flexible dish until I was well into my twenties. These days, they’re one of my favorites for quick, hearty, aromatic suppers. Curries adapt readily to whatever ingredients you have on hand; the fact that I had pasillas instead of sweet bell peppers led to this rather unusual, but surprisingly tasty, version. As an added benefit, the dish reheats beautifully for lunch the next day.
In this curry, which is named in honor of loyal reader who insisted that I get back here and post something already, I use red lentils for their attractive color. I located them in the bulk section of a large grocery, and any specialty foods store ought to carry them. If you can’t find them or don’t want to bother, regular brown lentils would work just fine. I opted for the richness of full-fact coconut milk (C’mon, have you ever heard of anyone getting obese off coconuts? Plant fats are good for you!), but the reduced fat version would also do the trick.
The recipe as written will deliver a flavorful but mild curry. If you want to turn up the heat, increase the red curry paste or add hot curry powder. You could also throw in a diced jalipeno, so long as we’re flirting with fusion!
Curried Coconut Coersion
Flegan
1 medium onion, diced
1 pasilla (also known as a poblano), diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 Tbs red curry paste
1 (14.5 oz) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 oz) vegetable broth
1 (14.5 oz) can petite-diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups red lentils
1 tsp salt
4 green onions, chopped
Lime juice to taste
Saute onion and pasilla over low to medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute one minute. Add red curry paste and saute one minute more. Add next five ingredients (coconut milk through salt) and simmer until lentils are done, about 25 minutes. Serve over brown basmati rice with a sprinkle of green onions and a squeeze of lime.
Serves 6.
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Still hungry? Try my November Lentil Curry
Harvest Enchiladas
I’ll (almost) shamelessly admit that this recipe is based on Cooking Light’s Black Bean, Corn, and Zucchini Enchiladas. The original recipe struck me as a good way to use zucchini, but it looked a bit bland; also, it called for more cheese than I wanted to use.
I added several ingredients to liven up the enchilada filling and replaced the cheese with tofu mixed with cheesy-flavored nutritional yeast, plus a sprinkling of chives. (If you’re feeding picky eaters, don’t mention the tofu — chances are, they’ll assume it’s ricotta or cottage cheese.) Cooking Light’s sauce recipe is excellent, and I prepared the original version.
As you can see, I served the enchiladas with fresh tomato salad (diced garden tomatoes with fresh basil, cracked black pepper, a pinch of kosher salt, and a splash of rice vinegar.) If you want something heavier, Spanish rice would be a good choice.
Harvest Enchiladas
Flegan
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups zucchini, diced
1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked
1 10-oz package frozen corn
1 12.3-oz package silken tofu
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/3 cup fresh oregano, chopped
8 whole wheat tortillas (8-inch)
1/3 cup fresh chives, chopped
Enchilada Sauce by Cooking Light
Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini in oil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add beans and corn; heat just until corn thaws.
Meanwhile, stir together silken tofu, nutritional yeast, and oregano.
Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a lightly greased, 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
Fill each tortilla with zucchini mixture and tofu mixture. Place rolled enchiladas in prepared pan and top with remaining sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with chives immediately before serving.
Serves 4.
Digging for Gold
The potato blossoms have faded, the leaves withered, and it is time for harvest. Travis dug the first row of Yukon Golds.
I diced them.
And mixed them with a bit of olive oil, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and fresh rosemary.
Then roasted them to purest bliss.
Ahh, homegrown potatoes. You simply can’t buy this flavor at the store.
Zucchini Egg Salad
Ah, zucchini. It sounds wonderful in March when you tuck the slender, white seeds into wee beds of starting mix. It satisfies by germinating quickly, springing into robust seedings in a matter of days. It fills your June garden with glorious green. Bright blossoms unfurl, birthing the first fruits. You carry them triumphantly to the kitchen. Summer at last!
But they keep coming. No sooner do you pluck a squash than three more grow in its place. You grill them, stuff them, bake them in breads, grate and freeze them for winter soups, pile them by the sink, haul boxes of them to work to foist on your co-workers, and still they come. By mid-August, you’ve given up picking them, let weeds spring up around them, threatened the sprawling vines with rototiller and hoe…and still they come. What are you going to do?
Try this salad. Not only is it fast and easy, but it’s a great way to use up zucchini while reaping the nutritional benefit of eating the squash raw. The texture of raw zucchini is remarkably like that of hard-boiled eggs, especially if you peel the squash before dicing it (I don’t). You can use some eggs in the recipe (I do) or replace them with additional zucchini. This version reflects a bit of Italian influence, but feel free to experiment with more traditional egg salad ingredients instead, or branch out and create a zucchini potato salad instead.
Zucchini Egg Salad
Flegan
6 hard-boiled eggs, diced
3 cups raw zucchini squash, diced
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, diced small
1/4 cup pickled pepperocini peppers, sliced
1/2 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
2 Tbs mayonaise
2 Tbs honey mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 – 1/2 tsp black pepper, coursely ground
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir gently. Serve as a side dish, or with spinach in tortillas or pitas for a light meal. Serves 6.
Do You Tofu?
I’m not a big fan of meat substitutes. I figure that if I’m going to eat flegan, I should focus on vegetables and dishes that are easily built around them, rather than on manufacturing feeble substitutes for animal foods.
But, Travis found a great deal on a good grill (our last one took a flying leap off the south deck in a major windstorm), and I’ve discovered that an awful lot of vegan grilling recipes center around tofu. So I bought a package.
Now, I am a tofu virgin. We’ve kissed — I like silken tofu in berry smoothies for a filling snack or dessert — but extra firm, marinated and grilled? Never before.
I chose a Cooking Light recipe, “Grilled Lemon-Basil Tofu Burgers” to test the great white hunk-o-gunk.
I sliced and marinated.
I grilled…a process which took about five times longer than the recipe claimed it would. Did you know that charred asparagus marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, and red onion makes the most delicious vegetarian “fries?”
Here’s the result, on a bun.
To be honest, I think my tofu burger would have been just as tasty without the tofu. I delighted in the dijon and the first basil of season. The yogurt-kalamata dressing was worth mopping up with strips of grilled zucchini. The fresh tomato and garden lettuce were crisp and flavorful.
But the tofu? It was a bit bland. Reasonably filling, I’ll grant you, but bland. And squishy.
I’ve plopped the leftovers on a bed of wild rice blend dressed with leftover marinade for tomorrow’s lunch. I hope it’s not too squishy.
Stuffed Date and Apricot Skewers
I’ve settled on a Mediterranean menu for our Independence Day feast. We’ll have spiced lamb skewers (now there’s the flex in flegan!), grilled rosemary flatbreads, grilled vegetables with feta, melon kebabs with honey-lime drizzle and mint, and these stuffed fruit skewers.
I doubt there’s anything genuinely Mediterranean about this rich, but not overly sweet, dessert. However, it offers a bit more nutrition than your average slice of devil’s food, despite its use of cream cheese. (I don’t believe in that 3-a-day nonsense. A little research reveals that dairy is decidedly unhealthful.) Anyway, the skewers will suit the general theme of the meal.
I used almonds in the apricots and walnuts in the dates, but you could speed preparation by mixing the all nuts into the cream cheese before stuffing the fruit. I’ll use toothpicks as miniature skewers to combine one stuffed date and one stuffed apricot for each serving… Well, okay, I made enough for three mini-skewers per person. So sue me.
Stuffed Date and Apricot Skewers
flegan
18 whole, dried apricots
18 whole, dried dates
3 oz cream cheese
1 Tbs fresh orange zest
1/8 cup chopped almonds, raw and unsalted
1/8 cup chopped walnuts, raw and unsalted
Carefully split dried fruits so they can be stuffed, but are not completely halved; set aside. Soften cream cheese in microwave for 30 seconds. Add orange zest and stir to combine. Stuff each fruit with a pinch of chopped nuts and approximately 1/2 teaspoon cream cheese mixture. Skewer two fruits on each of 18 toothpicks. Chill before serving. Makes 18 mini-skewers.
Warm Crowder Pea Salad with Green Herb Dressing
A favorite in the South, crowder peas (also known as cow peas, poor man’s peas, or China beans) aren’t just for Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Eve. They make a great foundation for vegetarian soups, salads, and burgers. This recipe features them in a light but filling salad that tastes of spring. I used black-eyed peas, but any variety of crowder peas would work beautifully.
By the way, you can avoid that “canned” taste and a lot of sodium — and save money — by using dried beans and peas from the bulk bins instead of canned varieties. Just cook the dried legumes in boiling water, drain, and freeze portions in airtight bags. I usually put about 3 cups of cooked legumes in each bag. To thaw, just soak a bag-o-beans in hot tap water for ten minutes. (Microwaving works too, but it kills the nutrients in the beans.)
Warm Crowder Pea Salad with Green Herb Dressing
Vegan
Green Herb Dressing:
1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs (such as oregano, thyme, chives, and sage)
1/3 cup onion, diced
1/3 cup white rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
Combine ingredients in blender and puree. Set aside.
Salad:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
3 cups cooked, drained crowder peas
6 cups mixed salad greens
Saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil over medium heat until slightly tender (about 5 minutes.) Gently stir in crowder peas and heat until warm. Gently stir in 1/2 of Green Herb Dressing.
Arrange salad greens on large plates; top with crowder pea mixture and remaining dressing. Makes 3 dinner-sized servings.
Curried Oat Groats with Dried Fruit and Almonds
Even after fourteen hours of horse training and farm work, I’d rather create a healthful, tasty meal than break out a box of Hamburger Helper. Curries provide maximal flavor for minimal work, and whole grain-based dishes like this one are exceptionally satisfying. Toasting the spices in the nearly dry saute pan heightens their flavor.
Curried Oat Groats with Dried Fruit and Almonds
Vegan
1 cup oat groats, uncooked
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, vertically sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
1 Tbs curry powder, mild
1/4 tsp tumeric
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Boil 2 cups water. Add oat groats, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until water is absorbed (about 40 minutes). Saute onion in olive oil until golden (7-10 minutes). Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add spices and and heat until spices are fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in cooked groats, dried fruit, parsley, and green onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Served topped with slivered almonds. Serves 4.
Time-to-Go-Shopping Black Bean Chili
Several weeks after my monthly shopping trip, while the spring garden is still hardly more than tilled soil and flecks of green, fresh produce is hard to come by here on the farm. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because it’s perfect motivation to use up odds and ends from the pantry and freezer.
Vegetarian chilis are a great way to use a variety of ingredients during these final, chilly nights of the year. This sweet, smokey, multi-spiced black bean chili is one of my favorite ways to reduce my stockpile of green tomatoes rescued from the vines last October. Ripe tomatoes or tomatillos would make a good substitute.
Time-To-Go-Shopping Black Bean Chili
Vegan
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs mustard seeds
1 1/2 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cups sweet potato, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 cups vegetable broth
4 cups cooked black beans
1 1/2 cups green tomatoes, diced
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 14.5-oz can tomato sauce
1 4-oz can fire roasted diced green chilis
1 chipotle canned in adobo sauce, minced
1/3 cup molassas
1 1/2 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Pre-heat large Dutch oven over medium flame. Saute spices in oil until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add onion, sweet potato, and mushrooms. Saute 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve topped with cilantro.
Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
I heard of baked oatmeal for the first time just a few months ago. Perhaps I was the last to know. In any event, it’s become one of my favorite breakfasts. Easy, healthful, and filling, the lumpy-liquid mixture bakes into a moist, dense cake. If you have any left over, it reheats well in the microwave for busy weekday mornings.
The recipe below is one I developed while experimenting with various, other baked oatmeal recipes. It is quite adaptable, so feel free to make adjustments according to what you have on hand. (Try replacing the cranberries, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice with chopped apple, applesauce, and allspice.) I like to top my serving with soy milk, and serve fresh fruit salad with a honey-vanilla-cinnamon dressing on the side.
Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
Vegetarian
2 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats or 5-grain blend
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups plain soy milk (or dairy milk)
2 beaten eggs
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Combine oats, sugar, dried fruits, spices, and salt in large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl, then add to large bowl and stir until well blended. Pour mixture, which will be very runny, into an 8×8 inch, glass baking dish. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until center is set and firm. Serve warm. Makes 6 servings.
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Welcome, Runners World Forum readers! I’m delighted that you’re enjoying this recipe; I, too, find it to be excellent running fuel, though I confess that I only run during winter because my summers are too full of gardening and horseback endurance racing. Click here to explore other flegan recipes on Nightlife.
To Market, To Market
It’s that time again.
I’ve completed my April menus and scheduled my monthly shopping trip, during which I’ll spend over an hour schlepping up and down every aisle that contains unprocessed or minimally processed foods.
You’ll recognize me in the checkout line. I’ll be the one with the mountain of bulk foods — raw nuts, dried beans, miscellaneous grains, honey — and half the contents of the produce bins. You’ll see a quart of plain, full-fat yogurt (the reduced fat varieties are full of sugar), several bags of frozen berries, dark coffee beans, balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, and canned chipotles.
The clerk will stare at me in disbelief. “What do you do with all this stuff?”
“I cook.”
Gingerroot…beep…bean sprouts…beep…tahini…beep
The total will be about $200. Two weeks from now, I’ll come back and spend another $70 on fresh produce, and that’ll cover our groceries for the month.
Vegetarianism has a reputation for being expensive. I suppose if you’re accustomed to filling your cart with pork chops and SlimFast, and one day you decide to pick up some fresh tangelos, arugula, strawberries, and broccoli to serve on the side, you might suffer a bit of sticker shock.
Here’s the key to inexpensive flegan eating: Put the other stuff back. If it’s not a whole, plant-based food, your body doesn’t need it. Neither does your wallet.
I’ve always been a frugal shopper, so I grew worried as our garden petered out last October. How could my budget cover enough produce to sustain a flegan diet? However, I was pleased to discover that, sans meat and most dairy, my grocery bill wasn’t hard to stomach after all.
Here are a few other things you can do to keep your reciept reasonable:
1) Cook your own meals. Cooking, like karate or horseback riding, is a skill anyone can learn. Sure, some people are naturals, but anyone can become competent. Time needn’t be an issue. Try a search for meatless, quick & easy recipes at Cooking Light.
2) Eat seasonally. Winter tomatoes and strawberries aren’t worth eating, let alone paying for.
3) Buy in bulk. Dry beans can be cooked and frozen, replacing canned beans. Whole grains are cheaper and more varied by the pound than by the box. Bulk nuts and dried fruits will save you even more over the packaged brands.
3) Finally, if you really want to go whole hog(less), put in a garden and dig yourself a root cellar like the one that’s going in at In the Night Farm.
More on that later.
Sundried Tomato & Artichoke Heart Pizza
This may not be the healthiest item on our menu, but it hits the spot after an evening of tree wrestling. The rich flavors of pesto, parmesan, and sundried tomatoes render the excessive use of mozzarella, so common on commercial pizzas, quite unnecessary. The homemade crust is unusually quick for a yeast bread and spares us the preservatives baked into pre-fabricated, grocery-store crusts. To help the dough rise even faster, place the bowl in which the dough is rising inside a second, larger bowl containing hot tap water and cover both with a fresh dish towel.
By the way, I find that an ulu works much better than your standard pizza cutter. Ulus are my all-time favorite kitchen tool — I have two (and need a third) so I can be sure of having a clean one available at all times. I use them to slice and dice everything from carrots to calzones.
Sundried Tomato & Artichoke Heart Pizza
Vegetarian
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs yeast (one packet)
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup warm water (about 115 degrees)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp cornmeal
Combine first five ingredients in large mixing bowl. Beat on slow speed 30 seconds, then on high speed for 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed and add whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to the bowl. You may not require all 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour.
Place dough in bowl coated with cooking spray; coat top of dough with cooking spray. Set in warm place to rise until nearly double in size (10 or 15 minutes).
Roll dough to preferred thickness (1/4 – 1/2 inch) and place on cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.
Toppings:
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
3 Tbs basil pesto
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, cut into strips
2/3 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
5 cloves roasted garlic, sliced (optional)
Combine tomato paste and basil; spread on partially baked crust. Top with cheese, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and garlic (if desired). Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Cool 2 minutes before slicing.
November Lentil Curry
Last night’s weather featured a lightning storm complete with wind-slung hail and an unsettled greyhound who velcroed herself to me for hours. Training horses was out, so I caught up on seed starting, then simmered a Dutch oven full of a favorite cold-weather dish.
I created this curry last November (hence the name), when a series of published recipes failed to offer sufficiently pronounced flavors. Though I’ve pictured it here with brown jasmine rice, my curry is even better served with whole wheat naan.
November Lentil Curry
Vegetarian
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup sweet potato, diced
1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbs curry powder
2 14-0z cans vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 tomatoes, diced
1 1/4 cup lentils
1 Tbs red curry paste
4 Tbs plain yogurt, optional
Heat Dutch oven over medium flame. Saute onion and sweet potato in olive oil until onions turn yellow (4-5 minutes). Add ginger and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and curry powder; saute 1 minute. Add next five ingredients (broth through curry paste) and simmer until lentils are fully cooked (about 30 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in yogurt, if desired, immediately before serving. Serves 4.
Going Flegan
“Vegetarian” is an old Indian word for “me don’t hunt good.”
That was the joke in my family for years. I myself told it many times. After all, what in the name of Uncle Jim’s Annual Pig Out Party would possess a person to give up meat, let alone attempt to subsist exclusively on plant matter?
I’ll tell you what: A large garden plot amended with yards and yards of composted horse manure.
We hauled so many zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, yellow squash, strawberries, peas, green beans, turnips, onions, parsnips, kale, mesclun, chard, carrots, radishes, and winter squash out of the garden that there simply wasn’t room on our plates for anything else. I combined years of cooking practice with a touch of internet surfing to come up with surprisingly filling meals from which the meat, though missing, was not missed.
Incapable as I am of doing anything half-heartedly, I took my culinary experiment a step further. I sought flavorful, vegan recipes. Soy milk replaced dairy milk so completely that we now refer to soy milk as “the regular milk” on rare occasions when a carton of dairy milk appears alongside it in the refrigerator.
As my vegetarian and vegan recipe files grew fatter, Travis and I slimmed down. We felt more mentally astute (no mean feat, that) and required less sleep. The seasonal allergies that plagued me from childhood forward ceased to exist.
And so, nine months after In the Night Farm’s 2007 garden burst into production, we continue in what I call a “flegan” lifestyle — closer to vegan than your typical flexitarian, but certainly not strict.
About 95% of what we eat falls into the vegan category — vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, and nuts constitute the bulk of our daily fare. Even so, we use a touch of parmesan or full-fat yogurt now and then. We eat chocolate made with dairy and bread baked with eggs. We even consume some meat.
Being flegan is a convenient way to live. Hosts needn’t worry about providing special meals when we arrive as dinner guests. I don’t mind serving a turkey or leg of lamb for the holidays. Corporate lunch meetings are no cause for concern.
Meanwhile, we enjoy the myriad health benefits of consuming a great deal of plant matter and almost no animal products — and the processed “food” people have two fewer contributors to their cause.
Greek Zucchini & Spinach Salad
Horse training is hard and addicting work. I don’t like to waste much daylight on food preparation, but nourishment is essential. Here’s what I concocted for Saturday’s lunch:
Greek Zucchini & Spinach Salad
vegetarian
Dressing:
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs oregano, dried
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Salad:
1/2 zucchini, raw diced
1 roma tomato, diced
1 1/2 cups spinach leaves, torn
1/3 cup red onion, sliced
6 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup crumbled Feta
Other ingredients:
Whole wheat flatbread
Whisk together dressing ingredients, set aside. Chop salad ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently to coat. Serve over whole wheat flatbread. Makes one large serving.
Tamara Baysinger
