Last Class - Shirley's Apple Salad

We're getting economical now with directions. Do the obvious with the following:

2 apples
1 cup wheat berries, cooked in 1 1/2 cup water for 1 hour
3 scallions
parsley, coarsely chopped
diced fennel
1/2 cup raisin or currants
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
dressing - olive oil, red wine vinegar, juice of 1 lemon

Last Class

The final round-up: Everyone's bringing something for a potluck vegetarian lunch.

Here's Ruth's dish:

Beans and Rice with Polenta OR Gazintas and Gozontas

Layer the bottom of a baking pan with rice and quinoa (or similar)
Put a layer of this mixture over the rice: beans, sautéed onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, black olives, ground cumin, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, and salsa (or whatever you like).
Then put a layer of shredded cheese (cheddar, provelone, parmesean, mozzarella all good choices) over the vegetable mixture.
Finally, slice a polenta log and layer that on top with some more cheese. Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.
May be served with sour cream, salsa, guacamole or nothing.

So easy, and yet seems to be well-liked by all.

What's Next

I've asked seminar members to write down their thoughts about the seminar. Here's what Kathy Hazen says:

1) what if anything I learned about vegetarian cooking

It can be a lot more work than ordinary cooking, cutting up umpteen vegetables for instance, and take more time to cook some whole grains. But it’s worth the effort. Most vegetarian dishes taste great.


2) why I think it's important to eat a vegetarian meal now and then (assuming I do think so).
I think it’s important to eat most meals as vegetarian, making sure you get enough protein. By vegetarian, I mean cutting out red meat, keeping in fish, eggs, dairy products.


3) what I expect and hope to do in the future with respect to eating less meat.

Just that. Eat less meat. Make other things the central point of a meal.


4) what I would be willing to give up eating, and why.


I’m not willing to give up anything completely, not even beef. Except the fast food joints, MacDonalds, places like that—and I gave them up years ago. I believe it is healthy to eat a wide variety of foods, and not overdo anything.


5)anything else you would like to say on the subject of a "once-a-week vegetarian" eating habit.
 
This seminar has been a lot of fun, more people should try it—they would like it. Also, we should do a lot more experimenting with a broad range of spices and other exotic foods that place little emphasis on meat as an ingredient. For example Japanese, Thai, and Indian cuisines, and also the Mediterranean diet.

Seventh Class. Hmmm... good. That's What Kathy's Soups Are

This is her version of a soup she tasted at River Valley Market

Coconut Yam Curry Soup
Yield- 1 gallon

2 cups diced yellow onion
2 cups peeled diced carrots (I used 2 pounds of organic carrots because I like carrots)
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger (more or less to taste)
1 tsp. minced garlic (more or less to taste)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
this part can be done ahead, and I would add the curry spices here (see cooking directions below)

5 pounds peeled and diced sweet potatoes I used only 3 lbs and boiled these to make them easier to peel and less wasteful as they were organic and very uneven etc. .

2 quarts vegetable stock or water I used water because I didn’t want to transport a half gallon of stock

1 12 oz can coconut milk (don’t use the ‘light’ kind, not enough flavor)
1 Tbsp. curry powder (I used Madras curry with a little extra turmeric)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste (I didn’t use any salt at all)

- Sweat the onion, carrot, ginger and garlic with olive oil and a bit of salt until the onions are translucent
- Add tomatoes and stir
- Add sweet potatoes and vegetable stock- the stock should just cover everything in the pot
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft
- Add coconut milk and curry, more salt too, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes (I followed these directions and think it would have tasted better if I had added the curry at the beginning and let it mellow overnight.)
- Adjust seasonings and it's ready to go
- You can also puree this for a smooth soup (It’s prettier pureed)
- You can substitute pumpkin puree for the sweet potatoes as well. (Haven’t tried this yet.)

Notes: a couple of days later the flavor had mellowed nicely, and I served the curry over white rice and I thought it tasted much better.

Sixth Class - Fannie Farmer comes for lunch

Shirley chose these recipes from a 2003 edition of the famous Fannie Farmer cookbook

Mushroom Potato Casserole

1 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup chopped parsley
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 pound potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. salt; pepper to taste
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
½ pound onions, sliced

grease a 11 x 14 baking dish;
mix until smooth the ricotta, parsley, garlic, thyme and 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
place the potatoes in the bottom layer
spread the ricotta mix over the potatoes
top with mix of onions and mushrooms
sprinkle top with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack cheese
bake 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven


Hot Slaw

1 pound cabbage
2 egg yolks
¼ cup water
1 tbsp. butter
¼ cup vinegar
salt

shred the cabbage
mix the egg yolks, water, butter and vinegar in a large pan and cook slowly until thickened
add the cabbage and stir to coat
add salt and heat through

How About the Rest of the Week?

I think by now we've internalized the central theme of this class – eating meatless meals one day a week. And that means no meat, poultry, fish or seafood. But what of the other six days?

Our seminar discussions have included some “true confessions” - the hamburger we enjoyed on Tuesday, a chicken tenderloin or slice of bacon last Saturday. That's okay – we're not trying to go cold turkey on animal protein. Nonetheless, we find that by design or chance, we are all eating less meat on those other six days. Healthy food patterns are always of interest, of course, and we recognize the need as we grow older for more conscious attention to what we put in our mouths. Many of us are finding that large servings of red meat in particular are almost indigestible and are becoming less attractive than they used to.

There has been talk of what is commonly known as the “Mediterranean diet”, a style of eating attributed to the traditional food practices of countries bordering on the mediterranean sea. Of course the climate and proximity to salt water dictate much of what is available and affordable. Health researchers in the USA have studied this diet and find it beneficial. What exactly is it?

There are variations of course, but basically the mediterranean diet is quite simple. The Mayo Clinic describes it as including a heavy reliance on fruits and vegetables, consumption of healthy fats such as olive and canola oils, the use of nuts, regular consumption of fish, along with eating very little red meat. For those who drink alcohol, red wine is also included (in moderation of course). This pattern of eating has been associated with lowered risk of death from heart disease and cancer. And a study cited by the Archives of Neurology points to a lower risk for mental decline for those on a mediterranean diet.

The British Medical Journal published the results of a study following over 13,000 healthy adults which compared their degree of adherence to a mediterranean diet with the incidence of diabetes and concluded that such a diet may indeed cut diabetes risk.

The Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust has devised a variation on the usual food pyramid, calling it the Traditional Healthy Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. The foundation of the pyramid is daily physical activity. The next largest building block, also a daily requirement, is a group of foods with bread, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, and other whole grains and potatoes. Other groups to be consumed daily include fruits, beans, legumes, nuts and vegetables. Smaller blocks of the pyramid, to be enjoyed weekly are fish, poultry eggs and sweets. Meat appears at the top of the pyramid as a once-a-month food group.

(Ironically, while Americans have been quick to pick up on the benefits of this diet, the populations originally associated with it seem to be deserting their traditional food practices in favor of the sugary drinks and fast foods usually thought of as American. An article in the New York Times, 9/24/2008, describes the increasing incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol among children in a small town in Crete who have adopted these less nutritious foods while turning their backs on what their parents and grandparents were used to eating. Obesity seems to be growing along with the rise of supermarkets and convenience foods.)


With the promise of Spring coming we can anticipate the rebirth of local farmers' markets, fresh produce from nearby fields and lovely vegetables that have never been subjected to transcontinental travel. In 2007 there were 1,586 farms in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, according to an article in the Springfield Republican of 3/9/2009. Anchovies and olive oil unfortunately will never be local products, but many other “mediterranean” foods will be readily available - the fruits of labor from our farmer/neighbors who will bring delight to our tables seven days a week.

Mostly Plants

Here we are – halfway through our 10-week seminar. It's time to look back and admire our accomplishments. The premise of the seminar “Once-a-week Vegetarian” was that we could all benefit from eating a meat-less diet one day out of seven. And even more, our planet would benefit. We'd like to set an example for others – sharing with them our learning about vegetarian living and how easy it is to prepare meals based almost exclusively on plants. I'm reminded of an old advertising jingle which goes, “delicious, nutritious, makes you feel ambitious”. We've enjoyed our lunches and have felt well- fed, physically, and spiritually.

The class has had conversations about the detrimental impact that commercial meat production has on the environment. For example, calculations of greenhouse gases attributed to the total life cycle of beef consumption – raising the animal, slaughtering, transporting, and eating it – attest to the unsustainability of meat consumption at its current rate. And we are reading about world-wide trends toward increased meat production as countries like China with huge populations move away from their traditional diets and adopt a “western diet.”

While reasons for following a vegetarian diet vary from person to person and can be about choices that effect only the individual, the environmental implications of my meat-eating, and your meat-eating go beyond the personal. This is an issue that will effect everyone.

The motto for the seminar was taken from Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food:

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

So how are we doing? Looking back at our five weeks of vegetarian lunches, I list the following plant foods that we have used:

tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, peas, asparagus, carrots, spinach, pasta, quinoa, couscous, polenta, tortillas, wheat berries, tofu, mushrooms, oranges, avocados, cranberries, pistachios and pine nuts, parsley, cilantro, red and yellow onion, shallots, scallions, black beans, olives, millet, brown rice, lentils, barley, apples, blueberries, walnuts, peaches, bulgur .... I'm sure I've left some out.

The animal-based foods we've had to date: eggs, cow's milk, parmesan and ricotta cheese, honey.

Doesn't this make your mouth water?. You can join us without being a member of the seminar by reading through the rest of this blog. Try some of the recipes, read a few of the suggested articles. Read Michael Pollan's book , mentioned above, or Mark Bittman's new book Food Matters. You don't need a vegetarian cook-book as such although there are a lot of good ones. If you're an experienced cook, you can put into practice vegetarian cooking principles without reference to a recipe. We're not suggesting a radical change in your lifestyle. Remember, our aim is once -a- week, eat plants, not animals. The globe will thank you for it.