I’m not the best veg*n – a printed neologism meant to represent the vegetarian and vegan community – since I choose to:
- eat honey (vegans equate eating honey with drinking milk)
- own a leather sofa (Italian!)
- wear a jacket (also Italian!) with a collar made of raccoon fur
But I also haven’t preached a pro-veg*n lifestyle since I was in high school and a friend countered my PETA-inspired rhetoric by eating a hamburger in front of me which she very much enjoyed. Also? Raccoons eat cats.
My body doesn’t take kindly to dairy products so I’ve abstained from them for the past 4-5 years—although I’ve been known to occasionally give in to temptation and enjoy cheese or yoghurt. That said, I’ve been a vegetarian for over 20 years, a diet that has been easier to enjoy over time as veg*n foods are more readily available in grocery stores beyond food co-ops. The soy milk of today tastes a million times better than its chalky predecessors in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
I love cooking at home, especially dishes with lots of spice and flavor. When I was a wee vegetarian, restaurants that specialized in veg*n meals prepared dishes as heavy as my leather sofa. And everything came with alfalfa sprouts. I loathe alfalfa sprouts. Then restaurants and chefs learned how to prepare meals that didn’t taste like they stepped out of the 1970s. I shed tears, actual tears, when I first ate a mock grilled pork served with whipped wasabi-infused coconut cream.
These same restaurants and chefs recorded their recipes and shared them with the world. I learned a few tricks on my own, like how to make incredibly fluffy veg*n pancakes, but I learned a lot more with books like The Veganomicon and Vegan Soul Kitchen. Godbless Da Capo Press.
The trick with many of these recipes is not where you buy the ingredients but how you bring them all together. The initial costs for many of the ingredients used in the recipe books can be exorbitant unless you know where to shop. Any grocery store that caters to Asian cultures is your BFF. Instead of paying $7.00 for a jar of coconut oil at Whole Foods, you can get the same item for half the price at an Indian grocery store. Need lemongrass, garlic, and ginger? Asian markets, kids. The cost of produce is greatly lessened if you support local farmers. Hand to God. You can leave most local produce stands with bags of fruits & vegetables for under $20. Try doing that at a major grocery chain or progressive liberal health food store. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Most veg*n recipes move quickly if you prep all the ingredients before you turn on an appliance. And what makes kitchen prep run smoothly? In a word, knives. Specifically, Wüsthof. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, the Germans are responsible for a whole mess of problems throughout history, but they’re a remorseful country chock full of fantastic craftsmanship. Granted, I’ll never regard Mercedes-Benz as anything but Nazis, but watching a Wüsthof paring knife make fast work of a Washington apple brings a tear to the eye of this freedom-lovin’ American.
Every veg*n kitchen must have a food processor. Don’t skimp on the food processor, you want to make sure your hummus and vegan chocolate mousse recipes are their absolute smoothest and creamiest (just don’t blend them together). Strong blades make for better bread crumbs, and better bread crumbs make an even better – bestest? – baked pumpkin penne with caramelized onions.
No veg*n kitchen is complete without a mandoline slicer. Slicing eggplant paper-thin has never been so easy. If you do not have a mandoline slicer in your kitchen, simply wait until your birthday or a major holiday for your partner’s mom needs to surprise you with a new kitchen gadget. See? Easy.
You should also have an immersion blender. Not only is an immersion blender easy to operate – two speeds! – it’s also easy to clean. I wish I had a quip to make about an immersion blender but really it’s a dull utilitarian kitchen gadget. When you own one, you wrap it in its cord and keep it out of sight until you need to blend a sauce directly in a pot. Camus would probably never have given a second thought to writing a novel about such a gadget.
Last, but certainly not least, own a few durable food scrapers. I prefer silicone food scrapers since they can withstand high heat temperatures during cooking. For that matter, I prefer silicone spatulas over hardened plastic tools that can melt in a skillet. Just don’t buy silicone baking dishes unless you want your chocolate cake to resemble a pan of brownies. I use those stupid silicone baking dishes for making soap when the holidays roll around.
Most people think veg*n food lacks flavor or necessary daily nutrients. The former excuse is exactly that, but the latter can be true if you don’t properly balance your meal. For example, tonight I made a casserole of grilled eggplant layered with cashew-tofu ricotta and a sauce of blended tomatoes and almonds. Pair this dish with a side salad and slices of crusty bread, you have yourself a complete meal.
Here is my recipe for grilled eggplant that will impress your friends and family, be they veg*n, omnivore or strictly into tearing out the jugular of a live animal.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium or large eggplant (make sure it feels firm to the touch)
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp thyme
- ½ tsp coarse sea salt
- black pepper (to taste)
- Peel the eggplant and slice lengthwise in half.
- Slice eggplant into layers with ¼” thickness using your mandoline slicer.
- Salt each slice of eggplant and place on a wire rack above your sink to drain for about an hour.
- Rinse each slice of eggplant well, use a paper towel to blot excess moisture.
- Use a microplane with the garlic cloves—if you don’t own a microplane, chop garlic cloves as best you can into a paste.
- Add the garlic paste and remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl or shallow pan. Mix well.
- Marinate eggplant in the mixture, keep covered and refrigerated for at least an hour.
- Grill each slice of eggplant until slightly brown. You can accomplish this with a panini grill, George Foreman grill or an outdoor barbecue grill.
- Serve immediately.
I enjoy eating grilled eggplant in a sammich with lettuce, tomato slices, and sweet peppers. If you love your cheese, add a few slices of fresh mozzarella.
Kitchen items aside, I recommend starting with The Veganomicon if you want to cook veg*n meals that don’t require a love of alfalfa sprouts. The book is beautifully designed and the recipes are easy to follow—you’ll easily forgive the typos you find along the way. Once you get the hang of veg*n cooking, you’ll revisit other cookbooks and wonder how you can replicate dishes without meat and/or dairy. It’s as easy as sitting on a leather sofa and enjoying a nice cup of tea with honey.