Vegan MoFo 19: How to Pick a Peach

One thing that I had been meaning to do after my move to Baltimore was get a library card. That was taken care of for me when I started working for The Village Learning Place. Once I had my card, I found the cookbook section and started to browse. Sadly, there are no vegan cookbooks, but there are vegetarian ones that seem to be perpetually checked out - bittersweet I suppose. I also found a particularly vegan-friendly book, thanks to a recommendation from a coworker.

How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons is a book that approaches everyone's favorite buzz phrases about eating seasonally and locally and attempts to cover the "The Search For Flavor From Farm to Table." Parsons approaches this search by weaving together several aspects of produce selection.

One thing that struck me immediately was the organization of this book. Following the Table of Contents, there was a list of the fruits and vegetables alphabetically, and then all of the recipes divided into course categories. This bodes well for a book that has several functions. It's all well and good to provide recipes, but for we meal planners, a merely chronological list just won't do it.

The introduction provides a brief primer on the history and economics of American agriculture. Parsons explains how a modernizing nation changed its habits, how grocery stores came to be, and how farmers' markets went from being common to scarce before enjoying a renaissance that seems to be getting stronger. He also highlights how convenience and availability have hurt our enjoyment of food, and how the organic movement isn't exactly what we think it is.

The other "modern irony" he discusses was more thought-provoking. Parsons points out that we have access to more ingredients than ever, but that most of them are not very good, and certainly not worth spending money on. He specifically points to how foodies may have obscure knowledge of techniques or fancy vocabulary, but they still don't know how to choose produce at the market. This is important because, "when you start with good ingredients, you finish with great dishes."

This makes me wonder how many people who claim that they could never give up meat/cheese/whatever really just couldn't give up such heavy flavor. How many of those people would be won over if they could choose and prepare amazing plant-based dishes for themselves?

What I really liked though was that the tone of the introduction inspired me to think about these things without being too assertive. I like assertive, but a lot of people are turned off by food politics because of arrogance, condescension, or outright cruelty. "I'm not one of those preachy vegans," is a cliché for a reason right? The introduction basically says that there are some things that people could benefit from knowing, and that's a great way to start a conversation.

From there, the book is organized by season, each one having several fruits and veggies under it. For each plant (or sometimes groups of similar plants), Parsons provides several pages of general information and then summaries under the headings: Where They're Grown, How to Choose, How to Store, How to Prepare, and One Simple Dish. All are very informative, but One Simple Dish is the most interesting to me because it would come in handy when you have something that needs to be used NOW, or when you have last minute guests to feed.

In addition to these quick dishes, each food has a few simple recipes to showcase it. These recipes aren't all vegan, or even vegetarian, but for the most part, the recipes are meant to feature vegetables and fruits, so making them vegan is simple.

Also interesting to the vegan who loves food politics (don't we all?) are the essays between each season. In the first, "The Plant Designers: Factories in the Field," Parsons uses the strawberry as an example to discuss how scientists and farmers mutate and manipulate breeds over time to produce new varieties of produce. GMOs as a serious issue are touched on briefly, but the focus is on the goals and the results of efforts to make produce that is robust, and ultimately profitable. While you may or may not agree with Parsons on everything, you can probably learn something or become interested in learning something thanks to these.

Finally, throughout the book are pages that are like sidebars; they aren't listed in the table of contents and they provide helpful bits of information. Some of them are about produce, like "When It's OK to Buy Unripe," while others talk about recipe concepts like Clafoutis or Souffles. As a lover of the sidebar, I'm all in with these.

Now nothing drives me crazy like a person who writes a cookbook review having never made any of the recipes, but this isn't strictly a cookbook. Plus, I won't review the cooking aspects yet. However, I will say that this is a book worth having, or at least reading. The tips on selection lined up with what I already knew, but I still learned quite a bit. I'm excited to go flex my new muscles at the Farmers' Market this weekend. Additionally, the information about agriculture reminded me why farmers' markets and food education are so important. Not only can you cook better food, but you can do right by your local farmers and community by making an effort to send your money directly to them.

I've selected three recipes from the fall section to make this week. I should be able to pick up most of the ingredients at the farmers' market. I will naturally report back. I know I can't really review this book completely until I've sampled all the seasons, so I'll revisit it throughout the year.

If you can't stand the suspense, take a sneak peak with this 2007 NPR story, Russ Parsons: In Search of Quality Produce. It excerpts the section on Artichokes, complete with recipes.

6. Busboys & Poets

I had dinner this week with a dear vegan friend who was visiting DC. Despite having tasty vegan pizza at the Free Speech As Terrorism Event, we wanted to have dinner after and so I figured that as a vegan radical, he might like DC's own restaurant/book store/fair trade market Busboys and Poets.

My pal had the Vegan Quesadilla



... and I ordered the Hot Tempeh Panini with Sweet Potato Fries.



We were suitably stuffed and both happy campers. Busboys has never let me down with the quality of food. The only downside to this trip is that we passed on dessert (I know, very stupid). Their vegan cheesecake is worth an upset stomach.

Trying New Things

Subtitle: Something You Should Do

Sometimes I brag that, thanks to my veganism, I try so many great new foods. That's a bit of an oversimplification though. Sometimes I have to remind myself that my transformation to master chef happened less than a year ago. I spent the first couple years as a vegan lazily grazing on packaged and pre-prepared foods. So why am I now so involved in cooking and eating?

The real credit goes to effects of my diet on my health. I was healthy in that I had no diseases or medically diagnosed problems, but I began to suspect that my diet was the culprit in some specific problems I was having, so I decided to cut out some soy.

Soy is unfairly demonized, but it is also in everything. I cut soy as an ingredient in things I purchased, meaning that the Chik Patties and soy milk were out, but tofu and tempeh could stay. That meant that my options for standby meals were greatly diminished and that's when I decided it was time to start cooking.

So theoretically, I could have gotten really involved in cooking without being a vegan, but could I have stayed that way?

I don't know. What I do know is that as a vegan, food is about active and meaningful choice making and my cooking is encouraged by a community. I am extremely conscious of what I eat; fair-trade, organic, non-GMO, compostable and sustainable are all labels that mean something to me because compassion and justice for all are what my veganism is about. I read about food, I familiarize myself with the facts and numbers, and I select the best I can. It's not a difficult process, but it's one that involves me and draws me further into the eating experience. Rather than simply eating food at meals, I now feed myself.

And many of the ideas and information I read comes from the vegan community. I'm stuck online all day at work and between deadlines, I kill time reading a number of vegan blogs and threads on the Post Punk Kitchen. The more I see pictures of and read about other people's kitchen experiences, the more I want to have and share my own. It's like a delicious cult.

This past month has been full of new experiences; I've blogged about some, but in the past few days I tried the following new foods: Chia, Dulse, Arame, Soba Noodles, Millet, Bok Choy, and Dandelion Leaves. All but the dandelion leaves were because of Get It Ripe, which is fast becoming a favorite after less than a week of ownership.

For the record, the totally amazing dishes I made from it were: Sesame Kale Soba Noodles, White Bean Bowl with Pesto, and Barbecue Baked Tofu with Mushrooms and Bell Peppers. I used the Cilantro Pesto from the book and it is a keeper. Extra points for using pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

I also used Corona in a marinade and agar powder to botch a pudding (still delicious, but kind of oddly solid).

I also bought a cast iron pan. Viva Vegan showed up on my doorstep last week as well, and I figured it was about time to go cast iron. I also found this Have Cake entry and so I think it's time to dust off the bread machine and actually use it.

On the horizon, my sister is going to teach me to do some macro-inspired cooking and my journey with raw foods continues.

So while I can't let veganism take all of the credit, it deserves a good bit of it. It's a lifestyle that requires innovation and an open mind. I feel so fortunate that I almost never make the same thing for dinner twice and that my kitchen is cruelty free in the process. I'm a better and more interesting person and I'm also more satisfied. Eating is never a mere necessity, but a statement, an experience, and a joy.

What new things have you tried leately?

As for more new things to come, I am excited to whip up a batch of raw cupcakes for Raw Wednesday in my adorable new silicone cupcake moulds! Stay tuned!