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In the few brief minutes today when I wasn't on my way to here or there or enjoying some time spent with friends, I spent some time thinking about what I want to cook this week. Last Wednesday or Thursday I had suddenly realized that I have a lot of red lentils sitting around, so I set out to find a recipe for a delicious dish involving red lentils. My initial thoughts were to go with the status quo, with some kind of red lentil curry soup, which would call for poring through Madhur Jafferey's World Vegetarian (a favorite among vegetarians and Scrabble Society members alike) or Bharti Kirchner's The Healthy Cuisine of India (known for its excellently titled dishes with names like "Vegetables in a Mingling Mood" or "Cabbage-Potato Extravaganza"). [Alas, it would not call for poring through Fran Bigelow's cookbook, Pure Chocolate, though my friends would all be quite pleased if I were to do so].
Instead of going through these two books, however, I decided to pick up the Cafe Flora Cookbook, by Caterine Geier and Carol Brown. This cookbook is packed full of the recipes developed over years by many chefs at Cafe Flora, a popular vegetarian restaurant in Seattle (Incidentally, I have never been there before. Hopefully this will be remedied during my next visit home). After some looking, I found what I was after, though until that point I didn't realize that what I was after was not at all what I had originally set out to find ("Curried Lentil and Quinoa Burger with Tomato Chutney"). [Interestingly, it actually solved two dilemmas simultaneously: what to do with red lentils AND what to eat instead of so many fake chicken-burgers (which are somewhat delicious and yet pricey and not all that exciting).]
And that sort of discovery is the first pleasure of this good cookbook, stumbling upon something that's innovative and unexpected and yet enticing. The recipes that I have prepared so far from the book ("Seitan and Vegetables, Mu Shu Style" and "Oxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew and Tangy Swiss Chard") have used mostly familiar and simple ingredients in novel ways, combining flavors that I wouldn't have thought to combine, or using a different preparatory technique that I wouldn't have thought to use. Though they can be finicky at moments, that effort always pays off.
My enjoyment goes further, because along with the presentation of the recipes, the book also includes sections about different ingredients and tricks that most at-home vegetarian cooks wouldn't necessarily know about. There's a brief segment about Quinoa, for instance, which mentions where it's from and its benefits (a high-protein grain). And it has also just taught me how to make my own breadcrumbs from leftover heels of bread.
The Cafe Flora Cookbook is composed of recipes that are truly and healthfully vegetarian, and are delicious on top of that, showing just how far vegetarian cuisine has come from the days of Diet for a Small Planet and Laurel's Kitchen. Instead of simplistic, boring casserole combinations of complementary proteins, or dishes that are too heavy or taste like cardboard, the complementary proteins are thoughtfully chosen and carefully woven in, and consist of tofu only where tofu should be found. Where appropriate, the book also makes suggestions for variations on recipe themes, especially with respect to soups and pizzas, turning recipes into springboards for creativity. I think it may have just now solved at least two of my vegetarian dilemmas as well: what to do about fish sauce and clam chowder. We shall see if it lives up to these promises.
Every time I re-open this cookbook, I am grateful once again to my good friend C, who gave it to me.
And now I ask you, o readers. Do you have a book, cookbook or otherwise, about which you feel similarly? Do tell!
Instead of going through these two books, however, I decided to pick up the Cafe Flora Cookbook, by Caterine Geier and Carol Brown. This cookbook is packed full of the recipes developed over years by many chefs at Cafe Flora, a popular vegetarian restaurant in Seattle (Incidentally, I have never been there before. Hopefully this will be remedied during my next visit home). After some looking, I found what I was after, though until that point I didn't realize that what I was after was not at all what I had originally set out to find ("Curried Lentil and Quinoa Burger with Tomato Chutney"). [Interestingly, it actually solved two dilemmas simultaneously: what to do with red lentils AND what to eat instead of so many fake chicken-burgers (which are somewhat delicious and yet pricey and not all that exciting).]
And that sort of discovery is the first pleasure of this good cookbook, stumbling upon something that's innovative and unexpected and yet enticing. The recipes that I have prepared so far from the book ("Seitan and Vegetables, Mu Shu Style" and "Oxaca Tacos with Black Bean Stew and Tangy Swiss Chard") have used mostly familiar and simple ingredients in novel ways, combining flavors that I wouldn't have thought to combine, or using a different preparatory technique that I wouldn't have thought to use. Though they can be finicky at moments, that effort always pays off.
My enjoyment goes further, because along with the presentation of the recipes, the book also includes sections about different ingredients and tricks that most at-home vegetarian cooks wouldn't necessarily know about. There's a brief segment about Quinoa, for instance, which mentions where it's from and its benefits (a high-protein grain). And it has also just taught me how to make my own breadcrumbs from leftover heels of bread.
The Cafe Flora Cookbook is composed of recipes that are truly and healthfully vegetarian, and are delicious on top of that, showing just how far vegetarian cuisine has come from the days of Diet for a Small Planet and Laurel's Kitchen. Instead of simplistic, boring casserole combinations of complementary proteins, or dishes that are too heavy or taste like cardboard, the complementary proteins are thoughtfully chosen and carefully woven in, and consist of tofu only where tofu should be found. Where appropriate, the book also makes suggestions for variations on recipe themes, especially with respect to soups and pizzas, turning recipes into springboards for creativity. I think it may have just now solved at least two of my vegetarian dilemmas as well: what to do about fish sauce and clam chowder. We shall see if it lives up to these promises.
Every time I re-open this cookbook, I am grateful once again to my good friend C, who gave it to me.
And now I ask you, o readers. Do you have a book, cookbook or otherwise, about which you feel similarly? Do tell!
