How a family of four turned veg(etari)an

I have always loved food. Even more than the eating of it, I love the process of making something that nourishes the ones I love. I love the way it looks, feels, tastes. I love the enthusiastic “click” sounds my baby makes as she nurses, I love Big A’s post-prandial cough, li’l A’s too infrequent scraping of an empty plate, I love hearing my sister say she lost ten pounds she wanted to lose, I love the pediatrician slotting my babies above the 90^th percentile on the growth chart. I love making big, healthy colorful presentations of food, I like taking pictures of it; my collection of cook books almost rivals my collection of South Asian fiction (and I’m paid to work on only one of those).

Somewhere around the time I acquired a household to run, meals became about (an animal) protein volumized by sides of veggies, grains, and beans. This wasn’t the way I ate growing up, although, I’d grown up in a meat-eating household and even at my most anorexic, I’d still happily eat a little bowl of my mother’s chicken kurma (hold the rice) once a week. It was safe to say I thought of meat as necessary to a well balanced meal and that I enjoyed it. As recently as last year, when Chai embarked upon a month-long vegan challenge—I found it frighteningly austere and extreme. I thought I could never do without sushi, without a cup of morning milk, without a nibble of cheese now and then.

I thought that even if I made the shift, I would crave animal products. I did make the shift about four months ago. Can’t say I’ve craved any kind of meat.

I don’t intend to be a vegan vigilante, so skip this paragraph if you don’t want to give up animal derived products. All I had to do was read about factory farmed animals. That’s it. Even as I read that hens cluck to their unhatched chicks to teach them different calls, I knew my scrambled eggs were, in a manner of speaking, toast.

I’ve continued to cook meat for the family since then—it seemed like the caring, Buddhist thing to do. But Big A has been unhappy about the unfairness of the situation and yesterday we decided that he and the babies would join me. I’m glad; lately I’ve had doubts about the health benefits of meat/milk/eggs and have felt that I’m putting unhealthy, unhappy products into my children’s vulnerable bodies. So for now we’re keeping a bag of microwaveable chicken nuggets for Li’l A because that’s the only food he really pines for and otherwise eating more veggies, whole grains, and beans. The babies and Big A will still use eggs and a minimum of cow’s milk. I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer—our farm share has the exciting job of fully filling our bellies.

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Smells like fish, tastes like salvation

I have a cold. What kept me going today (other than my family calling me, “snotface,” and making me beam, shiny nose and all) was bowlfuls of “Robust Winter Fish Stew.”

It’s a recipe that I saw in The Whole Foods Bible, although typically for me, the recipe provided an improvisational entry point rather than a inflexible plan of action. I added julienned ginger, slivered garlic, snips of fresh tarragon and oregano, plus hearty red potatoes to the called-for crushed tomato base with onions and cannellini. I used freshwater fish, but in retrospect should have used something fattier and brinier--salmon may be.

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How I know it’s *definitely* time for a snack-break

When halfway through a book about pre-Elizabethan England i read
the queen “delivered the prizes…”
as
“the queen delivered the pizza.”

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Sweet Deception

If you happen to visit and I claim, with mandatory sweet smile and saintly mien, that I made payasam (kheer) just for you, don’t visualize me reading War and Peace in its entirety while I stirred a pan of boiling milk to the right consistency.

It’s more likely that I spent the $ 0.49 (buy two, get one free) on Priya brand Kheer Mix, added it to water, stirred the goo for 10 minutes, and then snuck in a tin of condensed milk, a bunch of ghee-fried almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins, and a few strands of saffron.

If I didn’t tell you, you’d never know. And that wouldn’t be right. Where the payasam’s concerned, love Priya (not maya).



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When Life Hands you Lemons…

It's surely time to make your much-loved salad.

For the dressing: Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pinch of fresh pepper and crushed garlic.

Pour on: Layered baby greens, tomatoes, baby carrots, kalamata olives, red beans, and crumbled feta.

Bonus cosmic thumbs-up (wink on the side): When you find peace at the center of your tomato :).

Lamest Rushdie Reference *Ever*

Dave Zinczenko’s recipe for SalmOn Rushdie on p.148 of his book, The Abs Diet.

As prepared by Big A, however, it’s delightful--despite the generous robustness of the portion--and i, therefore, give you the recipe in its entirety:

Salmon Rushdie (number of Powerfoods: 5)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon flaxseed
1 clove garlic
4 6-ounce salmon fillets

Green vegetable of choice
1 cup cooked rice


1. In a baking dish, combine the oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, flaxseed, and garlic. Add the fish, coat well, cover, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and coat it with cooking spray. Remove the fish from the marinade, and place the fish skin side down on the baking sheet.

3. Bake for 9-12 minutes. Serve with a green vegetable and rice.


Makes 4 servings.

Calories per serving: 411; Protein: 40g; Carbs: 15 g; Fat: 20 g; Saturated fat: 3 g; Sodium: 231 mg; Fiber: 1 g.

[P.S. Zinczenko has a lot of funny font things and italics going on in the recipe, but I thought I’d spare you that.]

[P.P.S. Sort of relieved on Rushdie's behalf that this recipe wasn't Padma Lakshmi's brainchild.]


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