It's probably just me, but does this vegan thing seem to be catching on? Joel Stein over at Business Week Magazine seems to think so, at least among rich, powerful men. Read all about it here. Folks like Alec Baldwin, Russell Simmons, Mike Tyson (really?) and many, many more are proclaiming themselves to be vegan.
Pretty cool, huh?
And if you are a vegan, or moving in that direction, I want to highly recommend the following cookbook, Clean Food by Terry Walters. The more I cook from it, the more I think that it will be my new bible. The recipes are not simple, but also are not overly time consuming or complicated either. The result is restaurant quality, interesting vegan food at home. I'm impressed.
This week I prepared a stuffed squash recipe that I would feel comfortable serving guests for a dinner party or even Thanksgiving. So it was a real treat for us just to have it on a Monday night! Both husband and 10 year old gave it the thumbs up.
Winter Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice and Chickpea Pilaf
serves 8
based on a recipe from Clean Food
4 softball sized winter squash (acorn, kabocha, etc), washed, sliced in half, seeds removed
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
2 thumb sized pieces Kombu (what's Kombu?)
2/3 cup currants
2 tsp ground allspice
vegetable broth for sauteing
1 large onion, chopped
2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place rice, water, kombu, currants and allspice in a rice cooker and cook. Alternatively, place same ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat.
Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Lightly spray the squash halves with cooking spray. Place squash, cut side down, onto cookie sheets. Roast 25 minutes or until soft (time will vary according to size of squash).
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, pour in enough vegetable broth to barely cover the bottom of the skillet. When broth is bubbling, add onion and saute until translucent.
When rice is done cooking, remove kombu and discard. Add rice mixture and chickpeas to onion and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in with parsley, pine nuts and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon rice mixture into cooked squash halves and serve.
Clean Food is also packed with healthy, seasonal, vegan dessert recipes. Pictured above is a Vegan Pumpkin Pie that was incredibly easy to make and even better tasting. I used a prepared graham cracker pie crust that I got at Whole Foods, but you could make your own pie crust with Ms. Walter's recipe or use any pie crust recipe that you love.
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
serves 8
based on a recipe from Clean Food
1 prepared pie crust
12 ounces silken tofu, firm or extra firm
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Wrap tofu in paper towels and press to remove excess water.
Place all ingredients (except pie crust) in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides of container as necessary. Pour into pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool and serve.
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