"A meeting of veg-minded souls: Let's stop labelling food vegan, vegetarian and meat-free. Instead, let's describe the ingredients that make a dish exciting and flavourful. Let's be open-minded and curious, and use our senses to figure out whether the smell, appearance and ingredient lists of different dishes satisfy our needs. Let's spread the word about tofu, seitan, dairy-free chocolate and sea vegetables. These were some of the messages delivered at the first Vegetarian Awakening Conference last month, showcasing vegetarian, vegan and raw food cuisine...
According to Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano, authors of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living, "eliminating animal foods from one's diet has gone from being thought of as a strange `health nut' fad to receiving wide acknowledgement as a nutritionally sound, healthful and even optimal way of eating." This conference addressed how consumers and food professionals can prepare delicious, sustainable, time-wise vegan food. Howard Lyman, ex-cattle rancher turned vegan activist, weighed in on a discussion about how vegetarian/vegan menu items are named. He pointed out that no one serves "dead cow.""
[Full, cool article here and below (with great recipes). BTW: Howard was keynote speaker.]
FROM:
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A meeting of veg-minded souls
Vegetarians awaken to idea of promoting the taste of their food instead of the politics
May 24, 2006. 01:00 AM
NETTIE CRONISH
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Grand rapids, MICH.—Let's stop labelling food vegan, vegetarian and meat-free. Instead, let's describe the ingredients that make a dish exciting and flavourful. Let's be open-minded and curious, and use our senses to figure out whether the smell, appearance and ingredient lists of different dishes satisfy our needs. Let's spread the word about tofu, seitan, dairy-free chocolate and sea vegetables.
These were some of the messages delivered at the first Vegetarian Awakening Conference last month, showcasing vegetarian, vegan and raw food cuisine. Held at the Grand Rapids Community College, the conference attracted 125 people, including professionals who work in university cafeterias, dietitians whose clients have food sensitivities, and chefs who want to create gourmet vegetarian food.
Chairperson Kevin Dunn, a hospitality education teacher at the college, stressed he was "a chef first, vegan second" and emphasized the importance of flavour and presentation.
Dunn, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, was just 35 when he was diagnosed with diabetes and heart disease. That's when he began redeveloping classic dishes into healthier, vegan alternatives. Now he argues that culinary management students be well-educated in all types of cuisine, including vegetarian, vegan and raw.
According to Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano, authors of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living, "eliminating animal foods from one's diet has gone from being thought of as a strange `health nut' fad to receiving wide acknowledgement as a nutritionally sound, healthful and even optimal way of eating."
Diet and lifestyle play a major role in developing certain illnesses and diseases. This conference addressed how consumers and food professionals can prepare delicious, sustainable, time-wise vegan food.
Seattle-based David Lee showed off his protein-rich, "vegan grain meats" made from wheat gluten or seitan. Known as wheat meat, seitan is made from the gluten, or protein portion, of wheat flour. It has no cholesterol and little fat.
Lee's Field Roast Grain Meat Co. prepares loaves, cutlets and sausages in flavours such as lentil sage, smoked tomato or wild mushroom. (They're not sold yet in Canada.)
Calling himself a vegetarian "meat" activist, Lee suggested that "meat is delicious" and that we "need to embrace meat culture." He argued that products made with integrity and healthful ingredients respond to the public's demand for mock meat products.
Conference-goers were reminded not to deny that there are people who want to eat meat substitutes.
Howard Lyman, ex-cattle rancher turned vegan activist, weighed in on a discussion about how vegetarian/vegan menu items are named. He pointed out that no one serves "dead cow."
Is it important to use established, understood words to explain vegan alternatives? Take tofu ricotta, for example. People are familiar with the texture of ricotta cheese. By pairing that familiar term with tofu, perhaps we can translate what the texture and appearance of tofu ricotta will be.
This two-day conference was inspiring because it was full of vegetarian and vegan culinary professionals who are earning a living cooking this way — and who put food ahead of politics.
For next year's event, watch http://www.vegetarianawakening.com.
Silken Cashew Cream
Rich in taste and texture, this nut cream transforms simple fruits into stylish treats and enlivens puddings, shortcakes and many other desserts. Cashews make the richest, smoothest nut cream, but other roasted nuts, including blanched almonds, skinned hazelnuts and pecans create flavourful creams. The exception is walnuts, which are too bitter for this recipe. It comes from Fran Castigan, a New York City pastry chef and author of the new More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts: Sin-Sational Sumptuous Treats.
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread cashews on sheet. Toast on middle rack of preheated 300F oven 4 or 5 minutes, until fragrant but not coloured. Let cool completely.
Grind cashews into fine meal in food processor. Add rice syrup. Process until mixture is smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add remaining ingredients. Process until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.
Refrigerate in covered container up to 2 weeks. Cream will thicken as it cools. Thin with water, if desired, and stir before serving.
Makes 1-1/2 cups.
Herbed Mushroom Veggie Pâté
This elegant pâté makes an excellent spread on celery sticks, crackers and rye crisps, or an elegant starter when served with crusty french bread on a bed of lettuce.
It's from Bryanna Clark Grogan, the lone Canadian chef at the conference. The B.C. cookbook author has seen the demand for tasty, nutritious vegan food explode. Find out more about her at http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com. Dark miso may also be labelled red or mugi miso.
Toasted sesame oil for greasing
1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz (120 g) cremini or portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 medium-large carrot, peeled, diced small
1 small russet potato, peeled, cubed
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp warm water
1/2 cup shelled walnuts or pecans, toasted
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds, toasted
1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan) or soy flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp dark miso
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp each: tahini, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp each: dried thyme, dried rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
Several gratings fresh nutmeg
Grease two non-stick loaf pans with sesame oil. Line bottoms with parchment paper cut to fit. Oil paper with sesame oil.
Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium. Add mushrooms, onion and carrot. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to blender. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until very smooth, scraping down sides as needed.
Divide mixture between 2 pans. Cover each pan with foil. Place pans inside 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 inch of hot water in the bottom. Bake in preheated 350F oven 1 hour. Cool loaf pans on rack. Refrigerate, covered, up to 1 week. Freeze up to 3 months.
Makes 16 servings.
Maple Brown Rice and Raisin Pudding
Another Fran Castigan creation. Packed with nutritious ingredients, rice pudding makes a nourishing breakfast as well as a sensible end to a light meal. Cook extra rice and keep it refrigerated for up to three days in a covered container for rice pudding in a flash. Arrowroot flour is a starch used for thickening. Many natural chefs prefer it to cornstarch because it doesn't come from a genetically modified base.
2 cups cooked brown rice (recipe follows)
1 cup rice milk or soymilk
2/3 cup raisins
12 oz (340 g) box silken/soft tofu (about 1-1/3 cups)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup + more for serving
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp maple sugar or light natural cane sugar
Put rice in food processor; pulse two or three times. Add milk or soymilk. Pulse until creamy but not perfectly smooth. Pour into large bowl. Stir in raisins.
To food processor, add tofu, rice syrup, 1/4 cup maple syrup, arrowroot, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg; process until smooth. Pour into rice mixture; mix until combined.
Transfer to oiled, 1-1/2-quart baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake on middle rack of preheated 375F oven 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 or 15 minutes, until bubbling.
Cool dish on wire rack 15 minutes. Pudding firms as it cools.
Mix sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl; sprinkle over pudding. Serve warm or at room temperature, drizzled with more maple syrup.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Basic Brown Rice
Brown rice is rich in fibre, trace minerals and B vitamins. Cook extra rice to have on hand for soup, salads, cereals and desserts.
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
1 cup medium-grain brown rice, rinsed, drained
Place water and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in rice. Return to boil. Reduce heat to very low. Cover; simmer 45 to 55 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Refrigerate in airtight container up to 3 days.
Makes 2 cups.
Nettie Cronish is a Toronto cookbook author and vegetarian food expert who teaches vegetarian cooking classes."
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