The Adaptable Feast: Satisfying Meals for the Vegetarians, Vegans, and Omnivores at Your Table

273 Pages·2009·9.4 MB·English

by  Ivy Manning

COOKING
M
DECLARE PEACE
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AT THE DINNER TABLE! N
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Omnivores can coexist with vegetarians and vegans. The Adaptable
Feast makes cooking in mixed-diet households easy and deli-
cious! Follow a single recipe with instructions that branch off
T
to accommodate both omnivores and vegetarians (and often
vegans, too). H
When Ivy Manning (an omnivore) married her vegetarian
E
husband, aff ectionately called Mr. Tofu, she realized she had a
dinner problem. Making two diff erent meals got old fast. So she
created a host of wonderful recipes that could be adapted to feed A
meat lovers and tempeh fans—recipes that will have everyone
D
leaving the table satisfi ed.
Endive Stuffed with
A
Spanish Goodies
“The Adaptable Feast—what a great idea and what T H E A DA P TA B L E F E A S T
P
Salmon and Veggie a helpful one, too, for there are many households
Sushi Rolls that include both vegetarians and carnivores. T
SATISFYING MEALS FOR THE VEGETARIANS, VEGANS, AND OMNIVORES AT YOUR TABLE
This smart book takes the struggle out of trying
A
Fried Green Tomatoes
to fi gure out how to cook for both without
(and Sometimes Bacon)
jumping through hoops. And it makes it possible B
with Smokey Blue Cheese Ivy Manning
for everyone to enjoy the same food, too, with
L
Fideos with Chicken just a few changes. Bravo, Ivy!”
or a Poached Egg E
— Deborah Madison, author of
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Local Flavors
Japanese Eggplant and
F
Halibut with Miso Glaze
“Ivy Manning cooks and writes with grace and
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Jambalaya for Everyone good sense. For those of us with mixed-diet
families and friends, her book will be a source of A
Vegan Chocolate
much-needed inspiration and many great meals.”
Birthday Cake with S
— Molly Wizenberg, author of
Dreamy Vanilla Frosting
A Homemade Life and the Orangette blog T
U O
$23.95 U.S.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57061-583-2
www.sasquatchbooks.com ISBN-10: 1-57061-583-7
TH E A DA P TA B L E F E A S T
saTisfying meals for The vegeTarians, vegans, and omnivores aT your Table
Ivy Manning
Photography by Gregor Torrence
2
This book is dedicated to Gregor, who challenges me to create mixed-diet meals
every day, and to Alice B. Toklas, my eager recipe taster and the smartest dog
in the world. May she be feasting in her next life.
Copyright © 2009 by Ivy Manning
Photography copyright © 2009 by Gregor Torrence
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any
form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Printed in China
Published by Sasquatch Books
Distributed by PGW/Perseus
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover photographs: Gregor Torrence
Cover design: Rosebud Eustace
Interior design and composition: Rosebud Eustace
Interior photographs: Gregor Torrence
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Manning, Ivy.
The adaptable feast : satisfying meals for the vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores at
your table / Ivy Manning ; photography by Gregor Torrence.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57061-583-2
ISBN-10: 1-57061-583-7
1. Cookery. 2. Vegetarian cookery. 3. Cookery, International. I. Title.
TX714.M3393 2009
641.5’636—dc22
2009018963
Sasquatch Books
119 South Main Street, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98104
[phone]
www.sasquatchbooks.com
[email protected]
Table of ConTenTs
Acknowledgments v
Getting Started in a Mixed-Diet Kitchen vii
The Adaptable Feast Method ix
The Mixed-Diet Pantry xi
Getting Enough Protein in Mixed-Diet Menus xv
V Is for Vegan xxi
1 Appetizers and Salads 1
2 Soups and Stews 27
3 Quick Fixes 61
4 Classic Recipes for Everyone 99
5 Foods from Afar 143
6 Special Occasions 181
7 Basics 223
Glossary 233
Resources 237
Bibliography 239
Recommended Reading and Media 240
Index 241

aCknowledgmenTs
The amount of work it took to reinvent recipes for the mixed-diet format and
edit them to create clean, understandable sets of instructions was a Herculean
task. I’d like to thank my editor Gary Luke for trusting in my idea and project
editor Rachelle Longé for being patient, funny, and very organized. Thanks
also to Andy Manning and all of the other mixed-diet cooks who were eager
to try my recipes and give me honest feedback. And finally, a heartfelt thank-
you to my husband, Gregor Torrence, who has stuck to his vegetarian guns all
this time.


geTTing sTarTed in a mixed-d ieT ki TChen
Ethical omnivore, vegetarian, “flexitarian,” pescatarian, vegan. Our vocabulary
is quickly evolving to describe the way Americans are changing their eating
habits for reasons of health, ethics, and the environment. With all these dietary
variations, it’s common for families to have vegetarians or vegans in their
ranks while the rest of the family eats meat. So how do you cook for every-
one in a mixed-diet family without making two separate meals every night or
shortchanging vegetarians or vegans by serving them nothing but tofu dogs
or side dishes?
I have learned from personal experience just how challenging these ques-
tions can be. When I met my vegetarian husband, friends said it would never
work. “You are far too good at cooking meat,” they scoffed. “You’ll have him
eating your barbecued ribs in no time, or you’ll go your separate ways.” I must
admit that in the beginning of our relationship, I urged Mr. Tofu to cave to
my meat-eating ways. Eventually I realized that I needed to respect his dietary
choices, so I switched to cooking vegetarian food for both of us, but I often
missed eating meat. Finally, I began tinkering with dishes I had been cooking
for years, making some of each dish vegetarian while still adding meat to my
portion.
It’s been five years now, and Mr. Tofu and I are married (against some
friends’ bets), and cooking mixed-diet meals is now second nature to me. My
husband appreciates that I no longer plead with him to try a bit of chicken,
and I love that I can have my old familiar favorites with a bit of sustainably
raised meat in them. Plus, I’ve become more open-minded and have learned
to love tofu, seitan, and other vegetarian proteins. We’re living proof that har-
mony can happen; it just takes an open mind and an adventurous spirit in the
kitchen to make it work.
The Adaptable Feast will show you how to cook for omnivores, vegetari-
ans, and vegans on every occasion, whether it’s a weeknight quick fix for your
immediate family, cocktail nibbles for a group, or a special-occasion holiday
meal when you want everyone to feel welcome, no matter their dining prefer-
ence. This book will show you how to cook one meal by preparing a portion
with tasty protein-rich meat alternatives like tofu, seitan, or beans and the rest
with sustainably raised meat or seafood. With more than eighty-five recipes
ranging from familiar favorites like Red Chile Enchiladas with Chicken or
ii
Tempeh (page 118) to exciting Asian fare like Pad Thai with Shrimp or Tofu
(page 150), this book will show you how to cook delicious, nutritionally bal-
anced meals for the whole family without dirtying every pan in the kitchen or
discounting anyone’s diet.
Whether you are a curious omnivore who would like to test the vegetarian
or vegan waters without jumping in completely, or you are the designated cook
in a mixed-diet family who is tired of doing double duty, this book will launch
you into a world where meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans can sit together
and share scrumptious meals in harmony.
a Plea for resPonsible omnivorism
What we choose to eat has environmental, social, and economic impact. If you
choose to eat meat, I urge you to be mindful of where it comes from. Animals
that are raised in inhumane factory farms are not only subjected to undeserved
cruelty but are also less safe and less savory to eat. Please seek out beef and lamb
from animals that are grass fed, genuinely free range and organic poultry, and
pigs that are raised humanely. Buy sustainable fish that are caught only from
fisheries deemed healthy. (See Recommended Reading and Media for infor-
mative Web sites that can help you make smart choices when buying meat and
fish.) It’s not only vegetarians and vegans who should be mindful of what they
eat; it’s every-vore.
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The adaPTable feasT meT hod
The recipes in this book follow the same conventions found in standard recipes,
with one difference. At some point in the instructions while you are chopping,
stirring, and prepping each meal, you’ll come across a step or steps marked
vegeTarian. The instructions that follow (set in bold type) will be specifically
for the vegetarian or vegan portion of the recipe so you will know when you
are cooking that something should remain meat-free. At times this section can
be as simple as setting aside a vegetarian portion of the recipe at the end of
cooking before adding meat to the remaining dish, as with recipes like Fried
Green Tomatoes (and Sometimes Bacon) with Smokey Blue Cheese (page 25).
In other recipes the meal is made up of individual servings, like the Antipasto
Calzones (page 67), so while most of the servings are made with Italian sausage
(for instance), the rest is made with a tasty vegetarian protein alternative. In
other recipes, the basis of the dish is the same for both omnivores and vegetar-
ians or vegans, but it is separated into two portions before incorporating the
proteins. In the recipe for Shepherd’s Pie (page 129), for example, a vegetable-
based stew is divided into two baking dishes. Soy crumbles are added to one
dish and ground lamb is added to the other.
If there happens to be a vegan in your ranks, never fear! Over half of the
vegetarian recipe variations in this book also happen to be vegan. The vegan
recipes are clearly marked with a V beside the recipe title. Additionally, wher-
ever possible, I have included a Vegan Variation note at the end of a recipe where
a few changes to the existing instructions can make the vegetarian portion of
the recipe suitable for vegans.
The Adaptable Feast method may seem a bit foreign at first, but after you try
a few recipes, I am sure you will find it almost as simple as cooking single-diet
meals, and with time you’ll be able to apply the same adaptable principles to
your own recipes.
TransiTioning To mixed-dieT Cooking
Beyond the tempting recipes, I’ve also included sections to help you transition
all your cooking to the mixed-diet format. The Alternative Protein Primer (see
page xvii) demystifies the world of meat alternatives so you can confidently add
everything from edamame to tempeh to your cooking. A section on umami
ix