THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606060180
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
If you're a fan of barbecued spareribs - dripping with sloppy red barbecue sauce, try Robin Robertson's whibs.
They're ribs made with meat substitute instead of pork and Robertson says they taste so good, all you'll miss is the fat, bone and gristle.
If you can make it with meat, Robertson can make it without it.
Roasts, Swedish meatballs, stir fry, kabobs, cutlets and meatloaf are all easily made with meat substitutes such as tofu, tempeh and seitan (made from soybeans or wheat gluten) says the Shadowlawn resident and author of ``366 Healthful Ways to Cook Tofu and Other Meat Alternatives,'' a new cookbook she will be autographing Saturday at Barnes and Noble bookstore.
About the only thing she hasn't been able to duplicate is steak tartare. ``And that's because it's just literally raw meat,'' she added.
Cooking without meat is a passion and a challenge for Robertson, 43, and a professional chef who formerly worked in Italian, French and other mainstream restaurants.
The stress of 16-hour days often six days a week working in restaurants took their toll on her health, she said. In the late '80s she became interested in vegetarian cooking and moved to Virginia Beach in 1989. Her husband, Jon, is an editor with the A.R.E. Press.
She began a personal quest for healthier ways of living. For Robertson, cooking without meat was a major part of developing a more nourishing lifestyle. She wanted to integrate her love for traditional recipes, both gourmet and family styled, with her growing vegetarianism.
``I made a study of it and I combined what I learned with how I wanted to live. I wanted to keep it fun. My book is about enjoying foods and celebrating foods. It's not about deprivation, it's about eating the foods that are important for our health but also for our enjoyment.''
There wasn't a problem convincing her husband to go along with the new venture.
``He is just spoiled rotten because he loves my cooking,'' she said. ``All he said was if you can make it taste good, I'll eat it.
``He hasn't complained since,'' she added. ``And he was a very definite meat eater. Now he says he can't imagine eating it again.''
The book project began when an editor saw another of Robertson's manuscripts, one about her life in the restaurant business, liked her writing style and suggested she write the tofu book. She's written two more since then, which aren't out yet. One, which is also in the 366 series, is about dairy alternatives, using such projects as soy milk, rice milk, even tofu again. The other is geared toward people trying to reduce their cholesterol. Soy protein, she says, actually reduces cholesterol.
Robertson said her style of eating is not only healthy, but cheap. At between $1 to $1.50 a pound, the book's meat alternatives can provide pocketbook relief to those who love meaty recipes such as lasagna, Swedish meatballs and even roasts of beef. Robertson's book includes a meat-free lasagna, ``Swedish Wheatballs,'' a seitan roast with pear walnut stuffing and even kid-friendly pizzas.
To get a taste of Robertson's cooking (probably a white bean pate with mango chutney) interested readers can attend her booking signing at Barnes and Noble bookstore, Saturday, from noon to 2 p.m. Copies of the book, published by Plume Paperbacks, are available at Barnes and Noble, the Heritage Store, A.R.E. bookstore, and can be ordered from Waldenbooks. The suggested retail price is $14.95. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Robin Robertson said her style of eating is not only healthy, but
cheap. At between $1 to $1.50 a pound, the book's meat alternatives
can provide pocketbook relief to those who love meaty recipes such
as lasagna, Swedish meatballs and even roasts of beef. by CNB