THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607160066
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Betty J. Atkinson, Special to Flavor
LENGTH: 145 lines
SUSAN COSTNER'S book ``Mostly Vegetables - Stylish Recipes Celebrating the Glories of the Vegetable Kingdom'' (Bantam Books, 1996) isn't about salads and side dishes.
Nor is it a vegetarian cookbook, since it includes seafood recipes, pancetta (Italian bacon) as an ingredient and a veal stock recipe.
``Mostly Vegetables'' falls into that up-and-coming category of ``almost vegetarian.''
Though some vegetarians find this new category a non sequitur - you either eat meat or you don't - there is a niche to be filled by cookbooks that help put meatless entrees on the table.
``Entree'' is the key word; who needs another salad recipe?
Meatless main dishes, preferably based on grains and beans, differentiate vegetarian from vegetable cookery. Costner's roasted barley and wild mushroom pilaf recipe, unlike many in this book, is easy, quick and made from readily available ingredients. Unfortunately, some of her recipes will send the cook on a scavenger hunt for such exotic ingredients as quail eggs and fresh truffles.
Hardly what a busy working mom needs, but ``Mostly Vegetables'' could be fun for the gourmet with lots of time and money.
A more useful choice for the almost vegetarian is ``Almost Vegetarian'' by Diana Shaw (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 1994).
Shaw creates hundreds of easy, tasty recipes, complete with nutri tional profiles and start-to-finish times. The chicken recipes are thoughtfully provided with alternate instructions for using tofu instead. And there's no veal.
There is plenty of middle ground to be filled by cookbooks dedicated to busy vegetarians, and the ``Quick After-Work Vegetarian Cookbook'' by Judy Ridway (Fisher Books, 1996) does the job beautifully.
Any cookbook that unapologetically uses canned beans to save time wins points for realism. And these recipes, which can be prepared in 30 minutes, draw from fragrant, colorful cuisines around the world.
The Umbrian Chickpeas and Pasta recipe was zingy and crunchy with three ribs of celery. Jamican Run Down, made with canned coconut milk and served over couscous, sang of the islands.
This cookbook is written for ovo-lacto-vegetarians (those who eat eggs and dairy products), but clearly indicates the vegan recipes (vegans eat no food of animal origin).
Another plus is the frequent use of wine as an ingredient, which makes for interesting sauces and happy cooks. The ``Quick After-Work Vegetarian Cookbook'' accomplishes its goals of fast, tasty recipes for busy people. It's a must-have.
Vegetarian's A to Z Guide to Fruits & Vegetables'' by Kathleen Robinson (Fisher Books, 1996) is an encyclopedia of the Earth's bounty as seen through the eyes of Robinson and her greengrocer pal Pete Luckett. Storage and preparation tips and homey anecdotes accompany each fruit and vegetable entry, usually followed by a recipe or two.
Despite the ``vegetarian'' in the title, this book has little to offer today's vegetarian. Most of the fruit recipes are pies and tarts, and the few vegetable main dishes are predictable ones such as stuffed peppers, eggplant Parmesan, and four different frittatas, whose requisite eggs push the cholesterol content to near-heart-attack levels.
The authors also seem to throw bacon bits into almost everything. The one main dish that deviates from the cheese-and-egg standard, Rapini Fried Rice With Tofu, was aggressive with contrasting colors, flavors and textures. To live up to its title, this cookbook should have included more grain and bean entrees.
A better-executed version of an artichoke-to-zucchini vegetable encyclopedia is ``The Victory Garden Cookbook'' by Marian Morash (Knopf, 1982). There are gorgeous color photos of plants and dishes on almost every page, seed-to-harvest instructions, experienced opinions of different varieties and hundreds of gourmet recipes. This isn't a vegetarian cookbook, but Robinson's guide doesn't seem to be one, either.
Forget the vegetarian part of ``Steven Raichlen's High-Flavor Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking'' (Viking, 1995); this is a great low-fat cookbook for anyone.
Raichlen comes as close to veganism as possible without giving up his leather shoes. By keeping the animal products down to egg whites, fat-free milk or sour cream, and small amounts of intensely flavored cheeses, his groaning board of recipes lightens up considerably.
For the confirmed veghead or the almost vegetarian, there are four large entree sections in the book: pastas, vegetable entrees, grains and beans. The author has created five recipes for the wonderful grain quinoa, including quinoa caviar.
Dishes from around the world are here, some altered to be vegetarian, such as Spanish paella, which is usually made with sausage and seafood; and some that are traditionally vegetarian, such as Indian saaga panir, a spinach dish sometimes made with heavy cream and oil.
Raichlen isn't much of a tofu man, but he has created four creamy, tofu-based salad dressings. And his recipe for smoked tofu ham is very clever.
The cook can open this book every day just for the bread and dessert sections. Several recipes use applesauce or prune puree instead of butter and egg yolks to achieve a dense, moist crumb. Just looking at the photo of the Big Chocolate Cake With Sour Cream Icing should put on five pounds, but the author has trimmed this beauty to 8 grams of fat per serving. Good health never tasted so good.
If the venerable ``Joy of Cooking'' is the Ford of the cookbook world, ``Eco-Cuisine: An Ecological Approach to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking'' (Ten Speed Press/1995) is the Lamborghini.
Written by former Franciscan friar Ron Pickarski, this sensitive compendium of plant-based recipes and philosophy propels culinary art into the 21st century.
Brother Ron was the first vegetarian chef to be certified an executive chef by the American Culinary Federation.
In explaining his book's title, Brother Ron says, ``Eco-Cuisine is a dietary approach to ecology, seeking balance between personal and environmental nutrition. By living in harmony with our environment we nurture it just as it nurtures us.''
Brother Ron walks the talk with his awe-inspiring vegan cuisine. Many of these recipes have ingredient lists the length of your arm, but are well worth the adventure when you have the time.
One of Brother Ron's signature ingredients is seitan, or vital wheat gluten. It can be prepared in many ways and will fake out meat-eating friends with its chicken-like texture. He also makes frequent use of tempeh, a cultured soybean product with a chewy texture and a mildly musky flavor.
The soups, salads, sauces and desserts are as spectacular as they are Earth-friendly. He has created two beautiful terrines, one fruit and the other vegetable, which are congealed not with gelatin (a slaughterhouse byproduct) but with agar (obtained from seaweed.)
This food brings reverence to the table.
There's a reason ``Vegetarian Food for All'' by Annabel Perkins (New World Library, 1996) seems like an old hippie cookbook. This revised edition of the 1977 book features dishes from Perkins' London restaurant. It doesn't contain any '90s buzz phrases like ``low-fat'' or ``quick and easy.'' There's no quinoa or sun-dried tomatoes. Just a generous helping of recipes and Eastern philosophy.
In keeping with yoga principles, these recipes contain neither eggs nor onions, garlic or mushrooms. (What! No garlic?) According to the introduction, these foods are irritating and distract the diner from the search for oneness.
``Vegetarian Food for All'' seems stuck in the '70s by promoting the obsolete theory of protein complementarity (grain and bean protein is inferior to meat and must be consumed together at the same meal to be usable).
This book jacks up the saturated fat and cholesterol levels with its too-generous use of butter. With a few '90s fat-cutting tips, however, ``Vegetarian Food for All'' is a serviceable addition to one's bookshelf.
Canola or olive oil can replace the butter, and fat amounts can be halved if you make up the difference with water or broth. Applesauce can often substitute for butter in cookie and cake recipes.
Some of the recipes are wonderful as they stand: Try the Red Bean Goulash or the Spinach Cashew Curry.
So dig out the love beads, put on Led Zeppelin (vinyl, please) and start cooking.
I'll bring the garlic. ILLUSTRATION: Color illustration by Janet Shaughnessy
KEYWORDS: VEGETARIAN
by CNB