Spring Training

Now that I've signed up to run the Pikes Peak Ascent again (a borderline-masochistic move), I need to start getting in shape (all over again--winter isn't the best time for running up mountains, so I've gotten a bit slack). Fortunately, my brother-in-law is an enthusiast, so I never have to go out alone, and he sets a good pace, so I have someone faster than me to keep up with. Yesterday we set out to charge up to a spot I'd only seen from (way) below. To give you an idea, this picture was taken from a spot about 1500 feet above our starting point, and the spot we were headed for is well above the highest rock.

Why, you might ask, am I doing this? One part of the answer is that I'm enjoying the challenge, it's making me feel very good physically, and I get to do it all in gorgeous surroundings, breathing brisk, clean air. The other part of the answer is that since I switched to an all-plant-based diet, I'm out to prove to myself (and my incredulous doctor) that I can do all the same stuff as before, only better. This was the initial story behind "vegan ascent."

We set out around 8:30 AM with three dogs. My wife came with us part of the way. It was about 35 degrees out, with a fairly fierce wind blowing down the canyon as we began our ascent. You can't see it, but there is a trail that runs along what looks like a massive rockfall, called "Ice Cave Creek," which begins just to the left of that boulder at the bottom left of the picture. It leads to another trail that eventually takes you to a high ridge, and that's about halfway up. I won't lie, this was a grueling enterprise, but the payoff was well worth it.

The view was spectacular. Toward the east, we could see halfway to Kansas (slight exaggeration); to the southwest, Pikes Peak towering over every other mountain in the area. Just check out these shots:

At the summit, Bill checks his email.

Remember that first picture? This is taken from behind and above those rocks.

Some amazing rock formations, with trees growing out from the cracks.

Pikes Peak, about 40 miles to the southwest.

My cheerful little dog, always glad to see me. She was pretty beat when we got home.

Running back down (shot by holding my iPhone at arms length).

 

After a 2-hour climb, a 45-minute descent.

I had planned to finish working on my taxes after we got back, but that never happened. I had also planned to put up this post that afternoon, but let's face it--I was only good for non-interactive stuff, like reading, web-surfing, napping and eating. I went to bed early and slept like the dead--except for that one time I woke up with a foot-to-groin cramp in my left leg; after cursing and walking around for about 20 seconds, I went back to sleep until the alarm at 6 AM. Tonight I went to the gym, and did mostly upper body stuff (why should any part be spared?). Believe it or not, I'm really enjoying this!

One Yummy Chocolate Protein Pick-me-up

When I was at the Seattle VegFest last month, my new friend, vegan bodybuilder Robert Cheeke, gave me a couple of packets of Vega "Shake&Go" protein smoothie powder to try out. I was already hooked on Vega's berry flavor "health optimizer," which packs not only a whopping 26 grams of protein per serving, but an impressive array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, among other things, in high doses. So I was eager to try the new, quick and easy "shake&go" stuff.

I went through the mango flavor pretty fast (just shake a couple tablespoons in a jar with a cup of water and drink it down). The chocolate flavor was almost convincing on its own, but I was still looking to make it taste really good (it's what I do, after all). I was in my local natural grocery store (Vitamin Cottage, in Monument, CO) a few days ago, and saw that my new favorite almond milk now comes in a dark chocolate flavor. I bought it for my son, who had asked me to buy him some chocolate milk, but I found it quite tasty too. Then the idea came to use this instead of water for the "Choc-a-lot" flavor. It was 99% perfect on the first try; I added just a touch of peppermint extract, and that did it. What a delicious way to bump up your protein intake!

Red Slaw, Watercress and Avocado Salad

Often the best dishes evolve from leftovers made into something new. I happened to have some red slaw I had made hastily the day before--a very simple combination of sliced red cabbage, red onion, and celery, grated beet, and a taratour sauce left over from the day before that.

Taratour, if you don't already know, is a tahini-lemon sauce used in the Middle East with, among other things, felafel. I've found that it also excels as a creamy salad dressing. It's very easy to make; just whisk together about 1/4 cup each of  fresh lemon juice, tahini (the Middle Eastern-style roasted is good), a couple tablespoons of EVOO, and about a half-teaspoon of sea salt. It's not really a traditional component, but I also add a clove or two of garlic, crushed in a garlic press or pounded with the salt in a mortar. If you want a thinner sauce, just whisk in a little water.

The rest was very quick. I sliced avocado halves and fanned them out on one third of each plate. I mounded some of the slaw down the middle, alongside the avocado, and then tossed a bunch of hydroponic watercress with some of the taratour and piled it next to the slaw. As a final touch, I sprinkled a few Balinese "hollow pyramid" coarse sea salt crystals over the avocado, and strewed romaine lettuce microgreens onto the slaw.

A fabulous late lunch, it went down remarkably fast (we were hungry), but it also landed gently and kept going, so we'll be able to eat dinner at a reasonable hour. What a life I'm having!

A New Rice On My Block

Something I never cease to marvel at is the way that, after over 30 years of cooking, traveling, walking through ethnic markets and reading about food, I'm still discovering new foods--new fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, spices--things I had literally never even heard of, and new ways to prepare them. Just last week I saw a new product from Alter Eco, a company that puts out very high quality, fair trade quinoa, chocolate, olive oil, and--as I discovered--rice. I had been using Bhutanese red rice for years, and the product that caught my eye, "Ruby Red Jasmine" rice from Thailand looked somewhat similar at first glance. On closer inspection, the red grains are longer, like basmati, with a pleasant luster. Of course I had to try them.

On my first sortie into the realm of ruby red rice, I kept it very simple, because I wanted to understand the bare essentials: the right grain-to-water ratio (1:2 1/2), the timing (I live at 7800 feet, so it takes longer than at sea level), and the unembellished flavor of the grain itself. I usually do this with every new item, unless, like a fruit, I can taste it without any preparation, so I can get to know its properties. Then my imagination can begin to fly around in search of likely ways to use the new addition to my ever-expanding artist's palette.

Of course, I already had in mind that I would make something with a Thai flavor to accompany the rice, just because I figured they would get along well enough. I made a very quick green curry with onions, peppers and tofu. I sauteed the onion over high heat in a little coconut oil, then added the peppers and stirred them briefly before adding a generous gob of Thai green curry paste. Once the curry paste was well distributed, I added a can of rich coconut milk, some cubed firm tofu, and finely sliced cilantro stems. On the side, I steamed some broccoli florets, split lengthwise to expose a cross-section view of their delicate green "tree" look. I plated it with a molded serving of the rice in the center of each bowl, a moat of the soupy curry, with the steamed broccoli on top, distributed around the rice, and a garnish of cilantro leaves.

The rice has a texture similar to a very tender long grain brown rice, and a nice nutty taste. It has a wonderful combination of rich, full-bodied flavor and yet a mild character, which blended with the curry seamlessly into an earthy, delectable melange--chewy, creamy, crunchy, pungent, fragrant.

I needed just a little more heat, so I spattered my plate with sriracha sauce (once I had tasted the rice by itself, that is).

The next day (today), I had some leftover rice, so I made an even simpler dish, combining it with peas to form a complete protein, and flavored it with roasted chile-garlic paste and scallions. Great success.

I'm just getting started, but I'd say it's safe to go ahead and announce the verdict now: Alter Eco's Ruby Red Jasmine rice is a delicious, versatile grain with a wide horizon of possibilities.

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From Cow To Horse To...?

My wife brought this cute video to my attention, and it got me thinking about our relationship, as human beings, with animals. For millennia, we have eaten some, worn the skins and used the body parts of some, made pets of some, killed some for sport, and tested our drugs, protocols and cosmetics on some. We have allowed our encroachment upon the habitat of all species to endanger their survival, even to the point of extinction. It occurs to me that to reject any of these habits is necessarily to reject them all, for either we accept the rights of all creatures to live a life of dignity, free of domination and premeditated murder, or we reject them. Either we see the wisdom in the so-called "Golden Rule," or we don't.

Speaking as a man who has at various times owned dogs, cats, a falcon, a pig and a horse--and had affection for all of them--on the one hand, and who has also hunted ducks, killed untold numbers of crustaceans and mollusks, cooked and eaten many species of (formerly) sentient creatures on the other, I must admit that I have no definitive policy to offer. I'm still sorting it out.



I know that hard core vegans would disapprove of this girl's exploitation of the cow for her own enjoyment, but I have to say that compared to being serially artificially inseminated and auto-milked, and then butchered for meat, playing surrogate horse isn't a bad option for a cow. They do seem to have bonded. And who knows? Maybe this cow will escape the normal fate of her kind, by virtue of the girl's love. The prospect of being ridden by a cute girl is not an unpleasant one, if you ask me.

I've heard that farmers don't like to give pet names to the animals they intend to slaughter. The reason seems quite obvious: you don't kill and eat your pets--that would be beastly. So getting back to "Luna," the cow-turned-horse, she now has a double cultural barrier between her and the butcher (we don't kill and eat horses either). Ah, but some of us do. In fact some of us kill and eat just about every edible creature there is.

At "La Bodeguita Del Medio." (That's me on the left.)

Back in the summer of 1989, I was at a restaurant/bar in Cuba called "La Bodeguita Del Medio," made famous by being a favorite hangout of one hard-drinking Ernest Hemmingway (he wrote something on the wall about his love for their mojitos that remains to this day). I was there with my father, who was a guest of the Cuban government, our driver, and what I guess was our handler. Our Cuban hosts were recommending various local specialties for us to try, and most of it was quite good (in spite of the desperate economic situation at that time, which was causing widespread shortages).

Then a dish arrived, and a small serving of it was placed in front of me that looked like some sort of shredded meat in a thick sauce. As I was placing a forkful into my mouth, I asked, "What is this?"  A rank, salty taste oiled its way onto my taste buds just as the answer came: "Caballo" (horse!). I'll never forget that moment; I could not have been more repulsed if they had said it was human flesh. It took all the discipline I could muster to wait for their heads to turn, so I could spit the entire disgusting unformed bolus into my napkin. I ate nothing after that. It took at least three, maybe four mojitos to rinse the lingering taste from my palate.

I've told this story to a number of people, all of whom had, vicariously, the same reaction as I did. Why? It's entirely cultural. In China, people eat dozens, maybe even hundreds of creatures we would not even consider, from live insects and larvae to reptiles and puppy dogs. Eating, we understand, is a function of being alive; what we eat is a matter of culture. Some children have a hard time eating animals at first. My wife was one--she was forced to eat meat until she got used to it, and now it remains part of her cultural set of acceptable norms. I honestly don't recall whether I went through a period of adjustment to the reality that I was eating real animals or not.

A primary feature of being human is the awareness of our actions, their implications and consequences--and the need to feel okay with what we do (and eat). Right now, I'm on a new culinary track, which includes no animal products, because it works for me--both healthwise and consciencewise. I'm glad to say that my culture is changing around me, so that what I eat is not an entirely foreign concept to other people. I do notice that when they find out I'm not eating animals, they immediately begin to explain why they do eat animals--in a way that I sense is an attempt to deflect blame. From my side, I make a conscious effort to refrain from judging people for being the way they are and doing what they do; I feel very clean and free that way. There is the most profound wisdom in that ole Golden Rule.

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A (fairly) Quick Lunch

Anyone who has read the "Jump Starts" section of my book Speed Vegan would know that I strongly favor the practice of keeping on hand some flavor-enhancing homemade preparations, such as garlic oil, chipotle chile puree, and the like. The reason, they would also know, which is that when you have limited time and want to throw something delicious together, a few such condiments can make the difference between acceptable and spectacular. I also keep a number of stellar spices and spice mixtures in stock, for the same reason.

Take today, for example.  I had driven my car down to the local mechanic to have the brake pads replaced, and had run the mile or so back up the mountain to my house, so I wanted a high-protein meal. I was then going to be writing all afternoon, so I also wanted something that wouldn't heavy me out as I sat at the computer. It was a busy day, and I was giving myself a short time to have lunch. So here's how I approached it:

I put some quinoa on to cook, with a couple of handfuls of frozen corn and a vegetable bouillon cube. While it was cooking (about 15 minutes), I sautéed some diced onion and zucchini in a little coconut oil with a generous sprinkling of Aleppo pepper and salt. About five minutes in, I added a couple of diced roasted red peppers. Just before the quinoa was done, when just a little liquid remained in the pot, I dumped the whole thing into the pan with the vegetables. Then I added some frozen green peas and stirred it all together. I covered the pan, lowered the heat, and let it stew gently while I reheated some baby spinach I had blanched the night before, with just enough water to keep it from sticking. When it was hot, I took it off the flame and stirred in some Simple Garlic Udo's Oil (recipe, from Omega 3 Cuisine, below), salt and pepper. By then the quinoa was ready. I spread a bed of the spinach out on a plate, mounded some of the quinoa mixture in the center, and sprinkled freshly chopped cilantro over the top. Then I added some drops of my homemade sriracha sauce all around, and that was lunch--in 20 minutes flat.

Now, you might tell me it would have been pretty good without the Aleppo pepper, roasted peppers, garlic oil and sriracha sauce. And you'd be right. But I don't like to shoot for pretty good; I like to go for extraordinary. And this lunch was pretty good, by my standards.

Simple Garlic Udo's Oil 

Makes about 1 cup

What could be easier? If you like garlic, this will immediately become a staple in your kitchen. It's the quickest and easiest oil infusion, requiring no straining, decanting or any other monkeying around. Properly steamed vegetables really need nothing else. Merely drizzle some of this oil on them, and you have something anyone can eat with pleasure. It'll make pedestrian mashed potatoes into something truly special. Keep some of this on hand in your refrigerator and you'll discover many uses for it. It's a standard ingredient in many of the recipes in Omega 3 Cuisine.

4 to 7 cloves garlic (see note)
1 cup Udo's Oil

Pass the garlic cloves through a garlic press into a small jar. Add the oil and stir. Pour into a glass jar or bottle and refrigerate until ready to use.

Note: You may prefer to use less than 4 or more than 7 cloves garlic, according to your taste.

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Minestrone Verde

Such an injustice! 
A truly exceptional minestrone, with an intoxicatingly enticing aroma fully capable of capturing and stimulating the appetite of total strangers who may happen to pass under your kitchen window--and far from doing it any justice, the picture makes it look like pond scum! Not a good introduction, I know, but I just had to get that out of the way (after all, I--mea culpa--took the bloody picture).

An Italian lady from Torino showed me the original version of this minestrone, and I like it much better than the southern Italian one most Americans are familiar with, which is more tomato-(and meat broth)-based. "Minestrone" would translate roughly as "big soup," and in traditional Italian dining the soup is the first course (preceded by antipasti, or appetizers, then followed by pasta, meat, fish, a sweet, and ending with cheeses and fruits). Sometimes an intermezzo (an interval between courses--usually a few bites of lemon sorbet) is served to cleanse the palate between meat and fish courses. It always seemed to me that when so much follows the soup, it should be as light and palate-teasing as possible. I know it seems a bit oxymoronic to have "big soup" in the same sentence as "palate-teasing," but if you think like an Italian it makes perfect sense. These people love to eat.

In the original version, all the vegetables are simmered in water until tender first, then salt and a flourish of olive oil added at the end. I don't ever plan to serve five courses after this dish, so I go for a richer, more palate-satisfying effect. My variations, for fuller flavor: I sauté the onion, celery, leeks, garlic, and carrots in a little olive oil first, and then let them sweat a while over very low heat to develop and concentrate their flavors. When the liquid released has been absorbed and the vegetables are almost dry, I add water, vegetable bouillon cubes, and the other vegetables. The rest is fairly standard.  The beans are cooked separately and added last, so I don't have to stand there and stir every couple of minutes to keep them from sticking (and burning).

The main thing I like about this soup is the color--nearly everything in it is green, with eye-appealing accents of carrot, pumpkin, and cannellini. The version I learned also featured tubetti (little tube-shaped pasta), but I'm headed into a gluten-free zone these days, so I left them out. The beans, however, are essential. As my good friend Giorgio once stated to me with is signature air of professorial authority, "Any minestrone must have fagioli." That's Italian for beans, and--not that it was ever up for debate--I concur.

I'm taking some liberties here, using a couple of unorthodox ingredients, but I've kept to the spirit of the original. Here's what's in it: olive oil, onion, celery, leek, garlic, carrot, zucchini, green beans, asparagus, broccoli stems, peas, spinach, Swiss chard, Tuscan kale, "regular" kale, parsley, potatoes, pumpkin, rich vegetable broth, cannelini beans, and my secret ingredient, a dab of pesto, stirred in just before serving. It's so easy to overeat this stuff!

If you're wondering how I make pesto without Parmesan cheese, I admit I had doubts about the possibility of accomplishing this myself. I don't favor imitation cheese (or imitation anything, frankly), so the question of using that processed vegan faux-Parmesan never came up. Instead, what happened was serendipitous...

One day, my wife had harvested about four cups of fresh basil to make pesto (the right way, with pecorino Sardo and Parmesan cheeses), and asked if we had any pine nuts. We didn't, but I suggested she try using some of the macadamias I just happened to have in the freezer. So she put everything except the cheese into the food processor and blasted it until it was pretty well smooth. Then, just before she was going to add the cheese for a final whirl, I stuck a spoon into the mixture and tasted it.

Now, I haven't eaten any cheese for a couple of years, so I may not be the best judge in this case, but that pesto tasted amazing to me just the way it was at that moment. I think it's the uniquely grainy-unctuous texture and unusual flavor of the macadamias that provides just enough of the taste sensations you get from ground Parmesan cheese to spark up my taste memory just enough to fill in the gaps. Whatever. I'm putting a version of this new pesto in my next book--that's how good I think it is!