To Be Titled

Striving to be a good dad, a good husband, a good son/brother, a good political scientist, a good photographer, a good cook and a good homo universalis.

Dinner tonight. Soba noodles with vegetables and sesame-blackbean sauce, courtesy of Mom.

I regularly make pancakes or waffles on weekends now. I like all of Bob’s Red Mill stuff, but I usually get the 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle Mix. The whole grain flavors really come through, which is great. The secret to nice fluffy pancakes: Separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with everything else, but beat the egg whites until they peak. Fold in the beaten egg whites into the rest of the mixture well and then cook the pancakes immediately. This method was actually suggested on the back of the pancake mix packaging for “delightfully light” waffles. The mixture, however, ended up sticking heavily to the waffle iron. But the recipe works well for pancakes. (Photo via my Flickr)

I regularly make pancakes or waffles on weekends now. I like all of Bob’s Red Mill stuff, but I usually get the 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle Mix. The whole grain flavors really come through, which is great.

The secret to nice fluffy pancakes: Separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with everything else, but beat the egg whites until they peak. Fold in the beaten egg whites into the rest of the mixture well and then cook the pancakes immediately.

This method was actually suggested on the back of the pancake mix packaging for “delightfully light” waffles. The mixture, however, ended up sticking heavily to the waffle iron. But the recipe works well for pancakes.

(Photo via my Flickr)

“Goat Cheese Soufflé” — From my now-unquestionably favorite cookbook—Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Suppers. This is after the first baking of a twice-baked soufflé. It cooled after the first baking, and then I baked it the second time later in the day with some half-and-half and grated pecorino on top. (photo via my Flickr)

“Goat Cheese Soufflé” — From my now-unquestionably favorite cookbook—Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Suppers. This is after the first baking of a twice-baked soufflé. It cooled after the first baking, and then I baked it the second time later in the day with some half-and-half and grated pecorino on top. (photo via my Flickr)

Mahi Mahi with Roasted Butternut Squash and Rainbow Chard — I’ve been consciously trying to work on better presentations of food I cook for dinner. This was one of the better outcomes. Recipes: Butternut squash: sliced thin crosswise, dipped in a brown sugar, lime juice and white wine marinade and baked in the oven until brown. Rainbow chard: leaves separate from the stems. Leaves shredded and stir-fried on high heat with about 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger and a little olive oil. Finished with some lime juice. Chard stems and two ribs of celery diced. Stir-fried with some pepper flakes. Mahi Mahi: brushed with olive oil, salted and peppered. Brushed with a marinade consisting of 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 2 cloves of garlic minced, salt, pepper, some lime juice and some white wine (Bittman 1998). (photo via my Flickr)

Mahi Mahi with Roasted Butternut Squash and Rainbow Chard — I’ve been consciously trying to work on better presentations of food I cook for dinner. This was one of the better outcomes.

Recipes:

  • Butternut squash: sliced thin crosswise, dipped in a brown sugar, lime juice and white wine marinade and baked in the oven until brown.
  • Rainbow chard: leaves separate from the stems. Leaves shredded and stir-fried on high heat with about 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger and a little olive oil. Finished with some lime juice. Chard stems and two ribs of celery diced. Stir-fried with some pepper flakes.
  • Mahi Mahi: brushed with olive oil, salted and peppered. Brushed with a marinade consisting of 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 2 cloves of garlic minced, salt, pepper, some lime juice and some white wine (Bittman 1998).

(photo via my Flickr)

Stuffed peppers I made for dinner Thursday night, mostly based on Madison 2005 recipe for “Yellow Peppers stuffed with quinoa, corn, and feta cheese.” I substituted in wild rice instead of quinoa, because I forgot to pick it up at the grocery store. I threw in a bunch of herbs—basil, marjoram and dill. And I included caramelized onion in the stuffing rather than serving that on the side.

Stuffed peppers I made for dinner Thursday night, mostly based on Madison 2005 recipe for “Yellow Peppers stuffed with quinoa, corn, and feta cheese.”

I substituted in wild rice instead of quinoa, because I forgot to pick it up at the grocery store. I threw in a bunch of herbs—basil, marjoram and dill. And I included caramelized onion in the stuffing rather than serving that on the side.

“Cod Fillets in Coconut Spinach Sauce” — Random dinner creation tonight. I don’t think it worked as well as I imagined it might. Sauté garlic and onions. Add baby spinach and pour a bit of light coconut milk to wilt the spinach. In a baking dish, place the cooked onion and spinach on the bottom. Place three pieces of cod fillets (salted and peppered lightly). Pour the rest of the can of coconut milk. Top with chopped parsley and sliced mini peppers. Bake in a 375º oven, covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for additional 10 minutes.

“Cod Fillets in Coconut Spinach Sauce” — Random dinner creation tonight. I don’t think it worked as well as I imagined it might.

  1. Sauté garlic and onions. Add baby spinach and pour a bit of light coconut milk to wilt the spinach.
  2. In a baking dish, place the cooked onion and spinach on the bottom.
  3. Place three pieces of cod fillets (salted and peppered lightly). Pour the rest of the can of coconut milk.
  4. Top with chopped parsley and sliced mini peppers.
  5. Bake in a 375º oven, covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for additional 10 minutes.
Tonight’s dinner item—red, white and green pasta. Three cloves of garlic, one diced onion, one diced zucchini. Sautéed. Add two bunches of broccoli rapini. Add a large can of diced tomatoes. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Tonight’s dinner item—red, white and green pasta.

Three cloves of garlic, one diced onion, one diced zucchini. Sautéed. Add two bunches of broccoli rapini. Add a large can of diced tomatoes. Serve over your favorite pasta.

“Immersion Blender” @dailyshoot #ds31 In the process of making a carrot-ginger soup, which I’ve never made the same way twice so far!

“Immersion Blender” @dailyshoot #ds31 In the process of making a carrot-ginger soup, which I’ve never made the same way twice so far!

Corn and Crab Bisque

I made the recipe for dinner Wednesday night. It was pretty simple, straightforward and, most importantly, very tasty. The kick from 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne was crucial, although that made the soup non-edible for Baby Xander. (We made a separate non-spicy version for him.) I didnt’t use fresh crab, but Boss’s canned crab meat upon the recommendation of the deli guy at Sunflower Farmers’ Market. Did I say it was yummy?

Filet of Sole with Mango-Onion-Avocado Relish

I haven’t documented cooking endeavors for a while. This was our dinner entrée from last night:

  • Dredge filets of sole with white flour, dip in egg wash, and dredge with whole wheat flour.
  • Pan fry them lightly, until both sides are golden brown.
  • Prepare the relish. The main recipe is from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything:
    • Dice two mangos into little pieces.
    • Dice 1/2 cup red onions into little pieces.
    • Dice 1 avocado into little pieces (Susanne’s inspired addition).
    • Mince ~ 2 tablespoons of cilantro.
    • Mix in freshly squeezed juice of two limes with everything above.
  • Serve the sole filets topped generously with the relish.

My Heretofore Implicit Thoughts on Meat Eating

I don’t eat a lot of meat—maybe once or twice a week. It has been a semi-deliberate change over a long time, but I never fully thought through my entire justification for it. (I used to cite my unpleasant experience of driving through a gigantic industrial ranch in Kettleman City, California, off I-5 as one of the key reasons.) Now I can rely on someone else who has put in the time to write down his thoughts on the issue, which almost perfectly captures what has until now been implicit and amorphous in my mind.

The author—Marco—works at Tumblr (the platform I’m using for this log) and he’s the programmer of a great web app-iPhone app combo Instapaper.

marco:

I’ve made a dramatic shift in my diet over the last few weeks: eating almost no meat. (update: thoughts on fish.)

There are plenty of good reasons not to eat meat, including:

  • The treatment of the animals is awful. The more you know about industrialized meat production, the less you want to support it. (And it’s not just for cows. Chickens and turkeys aren’t much better, and pigs are probably the worst.)
  • High-volume meat production creates a large environmental burden, usually as a result of having to feed the animals so much and figure out what to do with their waste.
  • Meat is more calorie-dense than many alternative foods, and red meat in particular is unhealthy to eat frequently. Non-meat-heavy diets can generally be much healthier.

Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food makes a great argument for low-meat diets. (You should really read it regardless of your thoughts on meat. Do you eat? Then it’s relevant to you.)

Wait, so are you a vegetarian now?

No.

I’m not big on all-or-nothing obsessiveness. I’m not a recovering hamburger addict who will sink back into meat abuse if I ever have another taste again. All things in moderation.

The problem isn’t eating animals. It’s a lot of people eating a lot of animals. If demand was reduced to 25% or less of its current level, we’d see massive environmental and health improvements. Humane animal treatment is trickier, since you’re still killing and eating them, but it could be improved if less meat was needed and it could command a higher price. For instance, actual free-range (not the bullshit kind) and grass-fed animals would become more practical.

A few weeks ago, I decided to significantly reduce my meat consumption. To start, I went all-vegetarian for one week to force myself to broaden my horizons a bit (especially for office lunches) and try new non-meat options. It worked, and was much easier than I expected.

Now, I’ve lowered my overall meat consumption to approximately these levels that I intend to maintain:

  • Chicken or turkey: 1-2 meals per week.
  • Beef: 0-1 meal per month.
  • Pork: Almost never. Occasionally as a minor ingredient in something else.

With such a severe reduction, I’ll achieve most of the benefits of vegetarianism, but without many of the inconveniences. It’s still ridiculously easy to get good meals at restaurants or while traveling. I don’t even like tofu or giant mushrooms, and it’s still much easier than I expected to avoid meat most of the time and still eat healthy, satisfying, widely available meals.

Try it.

If a lot of people made this change, we could make a big difference on many important fronts.

Do the vegetarian week, then see how little meat you really need to eat. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy and practical it is.