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A Bible for Vegetarians and Vegans

"The Vegetarian Flavor Bible" is an enormous book without a single recipe, but it will keep you cooking for years.

 

Through lists of "flavor affinities," you'll learn what to pair with whatever vegetarian ingredient you want to use--vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, even coffee, and then you can create your own dishes.

 

The "Bible" (Little, Brown and Company, $40) is the work of Karen Page and her husband, Andrew Dornenburg, a chef and photographer (at the top). They also produced the "The Flavor Bible," published in 2008.

 

Three years ago, both turned vegetarian. Like all newbies, they're flush with enthusiasm, glowing about how much weight they've lost (25 pounds each) and how good they feel. 

 

"This is the most important book we have ever written," enthused Page at a book signing held at Melissa's, the produce distributor, in Vernon. 

 

They see their way of eating as a literal lifesaver. "Nutritionally preventable diseases are the main cause of death," Page said, after asking those in the audience to raise hands if someone in their families had died.

 

Could we have saved our friends and relatives by getting them to eat differently? Or are there additional factors to consider, such as heredity, environment, life style, stress, exercise and outlook? 

 

In the current issue of Time magazine, Dr. Dean Ornish advocates a rounded approach.  "We landed on a simple prescription: a whole foods- and plant-based diet; stress-management techniques, including yoga and meditation; moderate exercise; and social support," he writes in an article titled "It's Time to Embrace Lifestyle Medicine."

 

"The Vegetarian Flavor Bible" softens Page's "nutritionally preventable" to "nutritionally controllable," referring to cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and then says, "Diets that forego animal protein in favor of plant protein are associated with a lower risk of all three." 

 

To educate herself in the field, Page earned a certificate in plant-based nutrition from Cornell University. You can do that too, by enrolling in eCornell's six-week online course. Click here for more information. 

 

The "Bible" reads like a pep talk for vegetarians and vegans, offering quotes from authorities and a history of vegetarianism to reinforce dietary decisions that are becoming more widespread. 

 

Yellow boxes titled "Dishes" are scattered through the book to show how chefs and restaurants cook vegetarian. Page devotes a page each to "the best vegetarian tasting menu of my life" (at The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia) and "the best vegan tasting menu of my life" (at Eleven Madison Park in New York). 

 

Then comes the bulk of the "Bible," an alphabetical list of ingredients that tells what they taste like, gives their nutrient density, nutritional profile, calories, protein content and tips on what to do with them, followed by lists of ingredients to pair with them and then flavor affinities--combinations that you can put together to make a dish. Ethnic cuisines are covered too.

 

The idea isn't just to eat food that's good for you regardless of how it tastes but to make it really enticing. "Flavor is still number one with us," Page said at the book signing. "If we hadn't found this [vegetarian cuisine] to be so delicious, we wouldn't have stuck with it."

 

Although the book includes cooking tips, there are no formal recipes. Therefore, the food at the book-signing was provided by Melissa's. As an example of how delicious vegetarian food can be, try hummus flavored with Parmesan cheese, created by Melissa's chef Tom Fraker.  It's in the bowls behind the raw vegetables for dipping.

 

Here's a closer look. For ease of preparation, the recipe uses pre-cooked, peeled garbanzos and roasted sweet red peppers in a jar. 

 

ROASTED BELL PEPPER, BASIL AND PARMESAN HUMMUS
From Melissa's

 

1/4 cup tahini

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 (15.5-ounce) jar fire roasted sweet red bell peppers, without the liquid

2 (9-ounce) packages peeled and steamed garbanzo beans
1/3 cup, packed, fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 pinch kosher salt

1 pinch freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons water

 

Combine the tahini, lemon juice, yogurt, garlic, olive oil, cheese, bell peppers, garbanzo beans, basil, cumin, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and process for 2 minutes.

 

Add the water and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Serve with raw vegetables for dipping. Makes 6 to 8 servings. 

Before and After Pizzas at DeSano

Take a look at my pomodorini pizza at DeSano Pizza Bakery in East Hollywood. The little cherry tomatoes added a vibrant pop of acidic flavor as well as brilliant color. The basil leaves in the center were a nice decoration, but I wanted more.  

Here's the pizza after I doctored it up with additional basil begged from the kitchen. Two friends, whose margherita pizzas did not include the basil promised on the menu, also had to ask. What we got was hair-fine shreds. Leaves would have added more flavor.

The crust was thin and crisp in places. Tasted alone it was delicious, like good bread dough. Above is the Italian flour used to make it.

Ingredients serve as decorations, like these cans of Italian olive oil. The condiment station includes a decanter of olive oil, but I wouldn't recommend dipping anything in it, or adding it to your pizza. Rather than fresh and fruity, it was dull and unpleasant, perhaps from standing too long.  Even oil protected by a can will deteriorate if not used reasonably soon.   

Here are the canned tomatoes that were on my pizza. In this case, canned was better than fresh. They were loaded with flavor.

At DeSano, you pay for your pizza, then go to an enormous room lined with communal tables. It's self-service, except the pizza you have ordered will be brought to your table. A bottle opener is mounted on the wall. There's water in a serve-yourself container. The napkins are rolls of paper towels. Containers on the tables hold plastic forks and knives.    

The cooks work in full view so you can watch as the dough is shaped and see the pizzas as they come from the wood-burning ovens (above). They're placed on trays, not plates, and rushed to your table by a server who calls out the order number.

If you can't eat all of your pizza, no problem, just help yourself to a take-out box from the stack by the ingredient displays. 

Driving past, the low building looks like an abandoned warehouse or factory, but inside it's full of action. Aside from the food, its most important attribute is outside--lots of free parking.

DeSano Pizza Bakery, 4959 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029. Tel: (323) 913-7000.

Taking a Look at Santa Barbara Wines

It's been more than 10 years since the film "Sideways" talked up the Santa Barbara wine country and its Pinot Noirs.

That landmark film is still a great publicity tool, and In honor of its 10th anniversary, in October, 2014, the Santa Barbara Vintners distributes a free map that highlights all the "Sideways" sites. You can see it here. 

The map was in packets handed out when Morgen McLaughlin (at the top), executive director of the vintners association, came to Los Angeles to bring local wine writers up to date on the region.

As examples of how varied and classy the wines are, she poured four whites and six reds. The three Pinot Noirs (on the right in the photo above) were:

2012 Longoria Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard, Sta.Rita Hills

2012 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido, Santa Maria Valley

2010 LaFond Pinot Noir, Pommard Clone, Sta. Rita Hills

These came from three of Santa Barbara's pioneer winemakers--Richard Longoria, Bruce McGuire of LaFond and Au Bon Climat's Jim Clendenen (above) who, said McLaughlin, is the "number one ambassador" for Santa Barbara wines.

Once small, neighborly and country-like, the region has grown to more than 200 wineries and five AVAs (approved American Viticultural Areas) with two more in the works, including Los Olivos.  

"The diversity of wines is broad," said McLaughlin. It could be broader still if 50 % of the fruit weren't taken out of the county and put into non-Santa Barbara wines.

McLaughlin's red selection did not include Merlot, which got a bad rap in "Sideways."  The problem wine today is Syrah. "Everyone loves Syrah," she said. "Winemakers love it." However, she added, "consumers don't seem to buy it."

McLaughlin brought two Syrahs and a Syrah blend, at the left in the photo above. They were: 

2012 Brander Syrah, Colson Canyon Vineyard, Santa Barbara County

2012 Demetria Estate Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley

2012 Margerum M5, Santa Barbara County

The Brander wine came from Fred Brander, another of the area's veteran producers. Demetria Estate, which occupies the former Andrew Murray site on Foxen Canyon Road, made only 400 cases of this limited release Syrah.

M5 on the Margerum label (above) stands for Margerum and the five varietals that went into the wine. Grenache leads at 43%, but Syrah is right behind at 41%. The others are Mourvedre, Counoise and Cinsault.

Even though consumers don't seem to be on to it, Syrah is the third most planted grape in Santa Barbara County. Number one is Chardonnay, followed by Pinot Noir.

McLaughlin brought these Chardonnays:

2013 Foxen Chardonnay, Bien Nacido Block UU, Santa Maria Valley

2013 Melville Chardonnay, Clone 76 – Inox, Sta. Rita Hills

2011 Hilliard Bruce Chardonnay, Sta. Rita Hills

Foxen is another longtime producer in the region, and this Chardonnay was "gorgeous," my notes say. The Melville wine (above) blossomed in relation to the salmon it accompanied. The Hilliard Bruce was pleasantly fragrant--three very different wines from the same grape.

Sauvignon Blanc, the second most widely planted white wine grape in the county, was represented by the 2013 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc from Happy Canyon.

Fresh and crisp, with rich citrus and guava aromas, this wine came from a warm vintage in the eastern, warmer end of Santa Barbara County, where Bordeaux varietals do well.  

It accompanied equally rich lobster truffle mac and cheese, with Boursin cheese and shaved Parmesan (above). This was first up on the wine-tasting lunch menu prepared by West Restaurant at Hotel Angeleno.

Paired with the Chardonnays were seared Scottish salmon, forbidden rice cooked with almond milk, roasted tricolor cauliflower seasoned with cumin and turmeric and, dribbled over the plate, lavender honey glaze (above).

Executive chef Laura Scallon matched the Pinot Noirs with maple-bourbon pork loin, Brussels sprouts and garnet yams mashed with Okinawan purple sweet potatoes (above).  

The two Syrahs and red blend got the meatiest dish, seared Australian lamb rack coated with house-made gingersnap crust on a bed of grits blended with lavender goat cheese and topped with rainbow Swiss chard (above). 

McLaughlin's intent in choosing the wines paired with the lunch was not to single out the best but to show the wide range that Santa Barbara County can produce. "Our mission is to elevate the visibility of the region," she said. 

Dining in the Dark at Ado Ristorante

There are three things you should know about dinner at Ado Ristorante in Venice:

1. It will be very dark (see above).

2. It will be very noisy.

3. If you don't order the grilled sea scallops on a bed of Parmesan cheese fondue, you will have made a serious mistake.

The scallops (above) almost floated away, they were so light and silky. I could hardly see the slivers on top because it was too dark (I've lightened the photo considerably), but they were black truffles--tartufo nero, according to the menu. Oddly, this wasn't mentioned in the English translation. The Parmesan fondue wasn't the expected heavy layer of cheese, just a wisp of light sauce.

The restaurant's house-made beet pasta (above) has been so hyped--even the waiter said it was the restaurant's best pasta--that almost everybody at my table ordered it.

The Italian name, tagliolini rossi con ragú di quaglia in fonduta de taleggio, turned out to be more interesting than the dish. With its marsala quail ragú and taleggio cheese fondue, the pasta should have been saturated with flavor. Instead it was bland, and someone in the kitchen forgot the salt.

This dish came out better--grilled Mediterranean sea bass on a bed of braised Maui onions and cucuzza squash, finished with mint and tomatoes. 

Panna cotta (above) was creamy, soft and a nice way to end the meal.  

With dinner, we drank Barbi Grechetto, a light, dry Italian white wine. This was the waiter's alternative to Pinot Grigio, which we couldn't have because it was sold out. And no wonder. We were there the day after Valentine's Day, when the demand must have been huge for the wine that everybody loves these days. 

Speaking of love, Ado has a reputation as a romantic date night place. Except for my table of 10, every table was occupied by a couple. Maybe that's why it's so dark in there.   

Ado Ristorante, 796 Main St., Venice, CA 90291. Tel: (310) 399-9010.

How to Lose Weight--and Eat Well

I never thought that diet food could be this good. The curried chicken salad wraps that you see above are absolutely scrumptious. If you eat 1/2 cup of the salad without the tortilla, you consume 210 calories, and you get 20 grams of protein. 

This quinoa salad with pistachios and currants would be a sensation at a potluck buffet, and for just 140 calories a serving.

Individual bison meatloaves (above) with quinoa added to boost the protein tally out at 200 calories and 16 grams of protein. 

Gingered edamame with fire-roasted tomatoes (above) has 128 calories a serving and supplies protein too. 

For dessert, there's  luscious, rich-tasting chocolate coconut silk, with just 2 grams of fat and 150 calories, if you limit yourself to a half-cup serving. 

These are five of the 25 recipes in "A Small Guide to Losing Big" (Flavor First LLC, $12.99) by Cheryl Forberg, a book deliberately made little enough to carry with you.  Forberg is the nutritionist for NBC's "The Big Loser," which means she really knows how to take off the pounds. And how to eat well. She's a trained chef as well as a registered dietitian. 

"Diets are temporary," she says. Keeping the fat off requires a life style change, which can mean altering everything, even relationships, if the person you live with shoves high calorie, fat laden food in your face.

Forberg (above) came to Los Angeles on a book promotion tour that included a stop at Melissa's Produce, where corporate chefs set out a lunch based on her recipes.

You wouldn't necessarily eat all the dishes served that day in a single meal. In the book, Forberg tells how to compute your caloric needs--everyone is different--and provides a sample two-week menu plan. 

The diet plan seems generous--three meals a day plus snacks morning and afternoon--and one mid-morning snack is that heavenly chocolate coconut silk. 

Skipping meals doesn't promote weight loss, Forberg points out. Paradoxically, it can result in weight gain. Eliminating all fat isn't the way to go either. "Our body needs fat," she says. "We need to focus on good fats." 

Similarly, plain boiled or steamed food isn't advisable for dieters, because food needs to be delicious, not a drag. Her favorite flavor enhancers include smoked and grilled foods, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes and various mustards. 

And forget the raw food diet. It's not good for the body, she says. A combination of cooked and raw is better. 

A serious weight-loss program involves exercise and keeping a food journal. Still, Forberg has a simple guideline to keep you from overeating. "You should never have to unzip or unbutton anything after a meal," she says. 

CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD
From "A Small Guide to Losing Big" by Cheryl Forberg

For the dressing:

1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chutney, such as mango chutney
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

For the chicken:

1 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
3/4 cup diced yellow onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
16 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in 1/2-inch thin strips
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped dried tart cherries or currants or raisins
1/4 cup chopped toasted cashews
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

For the sandwich:

6 (7-inch) whole grain tortillas

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, chutney, lime juice, curry powder, cumin and coriander. Set aside.

Heat oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 4 minutes or until soft and just beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Do not brown garlic.

Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove from heat and season with salt. 

Add cooled chicken mixture to the dressing in the mixing bowl. Add cherries, cashews and cilantro. Stir to combine.

To assemble:  Place about 1/2 cup chicken salad on warmed tortilla. Roll up, burrito style. Serve immediately. 

Makes 3 cups chicken salad or 6 small wraps. 

Artisan Uprising's Hand-Crafted Wines

If you want to get Artisan Uprising's 2014 Rosé of Merlot, better hurry.

Only 24 cases were made, and the wine (at the top) is a real beauty, rich and floral with a sunny touch of color. It's mostly Merlot, bolstered with 5% Malbec and Petit Verdot. The alcohol is surprisingly high--15.2%. And the price is surprisingly low, $18. 

"It kept me on my toes," says David Vondrasek of his experiment with yeast inoculation when making the wine. 

Brothers David (at right above) and William Vondrasek are Artisan's owners and winemakers. They work out of a site in Paso Robles and buy grapes from just two vineyards in the area.

Artisan's first sales to the public were the 2012 vintage. However, the brothers have been making wine since 2001 and grew up in an Italian family with a home-winemaking tradition. 

These upstart newbies do everything themselves. "We are so hands on, we don't let anyone touch our wines," David says. 

They do their own promoting too, like the day they brought their wines to Hotel Angeleno in West Los Angeles for a food and wine pairing. Laura Scollan, chef of West Restaurant in the hotel, put together the menu.

Here's the dish that went with the rosé--seared scallop with cider glaze on parsnip puree accompanied by roasted tricolor cauliflower. 

Next up was the 2012 Merlot, notable for its big bouquet. In making wine we "get as much out of the grape as possible," David says. 

The Merlot (above) is fortunately more plentiful than the rosé. The brothers made 124 cases. 

Its companion was boned organic chicken stuffed with mushroom mousse and prosciutto, which was poached, pan-seared and served on sweet potato puree.  Surprisingly, the Merlot went well with the puree. The sweetness did not kill the flavor. 

Wine photos can be boringly the same, but here is one more, because I fell in love with this wine. It's the 2012 Malbec. Deeply colored and tinged with purple, silky smooth and soft, it could rival any Malbec I tasted during travels in Argentina.

However, it's not an attempt to copy anything Argentine. "I don't think I've ever had the best Argentine Malbecs," David says.  And he makes wine from another point of view anyway, explaining, "I do have the California palate." 

There were only 37 cases of the 2012 Malbec, which will rise to perhaps 100 cases for the 2014 vintage.

The Malbec's dish was Chinese five-spice duck on soba noodles (above) accompanied by a duck confit spring roll in a rice paper wrapper.

The last dish, boneless braised beef short rib on mashed Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, went with a more assertive wine, the inky dark Petite Sirah 2012. "I like really dark, intense wines," David says. 

Next up for Artisan Uprising is the release of the 2013 wines, flavored like the others with unstoppable enthusiasm. Both brothers have day jobs. Artisan is "a paycheck to paycheck operation," William says. And David adds, "We're pretty sure were not going to get rich doing this," and you sense that they don't really care. 

Check Artisan's website for wines that you can order. Production is so small that you won't find them at your neighborhood wine shop. 

A Fast Stir-Fry for Chinese New Year

If you want a really fast dish, try this Chinese noodle and vegetable stir-fry. Once the cooking starts, you're done in five minutes. And you have the perfect dish to celebrate Chinese New Year, which begins February 19.   

What makes it so fast is fresh Chinese noodles. They cook in only two minutes. Gai lan, also known as Chinese broccoli, cooks very quickly too, remaining bright green and slightly crisp. The mushrooms are soaked and sliced well in advance.  And you can make the stir-fry sauce ahead of time, so there's no last-minute work. 

A tip: use light-colored Chinese soy sauce, which adds saltiness without darkening the ingredients. Look for the words "thin soy" on the label. Low-sodium soy sauce may sound "light," but it's not the same. 

STIR-FRIED GAI LAN WITH FRESH NOODLES

2 small dried shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup mushroom soaking liquid
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce 
1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
3 to 4 stalks gai lan, about 3 ounces
1 cup fresh Chinese noodles, about 4 ounces
1 tablespoon oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root

Soak the shiitake mushrooms in water to cover generously until softened.  Drain, reserving 1/4 cup water.  Cut the mushrooms into thin slices and set aside.

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl.  Stir in a little of the mushroom liquid until smooth, then add the remainder of the mushroom liquid, the chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil.  Set aside.

Cut the gai lan crosswise into 1-inch slices and set aside.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the noodles and stir. Boil 2 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. You can prepare them slightly in advance. 

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry 1 minute.  Add the gai lan and mushrooms and stir-fry 1 minute. Add the sauce mixture and cook until boiling and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Add the noodles and toss until heated through and mixed with the vegetables, about 1 minute. Turn out onto a heated plate and serve at once.

Makes 1 main dish serving or 2 servings if accompanied by other dishes.