Day 235: Plant-Based Amazing from America’s Test Kitchen
Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash
Gary and I have both so enjoyed our Mediterranean diet experiment with America’s Test Kitchen that we recently decided to branch out even further in the plant-based direction.
I’ve been sampling cookbooks for 31 years, so I can say with authority that America’s Test Kitchen completely blows all other cookbooks out of the kitchen. So, since I’m no dummy, I ordered another one of their books: The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook.
I admit, I let it sit there on the book holder for a few days. From all my years studying the food system and its effect on the environment, I worked hard at vegetarian and vegan eating for many years. I remember many unsatisfying rice dishes and rubber veggie burgers. Besides, I’ve delighted in the simple-yet-sophisticated dishes from all over the Mediterranean that we’ve been eating for the past two months. Maybe tomorrow … ?
America’s test kitchen for the Win
I should have known the good people at America’s Test Kitchen wouldn’t let me down. I’ve made just three recipes from the new book, and Gary and I are both sold. I started with Fideos with Chickpeas so I wouldn’t have to stray from the Mediterranean theme; this Spanish cousin to paella starts with pasta broken into small pieces and toasted crispy in a smoky tomato sauce. So far, so good!
Emboldened (but short on time this Sunday), I moved on to the full chapter devoted to pressure cooker and slow-cooker meals and started with the Fire Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup. I threw it all in the pot at lunch and came home to a quick meal. (Some sprouted-grain bread cut into squares tossed with olive oil and toasted in the oven made it a filling meal.)
Although neither of us wants to make a habit of eating highly processed meat substitutes, I couldn’t resist declaring this Plant-Based Beef Taco Tuesday. It’s been so many years since I ate a vegetarian diet that I had never even tried Impossible Burger, and I was curious. In the fry pans of America’s Test Kitchen, this not-too-shabby meat substitute transformed into a dish that even Gary (a committed fake-meat hater) declared “amazing.”
Plant Chompers Promo
I can’t help dropping another recommendation for this fun and funny YouTube channel, Plant Chompers. Chris MacAskill walks through the latest nutrition research, interviews nutrition scientists, and helps illustrate why most (though not all) nutrition scientists eat and recommend a largely plant-based diet.
Most reputable scientists acknowledge that your mileage may vary, but as someone who still believes that expertise matters (not just a loud angry voice and lots of clicks), after considering the evidence, I’ve modified my own opinions about diet and health. That gives me peace of mind, because now there’s less friction between that and my long-held opinion about diet and environmental health.