Meatless March

Yesterday was Vegan Vednesday, and I tried a new recipe: " Vegan Bolognese With Mushrooms and Walnuts " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). We all decided the result was "fine," and given that it was a lot of work to produce something "fine," I cannot recommend this. I made two ingredient substitutes, but even had I followed the ingredient list precisely, I predict the results would still have been "fine." The first substitution was nutritional yeast flakes for Marmite. The second was white wine for red. I can sense some of you oenophiles freaking out about the wine. OF COURSE reds and whites aren't interchangeable, you're thinking, as tannin-scented steam comes out of your ears. But is that really true? IS IT??  I offer you this humorous 19-year-old piece from The New Yorker that I loved and have never forgotten. It is by Calvin Trillin, one of my favorite New Yorker writers. The article revolves around a blind taste test that is the ...

There you are, innocently going about your day and clicking on a link to my blog post, with no idea that your world is about to be TURNED UPSIDE DOWN because I have something RADICALLY DIFFERENT for you today. I present to you: our first ever Guest Blog Post! Our inaugural guest blogger, Liz, has been a friend for a long time. She reminded me how long, and I am discreetly omitting that information here. I did, however, dig up a photo from Ye Olde Times. Liz is looking radiant, second from the right, and I'm strangely miniature in the middle. The man who would become Liz's husband, by the way, is the guy with the glasses next to me! Please enjoy Liz's review of " Cabbage Minestrone with Chick Peas " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). Thank you, Liz! In case Jennie’s wondering if anything she writes sticks [Editor’s note: heck yes I am!] , I’ll have her know her unwavering dedication to reducing our impact on the planet via food choices follows me like an invis...

My exploration of pastas with chickpeas continued last night with " Fried Tagliatelle With Chickpeas and Smoky Tomatoes " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). We liked it, but I have several thoughts on ingredients. First, this is how my tagliatelle came out of the box - broken into bits, and not in nice "nests." I think fresh tagliatelle would be so much nicer here. Also, note that the box was 9oz of pasta, which was a good amount - the recipe only states, vaguely, "eight nests." Because of all the broken bits, it was really hard to evenly toast the noodles, but I did my best and it was fine. The toasted noodles weren't all covered with liquid when I "nestled" them into the pan with chickpeas. I worried they wouldn't cook on top, but they did; it was fine. You could certainly use less oil for the sauce. I would try 1/3 cup next time. And go ahead and use more than 8oz of tomatoes. I had 10 oz.; I bet a whole pound would be wonderful. A...

I recently made two different vegetarian pasta dishes with chickpeas. One was better than the other. The better-tasting version was " Creamy Chickpea Pasta With Spinach and Rosemary " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). Why was it better? Well for starters, it has a cup of heavy cream. Creammmmmmmm! But also, a crisped chickpea is the best kind of chickpea (see also this stew ). I substituted Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced in the food processor, for spinach. It worked fine, but I think spinach would be better. Compare that dish above with the undistinguished " One-Pan Orecchiette with Chickpeas and Olives " (Martha Stewart), below. I like olives a lot, and one-pot meals are a dream come true, but this just wasn't very good, we thought. You know what might be great? Adding olives to the NYT Cooking version! I have been feeling disheartened lately at hearing policy solutions to address climate change described as politically motivated (see, for example, the re...