Vegetarian cooking for sustainability

If the western world is going to find its way to sustainability, learning to eat much less meat is going to be important. Intensive livestock farming uses huge amounts of resources in water, animal feed, land, and waste disposal. Ruminants (like cattle and sheep) also turn carbon in their food into the super-greenhouse-gas methane at an alarming rate. This is quite unsustainable.

I'm not arguing that all livestock are unsustainable (and I'm not a vegetarian). Permaculture farming is well suited to integrating livestock and fowl with plant crops. But we will have to stop the intensive feedlot and extensive pasturing monocultures that currently do so much damage. The end result will probably be that the amount of meat in our diet will decrease, even if we keep farming some sheep and cattle.

Fortunately with a few lessons, vegetarian cooking can come up with some very tasty dishes. Here's two of my own invention.

An introductory note on tofu
Both these dishes use tofu (although you could leave it out without changing the flavour noticeably). tofu is a good source of protein, but often detested by people who have never had it cooked properly. You need to fry it first for most recipes, or it is bland and gross! But after frying it absorbs much more flavour. While it is not particularly cheap at most supermarket chains (often costing as much per kilo as cheap cuts of meat) you should be able to get tofu much cheaper (and often better quality) at chinese and vietnamese grocers -- as little as $3 per kilo (or thereabouts) around where I live. If you buy it in a tub with water, tip out any water and cover it with fresh water as soon as you get home (and every day or so until you have used the tofu). This keeps it fresh much longer.

Spiced eggplant and tomato

Ingredients:
1 large black eggplant (aubergine)
250g medium soft tofu (not silken soft)
shrimp paste (or for vegetarians: black beans or hot bean paste)
1 onion
2cm cube (roughly) of ginger, sliced and chopped finely
Fresh chilli – amount and heat to taste (suggest 2-4 birdseye chillies, chopped)
Rice cooking wine
5 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 1 can chopped tomatoes)
4 cloves
1 cinnamon quill
2cm cube of tamarind pulp softened in 1 cup hot water (or 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate)
Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
Salt
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped roughly (optional)



Pre-preparation:
Chop the eggplant into cubes (about 2cm), place in a bowl and mix with 3 teaspoons of salt. Leave for about half an hour before rinsing salt off and adding in recipe.
Tofu should be soft but still firm enough not to fall apart. Cut the tofu into 2cm squares about 1cm thick. Fry in generous quantity of vegetable oil until both sides are browned. Set aside on a plate.

Method:
Dice the onion. Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a deep pan or large pot. Add 1tsp shrimp paste or hot bean paste if using, fry and stir into oil on high heat for 1 minute. Add onion, ginger and chilli (and 1 tbsp black beans if you're using them), and stir for another minute or two. Add eggplant as prepared above, splash in 1-2 tbsp cooking wine, stir for 1-2 minutes and then add tomatoes, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir and add tamarind with enough hot water to almost cover contents. Bring to boil then turn heat down and simmer with lid off for ten minutes. You can prepare tofu in this time if you like. Add tofu, salt (suggest 1-2 tsp) and 2tbsp kecap manis. Simmer until eggplant is soft and disintegrating and amount of liquid has reduced. If you want to add thickener (see tip below) stir it in just before you turn the heat off. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Steamed rice thickener tip
There are many ways to cook steamed rice. I cook basmati rice with plenty of water (more than is needed). I don't rinse first. A general rule of thumb is 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (and 1 cup of rice is enough for about 2 people). So I add extra - say 2.5 or 3 cups water to 1 cup rice.

When the rice is done you can tell because holes start to appear in the surface where steam is bubbling up; try a little rice on a fork to see if it’s soft enough to eat, and keep cooking until you’re satisfied it's soft enough. When it’s done, there should still be some water left in the pot – if you put in way too much, the water level will still be over the rice, but ideally it will be lower than the rice. A bit of trial and error might be needed based on your pot and the type of rice you are using, you want to end up with about half a cup of water left over.

I tip the water off by holding the lid of the pot open just a crack so the water can pour out but not the rice. You have to be careful or you’ll lose the rice too! The water poured off has a lot of starch from the rice and is great to add straight to the main dish as a thickener at the end; you can also keep it as rice milk – or just drink it hot as a tea.


Sweet pumpkin curry

Ingredients:
Half a pumpkin, peeled and diced
One onion, diced
2cm (approx) ginger, sliced and chopped finely
Finely chopped chilli if you want it hot (or chilli powder)
Spice mix: 1 tsp each of whole seeds of fenugreek, Kalonji (nigella), mustard, cumin and fennel (panch phoron mix)
Half cup of red lentils
1 tsp turmeric
250g medium-soft tofu
salt

Pre-preparation: prepare tofu as for dish above

Method:
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the spice mix and leave on heat until you hear mustard seeds just starting to “pop”. Add diced onion, chilli and ginger and stir in for a minute. Add lentils and stir in, for about a minute. add pumpkin and hot water to cover.

Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer. If you like a runny consistency, cook with lid on. If you prefer it to be thick, leave lid off to reduce (boil off) water. Add turmeric and stir when you reduce the heat (and chilli powder if you're using it).

When lentils have softened and pumpkin is soft, add tofu and salt to taste (1-3 teaspoons). Add thickener if you want at this stage (1-2 tsp flour mixed into a thin paste with cold water, if you don't want to use the rice method above). Stir and simmer for another 5 minutes or until pumpkin is starting to disintegrate. Serve with rice.
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Foul Salad and Eggplant dip

"Ful Medames" - the Egyptian national dish - is made with Ful (or Foul, as it is often spelt on the cans I buy), the Egyptian word for Fava Beans. The recipe here is similar in ingredients to Ful Medames but takes the form of a salad, taught to me by a friend who had it from a Sudanese Dinka friend of his.
Also the recipe for my favourite eggplant dip - a good accompaniment to the salad, with pita bread.


Foul Salad
Ingredients:
2 cans Ful/Fava beans or equivalent amount of cooked broad beans
1 red onion
250g feta cheese
1 capsicum (red, green yellow or a mix of all 3)
Bunch of parsley
Lemon juice
Cumin powder
Olive oil
Fresh chilli (optional)
Clove of garlic (optional)

Method:
Rinse beans and place in salad bowl. Dice onion, capsicum, feta cheese and add to salad bowl. Chop parsley finely and add it as well. Juice 2-4 lemons (depending on size) into a jar with lid. Add 1 tablespoon cumin powder, and finely chopped chilli and garlic (if using). Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Shake jar to mix, pour on salad & mix in bowl. Salad is ready to eat!
Alter the quantities to suit your own taste, especially the dressing.

Eggplant tahini dip
(This recipe I adapted from one in the Penguin Book of Herbs and Spices by Rosemary Hemphill, 1959)
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 quarter cup of tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 dessert spoon chopped mint
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt
Olive oil

Preparing eggplant:
If you want a creamy hommus colour for your dip, first peel the eggplant. I usually don't bother.
Chop into small slivers or cubes. You may wish to salt the eggplant to soften it; this means it absorbs less oil (for a leaner dish, I suppose!). Sprinkle the chopped eggplant with salt, leave to stand for ten or twenty minutes, then drain the water that has been drawn out & rinse. Some people suggest you dry the chopped eggplant but I usually don't bother.
Fry the chopped eggplant in olive oil until soft and mushy. If you didn't salt it, you may have to use a fair bit of oil as the eggplant will soak it up. When quite soft, but not burned, place in a bowl. (I have also done this part by grilling or roasting the chopped eggplant, with or without oil - you can experiment if you want to!)

Mixing it up:
Mix all the remaining ingredients into the bowl with the eggplant. If you have a blender or "whizzy stick" you can use this to puree. Otherwise, a potato masher or at a pinch a fork may be used to mash the mix. It doesn't have to be really smooth; chunks of eggplant won't ruin the flavour.

Refrigerate or leave until cool and it's ready to eat.
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3 curries

Two lamb curries and a spicy veg stew.
Spicy and sweet flavour combinations. Dairy free, wheat free, gluten free.


Lamb and pumpkin curry
This uses a basic Indian spice mix and can be as hot or mild as you like. The pumpkin gives a thick and smooth consistency as well as a sweet taste. Dairy free, wheat free.


Ingredients
1 large onion, diced or sliced.
Ginger (about 1 inch, cut into fine slices)
Quarter of a medium size pumpkin, peeled and diced into smallish cubes.
Vegetable oil for frying
¾ to 1 kilo of lamb diced into large cubes
4 fresh tomatoes
1-2 Bay leaves
4 Cardamom pods (pound to open pod slightly)
1 cinnamon quill (or equivalent cinnamon/cassia bark)
1-2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Spice mix:
1 teaspoon each of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, and two teaspoons coriander seeds. Dry-fry in a pan or saucepan until giving off strong aroma, then grind to powder with a mortar & pestle. Mix in 1 teaspoon chilli powder (or to your taste), 1 teaspoon tumeric powder, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Method
Prepare the spice mix as above.
Heat the oil in a large pot, add the chopped onion and ginger. Fry on high heat until onion begins to brown. Add spice mix, a little water to moisten, and pumpkin. Fry briefly then add lamb and tomatoes. Stir thoroughly then add water to cover with the bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon. Bring to boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer (stirring occasionally) until pumpkin disintegrates into dish. Add salt and extra chilli as needed. Serve with sprinkling of fresh greens such as parsley or coriander, and plenty of rice. Should serve 6-10 with sufficient rice.


Lamb and spinach curry
As with all my recipes this one is wheat free and dairy free; in this case it's also gluten free. I don't know if it could be adapted to a vegetarian recipe very easily but you're welcome to try!

Ingredients:
Dry spice mix
1tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp laos (galangal) powder (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon powder
chilli powder to taste (suggest 1-2 tsp hot)

sautee
3 tbsp olive oil (or other vegetable oil e.g. sunflower)
2 medium onions, diced roughly
1" piece of ginger, sliced thinly
3-6 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)

Main bulk & sauce
1 kg mutton or lamb, diced roughly
4 large tomatoes, chopped in halves or quarters
3 tbsp almond meal
1 pint (1/2 litre or 2 cups) boiling water
chopped spinach (250g frozen packet or 1 bunch fresh)
2 tsp tamarind concentrate or 2cm cube of tamarind pulp soaked in a quarter cup of hot water.
salt to taste

Method
Preparing the spice
Heat a small saucepan on high heat and add the cumin, fennel, coriander and fenugreek. Shake saucepan around lightly to allow seeds to settle across bottom. After a minute or two the fragrance of the spices will be rising strongly – then tip them all into a mortar (before they start to smoke!). Add peppercorns and grind with pestle until all seeds are crushed to powder. Add other dry spices and mix together.

Sautee
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan or wok on high heat. Add onions, ginger and garlic and stir-fry until onion is caramelised (turning translucent) and sautee is giving off strong aroma. Add dry spice mix and stir. When it is thoroughly infused into oil (before it burns) add the diced meat. Stir it until the oil and spice mixture is thoroughly coating the meat. Continue stirring until meat is browned all over, splashing a little hot water into wok/pan any time the mix starts to stick.

Finishing
Once the meat is browned, add almond milk (to make: mix almond meal into paste with a little cold water, then add boiling water and mix). Stir gently. When it is boiling add the tomatoes and stir gently. When boiling, turn heat down and simmer. (About now would be a good time to put some rice on!) Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. When the liquid has reduced and thickened a bit, but not yet sticking to pot/wok too much, add the tamarind and salt. Continue to simmer, stirring more frequently, until the sauce is quite thick and is beginning to stick to the pot/wok. Add the (defrosted/chopped) spinach, mix in thoroughly, then add one last tablespoon of oil and turn the heat up to full. Stir vigorously as it heats up and fries the curry for a couple of minutes. Then you can turn the heat off and it is ready to serve!


Spicy pumpkin stew
I like a sweet and spicy dish. This recipe uses pumpkin for both sweetener and thickener, and can be used as a template for cooking with a wide variety of ingredients (it's only a stew, after all!). This can be a meat or vegetarian recipe as you please, and is dairy and wheat free (providing the stock and vinegar don't have wheat). Serves 6-8, and takes about 1 hour to cook.
The quantities, and range, of spices in this recipe are pretty over the top. I was in an odd mood when I made it; but the end result was pleasing to me! If you're cautious, use less spices.

Ingredients:
1 large onion
¼ of a medium size pumpkin
1 large zucchini (aka courgette)
Vegetarian version: 3 cans Borlotti beans
Non-vegetarian version: 1 can Borlotti beans and 500g diced chicken on the bone, pork, or stewing meat of your choice)
Half litre vegetable stock
1 bulb of garlic (or less if you prefer!)
1 cinnamon quill
3 whole cloves
2-3 Bay leaves
12 Pimentos (Allspice) or 1 tablespoon of ground allspice if whole pimentos unavailable.
1 whole nutmeg, ground (or 2 teaspoons nutmeg powder)
1 teaspoon chilli/paprika powder
2-6 small pickled (or fresh) chillies (optional – hot or mild, to taste)
Oil for frying
salt
brown or red wine vinegar

Method
1. Prepare stock if making from cubes or powder.
2. Chop the pickled/fresh chillies if using, chop the onion roughly, chop the pumpkin into smallish pieces
3. Heat 2 tablespoons frying oil in a large pot. Add the chillies and onion and fry on high heat, stirring, until onions start to brown. Add pumpkin and meat (if you are using it)
4. Splash in 1 or 2 tablespoons vinegar and stir, then pour in stock and add cinnamon quill, cloves, bay leaves, pimentos, chilli powder, nutmeg.
5.Peel the garlic cloves and add to pot whole. Chop zucchini into round slices and add to dish. Top up with boiling water to more-or-less cover vegetables and meat.
6. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid off. Add 2-3 (heaped) teaspoons of salt. Drain canned borlotti beans and add.
7. Simmer until the pumpkin has begun to disintegrate into the stew. You can crush it with the stirring spoon to verify. It should act like a thickener.
8. Serve with lots of steamed rice

Variations
You can adjust the quantities of spice to suit the tastes of those you are cooking for (especially chilli and garlic). You can substitute different vegetables for the zucchini (okra, celery, tomato etc) or just leave it out, omit the beans or use a different kind, substitute something else like sweet potato for the pumkpin and so on. Read the whole article