A work in progress, here’s the first video I made (with the expert filming/editing/directing of Andrew Gauthier and Valerie Temple and the music of Sleeping States) in a series where I demonstrate how to make a vegetarian dish for tonight, using some favorite recipes from my books. We’ll have a few more out over the coming weeks.
Vegetarian Tonight with Lukas Volger: Weeknight Fritatta
Filed under Uncategorized
I just had a long holiday vacation where I visited friends and family in Reno, San Francisco, and South Lake Tahoe, and when I arrived home last night, it seemed ever clear that 2012 is going to be spelled b-u-d-g-e-t. This soup—which ought to get me through a couple meals—is one of the first things I made.
Filed under Beans, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Entrees
I wanted to get this post out to you sooner, since I have such a perfect recipe for exactly this part of the year. I’m sorry that I didn’t. It’s both an easy cocktail party dish, and a DIY food gift—a blog post that really delivers! I made this Easy Onion-Apple Tart for a party I threw this week and found it appealing on many levels. There’s a cheap and readily available cast of ingredients, and the flavors and textures are rich and succulent, respectively.
Also—and this even surprised me—it can be a sneaky vegan appetizer that no one will even stop to wonder about. I was shocked when I learned, while preparing to cater a party a few years ago, that Pedridge Farms Puff Pasty is actually vegan. It’s not organic, and it’s quite a processed food, but it is vegan. (Other brands aren’t, so check the ingredients if this concerns you.) One time I added a dusting of Parmesan just before putting it in the oven, and I’m including that option below in case you’re interested, but I really don’t think it makes or breaks the dish. Continue reading
Filed under Appetizer, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetarian
Last week David Tanis’s column focused on the type of dinner when you arrive home late on a weeknight, a little tipsy and not properly fed due to having been at some kind of holiday party. This is a type of dinner I love—quick, aimed at instant gratification. It’s not always healthy, but it’s infinitely more satisfying than grabbing a slice of pizza on the way home or ordering in (to me, at least). Tanis offers a recipe for “Midnight Pasta,” and it sounds very delicious, but for me, grilled cheese is what I crave in such situations.
I’ve said this about sandwiches before, and I’ll say it again: It really comes down to the bread! Nothing can elevate or debase a sandwich the way the quality of the bread can. I’ve recently gotten into the habit of making my own. But before that I used to buy it from one of my favorite bakeries, slice it up when I got home, and throw it in the freezer. A few minutes in the toaster and you’ve got fresh bread for as long as you can pace yourself. Continue reading
Filed under Vegetarian, Vegetarian Entrees
I’ll be the first to admit that some veggie burgers can stretch the limits of category—as in, you’re calling that a veggie burger? Latkes and fritters: sure, you can call them veggie burgers. Same thing with some big vegetable dumplings. Rice cakes? I’ll hear you state your case. One might nitpick, but to me, this means only that the veggie burger is a big, wide, accepting category of food. That said, this “burger” might be one that crosses the line.
Simply reheated, leftover risotto isn’t very good the next day. But Arancini di Rosi—which are fried little balls of leftover risotto wrapped around a square of cheese—is a scrumptious way to repurpose day-old risotto. In that vein, I include a recipe for big risotto cakes or patties, made from leftover risotto, in my new book. With that recipe, I suggest using them as a base—for sautéed greens, tomato sauce, fried or poached eggs, as a way to bulk up a salad . . . whatever you like. Here, I’m giving the risotto cakes the opportunity to shine as veggie burgers. Continue reading
Filed under Vegetarian, Veggie Burgers
A few months ago I attended a very fun demonstration by New York Times columnist and cookbook veteran Melissa Clark at The Brooklyn Kitchen. If you’re paying any attention to best-of-the-year round-ups right now, you’re probably aware that her new book Cook This Now is popping up at the top of many of them. After I got my copy and returned home that Friday night after her demo—and this is going to give you a good picture of my bustling social life—I plopped down on my sofa and read the whole thing cover to cover. In all honestly, this actually does describe a perfect Friday night in my mind. But Cook This Now is the type of cookbook that will inspire such behavior in anyone who likes cookbooks. You’ll want to sit back and read it. And then get up and cook from it.
Filed under Gluten-Free, Vegan option, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Entrees
Here’s my final offering. If that photo doesn’t get you excited for Thanksgiving’s leftovers parade—whether you start repurposing all those odds and ends later on Thursday eve, or can manage to wait until lunch on Friday—then I give up. When I had my “friendsgiving” with my tostone-expert friend Lesley last night, we ate this incredibly easy and very satisfying Massaged Kale salad, recipe below, as a side. That went on the sandwich, of course, since the idea behind Thanksgiving leftovers is that you just combine them all in one form or another. Tomorrow’s holiday cannot come soon enough. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Continue reading
Filed under Vegan, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Entrees, Veggie Burgers
