Vegetarian Potpourri: From Thanksgiving Dinner to Garlic to Basil!
By Alice Osborne
An executive chef from Massachusetts, Nathan Sustick, has some thoughts on how to serve a truly delicious Thanksgiving vegetarian dinner. In terms of protein "replacements" (such as tofu, tempeh or seitan) Sustick feels that many of the typical protein replacements often aren't the best choice for a holiday meal. "They always have a tendency to come up short, flavor-wise. Having something like Tofurky is just silly," he says.
Instead of the gimmicky Tofurky approach, he suggests creative uses of cheeses or beans as a protein source instead. "I like to make an Italian Wedding soup that has onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, celery, tomato, chickpeas and lots of fresh herbs," Sustick explains. Here's the recipe for his soup, and it sounds delicious!
Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6
1 carrot, diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 C. celery root, diced
2 cans of organic crushed tomatoes
2 C. vegetable stock
2 cans of cooked garbanzo beans (or 1-2 C. pre-cooked if not using canned)
Basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano to season
Saute onions and garlic in a little olive oil, dry basil and oregano until onions are soft. Add vegetables and stock and cook on a medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add chickpeas, fresh herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Potatoes and cauliflower could be added for a more hearty soup. Also, a nice touch is to serve with fresh parmesan cheese or aged asiago cheese and a crusty bread.
Chef Sustick also suggests using cheeses with pastas or eggplant, or doing a potato au gratin. By adding a little butter and cream cheese mixed with mashed butternut squash and sweet potatoes, you get a nice rich flavor. Hearty and tasty food like this is the trick to serving a Thanksgiving meal that could rival any traditional turkey-based menu.
And speaking of garlic (see above), one of our readers who goes by Terrellgram, left me this message that you really ought to read. Many thanks to Terrellgram for sharing some really good information:
Plant your garlic! Break a garlic bulb into cloves and plant them about 10" apart, 3-4" with the pointed side up. Plant in the early fall or early spring in an out of the way area of your yard. It grows well under outer areas of trees or in the sun. The tall spikes of green are fantastic to mince up into soups and other dishes. As the plant matures, it sends up a reed like stem and will have a bud on the end. It will open into a round flower like growth with little white buds that can be used in cooking also. Once the flowering finishes, the plants leaves/spikes will begin to die down and fall over. Once they are looking dead, it is time to harvest/dig your garlic. I wash it and leave it out to dry out. I never dig all of it up and it will come back year after year. It not only tastes great but, it helps keep fleas and ticks from your yard. And our vet had me put a pinch of garlic powder in our dog's food every couple of days and it helped control fleas. The elephant garlic is fantastic for grilling, roasting or baking. And not much is better than good, toasted bread rubbed with roasted garlic.
And speaking of fresh herbs (see above), I recently went to dinner with my daughter, Roxy, and son, Paul, at an upscale Italian restaurant, Sea Salt, in Sugarhouse (a neighborhood in Salt Lake City, UT). All parts of our meal were superb, but the dessert the kids chose was unbelievably so - BASIL gelato! Yes, BASIL. I didn't try it (too much sugar) but they raved and raved. Who would've thought you could use fresh herbs, usually meant for savory dishes, in a dessert? Below is a basil gelato recipe:
Basil Gelato
Serves 6
Maybe this is the recipe used at Sea Salt; I found it in the Deseret News, our Salt Lake City newspaper. (A thermometer is needed for this recipe.)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups whole milk
10 to 12 large basil leaves, roughly chopped
12 egg yolks
Combine the milk and cream. Put half the sugar into a bowl and add 1 cup of the milk-cream mixture. Add the egg yolks until thoroughly blended. Set aside. Put the remaining half of the sugar into a heavy saucepan. Add the remaining 3 cups of the milk-cream mixture. Add the basil and slowly bring to a boil (once the mixture is heated, it will reach a boil quickly). As soon as the mixture reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir the contents of the saucepan into the bowl containing the egg mixture. Then, place a strainer over the saucepan and pour the combined mixture back into the saucepan. Bring the mixture to medium heat until it reaches 178 F, stirring constantly. (Do not exceed this temperature or the eggs will overcook.) Pour the mixture through the strainer into a bowl surrounded by ice. Let rest until it is cold. Then, pour the mixture into the ice-cream maker and spin until frozen. Let it set in the freezer for about 3 hours before serving.
