Plant-based diets?

[OakLeaf]

Funny, grilling doesn't make me crave meat at all ... all the high summer vegetables that are in season when it's warm enough to grill out are SO flavorful! Summer squashes (spears or chunks of zucchini or crookneck, or little pattypans whole), onions, sweet corn soaked in brine and grilled in the husk, tomatoes and green beans on a screen insert, potatoes, carrot slices, all just brushed with olive oil, salt and herbs ... I swear, my mouth is watering, I only just put my tomato plants in the ground three days ago, fewer than 1/4 of my beans have germinated, and the soil isn't even warm enough to plant sweet corn yet! How can I wait!!

[Tri Girl]

Funny, grilling doesn't make me crave meat at all ... all the high summer vegetables that are in season when it's warm enough to grill out are SO flavorful! Summer squashes (spears or chunks of zucchini or crookneck, or little pattypans whole), onions, sweet corn soaked in brine and grilled in the husk, tomatoes and green beans on a screen insert, potatoes, carrot slices, all just brushed with olive oil, salt and herbs ... I swear, my mouth is watering

Now you're making MY mouth water!!! Mmmmmm...grilling veggies in the summertime= the BEST!!! I've never tried sweet corn soaked in brine and grilled in the husk. Might have to try that! (what is the brine recipe you use?)

[lauraelmore1033]

I went totally plant-based last year after seeing a presentation on PBS by Dr Bonard. I was already eating mostly vegetables and a little bit of meat, so it wasn't much of a hardship to switch. I was clinically obese, and still am, so I'd have to say that going plant based isn't necessarily going to change that. My blood pressure is way down, so that is reason enough to stick with it. I do several centuries each summer, so it is definitely possible to fuel these efforts with plant based foods. I'd also point out that horses--the greatest endurance athletes in the world--can get fat by eating too much grass. So, the notion that animal based proteins are necessary for performance is clearly not true, but also this demonstrates that weightloss will not naturally happen just by going vegan.

[soprano]

Funny, grilling doesn't make me crave meat at all ...

I never crave meat. However, when we are grilling hamburgers for everyone else they get distressed that I'm not having one. The veggie burgers are more of a social remedy than anything else.

[OakLeaf]

(what is the brine recipe you use?)

I've never seasoned it at all, just throw a few tablespoons of salt into the water so it's salty enough to season the corn a little bit and moisten the husks for grilling, but not enough to draw moisture out. Now I'm trying to think what else I might put in the brine!

[Tri Girl]

I've never seasoned it at all, just throw a few tablespoons of salt into the water so it's salty enough to season the corn a little bit and moisten the husks for grilling, but not enough to draw moisture out. Now I'm trying to think what else I might put in the brine!

Thanks! Never thought about it being that easy! How long do you soak it?

Sorry for the thread hijack, here.

[OakLeaf]

Thanks! Never thought about it being that easy! How long do you soak it?

Sorry for the thread hijack, here.

Couple-three hours. Hey, corn is a plant.

[Owlie]

Funny, grilling doesn't make me crave meat at all ... all the high summer vegetables that are in season when it's warm enough to grill out are SO flavorful! Summer squashes (spears or chunks of zucchini or crookneck, or little pattypans whole), onions, sweet corn soaked in brine and grilled in the husk, tomatoes and green beans on a screen insert, potatoes, carrot slices, all just brushed with olive oil, salt and herbs ... I swear, my mouth is watering, I only just put my tomato plants in the ground three days ago, fewer than 1/4 of my beans have germinated, and the soil isn't even warm enough to plant sweet corn yet! How can I wait!!

Drool. Drizzle cut-up onions (I slice them into crescents) and sliced potatoes with olive oil, add salt + pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil. Grill. Enjoy.

I'm not vegetarian or vegan (I seem to have oddly high protein needs, and I don't like most legumes or quinoa, so it's far simpler just to eat meat), but I'm always on the lookout for veggie recipes!

[OakLeaf]

Drool. Drizzle cut-up onions (I slice them into crescents) and sliced potatoes with olive oil, add salt + pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil. Grill. Enjoy.

For extra deliciousness, alternate the slices of onion and potato so each takes on the flavor of the other.

[Owlie]

For extra deliciousness, alternate the slices of onion and potato so each takes on the flavor of the other.

That's pretty much what happens. Haven't made it in ages, though, since my dad's grilling experiments have taken over...

[shootingstar]

In the vegetable world, it would be useful to really expand one's repetoire of veggies. There's a whole world of veggies from Asian cuisines where if one likes exploring new corners of their world, to try:

fresh water chestnuts
fresh lotus root
daikon (white radish root)
gai lan
shanghai choy
bok choy
bitter melon
winter melon/fuzzy melon
and 3 other Asian veggies which I don't know the English translation. But they are available in major supermarkets.
_____________________ All of these above can be lightly stir fried, chopped up in various combinations. It's not that hard nor mysterious.

Try:
fresh fennel bulb
beet greens
brussel sprouts,etc.

I rarely eat potatoes. It's not my thing. That's all.

[OakLeaf]

Major supermarkets where there's a large east Asian population I suppose. We can get bok choy and daikon and sometimes yukina savoy locally in season, bok choy reliably at the grocery store and daikon occasionally, and that's it. Any of the other vegetables it's 70 miles to the nearest Asian grocery, and there, if the vegetables are even labelled as to where they were grown, it's in a language I can't begin to read.

I do love bitter melon though...

Joining a CSA is as great way to expand your repertoire of vegetables - you have to eat them whether you think you like them, or know how to cook them, or not.

Then there's just planting something to find out what the heck it is. I've got a short row of salsify just sprouting. My soil is pretty clayey and root vegetables don't typically do all that well, but I was tired of looking at the stuff in seed catalogs and having no idea what it tastes like. (Especially when some people describe the flavor as "oyster" and others as "artichoke hearts." )

[Catrin]

I've been trying to get a new veggie every week that I've not eaten before. This week it was Green Kohlrabi - surprisingly tasty both raw and roasted, there seemed a hint of horseradish. This is how I've discovered and come quickly to prefer Bok Choy and Watercress. I did save the greens from the Kohlrabi as I assume they are edible but I need to look that up.

I wasn't quite brave enough for the Daikon radish, I don't care for regular radishes for some odd reason. I do enjoy spice and horseradish so I really should like them...

[shootingstar]

I did save the greens from the Kohlrabi as I assume they are edible but I need to look that up.

I remember looking it up. I don't recall it being ok to eat the kohlrabi greens.

Ah I forgot about that veggie of my childhood. My parents grew a whole garden of it! Rediscovered with my partner. A sample of how I prepare kohl rabi..

Daikon, cooked will not taste "spicy" which I never thought the daikon I bought tasting spicy raw compared to the red radishes.

[OakLeaf]

Kohlrabi is a cole vegetable, and the greens are edible, but they're usually very tough. (Easily tested with a nibble.) The smaller inner greens are more likely to be tender. If the greens are as tough as usual, you can shred them and toss them in a stew where they'll cook for a while. Or just put them in the freezer for stock with the rest of your vegetable scraps.


My CSA posted a recipe for daikon pancakes, basically the same as zucchini pancakes. They were yummy, and you're right, cooking does take a lot of the bite out of the radish. I'm not a big radish fan so I was happy for that recipe. I ended up throwing all my red radishes into soups, too.

One thing I won't eat is radish greens. Yuk. I just put those in the compost heap.