[www.keralites.net] A high-five to vegetarians!

 

A high-five to vegetarians! Sonal Ved       We list five easy and effective ways to `glam' up vegetarian fare and make you an instant Instagram starlet There are several reasons why green-grazing is healthier, nutritive and economical, but these rea sons are not enough to make a carnivore commit to a meatless Monday. Nevertheless, here are five methods to making vegetarian cuisine a more intelligent and sassy choice. LESSON NO 1 LEARN FROM THE MEDS From a crunchy tabbouleh salad to a haricot bean-laced stew, Mediterranean chefs surely know how to make a hero out of their ingredients. Whether they are slow-cooked in a tagine or tossed in a salad, chances are the ingredients will still shine through.The trick it to make the texture and the type of ingredient that you are working with work to your advantage. Take, for example, a classic Greek salad where the crunch of the lettuce stays intact, only because it is drizzled with the right amount of olive oil. As a result, the leaves taste refreshing because their bland nature pairs beautifully with briny olives and sour feta cheese. The Meds know that you need to leave a dish alone after minimal treatment and right flavourful pairing. LESSON NO 2 COOK SEASONAL Traditional Chinese medicine recommends it, ayurveda talks about it and so does your neighborhood farm-to-table restaurant.Eating and cooking with what is in season is the best way to fall in love with vegetables and relish their taste. The availability of perfectly ripe and juicy strawberries all year round has made us forget what it is like to cook seasonal, but give a fair shot to carrots, beetroot, green peas, mustard microgreens and field beans during winters, and stick to fresh and hydrating fare like cucumber, colocosia, capsicum, pumpkin, tamarind, tomatoes and watermelon during the hotter months. LESSON NO 3 EAT GOOD FAT AND HEALTHY CARBS Let's face it, nothing tastes as good as fat and carbs. Include a whole lot of good carbs and fat in your meal for a gratifying experience. By that, we don't mean loading up on French fries or mac and cheese. Instead, dig into pepper-sprinkled avocados for breakfast, sweet potato tossed in honey chilli sauce when entertain ing, root vegetables and yam salad for lunch, and quinoa patties for dinner. Good carbs release energy slowly, keep you full for longer and keep hunger pangs at bay. LESSON NO 4 TREAT IT LIKE MEAT Char it, grill it, smoke it, marinate it -do to your veggies what you would do to your steak and watch the magic. Just because we are talking about vegetables doesn't mean you stick to a boring subzi or salad. Marinate a slice of cauliflower or Portobello mushroom in a combination of orange juice and soy sauce, sear it like a piece of steak and add it to your burger. Or you can pickle everyday veggies such as beetroot, carrot, radish and onions and throw them into your salads, savoury oat bowl, wraps and sandwiches. Eating veggies in a newer style beats monotony and helps dietary fibre find a way to your stomach. LESSON NO 5 TRY OUT ZERO-WASTAGE COOKING So you have eaten the finest quality truffles and nibbled on the best cheeses from Europe? Time to give your taste buds an experience it hasn't ever savoured. From turning vegetable peels into a baked snack to using herb roots, especially coriander and Italian basil, to make pesto ­ every part of a vegetable offers a new flavour profile. Use crisp onion peel after an oven treatment to garnish your pasta or use leftover stubs to make soup.Harking back to "peasant cuisine" (let's not forget that we were once a socialist nation with a strong thrust on agrarian policies), head-to-tail-cooking (as non-vegetarians call it) is practised in several conscious restaurants around world. The idea is to cut down on wastage and respect your produce. The plus? You get to eat what you haven't tasted before. ZUCCHINI `PAPPARDELLE' WITH AVOCADO MASH First came the vegans, then the paleo folks, then the very au courant pegans, a merger of the two. Most pegan recipes are 75 per cent vegetables and 25 per cent good fat. Here is a pegan recipe that is Instagram-friendly. Go ahead, makes your pals seethe with jealousy at how cool you are: METHOD Chop the ends of the zucchinis and slice them lengthwise into long and thick pappardelle-like sheets using a kitchen peeler. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of avocado oil and sauté the zucchini in it. Stir for 30 seconds and transfer to a serving plate. In a blender, blitz the avocado, lefto ver oil, mint leaves, lemon juice and macadamia nuts. Season and toss with the `pappardelle'. Serve immediately. Tip: Zucchini pappardelle works fabulously with any other pasta sauce as well, especially basil pesto.

 

 

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Posted by: Cool Kis <cooolkis@gmail.com>

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