Cooking Tips

Cookbooks by Robin Robertson

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Seven helpful tips for great vegetarian cooking:

1. Ingredients: Use the freshest, best, ingredients available, preferably organic, fresh, whole foods with no additives or artificial ingredients.

2. Variety: Strive for variety in cooking methods, cuisines, and presentation.  If you think vegetables are boring, try roasting them in a hot oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  (Try asparagus for starters—it’s amazing). Experiment with ethnic dishes, ingredients, and seasonings.

3. Garnish: Chopped toasted nuts or seeds add flavor, crunch, and protein when sprinkled on salads, cooked vegetables, and grain and noodle dishes. Fresh herbs can elevate an ordinary dish into one that is extraordinary. A sprinkling of fresh minced parsley, basil, tarragon, or chives can brighten a salad, grain, or vegetable dish or use thyme, oregano, or sage for soups, stews, and stuffings. 

4. Naturally Vegetarian, Naturally Flavorful: Many ethnic dishes are naturally vegetarian dishes and full of flavor. Consider:  Italian: pasta and pizza, of course, but also risotto, polenta, and gnocchi and roasted,
grilled, or braised vegetables for maximum flavor; French: vegetable gratins, quiches, and ratatouille; Polish pierogi with caramelized onions; Greek spanakopita; Moroccan vegetable tagine; Middle Eastern baked eggplant; and many Indian dishes such as vegetable vindaloo, red lentil dal, and vegetable samosas.  If you want to incorporate tofu in your menus, look to the Asian cuisines such as Thai and Chinese where tofu is used in delicious ways —try Garlic Tofu or Pad Thai Tofu, just to name two.

5. Comfort-Food Factor: Serve familiar dishes your family enjoys.  Some may already be naturally vegetarian, while others need just a quick ingredient adjustment to become vegetarian. For example, simply
substitute frozen veggie crumbles or chopped up veggie burgers for the ground meat in your spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos, or Sloppy Joes. Instead of hamburgers or hot dogs, try veggie burgers or soy hot dogs. Slather barbecue sauce on veggie burgers. Substitute beans for meat in your favorite stews and soups, and begin to think of your favorite vegetable and grain dishes as entrees instead of side dishes.  Make a vegetarian pot pie with cooked chickpeas instead of chicken, or try new pasta dishes with a fragrant basil pesto sauce or a variety of vegetables and beans sautéed in garlic and olive oil. 

6. Condiments: Often just a touch of a relish, chutney, or salsa can take foods to the next level of flavor and add interest.  Along with your favorite salsas, barbeque sauces, and relishes, experiment with some exotic global condiments such as chutney, harissa sauce, sambal oelek, ketchap manis, or hoisin sauce.

7. Make it Fun:  transport your next gathering to another level with an exotic vegetarian menu.  Consider a Chinese dim sum table with steamed and fried vegetable dumplings, a Middle Eastern mezze with dolmas,
hummus, and baba ganoush or an Indian-inspired buffet with an assortment of pakoras and samosas served with a selection of chutneys; or a Mediterranean feast with vegetable tarts, focaccia, lentil pate, mushroom
crostini, or black olive bruscetta.