Well, not quite. It started when I was a boy, and we went to “fancy” Italian restaurants – with checked tablecloths and Chianti bottles with candles in them, yes – and you could order “real” Italian food, which meant anything that wasn’t pizza: lasagna, baked ziti, or like that. Noodles with red sauce, meat, and mozz, baked in the oven. Yes.

But later – let’s say in the magical year of 1967 — my friend Chuck and I would stumble into the kitchen and he’d concoct his masterpiece, which was made up of a pound of pasta, a pound of mozz, and a quart of sauce. The sauce was made by his mother, Constance, a wonderful woman who was either oblivious or extremely tolerant.

The method – and I will mention that Chuck was the cook, not me; I knew nothing – was to cook the pasta, shred the cheese, drain the pasta, toss it with the mozz and barely warmed-up sauce. (Sometimes we’d toss with cold sauce; the mozz didn’t melt as well but we could inhale the pasta faster.) That, friends, is four pounds of food. (The pasta absorbs about its weight in water, and a quart weighs about a pound.) We’d always finish the whole thing. In like twelve minutes. While listening to “Sunshine of Your Love,” or whatever.

Yes, you can make baked pasta without dairy

These days, I try to eat less dairy, which you might think rules out baked pasta in any form: It’s not true. A couple of years ago, I published Dinner for Everyone. The book features a number of different “umbrella” foods (sweet breakfast, stir-fry, scampi, one-pot pasta, etc.) with three versions of each: Easy, vegan, and “perfect for company,” i.e., a little more special. (Fun fact: The book was going to be called Three Ways. Mm-hm.)

It was a challenging task, but a lot of fun, and it produced some of my favorite recipes. Surprisingly, in the baked pasta section, just one of the three dishes features cheese, and perhaps my favorite of the three is the vegan version: Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs.

The combination of ingredients is a really good one: Bitter greens and caramelized onions, with hearty whole-wheat pasta. It’s important not to overcook the pasta – it should be pliable but not yet edible when you drain it. And, you can do all of that in advance. Then you toast some almonds, pulse them with bread, parsley, and oil — as good a combination as exists in the world – and that’s your topping. No cheese necessary.

Note: For more great recipes, community, and discussion around food, join The Bittman Project. Members have access to every recipe that Mark Bittman publishes as well as community discussions, weekly Super-Cheap Dinner recipes, and some of the most stimulating food journalism in existence.

Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 2 red onions, halved and sliced
• 2 thick slices of stale crusty bread, torn into pieces
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• Pepper
• 12 ounces broccoli rabe, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine or water
• 1½ cups cooked cannellini beans or one 15-ounce can drained
• 12 ounces whole-wheat penne or other similar pasta

The post Mark Bittman’s Vegan Mediterranean Gratin with Almond Breadcrumbs appeared first on The Beet.

My mom, who was the primary — read, only — cook in the house, used it liberally, but it was us kids who “discovered” that there were few limits of mayo: We’d spread toast with it, eat it with hot sauce (revolutionary at the time), dip cold potatoes into it (deconstructed potato salad, I guess), and more.

Nowadays, most of our mayo is homemade: It takes 30 seconds and kills the store-bought stuff, whatever brand. (Yes, there’s still a jar of Hellmann’s in the fridge.) And often that homemade mayo is vegan, usually with a base of silken tofu. That’s also easy to make, though, of course, you can buy a variety of substitutes. The development of vegan mayo – something that really didn’t exist in my childhood – now allows everyone to enjoy deli-style salads, like coleslaw, macaroni, potato, and so on.

The basic elements of these – and of the non-vegan egg, chicken, tuna, and so on – salads, are well known. But if you start playing around, you can always come up with something new, and my favorite of this is a creamy salad of grated jicama (celeriac, kohlrabi, parsnips, turnips – even a combination – are also fabulous here), bound in a mustardy mayonnaise dressing with grapes and the strong, mysterious fresh tarragon.

For more great recipes from Mark Bittman, join The Bittman Project.

When you join The Bittman Project, members have access to every recipe that Mark Bittman publishes as well as community discussions, weekly Super-Cheap Dinner recipes, and some of the most stimulating food journalism in existence.

Everything-But-the-Chicken Salad

Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound jicama, peeled
• Salt
• 1⁄2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1⁄2 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
• Pepper
• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1⁄2 small red onion, chopped
• 8 large, sturdy romaine leaves

Instructions

1. Use the shredding attachment on a food processor or the largest holes on a box grater to grate the jicama. Mix the vegetable with a generous pinch of salt, then let it sit in a colander in the sink or over a bowl for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse the jicama, then wring it as dry as you can manage in a towel. Transfer to a large bowl.
2. Put the sunflower seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are slightly darker and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the jicama. Put the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, oil, and 1 teaspoon of tarragon in a small bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Put the grapes, celery, onion, and remaining 2 teaspoons of tarragon in the large bowl and drizzle on some of the dressing. Toss gently to coat, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more dressing if you like. To serve, put the lettuce leaves on a serving platter or in individual bowls and top with a heaping spoonful of salad.

— Recipe from Dinner for Everyone

Time: 10 minutes

Veganaise

Makes almost 1 cup

Ingredients

• 6 ounces extra-firm silken tofu (about 3/4 cup; half a 12-ounce package)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Pinch ground turmeric (optional)

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender. Turn the machine to medium speed and let it run for a minute or 2, then turn it off.
2. Scrape the side of the container down with a rubber spatula, turn the blender back on, and let it run for 3 minutes. Stop and scrape again, then run the blender for a minute or so more. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

• Sweeter Vegannaise, Salad-Dressing Style: Like really good Miracle Whip, if that makes sense: Add 1 tablespoon sugar along with the other ingredients.
• Thicker Vegannaise: The consistency will be more like store-bought: Reduce the oil to 2 tablespoons and the vinegar to 1 tablespoon. You will have to stop and scrape the side down more frequently.

— From How to Cook Everything Vegetarian 10th Anniversary Edition

Nutritionals 

Calories 452 | Total Fat 20.8g | Saturated Fat 1.3g | Cholesterol 0mg | Sodium 371mg | Total Carbohydrate 62.7g | Dietary Fiber 6.9g | Total Sugars 23.3g | Protein 18g | Vitamin D 0mcg | Calcium 37mg | Iron 1mg | Potassium 3432mg |

The post Mark Bittman’s Everything-But-the-Chicken Salad appeared first on The Beet.

The star here is the vegan ragu, which can show up in many forms, and rightfully so: It’s so easy to substitute for meat that shows up in classic ragu because so many different foods can do the trick. And none does it better than tempeh, with its superb chewiness, strong umami flavor, and superior nutritional (and of course ethical) profile. The tempeh helps create a sauce that is in many ways as good as or better than the original.

But this recipe is about more than the ragu: It’s about making a lasagne that is light, delicious, and layered with a variety of vegetables, one that you can enjoy and feel good about, as well as one that doesn’t weigh you down.

Note: For more great recipes, community, and discussion around food, join The Bittman Project. Members have access to every recipe that Mark Bittman publishes as well as community discussions, weekly Super-Cheap Dinner recipes, and some of the most stimulating food journalism in existence.

Time: 1½ hours

Tempeh Ragu Lasagna

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces tempeh
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried
• One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
• One 28-ounce can pureed tomatoes
• 10 ounces baby spinach
• 1 pound whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Put 3 tablespoons oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, crumble the tempeh into the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits, until the tempeh is browned and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and starting to turn golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, red chile flakes, and oregano and stir until fragrant, less than a minute. Add the diced and pureed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened and the flavors come together, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time until all has been incorporated. Remove from the heat, taste, and adjust the seasoning. (You can make the ragu up to 3 days ahead.)
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes, then start tasting. When the pasta is halfway done, drain into a colander and toss with 1 tablespoon oil; you can drape the noodles over the sides to keep them separate.
4. Grease the bottom of a 9 by 13–inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then spread with about one-fourth of the ragu. Put in a layer of noodles, touching but not overlapping, and trim any overhanging edges. Spread the noodles with one-fourth of the ragu (there should be enough salt, but if you think it’s underseasoned, add a little salt to each layer). Make three more layers, ending with lasagna noodles. Top with the sliced tomatoes, drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Put the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the pasta is tender, browned on the edges, and a knife inserted into the center comes out hot, 20 to 30 minutes. Let the lasagna set for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

For more Mark Bittman on The Beet, check out these other plant-based recipes.

Nutritionals 

Calories 637 | Total Fat 24.5g | Saturated Fat 3.6g | Sodium 519mg | Total Carbohydrate 79.2g | Dietary Fiber 17g | Total Sugars 14.3g | Protein 25.3g | Caclium 155mg | iron 10mg | Potassium 995mg |

The post Mark Bittman’s Dairy-Free Tempeh Ragu Lasagna appeared first on The Beet.

Among them is my (vegan) homage to the traditional chicken tinga. The key ingredients in these hearty tacos are tomatoes and chipotle; both are originally from the Americas. Tomatoes, of course, have become universal – everywhere they’re grown, and even in places that they aren’t, they’re beloved. But the chile chipotle – the smoked jalapeño (usually; other chiles are also smoked and called chipotle) – remains distinctly Mexican and Central American. Although it’s been widely adopted in the US and elsewhere, it remains closely associated with those cuisines. And it’s the key to tinga — which is generally thought to be from Puebla – and the most distinctive flavor in this dish, regardless of the “main” ingredient.

Note: For more great recipes, community, and discussion around food, join The Bittman Project. Members have access to every recipe that Mark Bittman publishes as well as community discussions, weekly Super-Cheap Dinner recipes, and some of the most stimulating food journalism in existence.

Time: 2 hours

Saucy Cauliflower Tacos

Serves 4

Ingredients

• One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
• 4 tablespoons good-quality vegetable oil, plus more for frying
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 canned chipotle chile, with 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, or to taste
• 2 cups vegetable stock (see page 87) or water
• 1 large head cauliflower (about 1 ½ pounds)
• Eight 8-inch (or twelve 6-inch) whole wheat flour tortillas
• 6 ounces radishes, sliced
• 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Put the tomatoes in a baking dish and roast until they start to char and shrivel, 40 to 50 minutes.
2. Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the cumin and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the roasted tomatoes, the chipotle, adobo, and stock and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then adjust the heat so it bubbles gently. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickened a little, 25 to 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture directly in the pot, or carefully transfer the mixture in batches to a blender to puree. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Cut the core from the cauliflower, then roughly chop the florets into pieces about 1/2 inch in size. Add the cauliflower to the sauce and bring the mixture to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently. Cook, uncovered and stirring once in a while, until the cauliflower is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and keep warm.
4. Pour about 1/2 inch oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Put a wire rack on a large baking sheet. When it’s hot, put a tortilla in the skillet and let it cook until it starts blistering but is still soft, less than 15 seconds. Carefully turn the tortilla with tongs, and immediately fold it over and hold it for a few seconds to form a taco shell. Once the tortilla holds its shape, turn it every few seconds, until it’s crisp and golden all over, 15 to 30 seconds more. Transfer to the wire rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, adjusting the heat and adding more oil as necessary.
5. To assemble the tacos, spoon the cauliflower into the crisp shells and top with radish slices, avocado, and mint.

Nutritionals 

Calories 719 | Total Fat 41.9g | Saturated Fat 9.9g | Cholesterol 3mg | Sodium 1164mg | Total Carbohydrates 82.1g | Dietary Fiber 25.6g | Total Sugars 14g | Protein 17.8g | Calcium 265mg | Iron 8mg | Potassium 1839mg

— Recipe from Dinner for Everyone

The post Mark Bittman’s Saucy Cauliflower Tacos, Perfect for the Super Bowl appeared first on The Beet.

In reality, little has changed, though it seems people are beginning to pay attention. Is beef bad for the environment? (I’m tempted to answer, “Do bears shit in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic?”) Yes, it is—when we consider how the U.S. produces 95 percent of it. Pork too, and even chicken. Waste management, or lack of it—really, no one knows what to do with all that shit—is a big problem. Animal production facilities causing cancer in their neighbors is a tragic offshoot of that. 

There’s more: You have to grow grain for all those animals, who number in excess of 10 billion per year in this country alone. And how do you grow it? With great damage, to land, to resources, to the climate, the change of which is largely due to industrial agriculture. 

Do you want to talk about food waste? How about devoting tens of millions of acres of the world’s best soil to produce food for animal production that devastates the climate and deprives people of better quality food? (I’m not detailing this at the moment; we’ve been down this road twenty times, and I’ve fact-checked this stuff to death; there is no fake news here.)

And while it’s probably true that most meat is not as bad for your internal functioning as was once thought, it’s still not as good as the better alternatives. (By “alternatives,” as I wrote last week, I don’t mean overpriced and hyper-processed veggie burgers, but legumes and vegetables and whole grains.) 

Furthermore, if you consider “internal functioning” to include our souls, or whatever you want to call our inner beings, the parts that we don’t have direct access to but we all feel exist … it can’t be good for us to be part of a system (and most of us are) that literally tortures billions of animals a year before killing them “efficiently,” that is, with no thought to their experience — at which point underpaid and abused workers take over and “process” them so that we don’t have to pay “too much” for them. 

The system stinks, and people with money are opting out left and right, choosing better-raised meats that cost three and five and sometimes ten times as much money — which, for the most part, is the appropriate price. But not everyone can do that. So, as usual, the people with less money are forced to participate in a system that they didn’t ask for or design, which harms them disproportionately. 

This argument goes on; if you find it intriguing, you might look at Animal, Vegetable, Junk. But this didn’t start as a pitch for my book, and it’s not going to end that way. The original questions are pertinent. 

Joe Biden can’t take away your burgers. It doesn’t appear he knows where to start, although if he’s serious about dealing with climate change, he’s going to have to figure out some way to mitigate the damage done by industrial agriculture. Could you manage with 10 percent less meat per year? Yes, and probably without noticing. Twenty percent? Perhaps that would cause you a minor inconvenience. That’s an excellent place to start. And our great- or great-great-grandchildren will be fine with that because the change will have beneficial and, if we (or they) are lucky, it will have been gradual. 

But Joe Biden doesn’t appear to be even able to put an FDA commissioner in place. So we’re still — 12 years after the Obama administration could have put a dent in industrial animal production by outlawing the routine use of antibiotics — waiting on that relatively minor change that would have an immediate and positive impact.  If he can’t move in that direction, I think you can be about as “frightened” about Joe Biden taking away your meat as you should be about him taking away your guns. This “fear” is as credible as election fraud. 

How about Eleven Madison Park? Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten there or plan to. Right: probably two percent of the people reading this. If you have, or will, enjoy yourself. Rest assured, it will be just as wonderful (or not, depending on your patience for fine dining and your worry about affording it) as it was when it served meat. It’s a fine idea for one of America’s most expensive restaurants to go vegan; it’ll give a great chef room to become even more inventive and create more intriguing dishes. It’s good PR for them, and it’s good that they’re spotlighting the issue.

Same with Epicurious. They’re taking a position that costs them nothing. They’re not taking down existing beef recipes, of which they have hundreds or thousands. (To be clear, neither are we, though we’ve thought about it.) They’re just making a statement, and it’s a meaningful one. We don’t need to produce more beef. We don’t need to promote beef. We’ve got plenty of beef. The question is, how do we produce and make do with less? 

Joe Biden, Eleven Madison, Epicurious: These are small gestures in the big picture. In the long run,  how we produce and make do with less beef can only be answered by a society that prioritizes the health of humans, the environment, other species, the whole planet. We’re not doing that yet, and we have a way to go — but that is the job. 

So is curbing junk food. So is prioritizing restorative agriculture. So is getting land into the hands of people who will farm it well, people who’ve had land stolen from them, or never had it in the first place. So is respectfully treating the people who bring us food. So is teaching our children what good eating is. It’s all part of the picture, and though it’s nice to have an excuse to rant a little bit, this beef about beef will be old news by next week. A shame.

Mark Bittman’s latest book is Animal, Vegetable Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal. His bestselling book, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good, changed how people thought about approaching plant-based food. If you want more content and recipes from Mark Bittman, sign up for the Bittman Project.

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