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 Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate Patricia Wells
Patricia Wells, an American living in Paris, started her cookbook series in the traditional way --- with a book about bistros. She moved up the food chain to fine Paris restaurants, then wandered south to Provence and the Trattoria cooking of Italy. And now this book on vegetables. Perfect timing. American cooks ---and eaters --- have come to understand what the French always knew: The way to slimness is portion size. That is, smaller helpings of fatty protein, larger servings of vegetables. This is also the way to health. If you've read Omnivore's Dilemma --- here and here --- or any recent headline about food inspection and food safety, you know you're taking a chance every time you shop at the supermarket. They say you'd never eat sausage if you saw how it's made; ditto for most beef, chicken or pork. The secret --- saieth my wife, the one-time food professional --- is to spend more money to buy smaller quantities of the highest-quality meat and poultry. How do you fill your plate and satisfy your hunger? With vegetables, which are, at their worst, much less toxic than run-of-the-mill supermarket meat and poultry. “Vegetable Harvest” establishes Patricia Wells as Julia Child for the new millennium. She's not a frothing New Ager, telling you to heap your plate with vegetables because meat is sinful --- she's just a close observer of traditional French cooking. That is, meat/fish/poultry prominent on the plate, just cooked with vegetables or surrounded by them. To that good sense, she's added some welcome information: nutritional data about the dish --- Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho (below) is 27 calories per serving, with 1 gram of protein and 6 grams of carbohydrates, and a suggestion of a smart wine. And she's not above serving up the odd fact about her subjects (did you know that, in the 16th century, Europeans considered the tomato as an aphrodisiac?). “Vegetable Harvest” is an encyclopedia of recipes --- it's 300 pages, with almost no commentary. Most are simple, requiring few exotic ingredients or advanced techniques. I'm particularly excited about the soups, but judging from the recipes I've tried and the pages I've turned down, there's a lot here to love in every category. And I certainly look forward to loving the healthier, trimmer me. I'll come closer to that goal with recipes like these: TOMATO AND STRAWBERRY GAZPACHO Serves 8 1 pound fresh tomatoes, NOT peeled, but rinsed, cored and quartered 1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and stemmed 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar In a food processor or blender, puree tomatoes and strawberries. Add vinegar and blend. Taste for seasoning. Chill thoroughly. Serve in small, clear glasses. ASPARAGUS BRAISED WITH FRESH ROSEMARY AND BAY LEAVES Serves 4 16 plump spears white or green asparagus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt several sprigs fresh rosemary several bay leaves, preferably fresh Rinse the asparagus and trim the rough ends. In a skillet large enough to hold all the asparagus in a single layer, combine the asparagus, oil, salt, rosemary and bay leaves. Sprinkle with several tablespoons of cold water. Cover. Cook over high heat until the oil-water mixture starts to sizzle. Reduce the heat to medium and braise the asparagus, turning from time to time, just until the asparagus starts to brown in spots --- 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. Serve immediately. --- Jesse Kornbluth, for for HeadButler.com To buy “Vegetable Harvest” from Amazon.com, click here. To buy “The Provence Cookbook” from Amazon.com, click here. To buy “The Paris Cookbook” from Amazon.com, click here. To read about “Trattoria” on HeadButler.com, click here. To read about “Bistro Cooking” on HeadButler.com, click here. Copyright 2007 by Head Butler Inc. |
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