Dear friends,
By the time we hit the highway the camper freezer was stocked with every vegan item Tony could find at Aldi, from faux meatballs to crunchy snacks to chicken-free chicken nuggets. My contributions were rich, roasted vegan tomato pasta sauce and a lentil-butternut stew. We hadn’t seen Nico in four years and we intended to show him the love by feeding him. What else would a food writer and chef do?
Tony’s son, Nico, became a vegan about five years ago after watching a movie about the meat industry. We remembered how hard it was to find vegan options on menus back then. Boy, have things changed.
Our week in Colorado with Nico was filled with so many great restaurant meals that we sent him home with most of the food we brought. We found vegan options in Asian restaurants, a deli and even a drive-in burger stand.
We celebrated Nico’s 28th birthday at a Nepalese restaurant he chose, and that was the culinary highlight of the trip. Everest Nepal Restaurant in Glenwood Springs, Colo., delivered on the flavor with chicken bhuteko (in dry tomato sauce with sauteed onions) for me and lamb kawab (skewered, grilled lamb) for Tony, and vegetable korma (with coconut, cashews and raisins) for Nico.
Between meals we hiked, laughed and sat around the campfire and talked, trying to make up for lost time. Nico told us about his mountain-climbing and mountain-biking exploits in summer and daredevil snowboarding in ski season. I peek at his Instagram feed with trepidation.
I only cooked one meal on vacation, and that was because of the dog. Oscar’s blood sugar got so out of whack (he’s diabetic) I thought he was dying. When he made it through the night, Tony and I promised him steak. We grilled ribeyes and a t-bone that night, with baked potatoes and corn on the cob for the humans.
I didn’t miss meat the night we all went vegan at the campground. That’s when we ate the lentil stew I had made at home. It is satisfying by itself or served over rice. The flavors are tremendous — ginger, garlic, a pop of curry and sweetness from the butternut squash and a chopped apple.
“Are you surprised I stuck with being a vegan?” Nico asked one night.
Not at all. That kid excels at whatever he sets his sights on.
CURRIED LENTIL, SQUASH AND APPLE STEW
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup dried lentils
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp. tomato paste
3 cups peeled butternut squash in 1/2-inch cubes
1 large unpeeled apple, diced
5 oz. baby spinach
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and carrot until almost soft. Add garlic, ginger, curry and salt and cook a few more minutes, until fragrant.
Stir in lentils, broth and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add squash and apple, cover and simmer another 25 minutes or until vegetables and lentils are tender. Remove lid and stir in spinach until wilted. Add salt to taste and serve. Makes 6 servings.
From the New York Times.
GUT CHECK
What I cooked recently:
Egg salad sandwiches, tortellini with venison meat sauce, grilled steaks, grilled corn and baked potatoes.
What I ate in/from restaurants:
Pulled pork, slaw and hush puppies at some barbecue joint in Kansas; a McDonald’s Happy Meal; Mongolian beef, rice and pan-fried dumplings at Eric’s Asian Cafe in Idaho Springs, Colo.; breakfast burrito in Silverthorne, Colo.; grilled chicken salad with strawberries, avocado and candied pecans at Be Healthy Bistro in Rifle, Colo.; stir fried chicken and vegetables with peanut sauce at Thai Chili Bistro in Rifle; vegetable pizza and roast lemon chicken with mashed potatoes from Whole Foods in Carbondale, Colo; vegetable pakora, vegetable samosa, chicken bhuteko (in a dry tomato sauce), naan and mango ice cream at Everest Nepal Restaurant in Glenwood Springs, Colo.; chili burger and green chile fries from Vicco’s Charcoalburger Drive-In in Glenwood Springs, Colo.; ginger pancakes with apple butter and a chorizo omelet with toast and coffee at the Jailhouse Cafe in Moab, Utah; stuffed sopapillas and hamburgers on fry bread at Lil’s Diner in Thoreau, N.M.; smoked brisket, mac and cheese, green beans with ham and grilled bread at Missouri Hick Bar-B-Que in Cuba, Mo.
THE MAILBAG
From Sandy H.:
Can you suggest a couple of good vegetarian restaurants in the Akron area?
I have guests coming into town who don’t eat meat or dairy and are gluten intolerant. Thank you for your help.
Dear Sandy:
I’m sure there are a number of restaurants that can tailor meals to the needs of your guests. Asian restaurants are a good bet for vegans. Two local restaurants that specialize in vegetarian are Mustard Seed Market’s upstairs cafe in the Highland Square area of Akron (mustardseedmarket.com), and Ms. Julie’s Kitchen on South Main Street in Akron (msjulieskitchen.com). The latter is a vegan restaurant that grows much of its own produce and offers gluten-free options such as spelt breads and buns and German chocolate spelt-flour cake.
From Jane S.:
Any chance of getting your smoked duck and orange sauce recipes? My daughter, who lives with me, just informed me it’s time to cook that duck in the freezer. That sounds really good. Thank you.
Dear Jane:
It WAS really good, and the moment I tasted it I realized I should have jotted down the recipe. Maybe you can recreate it from my description. I cooked the duck in a smoker at 225 degrees for about 4 hours. If you lack a smoker, you can cook it on a covered grill over indirect heat (coals on one side, duck on the other) for a couple of hours or until the internal temperature is 170 degrees or so.
For the Asian orange sauce I added soy sauce, a bit of hot chili bean sauce and a squirt of hoisin sauce to the packet of orange sauce that came with the duck. I simmered it all together for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Before serving, I brushed the duck with the sauce and passed the rest at the table.
I usually toss the orange-sauce packet in the trash but from now on I’ll save it for this transformation.
From Donna G.:
I love Concord grapes! This is a long process but fun and delicious: Remove skins/stems and cook down the pulp. Seed the grape pulp.I use a Foley food mill, then put the seeded pulp back in the pot and add the skins trapped by the food mill, and cook 10-15 minutes more. You can either can or freeze. I freeze. It makes the BEST grape kuchen.
Dear Donna:
Grape kuchen seems like reason enough to haul out the food mill. Thanks for another way to process all my grapes.
See Jane Cook 