Domestic Delia

[pegkerr]

Delia has always been the much more domestic of our two girls. I mean, this is a girl who within one week of getting her iPod had discovered and downloaded all the Cook's Illustrated podcasts and soon was seriously discussing the relative merits of various brands of cookware. She loves to make cakes and bread (which reminds me: she's been complaining again that OMIGOD she is out of YEAST, which is a CATASTROPHE and if I know what's good for me I'll make sure we get that on the next grocery shopping list). She has been busily exploring all my various linens I got for my wedding and even the linens I inherited from my grandmother, and frequently over the past month I've come home to find that she has nicely set the table with a whole other set of place mats and matching napkins and plates that it hadn't occurred to me to use for ten years. Or she'll have the table set for tea, using my Nana's tea set.

She is sewing all sorts of things. She is making beautiful jewelry. She is knitting. One of her birthday presents for her sister was a knitted cell phone case which was just so cute I just about exploded.

Cooking, other than baking, is rather problematic. She is extremely interested in cooking, and goes through and marks up all sorts of cookbooks--but her tastes are whimsical when it comes right down to making things. One of the side effects of some medication she is taking, I think, is that things sometimes taste weird, and her appetite is unpredictable. She is, as we have previously noted, a supertaster, and she is also extremely sensitive to textures, and she'll reject something if it feels "weird" in her mouth.

She is leaning, again, to wanting to be a vegetarian. Her reasons are mostly philosophical (loves animals, doesn't want to eat them) and her revulsion for the texture of meat is growing. Except she still ALSO has revulsion for many cooked vegetables. We are having a great deal of trouble identifying protein sources which she will deign to eat, which has meant (esp. since she's as skinny as a rail) that she's been troubled a great deal by hypoglycemic incidents this spring, especially after intense karate classes.

Does any one know of a, say a cooking class locally (not too expensive) to suggest for say, parents of kids, when the kid wants to become a vegetarian? I know a lot, more than most parents about vegetarianism, but I must admit, I'm somewhat stymied by Delia's endlessly changing reactions to tastes and textures--trying to keep her nutrition adequate on a vegetarian diet that she will EAT is like trying to hit a swiftly moving target. Or does anyone know any skilled vegetarian cooks who might be willing to tutor an eager-to-learn kid who is, really, quite a good cook already, but just needs to be shown the ropes on vegetarian cooking?

I just found Compassionate Cooks podcast, a vegetarian podcast, and told her about it, and she's gone ahead and subscribed to it on iTunes. Other thoughts, anyone?

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Comments

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

What about cookbooks? My favorite vegetarian cookbook is the Moosewood series (Mollie Katzen), but Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is excellent too. There are a raft of books on cooking for vegetarian kids, and I expect the problems-with-icky-veggies are universal, so they may have some great ideas.

My kids (and I) liked eating vegetables much better when we bought them and cooked them ourselves, and growing them made it even better. My kids also did better with salads and sandwiches and soups than with steamed and stirfried veggies, and purees and smoothies can sometimes make the most amazing things yummy.

[woodrunner.livejournal.com]

I've been vegetarian for years (and years) so I can understand the challenge of getting enough protein. It took me a long time to get used to tofu, and even then I don't eat it very much.

You can get some protein from beans, milk, milk products, tofu, soy products in general, and something called "tempe", which my brother told me about the other day and said it is an excellent protein replacement, though it can be difficult to find (he said to look in health food stores or asian grocery stores).

If Delia likes smoothies, maybe she can try adding a protein supplement (from the health food store, though I'd stay away from the big bottle, $$$ bodybuilding ones; the health food store I go to has something called whey protein that is much cheaper and has no additives) to the smoothie? I've done that and I can't taste the added protein.

I wish you a lot of luck in this. Vegetarian diets are tough. They're even tougher when the person is sensitive to tastes and textures.

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

I'm more "fish-a-tarian" than strictly vegetarian these days, but my actual cooking from scratch involves vegetarian recipes. What does Delia need to know? The main thing is to get a balance of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, beans/legumes, and dairy/eggs (assuming she's not going the vegan route--that is not a good idea for a "picky" eater). Everything I'm reading in recent times is emphasizing that we need to mainly get lots of vegetables, whether we eat meat or not, so maybe she can begin by exploring ways that she DOES like to eat vegetables. And "cooked" vegetables encompasses a wide range of cooking techniques and degrees of cooking.

One of my favorite, totally lazy-ass ways to get veggies in my diet is to steam about half a bag of frozen vegetables (usually centered around broccoli, as it's one of my favorites and very good for you) then toss them in a bowl with a bit of salad dressing and chow down. Some veggies do well with oven roasting rather than steaming or boiling, e.g., brussels sprouts, which seem to lose the bitterness with oven roasting (olive oil and rosemary or other Italian herb = yum). And there are also salads, which can be made pretty substantial with the addition of chickpeas and cheese and other add-ins.

Does Delia like soups? There are TONS of recipes out there, and vegetarian soups are as easy as just using vegetable broth (or water, if you have veggies in the soup and are simmering it long enough) instead of the ubiquitous chicken broth. It's hard to recommend a specific recipe not knowing what she likes, but since she's into research, anyway :-D she can do the legwork herself. Two good authors I know of are Mollie Katzen (the original Moosewood Cookbook) and Nava Atlas (she has a Mediterranean cookbook that I'm thinking of getting).

If you and Delia would be interested in getting together at Namaste or Common Roots some Friday evening (or whatever is best for your schedule), I'd be willing to chat and share such knowledge as I have. Just e-mail me (or call, if you still have my phone number) and let me know!

Here's a web site, too

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Allrecipes.com has a Vegetarian Recipe Section. I bet Delia could have a field day surfing this, alone, and Allrecipes is supposed to be reliable in terms of the quality of the recipes.

Of course there are tons of other sites out there, too, as a quick Google on "vegetarian recipes" will establish.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I'm going to guess that the answer is no (too bitter or other odd tastes), but does she like brewer's yeast? I believe that has a fair amount of protein.

I love gluten, but that's because it can have a meatlike texture, so in some preparations that could be a minus. I am very fond of the Morning Star brand of veggieburgers.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

What versions of tofu have you tried? The normal soft white stuff you get can be rather tasteless.

But the super-soft has a nice texture and flavoring can be added.

Tofu-kan is braised or otherwise cooked in a spiced liquid and then pressed to take out the water and give it a firmer texture. For me, it tastes pretty good all by itself, even before you add other ingredients or seasoning.

Asian stores will also sell you a deep-fried version, which has a different texture, and can be used in soups. There are more holes, so it will hold the soup and thus be tastier.

You can also buy extra firm tofu, freeze it, and then use that in soups. Freezing creates ice crystals, that in a soup mean lots of holes and again, more surface-area that holds onto yumminess. Some people don't like the resulting texture, but I quite like it.

Asian stores will also sell you tofu in a dried skin form rolled up into sticks. You need to soak this before cooking in soup, but it is nice and chewy when cooked, and again, the fact that it is sort of liked thin pasta all crumpled up into sticks means that there is lots of surface area that will hold onto soup to add flavor.

As I recall, I've tried tempe and didn't like it, which is surprising since I generally like soy products.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I should pick my sister's brain about this. She and Carl (her bf) have slid into vegetarianism. On the other hand, a 60 year old woman wouldn't have the same protein needs as a teenage girl.

[etakyma.livejournal.com]

Both my brother M and sister-in-law K are vegetarians (but are not raising their kids vegetarian). They both decided (at about the same age - ~14) to become vegetarian, and K also has a texture aversion to eggs. Unless they are completely mixed into something she can't even swallow them.

But they also have the bonus of loving all kinds of food. For a pickier eater, it can be very difficult to find something she'll like. Soups are good, in that you can find almost a ton of different textures - and a lot of pureed vegetables make good soup bases - and can seem creamier, even with no cream added. I've made a corn chowder with fresh corn (stripped the ears myself) that was in a base of pureed fresh corn as the base, and it was sweet and fresh and delicious.

Smoothies are a good idea - You can add almost anything to a yogurt/fruit base - chocolate, peanut butter, etc. And with some protein powder included you can boost her health a little.

I am very texture/scent oriented, myself. And kind of a picky eater as well. I've grown out of some of that, but I still have to modify almost anything I order in a restaurant - mostly to leave something off or out.

That she likes to cook is a bonus for you.

:D

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Quinoa evangelist here: quinoa is a complete protein! If she doesn't mind the wee grainy texture, you can make quinotto the way you make risotto, and so many fine things can go in it, like dried fruits or barely-cooked veggies or nuts or lo these many types of goodness! You can get red or regular quinoa in wee boxes at Byerly's, or you can get it from the bulk bins in hippie groceries!

Everything related to quinoa comes with an exclamation point for me! Because I love it so much!

[siriologist.livejournal.com]

I do a Spriotein Protein shake every morning. They have all different flavors and you can do them with juice or milk. That keeps my blood sugar pretty steady all morning. I feed it to my son when he can't eat anything due to braces tightening.

Oh ... and the tree picture I was trying to share (email was thwarted) was "The Lawrence Tree" by Georgia O'Keefe. Is a neat painting that people can't seem to figure out which direction to hang it. It was Ms. O'Keefe's interpretation of a large tree on D.H. Lawrence's Ranch, painted from the perspective of lying on your back looking up from under the tree. Really cool.

Good luck with your veggie gal.

[woodrunner.livejournal.com]

oh! I'd forgotten quinoa. I did try it once and liked it very much, but the husband, who until that time ate everything except eggplant (unless I tricked him and didn't tell him what was in the dish), now doesn't eat eggplant and quinoa. I don't think he liked the texture of it.

[woodrunner.livejournal.com]

It's actually the soft and super-soft tofu that I don't like very much, not just because of the texture, but because I make an absolute disaster when cooking it!

I usually stir-fry extra firm tofu. I like it with and without extra flavoring. I admit I haven't exactly been adventurous cooking with tofu and could use advice and recipes (thank you for the tip for tofu in soup!), and that's in part because I have to limit my soy intake for medical reasons.

[naomikritzer]

What Delia needs here isn't so much a cooking tutorial as an eating tutorial. You need a semi-evangelical vegetarian or vegan who will have Delia over a few times to eat a sampling of mild-tasting protein-oriented vegetarian foods, and get recipes and some instruction, if they're tricky, for the things she finds most palatable.

Unfortunately, the person I know who would TOTALLY do this lives in Boston.

Do you know Barth? Cooking classes for would-be vegetarian kids sounds like something the Wedge would do (or could consider doing). You could suggest it to him and also see if he knows any evangelical vegetarians.

I would actually think tofu -- plain, unflavored tofu -- would be a really good thing for Delia to experiment with, since she's a supertaster with texture issues. Unflavored tofu is almost tasteless. When I couldn't eat dairy, I actually made myself a pseudo-chocolate-pudding that used tofu, sugar, and chocolate -- this wouldn't be a good thing to eat daily as an entree because of the sugar content, but it does show how versatile the stuff is.

The problem with handing her some good cookbooks is that many vegetarian cookbooks are oriented towards providing food that is highly flavored and provides a variety of textures. What textures can she fairly consistently tolerate?

[naomikritzer]

Also, I know you've done this before, but if you want to write out the current version of what Delia consistently finds palatable, I could direct my vegan friend in Boston over here to see if she could suggest protein sources and cookbooks for a picky supertasting kid with texture issues.

[naomikritzer]

Hey, another food suggestion that she should try: edamame. You can buy them pre-shelled at United Noodle for $1.69/pound in the freezer section. (They're more expensive at the Rainbow.) They are not at all like any other form of cooked bean, IMO. I really disliked kidney beans, etc., for a looooong time for texture reasons -- they tended to suck up moisture when you bit into them, and then stick in my throat. I HATED that as a kid. Edamame are completely different -- the texture is a little like fresh corn. They have a flavor but it's very mild and not at all bitter. They are extremely high in protein.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I'm not a supertaster, or at most a mild one, but I think our concept of flavor differs. I love soy beans (edamame), but I would say that they have a reasonably strong taste. I do complain at the lack of flavor in plain tofu, but I would not call the common varieties almost flavorless. Instead, I'd say plain tofu has a very mild flavor.

[potionsprofessor.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

A book that might help, since Delia enjoys cookbooks so much, is Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you're unfamiliar with the text, it's the nonfiction story of the family's year of eating local food, mainly vegetables, mainly grown from their own farm. Each chapter is based on a particular month (or period of a few weeks) and what foods are in season, as well as some recipes written out in story form by the eldest daughter, Camille. There are some really great introductions to "fresh produce, well prepared" that clearly speaks to picky eaters -- and the "let's see if we can do it" challenge of the story might well appeal to a teenage girl. There are some very clear, direct passages that talk about raising animals on a farm for food, which may prove troubling, though.

Really, what I think might be helpful for her is the conceptual excitement of a new endeavor, relayed via a narrative story, that challenges the reader to "try something new" and offers clear descriptions and recipes to make the challenge less than frightening or overwhelming. I know that I've never been so excited about asparagus and rhubarb as I am this spring.

Good luck to you, and to Delia.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

On the protein, read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe and Recipes for a Small Planet by Ellen Ewald--you can combine vegetable sources to increase the protein. I was involved in the writing of both books and know they're good.

But, sadly, not kid-tested. However, the book explain the principles of combining foods so you can adapt most recipes.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Haven't tried brewer's yeast yet.

We did try Boca burgers; she didn't like those much.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

For texture, she can tolerate smooth. And pasta. And some (but not all) kinds of crunch.

It's the in-between textures that freak her out--sometimes. But it's really not predictable. Some stuff she'll eat and I think ah ha! We have a winner! And the next time I serve it, she'll turn her nose up at it.

I do think the meds are adding a lot to the confusion.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I love edamame. I've offered it to Delia, but she didn't like it.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Here's the link with the family's likes/dislikes.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

We have made pameladean's Vegan French Silk Pie, which is melted chocolate blended with tofu until smooth, and then thrown in a chocolate pie shell. Everyone loves that. That's about the only tofu recipe that Delia's tried that she's liked.

I had thought of the Wedge this afternoon, but didn't have a chance yet to check to see if they had classes.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll keep the offer in mind!

Delia is very unpredictable on soups. I've made dozens, many of them vegetarian, and she'll eat only about a quarter of them. She keeps going back to chicken noodle soup (despite the vegetarian thing). I think she dislikes the sensation of having different textures in one mouthful, and there are some things that are common as the base of many soups (i.e., cooked tomatoes) that she just won't tolerate at all.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I have both of those books. We do have probably over a dozen vegetarian cookbooks, many written for kids.