In your opinion, what is the best way to get people-including children—to eat their fruits and vegetables?
Make them delicious and interesting. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Be sure to shop for the freshest vegetables possible, and then decide if you want to serve them cooked or raw. For cooked, grilling or roasting can be very nice (olive oil, salt & pepper) and it’s also fun to cook them until soft (boiling) and then drain and mash (butter or olive oil, maybe some roasted garlic, S & P) like mashed potatoes. For raw, try grating them into a slaw and adding a favorite salad dressing, or serve them cut small and thin with something delicious for dipping (peanut sauce, a good spaghetti sauce, an herbed yogurt). Kids, especially, love to dip.
Can you give us a brief description (one or two sentences) about your new book, The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes, for a New Generation?
This represents a lighter, fresher approach to serving vegetarian food, with the emphasis on flavor and vegetables themselves. Even in the traditionally more pasta- or grain-based dishes, such as mac and cheese, lasagna, or pilafs, the vegetables are dominant.
What is your own personal eating style like?
About 90 percent vegetables, plus lots of snacking on nuts, yogurt, fresh fruit, small amounts of fish or meat, and small amounts of very good cheese. I also love popcorn.
What are some of your favorite plant-based ingredients? What ingredients do you think will be hot in the coming year?
My favorites include olive oil, roasted nut oils, good vinegars, Meyer lemons, red onions, shallots, various wild mushrooms, and chili peppers.
I don’t know about trends, although I do think the next vegetable rock star, after Brussels sprouts and kale, will be cauliflower.
What is your number one piece of advice you like to give to the public, when it comes to eating a healthier diet?
Keep it simple and cook at home more often; eat slowly and taste/enjoy every bite.
You have accomplished so much in your career by inspiring people to cook healthy, delicious food, what are your goals on the horizon? What can we look forward to from you?
I am regrouping. Stay tuned. It will likely involve more of my art and more personal writing, but that’s all I know at this point. Thanks for asking!
My inspirations were many. For Moosewood Cookbook: International cuisines, my mother and grandmother, my Jewish upbringing, various cooking styles that were coming up at the time (macrobiotic, California, etc.)
For The Heart of the Plate – many years of experience, my own evolving taste, and the ingredients themselves.
Cauliflower enjoys the broadest acceptable texture range of just about any vegetable. When spanking fresh, it’s always delightful raw: crunchy white puff balls as a very satisfying crudité. And at the extreme other end, cauliflower is also brilliant when boiled and mashed. In this recipe, the high-temperature roasting process allows cauliflower to become simultaneously fork tender and chewy, with delicately crisp surface points surprising you at random. The cheese crust helps greatly.
A 2-pound cauliflower, trimmed and broken or cut into in small (3/4-inch) pieces (about 8 cups)
2 cups minced onion
1/4 cup (possibly more) grated fontina or sharp cheddar—or shredded parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
Instructions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking tray with parchment or foil, and slick it with a tablespoon of olive oil. (You can use a chunk of cauliflower to spread it around.)
Arrange the cauliflower pieces on the tray, sprinkle them with the minced onion, and place the tray in the center of the preheated oven. After 15 minutes, shake the tray –and/or use tongs— to loosen and redistribute the pieces —gently, so they won’t pop off the tray.
Roast for another 5 to 10 minutes—until the cauliflower is becoming uniformly golden—then push everything together in the center of the tray, keeping it a single layer. Sprinkle evenly with your chosen cheese.
Roast for 10 or so minutes longer, or until the cheese is thoroughly melted, forming an irresistible golden crust. Remove the tray from the oven, and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
*Optional Enhancements:
• Sprinkle some toasted breadcrumbs over the cauliflower after they come out of the oven.
• Include a thickly sliced carrot on the tray and roast it along with the cauliflower.
• Try this same process using broccoli instead of all or some of the cauliflower.
*Roasted Cauliflower will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator, and will reheat beautifully. You can also just cut it small and throw it into a vegetable soup or a green salad.
*From The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipe for a New Generation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Mollie Katzen
