Why don't we eat more veg? They're healthy, cost-effective and, above all, delicious.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall believes that it is time to put this to rights, as he explains in this quite wonderful new book. Here are the first four paras from his introduction:
This is a vegetable cookbook. Whether or not it’s a vegetarian cookbook depends perhaps on your point of view, and your food politics. It’s not written by a vegetarian, or with the intention of persuading you or anyone else to become a vegetarian. But in the sense that not one of the recipes here contains a scrap of meat or fish, then it is indeed quite strictly vegetarian. I certainly hope that many vegetarians will buy it, use it and enjoy it.
And it is also, I would like to think, evangelical. Call me power-crazed, but I’m trying to change your life here. The object of the exercise is, unambiguously, to persuade you to eat more vegetables. Many more vegetables. Perhaps even to make veg the mainstay of your daily cooking. And therefore, by implication, to eat less meat, maybe a lot less meat, and maybe a bit less fish too. Why? We need to eat more vegetables and less flesh, because vegetables are the foods that do us the most good, and our planet the least harm. Do I need to spell out in detail the arguments to support that assertion? Is there anyone who seriously doubts it to be true? Just ask yourself if you, or anyone you know, might be in danger of eating too many vegetables. Or if you think the world might be a better, cleaner, greener place, with a few more factory chicken farms, or intensive
pig units scattered about the countryside. Surely it’s close to being a no-brainer…
So, to be absolutely clear, all the recipes that follow are suitable for vegetarians. Since I have used dairy products and eggs, they are not all appropriate for vegans. But over a third of them are, and another third easily could be, if suitable substitutes for butter and milk were used. If you’re a vegan, you’ll know what to do. I can certainly appreciate that if you’ve seen my shows, and used my books, you may be feeling a bit baffled to be holding in your hand a near-as-damn-it vegetarian cookbook written by that notorious carnivore Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. But if you know my work a little more intimately, if you’ve probed and dabbled beyond the recipes and into the more discursive text, this should come as no great surprise – I’ve visited this territory before. Only now I’m at the vegetable end of the meat argument, and it’s a very refreshing place to be.
I have made several dishes from the book already, one as a main course, and the others as veg to go with fish in one case and chicken on two occasions. The publishers have kindly allowed me to reproduce two of these recipes and they follow:
New potato, tomato and boiled egg saladSERVES 4
About 400g new potatoes
4 large eggs, at room
temperature
About 250g cherry tomatoes,
halved
A good handful of chives
Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
FOR THE VIN AIGRETT E
6 tablespoons rapeseed
or olive oil
4 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon English mustard
A pinch of sugar
Cut the potatoes into chunks if they are large. Put in a pan, cover with water, add salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 8–12 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, to cook the eggs, bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the eggs, return to a simmer, then cook for 7 minutes. Lightly crack the shells of the eggs and run them under cold water for a minute or two to stop the cooking. Leave until cool, then peel the eggs.
For the vinaigrette, put the ingredients into a screw-topped jar with some salt and pepper and shake until emulsified.
Chop the boiled eggs very roughly and put them into a large bowl. Pour on the vinaigrette and mix well, breaking the eggs down a bit as you go. Add the potatoes and cherry tomatoes, and toss together well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you need to, then snip over the chives and serve.
Chickpea ketchup curry
SERVES 2
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2cm piece of ginger,
finely grated
A pinch of dried chilli flakes
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons curry powder or paste
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 tablespoons tomato ketchup
Juice of ½ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
A handful of coriander, to finish
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and sweat for around 8 minutes, until soft and golden, then stir in the ginger, chilli flakes, garlic and curry powder or paste. Fry, stirring, for 1–2 minutes more.
Add the chickpeas, tomato ketchup and enough water to just loosen to a thick sauce consistency. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
Serve in warmed bowls scattered with coriander leaves. Plain rice, quick-cook noodles, naan or flatbreads are all good accompaniments.
VARIATION
Ketchup chilli
This spiced-up bean chilli is unbelievably simple and really good. Use a 400g tin of kidney (or other) beans instead of the chickpeas, and 2 teaspoons sweet paprika (or 1 teaspoon each of sweet and hot) instead of the curry powder. This is great served on rice, baked potatoes or toast, or with tortillas or tostadas, and with toppings such as soured cream, grated cheese, guacamole…
About the author:
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a writer, broadcaster and campaigner. His series screened on ABC TV and The FOOD channel have earned him a huge popular following, while his River Cottage books have collected multiple awards includingthe Glenfiddich Trophy (twice), the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year (three times), the Michael Smith Award for Work on British Food award at the Guild of Food Writers and, in the US, the James Beard Cookbook of the Year. Hugh lives in Devon with his family.
River Cottage Veg Everyday!
By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Published by Bloomsbury, distributed by Allen & Unwin, available now. RRP$69.99
This is a handsome, chunky hardback book of over 400 pages with terrific photography of every dish by Simon Wheeler as well as appealing colour illustrations by Mariko Jesse. Another dazzling cookbook fit for both the kitchen shelf and the coffee table.