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Kendra Feather
Don't scream, all of you unrepentant carnivores out there. Vegetarianism isn't as horrifying as you think. "I've always felt the main reason people were resistant to it was because [vegetarian food] was marketed poorly," says Kendra Feather, owner of Ipanema Café and Garnett's Café. "Vegetarian food is often linked to animal-rights activism, which some people find very aggressive. PETA has made some terrible choices in the past that did more harm than good to the vegetarian cause."
Feather opened her vegetarian restaurant, Ipanema Café, nearly 20 years ago. "I discovered vegetarian cuisine through a cookbook called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison," Feather says. "To this day, it's still my favorite and so is she. I've never been a vegetarian — I have been more of a pescatarian for most of my life."
In his 2008 book In Defense of Food, best-selling author Michael Pollan exhorts: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Finally, people seem to be listening. The popularity of vegetarianism is on the upswing, and veganism, or a diet that avoids all animal products including eggs and dairy, has seen a surge as well, partially because of its appeal as a weight- loss technique.
"Honestly," says Feather, "you can sell anything in America if you appeal to people's vanity. Tell them that it will make them skinny and look younger and voilà! A perfect example is the Skinny Bitch book. It's a vegan diet written by a former model (Kim Barnouin, along with Rory Freedman). That would have been an impossible concept 12 years ago."
Yet despite its growing popularity, vegetarian food can be a hard sell to the committed and occasionally defiant meat-lover. "You cannot reproduce the taste of animal fat," says Feather. "The taste of roasted fennel to me is like the flavor of sausage, but the depth of flavor added by the fat is missing."
How to solve that problem? Feather says to "learn how to develop layers of flavor without that fat. Shallots and olive oil. White wine reduction with a bay leaf. Little tricks like that help give a flavor boost."
With this in mind, you'll find a menu created by Feather for a springtime vegetarian dinner party on the next page. Strawberries, asparagus and greens — these are the fruits and vegetables of May and June. Most of the ingredients can be found at farmers markets right now. Best of all, the recipes are easy, accessible and delicious — even for the novice or part- time vegetarian.
Recipes
Sautéed Asparagus with Shaved Parmesan and Fried Yard Egg A yard egg comes from a yard bird. Translation: a chicken egg comes from a chicken. Any eggs can be used, but those bought directly from a farm are fresher and taste a lot better. Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of asparagus, the woody ends snapped off
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions Boil a large pot of salted water and blanch the asparagus until it softens and turns bright green (about 2 to 3 minutes). Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium cast-iron pan and sauté the garlic until fragrant. Drain the asparagus and throw it in the pan with the butter and garlic, sprinkling with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until al dente, then remove it. In the same pan, adding more butter if needed, fry the egg. Arrange the asparagus on a plate and shave Parmesan cheese over it to taste, and top with the fried egg. Creamed Spinach Ingredients
- 1 pound of baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream, to taste
- Pinch of nutmeg
Directions Melt the butter in a pan. When it bubbles, add the spinach, minced garlic and shallots. Stir until the greens begin to wilt. Add the heavy cream and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir until the cream is heated through and serve. Skillet Mustard Tofu Ingredients
- 1 block of extra-firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions Cut the tofu into thin slices. Smear each slice of tofu on one side with the mustard (similar to the way that you'd spread mustard on bread for a sandwich). Add the olive oil to a medium cast-iron skillet and get it super hot. Add the tofu slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sear until they're good and crisp. Flip them over. Sear. Serve immediately. Sautéed Black-eyed Peas, Cherry Tomatoes and Yard Onions over Corn Grits Yard onions are just what you think they are — those wild onions persistently growing in almost everyone's yard. Chives can be substituted. Ingredients
- 1 cup of stone-ground grits (Byrd Mill Co. in Ashland makes very good grits)
- 4 cups of vegetable stock or water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 dry pint of cherry tomatoes
- 1 can of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Pinch of cumin
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme, leaves minced
- 1 tablespoon of yard onions (or chives), chopped
Directions Bring the stock or water to a boil and add the grits. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the grits are nice and thick. Add the butter, salt and pepper, and stir until well combined. In a medium cast-iron skillet, gently heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Sprinkle with a pinch of cumin and add all of the other ingredients, except for the yard onions, to the pan and then sauté until the cherry tomatoes are on the verge of bursting. To serve, top the grits with the cherry tomatoes and black-eyed peas. Sprinkle with the chopped yard onions. Lace Johnny Cake with Honey, Fresh Strawberries and Whipped Cream Ingredients
- 1 cup of stone-ground cornmeal
- 1 1/4 cups of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
- Dollop of whipped cream
- Wildflower honey, to taste (Bearer Farms in Oilville is a local producer)
Directions In a bowl, mix the stone-ground cornmeal with water. Stir in the salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet and drop the batter by spoonfuls to make silver dollar-sized circles. The batter is so thin that it will cook quickly, and the edges will look lacy. Wait until the edges brown and bubbles appear on top. Flip it and cook until the other side is done. Place the Johnny cakes on a plate, drizzle them with wildflower honey and top them with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. The Other Brandon Cocktail By Brandon Peck Ingredients
- 2 ounces of Catoctin Creek Roundstone rye whiskey (small-batch rye made in Loudoun County)
- 1 slice of orange
- 4 or 5 fresh blackberries
- 1 tablespoon of wildflower honey
- 6 fresh mint leaves
- Soda water
Directions
Dilute the honey with a little hot water (you want to dissolve the honey or otherwise it will seize when the ice hits it). Add the berries, the mint and the orange slice. Muddle in a cocktail shaker. Add cracked ice and the rye whiskey. Shake, then pour over fresh ice that you've added to a cocktail glass, and top with soda water. Garnish with a skewered blackberry and orange twist or mint leaves.
