Friday, September 15, 2006
"North of Los Angeles or Atlanta, non-elderly white non-sunscreening-using adults who spend time in the sun can get away with ensuring daily dietary vitamin D just during the winter. Everyone else living at such latitudes should include daily vitamin D sources in their diet year round. Sources include vitamin D fortified foods, vitamin D supplements (400 IU a day) and dried shiitake mushrooms."-Dr. Michael Greger in his handout, Recommendations for Optimum Vegan Nutrition, www.veganMD.org.
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In his handout, Plant-Based Sources for Key Nutrients, Dr. Greger ( www.veganmd.org) lists dried shiitake mushroom as having 250 IU ‘s of vitamin D; 5 Chanterelle mushrooms as having 200 IU’s of vitamin D ; and 1 cup white mushrooms as having 70 IU’s of vitamin D.
VEGETARIANISM ,THE ENVIRONMENT, AND WORLD HUNGER
The following is excerpted from an article found at www.robinrobertson.com, the website of Robin Robertson. Visit this web site for some great recipes.
Robin Robertson is the author of 14 vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, a 25-year veteran restaurant chef, caterer, columnist, cooking teacher, and food writer. She writes "The Global Vegan" column for VegNews Magazine.
GO VEGETARIAN AND SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
"Meat-eating has been proven to have a far-reaching negative impact on the environment. Since 1967, the rate of deforestation in the U.S. has been one acre every five seconds, the equivalent of one football field per second. Economists estimate that for every person who switches to a vegan diet, an acre of trees is spared each year......................"
"The rain forests are actually being destroyed to create grazing land for beef cattle so a continuous supply of inexpensive meat will flow into the country for our fast-food restaurants. It is estimated that at the present rate, many of the rain forests will be gone in 30 years, a natural resource on which we rely for everything from life-saving medicines to the very air we breathe".
"Livestock produces 7 trillion tons of manure every year, and it all finds its way into our water systems."
"60% of all water used in America is used for meat production."
" Of toxic chemical residues found in food consumed by Americans, less than 10% comes from fruit, vegetables, and grain. Over 90% comes from animal products."
"When you eat meat, you take in the livestock antibiotics, which diminishes the effectiveness of the antibiotics used to treat human illness."
"When you eat meat, you take in growth hormones. Statistics show that prior to the turn of the century, American girls reached puberty on the average of age 17; today, menarche is appearing in girls as young as 8........................".
"It takes 16 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat, yet 16 people could be fed on the grain it takes to feed one person that pound of meat. Producing that amount of grain only requires 250 gallons of water.
The livestock population of the U.S. consumes enough grain and soybeans to feed over five times its human population.
"Every two seconds a human child starves to death."
"90% of all corn grown in the U.S. goes to livestock; 80% of all grains and beans go to feed these animals."
"Food grown directly for human consumption utilizes 60 million acres;1.2 billion acres are used to grow what is fed to livestock."
WHAT'S FOR DINNER?
SEITAN-"MEAT" FROM WHEAT
In 7th century China, vegetarian Buddhist monks, looked for ways to make vegetarian protein which could be used to approximate the flavors of traditional Chinese cuisine. After inventing tofu, they looked for something with a firmer texture, more like that of the meat that their guests were used to. They discovered that when they kneaded wheat dough in a tub full of cold water, the starch extracted into the water. What finally remained was a chewy substance that was 70%-80% pure protein or "gluten", from which they produced seitan.
Seitan (pronounced "SAY-tan" is a protein-rich food made from wheat gluten. Wheat gluten is the protein from wheat with the starch removed. Seitan is gluten which has been cooked in a broth, usually with soy sauce. Prepared seitan is available at health-food stores and Asian markets, but it is expensive. Many of the "mock meats" that are served in some Asian restaurants or are sold in some Asian food stores are made from seitan. You can make gluten from scratch using wheat flour, but the process is involved. It is easy make seitan from vital wheat gluten which is available at natural food stores. Do not confuse this with high gluten flour which would not work in these recipes.
Here are some recipes Seitan dishes that I think you will enjoy.
The first one is from Cooking with Gluten and Seitan, by Dorothy R. Bates and Colby Wingate, published by The Book Publishing Company, Summertown, Tennessee, p. 12. This book has some excellent recipes for seitan dishes.
This is a basic recipe for gluten that can be used to replace meat in other recipes
BASIC GLUTEN
Makes 4 servings
1 cup vital wheat gluten
7/8 cup water or vegetable stock
6 cups vegetable stock
Stir together in a bowl vital wheat gluten and 7/8 cup water or vegetable stock.
Knead a minute to blend. Divide into 16 or 20 balls, stretching and pressing to flatten into cutlets.
Drop the gluten cutlets into 6 cups vegetable stock.
Cover the pan and bring to stock to a simmer. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer the cutlets gently for about 50 minutes. Drain and cool before using.
Per serving: calories 103, protein: 28 grams, carbs: 5 grams, Fat, 1 gram
SEITAN SAUERBRATEN
Makes 6 servings
This is a special treat to be made several days in advance and is elegant enough for a dinner party.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl:
1 cup vital wheat gluten
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast (Nutritional yeast has a delicious cheesy taste. It is available in natural food stores.)
Combine in a measuring cup:
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons catsup or tomato paste
1 tablespoon tamari (Tamari is a wheat-free Japanese soy sauce made from fermented soy beans. It is available in natural food stores and Asian food stores.)
Combine liquids and gluten flour, kneading to blend. Shape into a roll and soak in a mixture of:
1 cup apple juice
½ cup wine vinegar
½ cup sliced onion
2 cloves garlic, sliced
6 whole cloves
6 whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Cover the dish and let stand for one or two days in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, add to marinade:
3 cups vegetable stock
Simmer gluten in a heavy saucepan for 50 or 60 minutes. Remove cooked seitan and cool. Slice across the diagonal of the roll to get broad, thin slices.
To make the sauce, strain the simmering liquid; there should be 2 cups. If there is less, add vegetable stock to make 2 cups. If there is more than two cups, simmer it slowly in an uncovered pan to reduce to 2 cups.
In a sauce pan, whisk:
2 tablespoons brown roux (recipe below)
2 cups strained liquid
Simmer until it thickens and bubbles, whisking to keep smooth. Add the seitan to the sauce.
Serve with 1 pound broad eggless noodles cooked according to package directions.
BROWN ROUX
Melt over low heat:
2 tablespoons soy margarine
Whisk together the flour and margarine, and cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, whisking as it cooks and darkens.
SEITAN "CHICKEN"
makes about 8 servings
GLUTEN MIXTURE:
dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup chick pea flour (available at natural food stores)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic granules
Freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste
liquid ingredients:
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons chicken-style vegetarian broth powder.
COOKING BROTH:
4 1//2 cups water
3/4 cup low salt soy sauce
½ cup chopped onions, or 1 ½ tablespoons dried onions
2 tablespoons dried ,crumbled sage, or 1/3 cup chopped fresh sage
1 ½ teaspoons each chopped fresh rosemary and thyme.
To make the gluten, mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the liquid ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix well until it forms a ball.
To make cutlets or steaks, divide the uncooked gluten mixture into 12 pieces, and flatten them with your hands or a rolling pin as thinly as you can.. Cover and bake them in the cooking broth at 350 degrees F. For 30 minutes, then at 300 degrees F. For 30 minutes. Cool and store in the cooking broth.
To make a roast, shape the mixture into a ball or loaf shape, and place into a roasting pan or Dutch oven with a cover large enough to allow the ball to double in size. Press the ball or loaf to flatten a little. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the cooking broth ingredients and pour them over the gluten. Bake uncovered for half an hour. Prick the roast all over with a fork, and turn it over using two spatulas. Lower the heat to 300 degrees F., cover and bake one hour more. Cool and store in the cooking broth.
You can also cook the roast in a slow cooker on high for 10 hours.
Or, to simmer on the stove top, bring the cooking broth to a boil in a large pot, and place the gluten in it. Immediately turn the heat down, and keep the broth to a low simmer. Do not boil-boiling makes the seitan spongy. Simmer for about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Cool and store in the broth.
Per serving: calories, 162; protein, 30 grams; carbs, 1 gram; fat, 1 gram
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"The question is not, Can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But can they suffer"-Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals & Legislation, 1789
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