Bernie Goetz is using vegetarianism as a major part of his mayoral platform. Whether this is a step forward or backwards, I’m not quite sure…

Tonight I tried out a “beefy” vegetarian chili dish from Nava Atlas’ The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet. Though I’m far from a chili expert (this may have been the first full bowl I’ve ever had), I ate the whole thing and loved it. It was quite hearty and had enough spice to it to make my nose itch.

The five ingredients? Organic pinto beans, organic black bean medium salsa, frozen corn kernels, Moringstar Grillers veggie crumbles, and cumin. I’ll see whether Ms. Atlas will give me permission to reprint the recipe on the blog, so you all can try it.

I’ll be cooking for myself for a three or four days this week, so I plan on trying out a new dish each night. Of course I’ll report back. :)

Having my future mother-in-law in town always means good eating. This week she cooked up a simple, but very tasty vegetable stir-fry for me with pieces of gluten. I think I may try to cook with gluten and see if I can simulate Taste of Vietnam’s black-peppered gluten dish.

Last night she made Banh Xeo (considered Vietnamese pancakes, though they are actually more like crepes) and she always serves up great egg rolls and fresh spring rolls during her visit. She’s not vegetarian, but she knows a lot of the Vietnamese vegetarian cooking techniques and gladly passes them along.

Today at lunch I did a little editing and got some things fixed on the site:

1. The search now works and looks nice (titles are modified on the fly for readability).
2. The permalinks work again (they didn’t after the move).
3. The site is finally readable in Netscape 4.x. Note, though, it looks kind of sloppy unless you look at it in NS6/Mozilla, Opera 5, or IE 5.

Yesterday I got my copy of Nava Atlas‘ The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet, a cookbook based around the idea that cooking a healthy, tasty vegetarian meal doesn’t have to be the most complicated thing in the world. All of the recipes have five or less ingredients (not including water, salt, and peper) and are relatively easy to make. But that also doesn’t mean that they’re the same-old-same-old, either. There are some really tasty sounding dishes (curried lentils and spinach, leek and potato soup, and a few tasty sounding bean and chili recipes) that can be prepared from a few easy ingredients.

I really like her philosophy on cooking, too, as it mirrors my own: cooking can be as relaxing or meditative as any other activity. She also believes that cooking simple dishes doesn’t mean that you’re taking an easy way out, but rather that you’re preparing a meal that will allow you to focus on the fun part of cooking rather than rushing around the kitchen trying to make three complicated dishes at a time.

The Poughkeepsie Journal also has an article on her today.

I imagine that over the next couple of weeks, you’ll see a bit more commentary on specific recipes as I try them out.

McDonald’s to be more explicit about flavoring sources

McDonald’s is now going to be more specific about what “natural flavoring” means in their ingredient listings. There, now that didn’t hurt too much, did it, McD’s?

So, how do you all like the new look (and new domain)?

I’ve added a few more cookbooks to the capsule review section. I’ve also significantly updated the about section.

Report proves organic food is healthier, farm group insists

Here’s another take on the article I mentioned earlier. It also presents the opposition’s side. The Food Standards Agency and the British Nutrition Foundation “instantly rejected” the claims of organic foods’ benefits, saying, “The science isn’t there.”

Organic Food is Better for You, UK Farm Group Says

I always had trouble believing the organic naysayers that insisted that fruit and veggies treated with pesticides were as healthy as any organic offering. Here’s a report in favor of organic farming that goes so far as to say, “Eating organic is neither a fad nor a luxury, this comprehensive scientific assessment shows that it is a necessity.”