Fall Harvest Recipes For Vegivores

November 2011

It’s not a word you hear everyday, but vegivore is a trendy new term in the culinary world. New York magazine coined it last year to represent a breed of vegetable lovers, rather than meat haters. In other words, vegivores aren’t anti-meat like vegans or vegetarians, they just don’t believe that meat has to be the center of every meal. What may have spawned vegivore is the invention of Meatless Mondays—a non-profit initiative to help reduce meat consumption by 15% worldwide. The initiative, which aims to improve personal health as well as the health of the planet, is growing and has spread as far away as Norway, Brazil, Korea and Australia.   

It turns out that restaurants have jumped on board too—many offering vegivore friendly menus, particularly on Mondays. And in New York City, gourmet mecca Eataly has even hired a Vegetable Butcher. What about at home? With the autumn harvest fully underway, vegetables can easily take center stage to keep you warm on a cold night. You won’t even notice meat is missing, especially when the veggies are fresh, in season and carefully prepared.

In addition to the harvest favorites, try incorporating these unusual vegetables into salads, soups, stir-fries and pastas:

Sunchokes—Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes, are root vegetables similar to a cross between a rutabaga, potato, sunflower seed, and water chestnut.

Black Kale—Black Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is considered one of the Italian heirloom varieties. Its long ruffled leaves are dark green and have a peppery flavor.

Japanese Sweet Potatoes—Japanese sweet potatoes make a great tempura. They have dark-pink skin and taste slightly sweet—similar to yams.

Cipollini—Cipollini are small onions that grow flat at their tops and bottoms. There are both yellow and red-skinned ones. They have a very mild, sweet flavor.

Try this recipe for Pumpkin String Bean Curry

Onion, scallions and garlic are sauteed and seasoned with tomato paste, ginger and hot curry powder, then sweetened with coconut milk. A squeeze of lime adds complexity to the sweet, spicy curry, along with robust bites of pumpkin and crunchy string beans. This recipe comes to us from the Juicy Chef of Jamaica Observer. 

Serves 6

You'll Need:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks of scallion, chopped
1 jalapeño, deseeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaping tablespoon hot curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 15 ounce can light coconut milk
7.5 ounces water
1 low-sodium vegetable stock bouillon cube
1 pumpkin, peeled, deseeded & cut into cubes
Juice of 1 lime
12 ounces string beans, trimmed and cut in half
2 cups brown rice, cooked
1 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Place the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, scallion, garlic and jalapeño and sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until the veggies become soft and fragrant.

Season with hot curry powder and ginger. Mix until the veggies are coated and cook 1-2 minutes more, or until the curry powder and ginger become fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated.

Pour in the coconut milk then fill half of the can with water. Add the water along with the vegetable bouillon cube and pumpkin wedges.

Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium-low and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the pumpkin chunks are tender. Add lime juice.

Add string beans and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until green beans are slightly tender, but still maintain their crunch.

Serve in equal portions over brown rice and topped with fresh cilantro.

For more Meatless Monday recipes, click here.

Lifestyle: Shop Ethically this Fall

Lifestyle: From Work to WOW!

Lifestyle: Make a Small Room Larger

Lifestyle: Decorating Shortcuts