Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

I'm thinking of getting an inspirational Michael Pollan poster for my kitchen.  I assume there is such a thing, the foodie equivalent of a kitten dangling from a branch with the caption "Hang in there."  My Pollan poster would say, as Michael does, "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."


Simple to the point of smugness, right?  But this slogan has become a touchstone for me.  I hear it in my head and sometimes even say it out loud while I am cooking.  I didn't previously think of food as plants, or plants as food.  Plants were the African violets in pots on the windowsill, and food was meat, vegetables, fruit, or worse, fat grams and carbohydrates.  A tragedy to reduce bread and pasta and similar wonders to mere "carbs" and a nice, oily vinaigrette to fat.  But now I realize (duh) that spinach is a plant, eggplant is a plant, wheat is a plant, beans are a plant, soy is a plant, even olive oil is a plant.  Everything that I heap on my plate now, where the meat used to be, is a plant.

Last night I made one of my favorite things, a White Bean Jumble from my beloved little orange guide, The Student's Vegetarian Cookbook by Carole Raymond.  I love this cookbook.  Every recipe in it is easy, serves one or two, and features real food, mostly plants.  The White Bean Jumble is composed of potatoes, white or red, cut in chunks and steamed until tender, onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil, one tomato chopped, and whatever green vegetable you have on hand.  The recipe calls for kale, which I love but do not always have in the fridge, so spinach (raw) or broccoli (steamed) would be good additions.  This time, I used Brussels sprouts.

I am a Brussels sprouts convert.  As a child, I would have endured torture before voluntarily consuming a Brussels sprout, although I was a pretty good, non-picky eater for the most part.  Even as an adult, I had avoided Brussels sprouts, partly because they were linked for a time in my mind with a man I dated.  We'll call him Mark, and he lived in a church home (that is, he was one of several boarders in the house that his minister owned; my roommate and I called it the Reformed Presbyterian Home for Wayward Boys), and on Wednesday nights, everyone belonging to the church (some 12 people--it was a small sect) would attend a prayer meeting and then eat Brussels sprouts.  Not quite like that, of course, there were other foods on the table, brought by well-meaning souls, but the most earnest of all of the offerings were the Brussels sprouts, a big bowl of shiny, cabbagey-smelling, boiled Brussels sprouts.  I stuck instead to the mac and cheese, which in the South counts as a vegetable anyway.  

Now, though, I love Brussels sprouts, and also turnip and collard greens and many other foods which I previously disdained.  How does this happen?  My boyfriend's tastes were mostly set, and in stone, in childhood, which is why he will still eat Fruity Pebbles and beef jerky, and also McDonald's, which I think I am off now for good.  Several of our friends agree that a McDonald's hamburger and fries "tastes like childhood" to them, which is an alarming commentary on American childhood, although I have no right to judge: my childhood tasted like Krystal's cheeseburgers and Arby's Jamocha shakes.  My adulthood tastes, though, have evolved, maybe because I have not in adulthood been confined to the dinner table and ordered to finish my peas.  I also eat fresh food, prepared differently than it was in the 1960s and '70s (I still can't eat canned spinach, for example).  But for whatever reason, I am now a huge fan of Brussels sprouts, and especially love them oiled, salted and roasted, or steamed lightly and tossed into the jumble.

White Bean Jumble

2 large red or white potatoes
1 cup chopped firmly packed kale leaves, with stems removed OR 1-2 cups of brussel sprouts, quartered
2 - 4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper

1. Wash the potatoes, cut them into 1/2-inch chunks and steam until tender, about ten minutes.  If using Brussels sprouts or broccoli, steam with the potatoes.

2. Heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, garlic and thyme.  Saute until the onion softens, about three minutes.  Add green vegetable and tomato and saute 1-2 minutes more.  Add potatoes and beans and heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I sprinkled with fresh grated parmesan and served with Country Cornbread (whole wheat flour along with the corn meal makes it "country," and very good), also from the Raymond cookbook.  And there was my meal, real food, not too much, mostly plants.

And then I had a cream cheese bar (familiarly known to some as Ooey Gooey Butter Bars) with homemade vanilla ice cream and a splash of lemon liqueur.  But hey, I used organic dairy products, it's still vegetarian, and I am still vegetarian (mostly) and feeling good.