Monday, March 8, 2010

"Vegan Soul Kitchen" inspires Slow Food cook


I bought fresh mustard greens at Pierpont Farms over the weekend and wanted to do them justice while they were still fresh from the ground.

I'd been wanting to try a recipe I'd seen in Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen, which I added to my cookbook collection after I met the author in Milwaukee last fall. I was attending Will Allen's "Growing Food and Justice Conference" there, where Terry was one of the inspiring speakers. He also supervised the conference kitchen staff in cooking a dinner from his cookbook for conference attendees. Everything was delicious, and a real stunner was "Uncle Don's Double Mustard Greens and Roasted Yam Soup." I made it tonight and it was as delicious as I had remembered. A skillet of cornbread made from coarsely ground corn complemented perfectly.

Other recipes include:
Black-eyed pea fritters with hot pepper sauce, BBQ tempeh sandwich with carrot-cayenne coleslaw, Jamaican patties with sweet coconut-ginger creamed corn and Soul-on-ice pops.

If you're wanting to venture into vegan foods, but have been avoiding them because of perceived blandness, I heartily recommend this cookbook. Terry retains the heart and spirit of soul food, without forsaking flavor and fun. Each recipe is preceded by a song and/or film or book recommendation, as well.

Another bonus is that Terry is an eco chef and food-justice activist. He is a fellow of the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program, a national project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
For the past 10 years he has worked to build a more just and sustainable food system and has used cooking as a tool to illuminate the intersections between poverty, structural racism, and food insecurity. His interest in cooking, farming, and community health stems from his childhood in Memphis, Tennessee, where his grandparents inspired him to grow, prepare and appreciate good food.

Did I mention he is also very easy on the eyes!

To learn more, visit: http://www.bryant-terry.com/site/bio/

and

http://www.racialicious.com/2009/08/21/an-interview-with-bryant-terry-on-race-class-food-and-culture-part-1/

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