Fat Guy

I haven't noticed any change, but then again I've only eaten vegetarian for a few days and on one of those days I ate meat.

Not quite pink, but the herbal iced tea I made myself last night has a hint of red.

Trying to reduce my reliance on dairy, for a light dinner I had avocado and hummus on the French Culinary Institute's whole-wheat sourdough...

I haven't had an actual meal today. Just cherries, watermelon, some nuts and some tortilla chips. I ate enough last night for two days so I'm detoxing today. I'm sure I'll have more snacks later tonight but between yesterday's intake and today's heat I'm just not all that hungry.

We eat a lot of watermelon and have noticed that the watermelons this year are, in general, not up to snuff. I was thinking we could compere notes on which fruits are good this summer.

That makes me wonder whether it would be possible to modify various other kitchen tools to be non-scratching, by coating an edge in some sort of enamel or epoxy or whatever.

I had very good food at Zero Otto Nove tonight. Polpettine, Polenta & Caprino (small meatballs, spicy tomato sauce, polenta & goat cheese) Pizza La San Matteo (fresh mozzarella, sausage & broccoli rabe) Pizza Diavola (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil& spicy sopressata) Pizza Margherita (tomato sauce, parmigiano, fresh mozzarella & basil) I didn't do much research before going -- it was kind of a last-minute decision to try a place that had been on my radar for a few years, based mostly on its location half way between my home and my friend's place in Westchester. So I was caught a little off guard by the fanciness of the place. People were dressed to go out for a Saturday night on the town. My friend and I totally did not fit in -- I was the only person in the place, I'm sure, wearing a single piece of clothing from the Land's End catalog. The women wore makeup and tight dresses, and were very thin. The men wore more jewelry than the women. Thing like stemware and the dining room were much nicer than I'd anticipated. If you like the officially regarded correct texture of Neapolitan pizza crust -- pillow-like and pliable -- you will really enjoy the pizza here. The toppings are great, many from area Arthur Avenue vendors (e.g. cheese from Casa Della Mozzarella). I think the best part was the sauce, which was well seasoned and had a vibrant, sweet, tomato taste. The menu beyond the pizzas is ambitious. I'd like to try everything. As it was all we could handle was the meatball-polenta-goat-cheese appetizer, which I really enjoyed. I am quite full.

I fell off the wagon tonight. I went with a friend to check out Zero Otto Nove, a brick-oven-pizza place on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. I didn't have the heart to make him order vegetarian, and since we were sharing everything I couldn't help myself. At first I told myself I'd just have a taste, professionally, of each thing. But as soon as I tasted animal flesh I consumed more with gusto. We had: Polpettine, Polenta & Caprino (small meatballs, spicy tomato sauce, polenta & goat cheese) Pizza La San Matteo (fresh mozzarella, sausage & broccoli rabe) Pizza Diavola (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil& spicy sopressata) Pizza Margherita (tomato sauce, parmigiano, fresh mozzarella & basil) I'm going to need to set the clock back to zero, and do a full vegetarian week starting tomorrow. I've got my three bean/lentil dishes laid in, and I think I can do it this time around without so much dairy stuff.

(There are already a few. Going to read now.)

Vegetable stock. I need to make some of that. I better start a topic.

Were I to eat vegan, I'd probably rely on avocado a lot.

I've been surprised at how much dairy protein I've been eating on this vegetarian regimen: yogurt, milk, cheese, eggs, butter. I want to try to reduce those a bit, to get more in the spirit. That's part of what motivated me to lay in a supply of vegetarian -- vegan, actually -- entree items that can form a complete meal when served with rice or whatever.

Tonight I did a bunch of cooking. I started by making beans according to the Russ Parsons no-soak procedure I outlined here a few years ago. Here's my mise en place for the three items I planned to cook: vegetarian chili with kidney beans and tofu, white bean and escarole soup, and Indian-spiced lentils. Each of the three dishes started out the same: onions, carrots, celery and garlic, with salt, cooked to develop flavor. At this point the preparations diverge: first when adding the different seasoning mixtures, then when adding beans or lentils (the lentils were not pre-cooked, because they cook so quickly anyway) and finally with the addition of chopped tomatoes to the white beans and the chili (not the lentils). After giving the flavors time to blend, I added escarole to the white beans and tofu to the chili (there was nothing added to the lentils). As the dishes neared completion, I adjusted seasoning. In all cases, more salt. In the case of the lentils, I added some paprika too, and more pepper. Once they're cool enough, I'll pack these in containers -- some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer -- for use throughout the coming week. For my own dinner, I made a Swiss-cheese omelet and some toasted French Culinary Institute bread.

It was about 20-30 minutes of effort. I was just wondering if it could be shaved down to 2-3 minutes.

Today I had to dice a whole lot of onions, carrots and celery. Could I have done this with the Cuisinart? There doesn't seem to be a blade to achieve a dice. It doesn't have to be pretty -- this is for use in mirepoix-type applications. Can it be automated?

I've started two pots of beans: kidney and cannellini. I plan to make a vegetarian chili with kidney beans and tofu, and a white bean and escarole soup. I might also make some lentils into an approximation of daal with Indian-type spices. The beans should be ready for use in a couple of hours.

That's the color of the glass, which is made of plastic. Inside is just water.

Breakfast today was yogurt and fruit. For lunch I made a "vegetarian but not locavore" platter: Israeli pickles, Greek olives, Australian cheddar, French mustard and French Culinary Institute sourdough bread (the one locally produced item, albeit made from flour that was surely produced elsewhere). I'm hoping it cools down enough this evening for me to do some real cooking.

This week: peas collard greens Chinese cabbage kohlrabi basil red spring onions summer squash/zucchini lettuce broccoli

Those simply are not options.

I did wind up making salads this afternoon. My son PJ prefers his deconstructed, so he got a vegetable plate. He and Ellen both got tofu in theirs. I didn't -- I had pizza at my meeting so certainly didn't need additional protein.

Most people in the city have no roof access. We have no private roof access. There is a common roof deck under construction on which cooking is not allowed.

I have a fan in the window. It helps a bit. Upgrading the exhaust system is an impossibility. I already have what's supposed to be the best ductless hood, which does very little, and ducting a hood to the outside isn't possible. I could do the part of it in my own unit, which we own, but it's not possible for us to break exterior walls or run ductwork up through two other people's apartments to the roof.

So far today has not been an interesting day. I had the usual cereal and yogurt combination for breakfast, and a toasted bagel with Swiss cheese for lunch. I have to go to a meeting tonight where the food is likely to be pizza. I may make salads for the family tonight too. I hope to do some actual cooking tomorrow.

For that dish I used both salt and soy sauce. I think it had enough saltiness. It just wasn't good!