YUMMIE - EATING HEALTHY NEVER TASTED BETTER

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE NOTICED, BUT THOSE OF US WHO EAT HAVE BEEN JOINED IN RECENT TIMES BY A POLYESTER-, PLASTIC-, NYLON- AND OTHER-NON-ANIMAL-CLOTHED COTERIE OF SPECIALIZED EATERS CALLED VEGANS. LONG OF HAIR AND STRONG OF OPINION, THEY LOOK, WITH SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS, LIKE CLONED 60S HIPPIES WITHOUT MUCH OF THE 60S PARAPHERNALIA.

Until a year or so ago, I couldn't even pronounce who they were, and had no understanding of what it meant to be one. Were they "vay-gns" or "vee-gns"? Hmm? It was only after Bill Clinton came Qut as embracing this lifestyle that vee-gn seemed to deserve the nod. I know it's inappropriate in a fine food-and-wine magazine like this to even mention a word like vegan, but when the eating habits of a segment of our society are recognized by shelf space in our supermarkets, it must surely be time to write a few words about these friendly types ... and perhaps sit and join them occasionally for a red or a white, or at the very least, a tall tumbler of something soy.
This is not actually a piece about veganism - feel free to Google for additional insight - and I'm not about to explain why, in one exceptional bit of dedication to the cause, a vegan friend unloaded his Lexus because it had leather seats! All I will say is that the vegan thing likely began not as a health issue but because someone somewhere took the view that eating animals, robbing bees of their honey, shearing sheep for their wool and milking cows for their milk simply weren't nice things to do. For those of us who are yet to cross to the other side, and can momentarily excuse the vulgarities of factory farming, our interest in food is mostly in selecting it and assembling the right stuff to stay healthy.
Sourcing good food, even if your hunt is serious, can be difficult. While the supermarkets may sometimes use enticing sign age to suggest that certain of their foods came from the right places - the farmer down the road who knows every animal by name, the fisherman who strictly plays by the sustenance rules - it simply doesn't happen that way too often. Factory farming is a way of economic life, and one thing we can do to counter it is to stay tuned to our local farmers' markets, and relish the joy, and the tastes, of the close-to-home changing seasons. Food that we think will help keep us healthy, along with what are the right amounts of exercise and sleep, is a personal, important choice.
Our supermarket checkouts loaded with magazines featuring seasonal recipes designed to keep us healthy. And our shelves at home are stuffed with recipe books, inserts and written notes that bring us back to reunite with foods that, as far as we know, taste good and are good for us. Down deep, we know what's right to eat. It's simply a matter of disciplining ourselves to stay on track with recipes that can help in a sometimes-difficult process. Vegan or not.

CAESAR SALAD

Several restaurants that are close to the Cafifornia-Mexican border claim to have been the locale for the birth of the Caesar salad. I got my recipe at a restaurant in Hollywood that also made the claim in the long-ago 50s. It seemed to be authenticated by a now-deceased movie star who was at our table for lunch. This is the place, he said, and this is the recipe. Because I love the snap of romaine lettuce, I've kept the recipe and make this Caesar often. Vegans, of course, would find reasons to skip the egg, the anchovies and maybe other things that are theirs to know and for me to someday understand. Or not.

1 egg
1-2 tsp finely chopped garlic anchovy fillet, mashed
Pinch of coarse salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 drops Worcestershire sauce
6 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 cup croutons
1 head romaine lettuce
Freshly ground pepper

1. Warm the egg to room temperature. To coddle the egg, in a small bowl pour boiling water around the egg, and let stand for 1 minute. Run cold water until the egg can be handled.
2. Whisk together the garlic, anchovy and salt until blended. Whisk in the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the egg until the mixture is thick. Drizzle in the olive oil as you whisk the mixture. When well combined, whisk in 2 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese.
3. Place the croutons in a large wooden bowl. Add one-third of the dressing and toss until the croutons are well coated. Add the romaine and remaining dressing and toss.
4. Sprinkle each serving with more Parmesan and coarsely ground pepper.

By Duncan Holmes in the monthly magazine "Tidings" issue 306, October 2012. Typed, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa 

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