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xterminal's review
4.0
Jeremy Holt and A. J. Rathbun, Double Take: One Fabulous Recipe, Two Finished Dishes – Feeding Vegetarians and Omnivores Together (Harvard Common Press, 2010)
My family is, culinarily, about as dysfunctional as it gets. I am a pescetarian who'll eat pretty much anything. My daughter is a vegetarian who doesn't eat most exotic vegetables. My wife is an omnivore, but a picky one. Family dinners are, to say the least, a hassle, not to mention generally unhealthy (since the only commonality is pasta, really). When I saw this crop up in the list, I jumped at the chance. Could it be the savior of our dinner table? I'm not entirely sure yet, but early results look promising.
I must admit I was expecting the recipes to be a little more complex when it came to splitting things between the vegetarians and the omnivores, but it all turns out to be rather simple; much of the prep work (sauteing vegetables, preparing sauces, etc.) is done all at once, and then half of each preparation is split between the meat dish and the vegetable dish. If you generally shop at your local hypermarket, you may have a few problems coming up with some of the ingredients (seitan, for example, is tough to come by in the big supermarkets in my neck of the woods), but it's worth checking out nonetheless. Turns out this is a very simple idea that no one thought of before, really; you've gotta give these guys credit for codifying it and coming up with some good recipes as evidence that it actually works. They do stretch a few times (vegetarian osso bucco? Can't wait to see how THAT one goes over with your extremist pals), but in general, this is good stuff indeed. *** ½
My family is, culinarily, about as dysfunctional as it gets. I am a pescetarian who'll eat pretty much anything. My daughter is a vegetarian who doesn't eat most exotic vegetables. My wife is an omnivore, but a picky one. Family dinners are, to say the least, a hassle, not to mention generally unhealthy (since the only commonality is pasta, really). When I saw this crop up in the list, I jumped at the chance. Could it be the savior of our dinner table? I'm not entirely sure yet, but early results look promising.
I must admit I was expecting the recipes to be a little more complex when it came to splitting things between the vegetarians and the omnivores, but it all turns out to be rather simple; much of the prep work (sauteing vegetables, preparing sauces, etc.) is done all at once, and then half of each preparation is split between the meat dish and the vegetable dish. If you generally shop at your local hypermarket, you may have a few problems coming up with some of the ingredients (seitan, for example, is tough to come by in the big supermarkets in my neck of the woods), but it's worth checking out nonetheless. Turns out this is a very simple idea that no one thought of before, really; you've gotta give these guys credit for codifying it and coming up with some good recipes as evidence that it actually works. They do stretch a few times (vegetarian osso bucco? Can't wait to see how THAT one goes over with your extremist pals), but in general, this is good stuff indeed. *** ½
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