Ffrench - Whole protein vegetarian : delicious plant-based recipes with essential amino acids for health and well-being

Copyright 2016 by Rebecca Miller Ffrench

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Book design by Jeri Heiden, SMOG Design, Inc.

Food styling by Rebecca Miller Ffrench and Rebecca Shim

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Names: Ffrench, Rebecca Miller, author.

Title: Whole protein vegetarian : delicious plant-based recipes with essential amino acids for health and well-being / Rebecca Miller Ffrench.

Description: Woodstock, VT : The Countryman Press, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015046862 | ISBN 9781581573268 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Vegetarian cooking. | Amino acids in human nutrition. | Vegetarianism. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX837 .E37 2016 | DDC 641.5/636dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015046862

ISBN 978-1-58157-576-7 (e-book)

TO MY MOM AND DAD FOR ALWAYS PUTTING VEGETABLES ON MY PLATE.

TO JOSH, JEN, AND GEORGE FOR YEARS OF MENTORING AND COLLABORATION.

TO CAMILLA, ANNA, AND JIMYOU MAKE IT WHOLE.

The kitchen is the focus of our home. We never meant it to be because its probably the smallest room in the house. Yet its the place where everyone hangs out, perched on stools at the well-worn counter, careful not to back up more than a foot lest they hit the wallbut thats okay, because its still the best seat in the house. Thats the place where youll most likely be fed.

We do have a dining table where we eat many meals, but when someone in our house is cooking, the others always gather around that familiar counter. Maybe to prep some onions, or perhaps to help with dishes, but always to get a taste of whats cooking. And its not always me at the helm. My husband, Jim, is an excellent cook, and when my girls, Anna and Camilla, take the reins, Im buffaloed by their kitchen prowess.

Hours spent in this small room have become our family timeeating, talking, laughing, and learning. It is here, and around the dining table, that we share ideas and thoughts. It all happens around food.

Food is about community, and thats why I cook. To feed myself, but more so, to nourish my family and friends. We dont live in a mansion, and we dont live on a farm, but our house is always open to visitors. Jim and I love to entertain, and we work together to prepare big meals using a multitude of fresh ingredients. Jim inspires creativity because he pushes the envelope to explore undiscovered flavors and new methods of cooking. Its fun to see how people respond to these dishes. We thrive on the comings and goings of guests rich with knowledge and new ideas.

Over the years Ive learned that sharing a meal is not about the perfect presentation nor elaborate haute cuisineits about sincerity. Food that is prepared simply but deliciously is genuine. And its about love. Not just a love for the people with whom you share your food, but for the food itself. I cant even begin to tell you how my heart surges at the first sight of plump sour cherries in summer. Or how my mood is elevated by the heady scent of freshly picked mint. I have such an enormous appreciation for good, fresh ingredients.

But that wasnt always the case. Fifteen years ago when Jim and I would plan dinners, Id want to know exactly what we were preparing before we went to the store. Hed say, Im just going to get what looks good. In essence, he was buying what was freshest, what was in season. Me, I wanted to eat what I wanted, when I wanted. Then I understood why he shopped how he did (and still does). Buying food seasonally is essential to good eating. Why in December would I eat unripe, flavorless strawberries that are white inside, when in June I can savor a deep red one with flesh so sweet and sumptuous its juices run down my chin?

My grandmother and mother always cooked this way, using seasonal, minimally processed, natural foods. It was their love of good food that brought people to the table. Over the years, though, there was a shift away from whole foods. Not for my grandmother, because she still doesnt buy convenience foods, but for me. I always felt I ate pretty healthfully, but I really didnt. I relied a little too regularly on white pasta, dry cereals, and white-flour baked goods. Sure, the cereals were organic and the baked goods were homemade, but they were still made from refined flours and sugars.

Then came a time when my two girls started to ask for salads. They were young, eight and eleven, but they knew. Their bodies were telling them they needed to replace refined sugars with whole foods, and to them, raw greens from the garden made them feel good.

The girls had become aware of the relationship between what they ate and how they felt. It was at that time our family really started the conversation about healthy foods.

Our kids have good appetites, and have always eaten the vegetables I served, but now they were asking for them. I started to focus on whole food alternatives. I substituted brown rice for white (or sometimes mixed the two), then started using other whole grains, such as barley and quinoa.

Although home-baked goods may have gotten my girls to the table, now they were ready for more. The next few years became a time of great experimentation. I explored many new ingredients, from seeds to sea vegetables, and incorporated them into our daily meals.

Throughout all of this, my first priority has been the same: delicious food. I will not sacrifice a texture just so I can use quinoa flour nor will I add flaxseed if it adversely affects the flavor. I have worked to incorporate healthful ingredients in foods so they are nutritious, but more so, tasty. If I serve a dish thats healthy but flavorless (believe me, my family kindly suffers through my failures), then its not satisfying. There is no joy in a dish that, while good for you, doesnt taste good,

It was because of this way of eatingseasonally, whole, unprocessedthat I started developing recipes with vegetables, grains, and legumes as costars. My family has accepted these meals wholeheartedly. At least most of the time. Sometimes recipes are met with skepticism. When I cooked up whole freekeh for the first time, my husband neighed, insinuating that it looked like something horses eat, and my kids asked, Wait, what is this? One bite of the smoky, chewy grain, though, and they were hooked.

As Ive been cooking this way, my tastes have changed. I no longer crave sweet things as I used to. My blood sugar levels are more consistent, without the highs and lows I used to experience when I ate more refined flours and sugars. This story of an improved diet is not new. Its just that Im excited to add my own ideas on how one can put plant-based foods first.