Vegetarian Star

Mark Bittman coined the phrase “vegan until 6,” because he didn’t want to give up eating meat completely, but knew given the impact animal products have on the planet and his body, he had to do something.

Although he doesn’t give hints as to whether he’ll pass on the turkey this Thanksgiving, as part of the New York Times Well blog series featuring vegetarian recipes every day from now until Thanksgiving, Bittman has offered his recipes for Black Kale and Black Olive Salad, Apple Slaw, Raw Butternut Squash Salad with Cranberry Dressing, Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans.

Whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian planning the Thanksgiving menu, there’s room for at least one of these dishes on the table.

“If at any stage of the day, at any meal you eat, you ask yourself if you can substitute a minimally processed plant food, then you’ve made the right decision,’’ Bittman said. “There’s rarely an instance where eating a fruit or vegetable or legume is a bad idea.”

Get the recipes for the good ideas at the New York Times.

Photo: PR Photos

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“The world’s current consumption levels will have us raising 120 billion animals a year by 2050. This number would require using more land for agriculture than exists. And even if we could pilfer the land or [devise] technology to achieve this, it’s unlikely the atmosphere, land, and water could handle it.”

—-author Mark Bittman, explaining in the April 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times why eating meat and other animal products is not sustainable.

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Mark Bittman, the vegan until dinner flexitarian advocate, recently discovered joy in creating Ma Po Tofu without the pork.

He described his experience in the New York Times:

“First I started a batch of the mixed grains. Then I slow-cooked about 20 of the peppercorns in oil (I was too lazy to grind them, another alternative), with three dried chiles. I removed them when the oil was fragrant (no one wants to bite on a peppercorn). Into that oil, I stirred about a quarter cup of the bean paste, which I realized for the first time is a cousin of miso.”

“I tasted the tofu thing, and added both soy sauce and salt. I scooped some grains in the dish – thanks to the black and brown rice and black sesame seeds they looked vaguely like pork (as it happened; no planning there, but I’m not lying either) – and topped it with the tofu mix. And the thing was so good I made it again two days later.”

Sounds like Mark learned being vegan at dinner’s not so bad either.

If you’re looking to attempt vegan ma po tofu, try this recipe any time of day.

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Hey you flexitarians out there!

Congratulations for the making the choice to improve your health, save animals, and lessen the environmental impact of the livestock industry on planet Earth.

New York Times columnist and food writer Mark Bittman, who’s been advocating a vegan until dinner type approach, has given the UK Times online some tips for those who want to cut the meat from their diet.

“My ‘vegan before 6pm’ approach is just one way of doing it. Indeed, the opposite schedule — eating your heaviest meal of the day for lunch or breakfast — may make more sense to you,” Bittman said. “You can opt out of two servings of meat a week. You can start the day with oatmeal instead of bacon and eggs. My guess is that 70% of my calories now come from non-animal sources. A shift of 50% would be significant for anyone.”

“The basic line is this: no matter how you do it, you [and the planet] will benefit if you eat a higher proportion of plants and a lower proportion of everything else.”

Visit the Times online to read an excerpt from Mark’s book, Food Matters, where Mark recommends taking a B vitamin supplement and gives sample meal plans.

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