Vegetarian Star » Mark Bittman

Meatless Monday Recipe–Bittman’s Chickpea Salad With Arugula

Vegetarian Star — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:15:04 +0000

Food and opinion writer for the New York Times Mark Bittman serves as a good example of how to live as a flexitarian for those that do not shun all animal products, for whatever reasons.

His self-invented “vegan until six p.m.” program helped him lose weight, lower cholesterol and incorporate a variety of plant-based meals into his diet, such as this Chickpea Salad with Arugula.

During a recent speech, he assured other potential flexitarians he’s not preaching the gospel of total vegetarian/veganism yet. He’s just asking that everyone do what he did. Trade the steak for seitan and see what it does for their health.

“What really matters is that we move from the cheeseburger end of the [eating] spectrum to the salad end,” Bittman said. “You never have to become a person who eats raw salads morning, noon and night. All that really matters, diet-wise, is that we eat more plants, and more real food based on plants and less industrially produced animal products, and way less hyper-processed junk.”

More closer to the salad end by trying Bittman’s Chickpea Salad (the egg is completely optional) tonight.

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Mark Bittman Plays Good Food/Bad Food In New York Times Column

Vegetarian Star — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:56:04 +0000

Mark Bittman is using his New York Times column to explore the possibility of taxing unhealthy food.

Bittman feels this is a way to get Americans to change their eating habits and hold companies accountable for producing products that contain harmful ingredients.

“Simply put: taxes would reduce consumption of unhealthful foods and generate billions of dollars annually,” Bittman writes in an article titled, “Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables.”

“That money could be used to subsidize the purchase of staple foods like seasonal greens, vegetables, whole grains, dried legumes and fruit.”

“This program would, of course, upset the processed food industry. Oh well. It would also bug those who might resent paying more for soda and chips and argue that their right to eat whatever they wanted was being breached.”

Bittman continues to promote the idea that government control of the cookie jar is only beneficial, as money generated from taxes could help the neediest afford better quality food.

It’s no secret America’s diet needs to be revamped. But is punishing the businesses that satisfy our cravings for everything sweet, salty and high-fat the best way to do it? Not even the strictest vegan wants to live in a world where the only potato chip is a baked sweet one and instead of punishing for bad behavior, why not reward for good?

Several years ago PETA proposed the idea of giving vegetarians a tax cut. The same group is also in favor of insurance companies giving vegetarians lower rates because they are less likely to suffer from chronic and long-term diseases. The demand for healthier food will force food companies to remove the high-fructose corn syrup from their beverages and replace beef and chicken stir-fries with tofu.

Good food. Reward it and everyone and wins.

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Mark Bittman Says July 4th Tough For Meatless Monday

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:33:49 +0000

Okay. So you’ve finally made the decision to change your eating habits because you know that daily burger isn’t doing anything for your health or the environment and the last farm sanctuary you visited made you want to freak your doberman out by introducing him to his latest animal housemate Mr. Pig.

Meatless Monday is a good start, but is the 4th of July holiday the best time to convert, considering there will be all those hot dogs, burgers and other meaty goods on the grill?

Mark Bittman recently explored this dilemma is his New York Times food column.

Like every day in America, the Fourth of July is a celebration of protein. But the Fourth is a special day for burgers and ribs, not beans and rice, a day with contests to see who can eat the most hot dogs, not the most veggie patties. If you’re anti-meat, the Fourth of July can feel anti-you.

Bittman discusses the rising popularity in the Meatless Monday campaign and its benefits, but recognizes that the July 4th holiday may not be the best time for the most dedicated carnivore to make changes.

The Fourth of July may not be the day to trade in your hot dog, but the following Monday is a good one for beans and rice.

While Bittman’s suggestion will work for some, Vegetarian Star would like to remind potential flexitarians that the holiday is also the perfect opportunity to become acquainted with the dozens of faux meats available that put the real stuff to shame.

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Meatless Mouthful–Mark Bittman Gives Others’ Arguments Against Meat

Vegetarian Star — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:14:24 +0000

“The principled diet, the diet that’s best for our health and that of the planet, is unquestionably veganism, or at least near-veganism, or a very very plant heavy diet, or “less-meatarianism” or whatever you want to call it: a diet of mostly plants, none or very few animal products, and certainly no junk or ultra-processed food (among which you could count industrially raised animal products), even if it is theoretically plant-based.”

–Mark Bittman, in his New York Times column where he lists several articles and essays by people who agree with him that meat just isn’t a necessary item on the plate. Links to Bittman’s suggested articles like The Case Against Meat by Ezra Klein and more are found on his blog.

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Meatless Mouthful–Mark Bittman On Cooking Apps In The Kitchen

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:35:37 +0000

“I have to say, I’m pretty blown away by these apps. Over 2000 recipes, timers, menu tips, charts, handy illustrations. But this app is less about technology — it’s just a cookbook in a new form. It doesn’t change the way you cook. It changes the way you look at recipes.”

“For me, the real question is: does it bring more people to cooking? If it does, wonderful. If it doesn’t, maybe it’s just a fad. But it’s way too early to say. We need to give it another 5 years or so. Really give people a chance to figure out how to use these things in the kitchen. These apps have the potential to make people’s lives easier.”

–Mark Bittman, on his new How To Cook Everything Vegetarian app, now available from iTunes for $4.99. Can apps bring more people to the kitchen? They make it a lot easier to build a collection of recipes and books that offer cooking instructions without taking up shelves in the kitchen. In addition to Bittman’s app, don’t forget to check out other vegetarian and vegan cooking apps.

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Mark Bittman “How To Cook Everything Vegetarian” App On iTunes

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:15:36 +0000

After the successful launch of the How To Cook Everything app, Mark Bittman has released a similar app based on his completely meatless cookbook, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Bittman is not only an established cookbook author, he’s also is a regular columinst for the New York Times who uses his platform to discuss issues on sustainable food, environment, health and animal welfare.

The How To Cook Everything Vegetarian app features recipes, cooking tips, menu ideas, Bittman’s personal favorites and more.

Over 2,000 detailed instructions are available for standard vegetarian staples like pasta dishes and tofu. There are recipes for more elaborate veg creations like homemade cheese.

Some additional features:

Organized and email-friendly shopping lists
Built-in timers during each step of the recipe
Ingredient information
Cooking equipment advice
And more

The How To Cook Everything Vegetarian Cookbook has received praise from well known celebrity chefs and health experts.

“How do you make an avid meat eater (like me) fall in love with vegetarian cooking? Make Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian part of your culinary library,” said Bobby Flay, chef-owner of Mesa Grill and author of the Mesa Grill Cookbook

“Recipes that taste this good aren’t supposed to be so healthy,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, Professor of Surgery, Now York-Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center and coauthor of You: The Owner’s Manual. “Mark Bittman makes being a vegetarian fun.”

For more information on the How To Cook Everything app, visit its iTunes page.

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Meatless Mouthful–Mark Bittman On E6 Cattle Cruelty Investigation

Vegetarian Star — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:14:02 +0000

“The problem is the system that enables cruelty and a lack not just of law enforcement but actual laws. Because the only federal laws governing animal cruelty apply to slaughterhouses, where animals may spend only minutes before being dispatched. None apply to farms, where animals are protected only by state laws.”

–Mark Bittman, in his New York Times food politics column about the animal cruelty discovered at E6 Cattle, a company that provides calves for the dairy industry. A video of the cruelty, which shows–among many acts–workers bludgeoning cows with pick axes, can be viewed here.

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Mario Batali’s Meatless Monday–Sorta

Vegetarian Star — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:29:32 +0000

Mario Batali is on board and ready to embrace a life with less meat. He’s observing Meatless Monday is his restaurants, has plans for a vegetarian cookbook and made one of his New Year’s resolutions for 2011 to learn to cook more vegetarian meals.

Making vegetables the center of his plate is how Batali lost a significant amount of weight and continues to maintain a lighter figure.

During one of Grubstreet’s regular “a week in the food life of [insert famous person],” Mario gave an an example of how he keeps Meatless Monday.

“Boxing at 8 a.m. I box three days a week and I play squash two days a week. In the morning almost every day, I have a shake with some almond milk and some frozen fruit, and that’s my morning routine. I don’t really need breakfast. In all honesty, if I have a substantial breakfast, I’m hungry at eleven. And then I’m hungry at one, and then I’m hungry at three. If I just start eating a big breakfast, I eat all day long. So I’ve found if you just kind of limit it and then try to go vegan-vegetarian until dinner — it’s all about calories in, calories out.”

“I had a little snack at home at eleven: two stalks celery, with hummus and Sriracha. Then I came down here [to Otto] and shot an espresso. If I drink espresso before noon, I get kind of zippy.”

“For lunch, I ate family meal [at Otto]. Two or three days a week they make a soup and this one was a vegetable one with rice: vegetables and cilantro, and then they put hot chilies and jalapeños on the side. And I had a Diet Coke.”

Actually, this Meatless Monday is more like Mark Bittman‘s “vegan until six,” flexitarian approach, as you’ll learn about what happened at dinner time at GrubStreet.

But we do give a guy credit for some efforts.

Photo: PR Photos

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