For those of you in our Facebook group, you saw the question I asked when you asked to join the group.
The question is: What are some of your questions or concerns about eating plant-based?
Many of you answered it which was very helpful. One thing I’ve learned is that if one person has a question, then many others do too.
Some of the questions have quick answers (i.e. simple cooking questions), and others take a bit more explaining (i.e. getting enough protein), but they are all equally important and we will get to them all.
I’m going to start out easy because my response this week actually dovetails with the recipe.
Since summer is in full swing and my kids will be home to visit soon, I pulled out my favorite gazpacho recipe that they love too. (As always, you will find this recipe in the group.)
Many gazpacho recipes call for pureeing your veggies into a smooth cold soup. But not this recipe, which is a) why I like it and b) why it’s the topic of this post today.
One of the comments/questions I got in the group resonated with me. She said, “I really don’t like chopping vegetables, is there a better way?”
The answer is yes and no. If you are going to cook with fresh vegetables, it may require chopping. In fact, it will, at some point, require chopping.
Here are some tips:
🌱 Personally, I can’t stand too long in one position so if a recipe I’m making does require a lot of chopping I will either chop some of it earlier in the day (or the day before) and then go do other things, or sit down while chopping.
🌱 I’m more than ok with cheating a little and buying some pre-chopped vegetables when I can. Mushrooms can often be found sliced in a package and I always have chopped garlic in a jar. I have, in the past, bought pre-chopped onions too. If they are super fresh, it’s great. But if you’ve ever cooked with onions, you know that the flavor (and smell) gets stronger each day. So sometimes it can be overpowering to cook with pre-chopped onions.
🌱 Sometimes cooking with chopped frozen veggies will work too (spinach is a good example that I have used in the past, and I know that many other vegetables come frozen. In fact, my son makes smoothies with frozen strawberries because the smoothie stays colder than just adding ice).
I know some purist cooks would never in a million years buy pre-chopped or frozen anything. I get it! And I get that the pre-chopped requires more packaging, which isn’t great for the environment. But if it’s a make-or-break situation, then I’d rather buy some pre-chopped items and still cook the food. There are a bunch of ways you can do it and still end up with a home cooked meal.
Either way, it’s kind of like other tasks that we don’t really like to do. If we want to get into a neatly made bed at night, we make our beds in the morning. If we want to wake up to a clean kitchen, then we clean up after dinner. And if we want the benefits of a healthy plant-based diet, sometimes it’s best to just set aside some time and get Zen about the whole experience. Put on some music and just get into the chopping.
This week’s gazpacho recipe calls to roughly chop the veggies. I like “roughly chopped” because it doesn’t take very long. Then they go into the food processor which does the rest of the work (though as I mentioned above, they do not get pureed which I like because it ends up tasting more like a salad than a soup). Be sure to join us in the group to find out which recipe I’m sharing!
Another question I received from a friend was about how to actually chop and slice veggies. Many people have zero experience cooking and this is all new to them. Let me know if you already have a handle on this or would like for me to make videos. Remember, I’m not a chef, but I’m happy to show you how I do it. Email me at diane at whatsplantbasedcooking dot com and let me know!