So, a few of you will have seen Hugh Fearlessly-Eats-It-All's (was it you who told me this name for him, little macaroon?) article on The Joy Of Veg in the Weekend Magazine of the Guardian on the 26th August. It seems it has caused a little bit of controversy as HFW has been such a meat pusher up to now. In fact, someone in the letters page the following week rather cheekily asked if HFW would refund his money for his purchase of 'Meat' - the large tome of recipes for the carnivore.
I enjoyed the article and thought some of the recipes intriguing (it is obviously advertising for HFW's new book 'River Cottage Veg Everyday') and I am someone who owns and loves 'Meat'. I think myself and a fairly hefty part of the population love meat but are also very much aware of the arguments for eating less meat (savings to household budget, animal welfare arguments, reduced environmental impact). For my part, as a family, we think nothing of having meals with no meat at all and do this for a large proportion of our week. When we do eat meat, we buy the best we can - as welfare friendly as we can and enjoy it as a treat.
I especially love vegetable-rich recipes for two reasons. The first is that I LOVE vegetables. My family have teased me for years that I devour loads of the veg at a roast dinner. The second is that I want my boys to have a healthy diet and get into healthy eating habits while young. We are by no means angels in this regard, though, as we do eat diets high in fat and sugar. I reckon that's okay if the calories balance (well, they do for the kids and I'm making an effort) and we get plenty of the good stuff.
Chose to make the recipe for the spicy carrot and chickpea pitta pocket and it was a big hit. Adam especially loved them and has asked me to make them again very soon. The carrot dish is very similar to the one Steve made for his random recipes mezze.
Recipe on the Guardian website here along with the other recipes he included. I'm going to make the aubergine and green bean curry next. Yum.
If anyone has any links to their own quick and easy vegetable-full family meals, I'd love to see them.
No. I'm afraid that despite him being one of our household idols (the shrine is currently in the design phase) we find it rather too easy to call him Hugh Fairly-Witless. Like all very bad habits I'm finding it almost impossible to break. I saw an ad for his new book on the Guardian website, but I was so staggered by the haircut that I paid no attention whatsoever to the book. At what point over my 18 month absence did THAT happen?!
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely. I read the same article and as a veggie person was rather puzzled at HFW new stance. I have a lot of respect for the man, he is one media celebrity chef I admire ever since his first TV shows such as TV Dinners that introduced home cooks and diversity in food, but i just can't help feeling that this new book and his newly adopted position is just a ploy to get more sales of his new book - of which I know I will purchase oneday (anyway).
ReplyDeleteApart from 'Meat' I have most of his cookbooks, so I don't think it was nec. for him to publish one solely of veg, hence the reason I think he is jumping on the bandwagon (to name a few Delia Smith, Ross Dobson, Simon Rimmer, dare I say it Ottolenghi and I am sure JO will soon do it too) to get the Vegetarian and Vegan £'s'. Its a shame really, but at the same time I do think it has some merit as it encourages those who would not look at incorporating vegetables into their diet otherwise.
I cooked my veggie chilli stew as a direct result if reading that H F W article. Everything he says makes sense. As do your words. Moderation is key! Nice work. Xx
ReplyDeleteLi'l Macaroon - I think it is a fairly recent haircut - first time I saw it was that Guardian article. It is very odd seeing him like that, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteShaheen - I think part of it is surely a sales pitch but then I also believe a lot of what he says as I think he is hopefully still fairly hands on at the River Cottage so if he is actually raising and killing his own animals, I think he will have a respect for them and think of meat as a very special thing for rare occasions. Mind you, River Cottage is such a huge industry nowadays that I really have no idea if he does still have much to do with the animals. But it certainly does good to have these celebrities endorsing vegetables - you're right.
Dom - I'll bet a lot of people had more veggie meals that week - I wonder if someone somewhere can show an effect on the amount of meat bought in the big supermarkets that week - that would be fascinating!
Hi there! I absolutely love chickpeas and cook with them often. This recipe sounds delish!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Harmonie House. Please drop by as often as you wish and do stay for tea!
Blissful Tidings!
Sandra
This dish looks so intriguing! Since our Clean cleanse, this is our kind of food. I wish I had seen that article. Thank you for joining Post Of The Month Club :) XOL
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