Category Archives: Vegetarian

Miscellaneous, Sides, Vegetarian

Gladiator Diet

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Pollice Verso (With a Turned Thumb) by Jean Leon Gerome, 1872

 

Gladiator Diet

I guess everyone has heard of the Paleo Diet – that’s what people ate 10,000 years ago. It’s basically meat, nuts, fruit and vegetables. There’s something a little more current, well, from about 2,000 years ago, the Gladiator Diet. It’s what Roman gladiators ate to stay in fighting condition. And surprisingly, it was almost a completely vegetarian diet.

Gladiator Diet

Barley Gruel

Gladiator Diet

Oat and Seed Cakes

No meat and potatoes for these guys. They ate mostly barley, beans and some pasta too, often flavored with fish sauce, trying to put on enough weight to cushion those sword and spear wounds in the arena. That wasn’t enough to strengthen their bones so they drank a sort of “sports drink,” a mix of wood and bone ash to build up calcium. They also drank goats milk and water but no wine. This combination of food and drink made them fit and tough.

String Beans a la Gladiator   (based on what we know they ate and what was commonly available in Rome back then)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. string beans
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2  chopped onion
  • 4 tbsp gaurm*

*The Romans used a fish sauce called garum. The modern equivalent is colatura di alici.

Preparation:

Boil the string beans for 5 minutes. In another pot sauté the onion in oil until soft, translucent and just beginning to brown. Add the drained, cooked string beans to the onions, add the colatura di alici and about 1/2 cup of the water you boiled the string beans in. Taste for seasoning. Colatura di Alici can be very salty and you may not need any more salt. Simmer for a few minutes and serve.

String Beans a la Gladiator

Some more information on the Gladiator Diet here –

BBC

Archaeology

Science Daily

Gladiator Diet

Definitely not part of the Gladiator Diet

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Sides, Vegetarian

Platanos (plantains)

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Platanos

2 preparation techniques – tostones with green unripened platonos and meduros for yellow/black ripe ones.

Tostones

Tostones can be served along side meat like potatoes or as a snack like potato chips. They’re made from an unripe platano (plantain). That’s a type of a very hard and starchy green banana.
I learned to make them while hanging out with a Puerto Rican friend in his sister Evelyn’s kitchen. You start by cutting off the two ends and making shallow knife slits in the skin along the length of the platano. The skin is thick and hard and not easy to peal like a regular banana.Platanos plantains
After they’re peeled, cut them into ¾ inch rounds and fry them in light oil like Wesson or Canola. Lightly brown them on both sides and remove them to drain on a paper towel. After they cool a bit, flatten them and fry them again until the edges get crisp. Platanos plantains                                                                          tostonera

Platanos plantains

Some people use a tostonera but whacking them with the bottom of a Coke bottle works just as well for this step. I thought it interesting that Evelyn used a Coke bottle to flatten her tostones and my mother used one to squash olives so she could remove the pits – a cross-cultural improvised kitchen utensil.

 

Platanos plantains

After the second frying, sprinkle them with salt and serve hot or room temperature.

Meduros

Platanos plantains

Meduros are made in a similar way but don’t need to be flattened and fried twice. A meduro is a ripened platano. You should buy the ones that are almost black. As they ripen the starch turns to sugar so a meduro is sweet instead of savory like a tostone.
Peel them the same way and cut them into one-inch slices on a bias (diagonally). Fry them on a high heat to brown them, then lower the heat and cook until they soften. They may be sweet but they’re also served along side meat.
Platanos plantains

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici

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Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici

This is a quick sauce and should be ready in about the time it takes to make the pasta. Don’t overcook it and keep the fresh taste of the tomatoes. Simple ingredients and yet the result is a complex flavor. Colatura di Alici is an Italian fish sauce similar to the ancient Roman and Greek garum.

(you can buy colatura di alici on-line)

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di AliciPasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici

Put a pot of salted water on the stove to cook the pasta.
Lightly toast the breadcrumbs in oil a pan and set aside.
Add more oil to the pan and cook the anchovies until they dissolve. Add the garlic and cook until very lightly golden. Add the chilli and cook briefly. Then add cherry tomatoes and capers.Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici
When the pasta is almost done move it from the pot to the pan, adding a bit of  the pasta water to the sauce. Mix the pasta with the sauce adding water from the pot as necessary.Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici
When almost done, add the colatura di alici, breadcrumbs, and chopped parsley and blend. Taste for seasoning.  Anchovies and colature di alici can be salty and you may not need any more salt. No cheese on this one.Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Colatura di Alici

 

If you have lots of cherry or grape tomatoes to cut in half, here’s a simple and quick way to do it instead of cutting them one at a time.

(sorry about the siren in the background – we live in New York City and didn’t notice)

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Lunch/Snacks, Vegetarian

Jalapeno and Egg Sandwich

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Jalapeno and Egg SandwichJalapeno and Egg Sandwich

A friend gave me some jalapenos from his garden and here’s what I did with them. A very simple sandwich but a perfect combination. You can substitute a green bell pepper if jalapenos are too hot for you.

Jalapeno and Egg Sandwich

Cut the stem ends off the peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise and scrape out most of the seed and veins.

Jalapeno and Egg Sandwich

Fry them until they soften and char a little bit.

Jalapeno and Egg Sandwich

Add the beaten eggs, salt and pepper and combine.Jalapeno and Egg SandwichThat’s it. All that’s left to do is put it on bread and eat it.

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Sides, Vegetarian

Giambotta

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Giambotta
Giambotta is a Southern Italian vegetable stew usually made in late summer and takes advantage of whatever vegetables are available. It’s pronounced “jamm-baught.” Everyone makes it a little differently and you can vary the recipe based on what vegetables are ripe.
As I said, everyone makes it differently and my family’s recipe is more different than most. My Aunt Vicki’s mother brought her family’s recipe from Italy in the early 1900s. That version was a little fancier. In addition to the vegetables, she’d add some bite-sized, cubed pieces of mortadella. Back then mortadella wasn’t so easy to find in America but frankfurters were, so she used them instead. If you think about it, they’re not so very different. My family still makes it the same way. It may seem like a strange combination of ingredients but to me, it’s comfort food.

Except for my family’s recipe, Giambotta is typically made without meat. So if you want it vegetarian, leave out the frankfurters.


Lightly brown the potatoes in oil in a pot large enough to hold all of the ingredients. Remove the potatoes. Add the onions and cook until soft and transparent but not brown. Add the pepper slices and cook until soft. Add the zucchini and frankfurters and stir and simmer for a few minutes. 

Then the tomato puree and basil – you might have to add some water if it’s too thick. Return the potatoes, taste for seasoning and simmer covered on low for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are done. Serve it then and it’s even better left-over.

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Robert Iulo –Writing Site  and  Yelp

Seafood, Vegetarian

Shrimp na Buzaru

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Shrimp na Buzaru
This is a take on a Croatian recipe – na buzaru means  stew. It’s typically made with langoustines in their shells. I found them difficult to eat so I used shelled shrimp instead.

Shrimp na Buzaru

Shrimp na Buzaru

Heat a tablespoon of the oil in pan over medium heat and toast the bread crumbs. Remove the bread crumbs and in the same pan heat the remaining oil over medium heat and sauté the onion. When the onion is translucent add the tomato paste, and mix until the onion is coated.

Shrimp na Buzaru

Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes but don’t brown the garlic. Add the wine and tomatoes. Taste for seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the shrimp and simmer, covered until done – about 5 minutes. Stir in the toasted bread crumbs, the parsley, and give it a good squeeze of lemon. Serve with pasta, rice or bread.

Shrimp na Buzaru

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Robert Iulo –Writing Site  and  Yelp

Sides, Vegetarian

Eggplant and Squash

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Eggplant and Squash – Lots of people say they don’t like eggplant and squash after only having tasted them in their school cafeteria.  If they tried it made with care and the right ingredients they might change their mind.
Eggplant with Mint
Eggplant and SquashThis same recipe works for both eggplant and squash (use zucchini). It’s good on sandwiches or in antipasto. If you leave out the mint and vinegar and do everything else the same you can also serve it on pasta with tomato sauce. This isn’t something you’d see in a restaurant but it’s not uncommon in Napolitano home cooking.
The ingredients are approximate. So don’t worry if you have to add some or have any left over. (if you have left over mint make a mint julep)

– only fresh mint works with this recipe –

Eggplant and Squash

Cut into 1/2  inch rounds. Lightly brown in oil, don’t drain it, and then layer in a container.Eggplant and Squash

Start with some salt, a few pieces of garlic, some mint and a sprinkle of vinegar in a Tupperware container. Then the first layer of eggplant. Between layers of eggplant add a sprinkle of salt, a dash of vinegar, some  mint and a little garlic. When it cools, cover and shake the container so it settles. It should be ready after a couple of days in the fridge. The mint leaves will darken but it will keep refrigerated for a few weeks.

Delicata Squash

Wash, cut off both ends, cut squash lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Use a spoon or melon-baller.

Cut into half round slices – about 3/4 inch. Toss with oil, salt, black pepper, chopped parsley and minced garlic. Make sure it’s coated completely with oil.

Put in a baking pan and cook for 30-35 min. in a 375 degree oven. Turn them after 15 minutes. The skin is edible.

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Robert Iulo –Writing Site  and  Yelp

Pasta, Vegetarian

Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms

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Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms
This is quick, easy, inexpensive and nutritious, vegan too if you don’t use cheese. Put a pot of water on the stove and by the time the pasta is done, you’ll be ready to eat.Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms

Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms

Slice the mushrooms as thinly as possible. Use a mandolin if you have one. Put them in a large serving bowl. Grate the zest of the lemon (no pith) and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Either use a press or very finely chop the garlic and add it to the mushrooms. Mix thoroughly and be sure all of the mushrooms are coated with lemon juice.  Add the parsley, salt, black and red pepper and oil and mix again. Let the mushroom mixture sit while you make the pasta or for at least 15 minutes.Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms
You got it, the mushrooms will not be cooked. The salt and acid in the lemon juice are all they’ll need, sort of like ceviche.
When the spaghetti is done to your taste, drain it and add it to the serving bowl with the mushroom mixture, retaining some of the cooking water. Mix well and if it’s to dry add some of the reserved cooking water. Serve with the parmigiana.Spaghetti with Lemon and Mushrooms

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Robert Iulo –Writing Site  and  Yelp

Seafood, Vegetarian

Poached Shrimp Scampi

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Poached Shrimp Scampi
I have some problems with Shrimp Scampi. First, there’s the name. Is scampi a method of preparation or the name of what you’re eating? Is a scampi a shrimp or is it a langoustine, crayfish, a prawn or maybe even a Norwegian lobster? If it is a shrimp then when you say the name of the dish, Shrimp Scampi, you’re really saying “Shrimp Shrimp.”
I’ll let that go and deal with my real problem with this dish. It’s too garlicky and oily and not shrimpy and saucy enough. I’ve adapted this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen and with less oil, the addition of stock, poaching instead of frying and sliced instead of chopped garlic, it’s a lot better.

Poached Shrimp Scampi

Poached Shrimp Scampi

Start by heating 2 tbsps. olive oil in a pan. Add the shells and stir until they begin to color – about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain out the shells and save the stock.Poached Shrimp Scampi
Wipe out the pan and add the remaining olive oil. Add the garlic, black and red pepper. Simmer the garlic slowly and on a low flame for a few minutes, then add the reserved stock. Add the shrimp, cover and simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat.Poached Shrimp Scampi
While it’s simmering, mix the lemon juice with the corn starch. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Add the lemon-corn starch mix and 4 tbsps. butter. Whisk until it’s smooth. If it’s too thick add a little water and continue to whisk.
Check for seasoning. Return the shrimp to the pan, add the parsley, stir and simmer for 5 minutes and serve.Poached Shrimp Scampi

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