Deborah Madison, author of great cookbooks like Greens and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, came to Davis tonight.  As soon as I heard about it on NPR I hopped to the chance to interview her for Davis Life Magazine…little did they all know that my alterior motive was to get a few minutes with the woman who first introduced me to cooking with Vegetables.

I got the cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone several years back for Christmas.  I was committed to the path of eating better and having more variety.  My approach was simple: a new veggie/week.  This is where I discovered my love for kale, first saw the word quinoa (and had NO idea how to pronounce it), and realized that a little mushroom goes a long way.

Today that book is still a staple, as evidenced by the food stains throughout the dog-eared pages.  I make many modifications to switch out white flour, dairy, and sugars but for the most part it is great as it is.  I highly recommend it for the beginning vegetable cook.

Tonight’s experienced reminded me of why Off-White is such a passion of mine – I was amidst a group of people who also believe that food has vitality when it is fresh, wholesome and close to nature.  I was reminded that nutrition is not about counting calories, but rather making our calories count by putting flavor and intention as a top priority.

So now I’m fired up to dig into the kitchen this summer and play with some new recipes.  Her new book focuses on fruits for dessert.  I’m going to make it a treat for myself to buy the book this summer when fruit is such a bounty in Davis.  But for now I’ll try the quinoa pudding she directed me to in Veg. Cooking for Everyone.  I’ll let you know how it  goes.