We could all use a bit of inspiration right now.
By Tiffani Patton
Quarantine life got you feeling less than excited? Exhausting your recipe ideas? Binge-watched all of Netflix’s Tiger King in record time and need something to make you feel less weird and more grounded? Bryant Terry to the rescue. Terry’s recently-released Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes will liven up your kitchen and your taste buds with a celebration of vegetables and spices that are sure to brighten your self-isolated days (and impress your friends on Instagram!). Here’s what you can do:
- Tune in to the just-released Real Food Reads episode to hear all about Bryant’s ethos, inspiration, and work to decolonize veganism and shed myths around soul food.
- Get the book, and get cooking.
- Buy some vegetables. Now, perhaps more than ever, small-scale farmers need your support: get a CSA box or, if you’re healthy, visit your local farmer’s market (read this piece in Civil Eats by our friend Brie Mazurek at CUESA for tips on how to safely shop), co-op, or other local food business, while maintaining 6 feet of distance, of course.
- Buy some seeds and plan your veggie garden. What better time for garden therapy, whether you’re a newbie or seasoned gardener. Don’t forget to support local garden supply stores and organic seed purveyors (we see you True Love Seeds and Kitazawa Seed Company!).
- Listen to the Vegetable Kingdom playlist by Bryant Terry while chef’ing it up in the kitchen. Each recipe comes with a song, and the whole playlist for the book is now available on Spotify.
- Enjoy becoming a vegetarian cooking virtuoso while grooving and nourishing your body (and the bodies of those in your household) for stronger immunity!
And if this sounds like it would be more fun with friends, you can host a virtual dinner party where everyone makes the same dish and eats together over Zoom or another platform.
Can’t get the book because you’re sheltering-in-place? We’ve got two of Bryant’s recipes on our site. “Big Beans, Buns, and Broccoli Rabe” features homemade buns—if you’re really luxuriating in spare time—and, yup, corona beans. And I can’t get enough of Terry’s “Roasted Parsnips with Onion-Mustard sauce,” it is perfectly warming and grounding for these anxious times. Don’t fret if all of the ingredients aren’t available: the recipes are easy to adapt with what you have on hand and still deliver on all of that flavor.
P.S.
Got a sweet-tooth craving that must be satisfied? Check out the decadent ‘Bama Mud Pie Mousse from vibrant Son of a Southern Chef, Lazarus Lynch. And listen to our conversation, if you haven’t already.
Photos used with permission from Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by the Bryant Terry, copyright © 2020. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.”
Photography copyright: Ed Anderson © 2020
