Peter Meehan, Lucky Peach Presents Power Vegetables: Turbocharged Recipes for Vegetables with Guts (New York: Clarkson Potter, 2016), 272 pp.
Not too long ago I wrote about Vegetables Every Day, which I named the best vegetable cookbook ever written. This post is about the second-best: Power Vegetables.
It could not be more different from the first in tone, coverage, or layout. To start with the latter, the book is full-color and filled with photographs that proudly reclaim the goofy palette and styling tricks of the 1970s. (Never underestimate the force of nostalgia.) You can see the plasma globes on the cover nestled amidst artichokes and eggplants. A picture on the inside features a guy in a pretend superhero outfit; another has a plastic dinosaur attaching a Caesar salad.
It is also not exhaustive, because its standard is power—hence the title. The conceit was to collect only recipes that are so good that you don’t miss the meat at all, or feel like you’re cheating or compromising by going for a vegetarian version thereof. (Not that these are all vegetarian: many have dairy, and some have anchovies or fish sauce. Don’t look here for ideological purity.) So, there are a lot of mushrooms, a lot of roasting and browning, a lot of intense spices, a lot of butter and oil. This is how I like to cook anyway.
And so, in keeping with the devotion to power in veg cookery, this book is also full of attitude and utterly lacking in the detached, scientific, and somewhat patronizing tone that I find so endearing in mid-twentieth century cookbooks. Every recipe has an intro with an angle trying to win you over. You wouldn’t expect otherwise from the editors of the late great Lucky Peach, just about the only truly innovative food magazine since the invention of Gourmet, which like all great bands broke up due to infighting right as they hit their peak. Still sad and and a little resentful of that.
None of the recipes I’ve made has been bad (and that accounts for nearly but not quite all—having a hard time getting a hold of guanciale in Tokyo, and not a fan of Jerusalem artichokes), but some have been so exceptional as to be worthy of multiple repeats. Here are my favorites.
Miso Butterscotch: It sounds weird, it tastes amazing. A great idea if you bought miso in a fit of enthusiasm for Japanese and/or health food and then forgot about it.
Caponata: They’re right, it is better than ratatouille (for which there is no recipe in this book, but if you want ratatouille that actually tastes good, take a look at the recipe in Bistro Cooking).
Giardiniera: A homemade version of the veg mixture in urine-yellow brine you see in the grocery store. This is not urine-yellow, and it’s amazing and will transform all your pizzas from here on out.
Buffalo Cucumbers: Basically, buffalo chicken wings in hot sauce, but made with cucumbers instead. I was skeptical because I have a contentious relationship with cucumbers. But I will fight you over a bowl of these.
Daikon with XO Sauce: This requires sourcing some odd ingredients (like dried scallops) to make the sauce, but it makes way more than you need and is fabulous. Put it on any starch, veg, or as an accompaniment to any East Asian-style food.
Quiche Lorraine: Needless to say, I had deep doubts about doing justice to this French classic without ham or bacon, in fact with shiitakes roasted in soy sauce; but I have renounced my unbelief. Maybe even better than the original.
Zucchini Pizza, Zucchini Mujadara, Kung Pao Celeries, Spanakorizo, Nishi Sweet Potato: These all fall in the category of “there is no way something made out of these few simple raw materials can be so insanely delicious.”
Roasted Vegetables with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette: I never consume Brussels sprouts unblackened anymore. And, fish sauce vinaigrette is good on anything that any other vinaigrette is good on.
Zuni’s Spicy Broccoli and Cauliflower: Ditto on the amazing power of roasting brassicas.
Sarson Ka Saag: Greens raised to the power of green.
Sweet Potato Burritos, Saltie’s Clean Slate: Unexpectedly successful vegetarian sandwiches.
Roasted Cabbage with Banana Blossom Dressing: More roasting of brassicas! And the exotic-sounding dressing does not actually require a banana blossom; it’s made with Thai red curry paste.
Cauliflower Chaat: An amazing mixture of (yup) roasted cauliflower and friends, chickpeas, and fresh vegetables, topped with a yogurt dressing and Indian chaat masala. I regularly make a variation of this with whatever I have on hand of roastable veg, fresh veg, and beans, but always with the chaat masala.
Syracuse Salt Potatoes: And you thought there was nothing new to do with potatoes. However, don’t be tempted by the deliciousness to try this with other, more delicate veg; they will be inedibly salty (I speak from experience).
Potato Rosemary Bread: A pain in the ass to make. Totally worth the pain.
