Allrecipes Shares Depression-Era Cooking Tips

From the Jose Mier kitchen:

As a food aficionado I am plugged into a variety of websites and blogs dealing with cooking. In fact I am often bombarded with ideas and recipes to the extent that I can’t possibly cook al the foods that are delivered to my inbox. Still, I love to keep my fingers on the pulse of what’s cooking and share new and unique ideas with you.

Today I received an email from AllRecipes.com detailing many Depression-era recipes. As you know the period of the Great Depression affected millions around the world and in this country. Finances were stretched to the breaking point and many could not afford high-priced foods, especially meat. Whatever homemakers could do to stretch their limited budgets they would. Substituting things for meat in recipes was one way to economize.

As with many things, the absence of something often sparks creativity and the Depression-era kitchen was no exception.

The Rise of Cauliflower as a Meat Substitute

Today, though we’re not suffering through a Great Depression (we hope), the vegan and gluten-free lifestyles have brought cauliflower into the forefront of the meat substitute movement. Creative cooks and now companies have embraced this vegetable and its use as a pizza dough, and even mashed potato alternative is very popular. I won’t go into all the health benefits of cauliflower. For that you can read this list. Suffice it to say, it’s all good.

The recipe I want to profile today, however, is not for pizza or potato substitutes but for spaghetti sauce. The cauliflower is browned and softened prior to adding the other sauce ingredients (garlic, onion, spices and tomatoes). The recipe is so simple it’s brilliant and the flavor rivals anything containing meat. For those who don’t want to use meat or wish to add flavor to their pasta at a lower cost, this recipe is for you. You can find the recipe right here.

The author claims her friends could not believe there was no meat in the sauce. The addition of the cauliflower adds a texture to the sauce that imitates traditional Bolognese sauce. If you try this recipe and like it, let me know.

If you’re looking for vegan dishes like this one in my area (Sun Valley, CA and Los Angeles) The Zest Grill House at 8823 Sunland Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352 is a great option.
https://jose-mier.net