Local teacher authors vegan cookbook

In the spring of 2006, Betsy DiJulio started a meal with friends as a vegetarian and finished as a vegan. Five years later, she’s published a cookbook, “The Blooming Platter: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.”

A nonfiction treatise provided the catalyst for DiJulio’s conversion from self-professed “Dairy Queen” – relying on butter, milk and plenty of cheese to flavor her meatless diet – to pure veganism. That book was “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” an exposé of our country’s food production, including industrial dairies.
She never looked back.

DiJulio’s volume of 175 plant-based recipes arranged by season and course ranges from the basic – Green Bean Casserole – to the more refined – Burgundy Poached Pears with Rosemary-Scented Onions.

Some ingredients, such as tahini and seitan, might be unfamiliar to omnivores, yet they’re easily found in well-stocked grocery or natural-food stores. Most recipes rely on basic foodstuffs available at the corner market.

The recipes reveal that DiJulio, an art teacher at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, blogger and former vegan cooking columnist for The Virginian-Pilot, has a flair for unusual flavor combinations.

Consider kale and coconut. Or broccoli pesto. Or “burgers” made with pecans, kidney beans and old-fashioned oats.

A test run of one of the spring season recipes, Grilled Romaine Hearts with Five-Spice and Lime-Roasted Cashews, yielded a spicy-sweet-citrusy salad that was plenty filling for a meal, little work and addictive.

The recipe notes that the dish was inspired by elements from three separate restaurant meals that she never could forget. Reconstructing them was another matter.

“The testing was nutty,” DiJulio said of the book, and in all, it took about a year to complete.

Working section by section, she cooked after the school day. Weekends were marathons that started in the morning and ended in the evening, when she had finished testing and refining nearly a dozen recipes.

“The testing and adjusting, it was just crazy,” DiJulio said.

But she’s already approached her publisher about a second cookbook.

“I would love to do another one,” she said.

Lorraine Eaton, (757) 446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com

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Grilled Romaine Hearts with Five-Spice and Lime-Roasted Cashews
For the salad:
2 heads of romaine lettuce
Olive oil
Sea salt

For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon warm water
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Chinese-style prepared mustard
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

For the cashews:
Juice and zest of ½ lime
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon five-spice powder
¹/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

12 ounces roasted cashew piecesRemove about nine leaves from a large head of romaine lettuce. Slice the romaine hearts in half vertically. Rinse the hearts on the inside and outside and let water run down between the leaves vertically. Invert and shake out well. Pat dry and then leave to air dry. The lettuce should be completely dry before grilling.

Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill or grill pan. Brush the interior and exterior surfaces of each heart of romaine half lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the lettuce, cut side down, on the preheated grill.

Grill until nice grill marks develop, 6 to 8 minutes. Watch closely, as the time may vary. Flip the lettuce hearts as soon as the cut side has grill marks, and repeat. Remove the romaine halves to four serving plates, blotting any moisture away first, if necessary.

For the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, whisking until smooth. If your tahini has been stored in the fridge, warm it for 10 seconds in a microwave to help the sesame paste break down when combined. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.

For the cashews, line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag, waxed paper or parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the lime juice and zest, brown sugar, salt, five-spice powder and cayenne. Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir the mixture into the hot oil, being careful not to splatter, then add the cashews.

Roast and stir for 7 minutes, lowering heat if necessary, or until the nuts are caramelized and taste slightly roasted. Avoid scorching or you will have to throw out the whole batch. Spread the nuts immediately onto the prepared baking sheet to cool completely. Save the can or jar that your cashews came in to store the remaining spiced cashews.

To assemble, drizzle each romaine half with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and sprinkle with a few of the spicy cashews. Serve with a knife and fork.

Source: “The Blooming Platter,” by Betsy DiJulio