Cutting Vedge

Kim O'Donnel's The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook

by Drew Lazor

Born in Philly, raised in Bala Cynwyd and educated at UPenn, Kim O'Donnel is quite familiar with our city's intimate relationship with meat. That's why she knew she had to address a regional delicacy in her new The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook (Da Capo). Head to the "Spring" section of her all-vegetarian tome (it's organized by season to best guide home cooks on which fresh ingredients to use), and you'll find instructions for the "Tempeh Hoagie-letta," an homage to cheesesteak/hoagie iconography ("possibly two of the greatest artery cloggers ever invented," she admits) that nixes fatty meat in favor of pan-fried tempeh topped with a simple olive salad (like a muffaletta, hence the sandwich's suffix) and served with a side of ... kale chips?

For many Philadelphians, that setup might sound as foreign as Farsi. And that's exactly why O'Donnel, a chef who wrote the blog A Mighty Appetite for The Washington Post and contributes her food words to Culinate, True/Slant and HuffPo, has written this book, inspired in part by the national "Meatless Monday" initiative that encourages Americans to eschew animal protein 52 times a year to benefit both their personal health and the health of the environment.

"I was struggling with how I would be consistent with making my diet a little bit healthier, but also doing something that maybe would have a ripple effect," says O'Donnel, who reported on state politics for City Paper from 1989 to 1993. Her family has a history of high cholesterol and heart disease, so the author knew a shift in her diet was essential. She and her husband began experimenting with veg recipes and posting them on her WaPo blog, to a great response. "It didn't take me long to see there was something here," she says.

The end result features a wealth of recipes specifically calibrated to sate even the most stuck-in-his-ways bone gnawer — O'Donnel believes a mixture of textures and careful treatment of the ever-elusive "umami," or savory "fifth flavor," are essential to making a plant-based meal appealing to a carnivorous palate. "The idea is not for anybody to feel like they're being punished," she says. "This food is really tasty, and that's the first order of business. [It] has to taste good."

Highlights include roasted broccoli "pick-up sticks," kicked up with fresh ginger and generous amounts of garlic and cayenne; hearty shepherd's pie stuffed with wine-braised lentils and chopped chard instead of lamb; and a diversity of options with eggs (frittata, scrambles), which the author says are a great meat-to-veg stepping stone.

O'Donnel, who says she eats meat for about 50 percent of her meals, does not want to preach about our discombobulated national diet. Rather, she simply hopes to get people off barstools and out of restaurant booths and back into their home kitchens, where cooking, vegetarian or otherwise, is the focus. "I have no interest in getting on my high horse about how many days you eat meat," she says. "But I will get on my high horse about [committing] to cooking once a week. I'd like to see more people dusting off the countertop, whether it's a pork shoulder or it's a ratatouille."

(drew.lazor@citypaper.net)