Lorna Sass, who was a strict vegan for nearly 10 years, is the author of ''Short-Cut Vegan.''
G FORCE | LORNA SASS
To vegan and back
Lorna Sass, who was a strict vegan for nearly 10 years, is the author of ''Short-Cut Vegan.''
New York author Lorna Sass was a medievalist who became well known for a trio of pressure cooker books. She's been writing about ecological cooking since "Recipes From an Ecological Kitchen" came out in the early '90s. It didn't sell, she says, so the paperback edition became "Lorna Sass's Vegetarian Cooking." But you won't find eggs and cheese. "All of my vegetarian cookbooks are all vegan," she says. Her latest is "Short-Cut Vegan." We spoke from Boulder, Utah, near Bryce Canyon, where she was on vacation.
Q. Your pressure cooker books are filled with beefy dishes. Why did you change?
A. I've always had great compassion for animals. I remember the moment when I was sitting at my family dinner table, I was about 5. We were eating steak, and I said, "Did this come from an animal?"
Q. When did you make the switch?
A. I was influenced by "Diet for a Small Planet," and John Robbins's "The Food Revolution." He spoke about how inefficient it was to grow grains to feed animals rather than just eat the grains yourself.
Q. How do you eat now?
A. I was a strict vegan for eight to 10 years and then I got a boyfriend who loves wine. He started having things like goat cheese with the wine, Taleggio with the wine. I tasted it and it was so delicious. That was the end of strict vegan.
Q. What else do you and your boyfriend dine on?
A. I have a different boyfriend. He's not at all vegan. He's a sophisticated food person.
Q. When you travel, do you take food?
A. My own tea, a chai tea, crunchy almond butter. I always bring a lot of organic nuts, and dried fruits. I love dried mango and dried pear, almonds, an organic cereal like Nature's Path. We can snack on it. To start the trip I bring as much whole grain bread as will last without refrigeration.
Q. Doesn't airport security confiscate your food?
A. A lot of times I don't check luggage. They don't seem to mind the almond butter; I put it in a small container.
Q. What do you eat in a restaurant?
A. If there's fish, I ask if it's fresh; if it's frozen I lose interest. Most often food is either fried or has all kinds of sauces and things. I'll ask for grilled chicken breast with sauce on the side, get dressing on the side with salads - it's all bottled. The thing I crave the most is vegetables; sometimes I'll make a meal of vegetables. I suffer mostly.
Q. What's your favorite quick meal at home?
A. Emergency ravioli, a really good quality ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach. I have it in the freezer. I have it with olive oil and romano and fresh herbs. While I'm boiling the ravioli, in the same water I put in some broccoli, or at the end at the last 30 seconds, some frozen peas, or drain it and toss it with mesclun greens.
Q. Any exercise in your routine?
A. I walk, but I don't do vigorous aerobic exercise. My favorite exercise is reading.
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