Navigating the Vegetarian Kitchen

When I first declared myself a vegetarian (before transitioning to ethivore), I had to figure out how to change my cooking to exclude meat.  I had never been a huge meat eater anyway, but I found out, in trying not to eat any meat, that I really loved and relied on chicken in my kitchen.

My first solution to my quandary was to start buying soy and textured vegetable protein (TVP) meat analogs from the freezer section of our grocery store.  We ate “chik’n” nuggets, and soy burgers, or used crumbled versions of these products in traditional meat recipes.  I felt good about cutting out the meat.  But, as I started learning more about the environmental and health costs of our food choices, I began to question the wisdom of eating meat analogs rather than meat all the time.  For instance, MorningStar Chik’n nuggets have a list of 50 ingredients, including several additives that I can’t even pronounce let alone know what they are.  And just 4 nuggets contain 25% of the recommended daily value of sodium!  Boca Burgers have a slightly shorter, but no more decipherable, ingredient list.  When I thought about all the steps in the industrial agricultural food chain that it took to transform those soybeans from their natural state into something that looks and tastes (somewhat) like meat… I knew that I was defeating one of the purposes I had in becoming vegetarian.  I wanted to lessen my impact on the environment.  And I wanted to be healthy doing it!

When I decided that I needed to get away from relying on meat analogs, I found myself back at square one.  How do I put nutritionally balanced, tasty food on the table when I am so busy with grad school, work, and life?  Fortunately, I found some great cookbooks and nutritional advice along the way.  (I’ll be featuring some cookbooks in future posts, so check back for suggestions and recipes!)  I found that the most helpful cookbooks divided main dishes into categories like “pasta,” “beans/ peas/ lentils,” and “grains.”  This is great because it allows you to think outside the meat-potato-vegetable paradigm.  Plus, legumes and whole grains are great sources of vegetable protein.  I also found that in recipes where meat is not the main event but just another ingredient, it’s usually fairly easy to substitute beans, tofu, or mushrooms.

Here are some easy supper ideas:

• Open-face vegetable sandwich made with vegetables cooked on the grill or under the broiler, heaped onto sliced whole-grain bread with melted cheese
• Whole-wheat couscous with a quick stir-fry of some combination of vegetables, topped with cashews or other nuts or seeds (or, if you want to get a little fancy, serve in a half squash or a bell pepper)
• Quinoa pilaf or salad- Quinoa is protein-rich and makes a good substitute for rice or other grains
• Artichoke and spinach lasagna (or other casserole dishes) you can make ahead and freeze
• Bean tacos or enchiladas
• Rice and beans or lentils

I’ll be posting more tips and recipes in the future.  Leave feedback or suggestions, or share your own story or helpful hints in the comments box!