|
Check Out Your Supermarket!
You don’t have to venture beyond the local supermarket to enjoy a vegan
diet. Fruits, juices, vegetables, nuts, peanut butter, rice, corn, grains,
beans, olives, and most jellies are animal-free. Many breads, crackers,
cookies, pastries, cereals, soups, salad dressings, pasta sauces,
margarines, and candies contain no animal ingredients as well.
Ask the Experts:
“I don’t have the willpower to give up hamburgers and ice cream.”
No willpower needed: Fabulous fakes will
satisfy your cravings. Most large supermarkets now carry the basics,
including veggie “dogs” and burgers, and health food stores stock even
more—everything from soy-based sausage and savory smoked tofu to
dairy-free “cheese” and “ice cream.” Not everyone’s going to like every
product, so don’t give up if the first “faux” food you try doesn’t suit
your taste. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask. Most store
managers are happy to order special products if it beans keeping your
business.
“I’d be bored eating just bean sprouts!”
Who wouldn’t be? Most new vegetarians find
that they really have more food choices—not fewer! For example, many add
ethnic dishes like Thai and Indian curries, tofu stir-fries, and veggie
casseroles to their repertoires. And thanks to mock meats, vegetarians can
still enjoy all their old favorites, too. For recipe ideas, borrow or
invest in a few good veg cookbooks.
“I can’t find mock meats in my small town.”
Health food stores and co-ops tend to
abound in college towns and urban areas. Make monthly trips to stock up.
And you may be surprised at what you find in your local supermarket. If
the pickings are slim, ask for what you want! Try mail-order, too. Lumen
Foods (800-256-2253) offers veg Canadian bacon, chicken fillets, jerky,
and more. Canadian readers, ABC Vegetarian Foods (800-765-6955) has
meatless meats. Check the ads in vegetarian magazines, look on the Web for
other sources, or consult the “Resources” section in this guide.
-Carla Bennett, author of Living in Harmony With Animals
|
Good Nature, Vegetarian
Living
Making the Transition
Many people become vegetarian overnight, while others make the change
gradually. Do what works best for you.
- Begin by “vegging up” meals you
already eat, like spaghetti with tomato sauce, soups, and salads, and
by replacing the meat in favorite recipes, like lasagna, stir-fries,
and chili, with beans or textured vegetable protein (TVP). Replace the
beef in burritos with beans or grilled veggies. Bake stuffed peppers
filled with rice pilaf or couscous (a type of quick-cooking pasta).
Top baked potatoes with margarine, soy “bacon bits,” or salsa. Use
crumbled tofu instead of ricotta cheese in manicotti and lasagna. Use
crumbled veggie burgers instead of ground beef.
- Check natural-food stores for instant
soups and main-dish convenience items, as well as regular
supermarkets. Many canned soup flavors that you’re probably already
used to are vegetarian, like black bean, minestrone, tomato, and
vegetable. Flavored rice mixes can be made into an entrée just by
adding a can of beans. Experiment with vegetarian baked beans and
refried beans (don’t forget to check for lard!) and different kinds of
pasta. Order pizza without the cheese but loaded with vegetable
toppings, like peppers, mushrooms, or even artichokes!
- Try meat impostors—veggie burgers,
?ham,? ?hot dogs,? and ?turkey? made out of soy and other meatless
ingredients. They taste close enough to the real thing to fool any
die-hard carnivore, although you might want to try several different
brands before you decide which one is your favorite.
- Visit your local health food stores to
find the best variety of vegetarian foods. Don’t be shy—you’ll find
row after row of wonderful products that you never knew existed:
microwave entrées with pasta and sauces, imitation-meat products that
can be used in your favorite recipes or on their own, and soy-based
“cheeses,” “mayonnaise,” “sour cream,” and “milk.”
- Explore the many vegetarian foods that
have been popular in other countries for many years, like hummus (a
tangy spread made from chickpeas), vegetable curries, falafel (a spicy
mix of beans that can be made into patties and ”meatballs”), tempeh (a
popular, high-protein meat substitute), seitan (a flavorful food made
from wheat that can be sliced, marinated, cubed, fried, or baked), and
a host of other vegetarian items. You’ll even find desserts, cookies,
candies, and snacks that satisfy your sweet tooth without the fat and
cholesterol found in animal products.
- Make a habit of reading labels to make
sure you’re buying products that are healthy and humane. Crackers may
contain lard (pig fat), rice mixes may contain chicken fat, and other
products include animal ingredients you’ll want to avoid, like gelatin
(from animal skin, hooves, and bones). You’ll soon learn which brands
are “safe,” and checking labels will become second nature.
Try these easy substitutes!
Instead of ...
Butter: Sauté in water, wine, or vegetable broth, use lemon as a
dressing, and cook with vegetable margarines and oils.
Ice Cream: Try frozen desserts like Tofutti, Soy Delicious, fruit
sorbets, and ices. You’ll never want to go back to the cholesterol and
fat of ice cream.
Milk: Try chocolate, vanilla, and plain soy milk, rice milk, and almond
milk. Excellent for cooking, on cereal, in coffee and hot chocolate—use
them any way you’d use milk. Available in low fat varieties, too.
Hamburger: There are a wide variety of vegetarian hamburgers. For
“hamburger meat” as an ingredient, substitute crumbled veggie burgers in
recipes for chili, “meat loaf,” and tacos.
Cheese: Check health food stores for soy cheese, which is great on pizza
and sandwiches, as well as in sauces. You can also make a great creamy
“cheese” sauce using nutritional yeast flakes.
Eggs: Use commercial egg replacers (made mainly from potato starch) in
baked goods. For breakfast, scramble tofu with onions, mushrooms,
mustard, turmeric, and soy sauce.
Jello: Look for agar-agar (made without boiling cows’ hooves and pigs’
skin), or try Hain’s Super Fruits, a vegan gelatin that comes in four
fruit flavors.
Book it!
You’ll find a wide range of vegan cookbooks at your local bookstore or
library. There are books for people who don’t like to spend more than 10
minutes preparing dinner, and there are books for gourmet chefs.
Borrow recipes from veggie friends and coworkers, subscribe to
Vegetarian magazines, or you may contact the Northern Vegetarian Society
through this website.
|
|
