Vegetarian meals

[Faerie]

I'm on a health kick, I need to lose a bit (some 6kg) of weight and want to limit our meat intake to twice a week. I'm at a loss for vegetarian recipes. Anybody have some personal favourites you'd be willing to share? I'm also cutting out bread entirely (its a weakness). It must be kid friendly if possible, got a very fussy 13 year old. :bang:

[dancer_rnb]

How long do you cook a vegetarian?

(I have no real ideas to add)

[Christina]

I was a vegetarian for over 20 years but now I eat fish too. Mexican food tastes great without meat, bean based soups are easy and filling, there are all sorts of pre-prepared veggie and nut/seed burgers that taste good and you can make your own. If you're still planning to eat seafood (not really veggie, just meat-free) there are endless choices. If you google for vegetarian recipes you'll find more than you can ever use. The biggest challenge is to make sure that you all get enough lean protein and don't try to get it all from fat-heavy dairy products. Soy products are the easiest way to get it but not everyone likes tofu, tempeh, soy milk, etc.

[Faerie]

Fish would be on the menu but probably only (maybe) once a week, its horribly expensive here.

Thanks Christina!

[DMB]

If you are cutting out bread, be careful to go for nutritional balance. Apart from soy beans, and products made from them such as tofu, a lot of veggie food is based on pulses. But to get complete proteins, you need a mixture of pulse + grain (whole grain, of course).

[Christina]

I may be wrong about this but I think that DMB is right and that you generally need to combine beans with grains to get a complete protein. I rarely eat regular bread or crackers but I always have whole grain tortillas and eat at least one a day. Getting enough protein without gaining weight was hard for me so I added seafood back into my diet a year or so ago.

[Anne]

MaGeLlaN

Is a shorthand some nutritionalist came up with.

Milk/dairy, Grains, Legumes, Nuts.

Any two next to each other form a complete protein.

I'll get back to you. There's lots of vegetarian out there. Actually, do a search fro kid frinedly veg. Most kids IME dislike meat anyway...

[Goldie]

I thought Dairy was a complete protein...no?

[B Cereus]

Diet for a Small Planet is a classic vegetarian cookbook:

http://www.amazon.com/Diet-Small-Planet-20th-Anniversary/dp/0345321200

I used this as a cookbook for many years during graduate school. Still use some of the recipes today.

[Christina]

I thought Dairy was a complete protein...no?


Yes, it is. (http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/Health/Materials/Whey+Protein+Draft+6_22)

Whey protein is a high-quality protein derived from cow's milk. Whey protein is one of the richest known sources of naturally occurring branched-chain amino acids - leucine, isoleucine and valine. Compared to many other proteins, on a gram-to-gram basis, whey protein delivers more essential amino acids to the body and is absorbed quickly and efficiently.

Eggs are a good source of low-fat protein too. Nuts are great but they're relatively high in fat.

[Anne]

yes, but you need to combine grains with it, because grains aren't.

[Goldie]

I had to live off of cottage cheese for a long time, so I knew it had to be...
So it's grains and dairy or grains and legumes?

Fish is still the best high protein for dieters. Too bad it's so expensive for Faerie to buy. However, you wouldn't need MUCH fish because it is so high in protein.

[Anne]

It's milk and grains (mac and cheese), grains and legumes (rice and beans) or beans and nuts/seeds (hummus made with tahini). Anything next to each other. I don't rememebr if it wraps around and nuts/milk go together--- since milk is alone, then sure!

It's helpful for us, for making a non meat meal.

[Christina]

It's milk and grains (mac and cheese), grains and legumes (rice and beans) or beans and nuts/seeds (hummus made with tahini). Anything next to each other. I don't rememebr if it wraps around and nuts/milk go together--- since milk is alone, then sure!

It's helpful for us, for making a non meat meal.

Do you have a source for this? Everything that I can find shows nuts and dairy as stand-alone protein and that's also what my doctor tells me.

[Anne]

Not that I remember... I remember nuts not being so...

<shrug>

And a quick google does me no good.

oh well, sorry.

[Goldie]

I found this (http://www.fitsugar.com/165298)

A complete protein or whole protein is a protein that contains all of the essential amino acids.

All animal proteins are complete, including red meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. Vegetarians will be happy to know that complete proteins can also be obtained through certain plants, such as soy, spirulina, hemp seed, amaranth, buckwheat, and my fave quinoa.

Foods can be combined to make complete proteins like pairing beans with rice or corn. There are other combinations as well. Beans and seeds, beans and nuts, and beans and grains will form a complete protein. When you eat hummus and pita bread, nut butter on whole grain bread, pasta with beans, veggie burgers on bread, split pea soup with whole grain bread, and tortillas with refried beans, you are eating complete proteins.

Fit's Tips: Recent studies show that the beans and the grains don't even need to be eaten at the same meal, so if you eat beans for lunch and rice with dinner, you've got yourself a complete protein. You may spread your food combination over a 2-day period.

[Anne]

Yeah--- the old research was what that woman with the MGLN was updating--- the old stuff was adamant about being careful,a nd made it hard. The new stuff is much easier.

Sounds like some grains and seeds are complete and some aren't?

[Goldie]

It's good to know that they don't have to be eaten together. That's news to me. I always thought it had to be in the same meal.
Wow! That makes life much more simple.

[Berthold]

How about insects (http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1809649_1716919,00.html)? :evil:

[Anne]

aren't those complete?

[Goldie]

Insects? Yes...of course. :)
Yummy?

[Anne]

They aren't bad. Chocolate covered ants are much like crunch bars.

But I can't eat the living ones. Not on purpose, at least.

[Berthold]

aren't those complete?
And organic, and ecology-friendly, compared to other animal protein.

At least, advocates say so. ;)

[Cath B]

Nuts won't work well as complete stand-alone.

Nut trees manufacture the amino acids that nuts need and cereals manufacture the amino acids that cereals need. Neither of them in themselves produce the full complement that people need. But together they do. Same with pulses and cereals.

(just realised I'd only read the posts on the last page before replying)

[Christina]

That's interesting about nuts. I never try to eat them for protein because they're too fattening. I eat small amounts of them as a source of healthy fat because between soy products, small amounts of dairy and seafood I'm getting all that I need now. I could live on fresh ground nut butters from the health food store and whole wheat bread if it wasn't so fattening.

[Goldie]

That's interesting about nuts. I never try to eat them for protein because they're too fattening. I eat small amounts of them as a source of healthy fat because between soy products, small amounts of dairy and seafood I'm getting all that I need now. I could live on fresh ground nut butters from the health food store and whole wheat bread if it wasn't so fattening.

I LOVE Martha Nartha all natural peanut butter. It tastes roasted. That stuff is the bomb. If I'm feeling hungry I just eat a teaspoon of it and all the hunger goes away.
It's a good dieting trick.

[Sodong]

Well if you cut out other sources of fat - the ones that are typically not so good for you - cholesterol-ridden animal fat, the fat&sugar combination foods (high calorie:nutrition ratio stuff like cake, cookies, potato chips and junk food generally), substitute whole grain bread for the processed stuff, go for the low fat dairy products - then it doesn't matter a lot if you use nuts or nut butters as a protein source, I've found.
One thing you do have to be careful about is getting enough iron and B-12. Just because something is a complete protein doesn't mean it contains much of those two essentials. Eggs (with the yolks) and cold water fish species (especially salmon) are a good animal source, though egg yolks have lots of LDL cholesterol. I only eat eggs occasionally for that reason.

Otherwise lots, no LOTS of green, iron-laden vegetables: broccoli, kale, spinach, swiss chard, beet greens. I'm not convinced that you can actually stuff enough green vegetables in you to adequately provide these nutrients in the quantity they're required. I have iron-deficient anemia that's congenital rather than diet-related so being a strict vegetarian is out for me, but I'd rather not eat meat and most of the time don't.

If you feel yourself getting unusually tired, cold, not mentally alert - go eat a big juicy steak or something with lots of iron in it. Your blood isn't carrying enough oxygen to your brain and that can be fatal. I did almost die from that once when I was in my 20's. You can try iron supplements if your digestive tract can handle them and can get B-12 shots to help with iron absorption if it's a problem for you. I don't know how common that is. That's a last resort for me though I've had to do it several times in the past couple of decades. Not nice.

As for recipes, somebody mention Diet for a Small Planet. It's been around for a good long while but as I recall, lots of good recipes and lots of kid friendly ones too. I cook a lot of Indian vegetarian dishes, but it's not always real popular with the little ones because of the spice.

[Octavia]

One of my favourite vege dishes is cannelloni. Stuff it with chopped spinach, cottage cheese, a handful of grated cheese, an egg, and some nutmeg and black pepper. Tip a tin of chopped tomatos into the bottom of a oven dish, layer the cannelloni over it then tip another can of tomatos over it, and top with grated cheese. Stick in oven for 35 minutes at about 180 degrees C. Easy as.

Even kids like it, fussy wee brutes. And they'll enjoy stuffing the cannelloni (it's nice and messy) so you can leave them to make dinner!

[Gaojie]

Plenty of interesting ideas for veggie foods here.

For lunch today, I invented a vegetable medley of sorts. I chopped up one largish potato, a few smallish eggplants, one large carrot and a few medium hot peppers. I added some cooking oil (vegetable oil of some sort I hope) Added water, put in a bit from a seasoning packet and stir fried.

It was not too bad but the downfall was the use of cooking oil which adds a ton of calories but adds taste as well. Next time I'll try without the oil.

[Christina]

I gave up cooking in oil or butter years ago and I don't notice the difference in taste when I use nonstick sprays instead anymore. Tossing veggies in olive oil spray before cooking is great because you end up using so much less of it

[Matty]

http://www.cranks.co.uk/recipes

The red apple and nut burgers at that place used to be the dogs bollocks.

[Faerie]

I have iron-deficient anemia that's congenital rather than diet-related so being a strict vegetarian is out for me, but I'd rather not eat meat and most of the time don't.


I lost around 30 odd Kilograms a couple years ago (was seriously killing myself with food), and became anemic, it was horrible, I found myself wishing to die. A couple iron tablets sorted me out within three days, and now I'm alert for the signs in general, I love my liver and spinach though, so thats what I head for when I feel run-down.

Some great advice there, thanks Sodong.


I gave up cooking in oil or butter years ago and I don't notice the difference in taste when I use nonstick sprays instead anymore. Tossing veggies in olive oil spray before cooking is great because you end up using so much less of it

I dont use oil either, a litre would last me around 9 months, and I generally only use it for baking. My downfall is starchy food though, breads, crisps and the like.

One of my favourite vege dishes is cannelloni. Stuff it with chopped spinach, cottage cheese, a handful of grated cheese, an egg, and some nutmeg and black pepper. Tip a tin of chopped tomatos into the bottom of a oven dish, layer the cannelloni over it then tip another can of tomatos over it, and top with grated cheese. Stick in oven for 35 minutes at about 180 degrees C. Easy as.

Even kids like it, fussy wee brutes. And they'll enjoy stuffing the cannelloni (it's nice and messy) so you can leave them to make dinner!

This really sounds good. Tomorrow's supper sorted!

[Christina]

I had a bunch of blood tests done last week and the only thing I came up deficient in was B-12 even though the vitamins that I take should provide enough. My doctor is looking into whether or not my meds have anything to do with it. I don't metabolize at least one of them very well either. What kind of foods give you B-12? I don't eat red meat at all but my iron levels were fine because of the vitamins, I guess.

[Anne]

my dad gets b-12 shots at the drs office...

not a comment...

[Matty]

MARMITE FTW


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite




I don't eat red meat at all

jesus says
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:6Z2zAP5ZaDTN8M:/url?source=imgres&ct=tbn&q=http://e.imagehost.org/0633/facepalm_statue.jpg&usg=AFQjCNG5Q1dLP-OsD_8eGh04fXGrvG3zkA

[Anne]

... and one bottle will last you 100 years...

;)

[Christina]

my dad gets b-12 shots at the drs office...

not a comment...

She said that the usual treatment would be to give me B-12 shots but she's not an expert on my meds so she wants to research it first and talk to a psychiatrist about it because mine is on vacation. There seems to be a bigger question about my ability to metabolize some things but there's no way that I'm giving up coffee even if that is the reason.

[Christina]

MARMITE FTW


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite




Marmite sounds really nasty.

I have no moral or intellectual problems with eating red meat - I just don't like it. I don't know if it's middle age, my meds or something else but the list of what I don't like gets longer every year. I'd eat it if I was hungry and there was nothing else to eat.

[munnki]

Marmite is rank... EOS

[Faerie]

Bovril is easier on the tastebuds, not as sharp.

[Matty]

umm, being a beef extract, Bovril isnt exactly veggie friendly, Marmite is.
If Mm is too much then normally, small girls, Americans, and Australian toddlers are trained on Vegemite.


Marmite sounds really nasty.
GTFO>

[dancer_rnb]

I wonder if Matty is ready to graduate to Lutefisk............

[Matty]

Yum.
"Every Advent we entered the purgatory of lutefisk, a repulsive gelatinous fishlike dish that tasted of soap and gave off an odor that would gag a goat.
Never say never, though that sounds fairly horrible, . I'll try anything once, though that rotten fish sauce that the Romans used to use would also be pushing my boundaries.

[Berthold]

I'll try anything once, though that rotten fish sauce that the Romans used to use would also be pushing my boundaries.
Perhaps that was really not too different from Worcestershire sauce. Much depends on how exactly it is made. Hobby Latinists make garum that is allegedly quite nice; if a timetravelling Roman would recognize it is, of course, a different question. ;)

ETA: Afterthought: Precolumbian Mediterranean cuisine lacked a lot of things we now see as essential components, such as tomatos, peppers, eggplant...(and other "typical Mediterranean" things like citrus fruit came slowly, by and by, from the Middle and Far East) Sophisticated Roman recipes give a hint that people tried to get an optimum of fine variety out of what was available.

[Octavia]

Marmite is fantastic. I've even been known to eat spoonfuls out of the jar... And Matty's right about Vegemite: it's only for wusses and Australians. :p

[hecaterin]

Marmite is so sweet, though. Probably better for wusses.

Soups are good, though I guess the weather may be warming up a bit for you.
This is my all-time favourite: http://thecanberracook.blogspot.com/2008/05/roast-tomato-and-red-lentil-soup.html

[Anne]

Marmite is so sweet, though. Probably better for wusses.

Soups are good, though I guess the weather may be warming up a bit for you.
This is my all-time favourite: http://thecanberracook.blogspot.com/2008/05/roast-tomato-and-red-lentil-soup.html

That soup rocks. We make it often.

[Octavia]

I find Vegemite sweeter than Marmite, and the Antipodean Marmite sweeter than the British.

[Sodong]

I had a bunch of blood tests done last week and the only thing I came up deficient in was B-12 even though the vitamins that I take should provide enough. My doctor is looking into whether or not my meds have anything to do with it. I don't metabolize at least one of them very well either. What kind of foods give you B-12? I don't eat red meat at all but my iron levels were fine because of the vitamins, I guess.Salmon is very high in B12. I think it falls into the "fatty fish" category on this list (http://www.weightlossforall.com/foods-rich-vitamin-B12.htm). There sure aren't many things I'd actually eat on that list. Blek! I do like salmon and other fish though.

[Sodong]

Just the smell of Marmite makes me want to hurl but here we can buy something called "good tasting yeast". It's a little bit of a misnomer but not as unpalatable as Marmgoo and has some B12 in it. I've had it sprinkled on popcorn, and although it takes some getting used to if one is accustomed to pouring on butter and cheese flavoring. It has a cheesy kind of flavor...sort of. I could see mixing a bit in with some savory sauces and it wouldn't be bad.

[Valheru]

Marmite sounds really nasty.
GTFO>


THIS! I love my boiled-up goo. Marmite can be a bit harsh if you've got a sore in your mouth, but otherwise it's great.

[Valheru]

umm, being a beef extract, Bovril isnt exactly veggie friendly, Marmite is.

I get the impression that Faerie isn't after a veggie diet for any ideological reasons, though - merely healthier eating habits.

Bovvies is chock full with B vits, too.

[DMB]

The way to eat Marmite is on strips of toast (known as Marmite soldiers) that you eat with a soft boiled egg. You dip the soldier into the egg! Yum! In fact plenty of people won't eat a boiled egg without a couple of Marmite soldiers.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/recipes/breakfast-eggs/boiled-egg.htm

Marmite has a strong flavour, so you only need a very small amount of it scraped onto bread or toast, preferably mixed with butter. I rather like it -- small quantity and mixed with butter -- on a baked potato.

[His Noodly Appendage]

Marmite is orrible. Vegemite ftw.

We're not vegetarians (through we don't eat very much meat), so I don't have any specific ideas for covering all your nutritional bases.

Reasonably kid-friendly meals, though, I can do.

Your basic napoli sauce for pasta:

Splosh of olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 pound cherry/grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 pound other tomatoes (baby roma truss are really nice), chopped
bay leaves
salt
chilli powder
14 oz can or whatever tomato puree (I use Leggos, though I dunno if that's international - choose a good thick rich one if you can)
Big handful of fresh basil, chopped
Balsamic vinegar
Butter

Fry off onions and garlic in the oil. Add tomatoes, bayleaf, a dash of salt and some chilli. Keep on high heat until tomatoes become easily-mashable. Mash them up a bit with your cooking spoon, then add tomato puree. Cook 5-10 minutes, remove from heat. Add basil, and depending on the tomatoes, a splosh of balsamic and a knob of butter if it needs it. The basil will cook enough in the residual heat - do not cook the sauce further, or the freshness will be lost. Feeds at least 4 very hungry people, takes maybe 20 minutes.

To that, you can add any of your mediterranean vegies - mushrooms, eggplant, capsicum, zucchini, etc, around the time you add the tomatoes. If you want a bit more body, consider grating the mushrooms in.

Dollop over a bowl of hot pasta, with or without some grated cheese on top, and you're good to go.

[Febble]

If you use tarragon vinegar and add lots of grated cheese you get something we used to call "Hewitt spaghetti" after the family we used to eat it at, and it's delicious.

[DMB]

I like ratatouille on pasta.

[Lugubert]

When my diet in faraway countries has been limiting meat and beer protein intake, I've been miserable or even severely ill, despite trying to hunt for eggs and such. The Indian supposedly substitute daal meals (pulses) were constantly to my taste buds so revolting that they didn't contribute to a healthy diet.

[premjan]

Wow, I guess when I came to the US, the lower level of vegetables in the diet gave me some digestion problems.

[Matty]

back to marmite briefly, if you melt a small amount in some butter and toss nice crispy roast potatoes in hte mix it adds a really nice touch to them, not even particularly marmitey just a kind of enhancement.


then again salt and butter often adds to stuff i guess.

[DMB]

back to marmite briefly, if you melt a small amount in some butter and toss nice crispy roast potatoes in hte mix it adds a really nice touch to them, not even particularly marmitey just a kind of enhancement.


then again salt and butter often adds to stuff i guess.

Try garlic salt on fried and roast spuds.

[Lugubert]

I haven't been brave enough to try the -ites suggested. I suppose it would be illegal to carry Marmite in some parts of India, -- but it might be useful for travels in the Himalayas where any resemblance of meat but the occasional yak leg would probably have travelled for a week without refrigeration. Hmm.

My fave place for really exotic items of food might stock Marmite. I'm on my way.

[Valheru]

Marmite and vegemite are pure vegetarian, so no worries. (Unless you count yeasts as animals) :) Bovril and Oxo might get you into trouble, though :D

[His Noodly Appendage]

Try vegemite first, if they have it.

[Valheru]

Yeah, and make some toast, with some marge or butter dripping from it, with the -ite spread over it (THIN layer if marmite).

You won't look back, brother. Shit is delish!

[His Noodly Appendage]

Thin also for vegemite - at least until you get the hang of the stuff.

[Valheru]

Never had vegemite myself - I should check out some of the specialty delis we have.

[Faerie]

Never had vegemite myself - I should check out some of the specialty delis we have.

Its available at Checkers.

[Valheru]

VEGEMITE?

[Faerie]

VEGEMITE?

YES.