Food Feature: Beyond bean sprouts

If you’re going to go veggie, the time is now



On New Year’s Day 2001, I became a vegetarian — again. Giving up meat was a decision that came to me gradually. After all, meat tastes good. My last meal o’ meat? I remember it clearly. Pancakes and bacon at the Pancake House. Good times.

So, why’d I do it then? Why give up steak burritos and breakfasts of bacon and pancakes? Fear of mad cows? Or bad karma?

Actually, there are a few reasons I decided to give up on meat, and though vegetarianism may help prevent horrifying brain-eating diseases, or help my karmic footing in the universe, those incentives were not at the top of my list. Those are just bonus benefits as far as I’m concerned. What mattered to me more was that when I eliminated meat from my diet, I felt better both physically and mentally.

Furthermore, after swearing off steaks, I began to experiment with my diet, both at home and in restaurants. Without meat, the food I ate was much more varied. Not everyone may be convinced of this. Often non-vegetarians picture a life slouched over a plate of bean sprouts and wiggly cubes of tofu. I’ve seen my own father who, aside from beef, lives on a diet of milk, onions and condiments actually snarl at the mention of tofu. He’s a good example of someone who would not be well suited to a vegetarian lifestyle.

As for me, life without meat had the opposite effect. Ultimately, I felt more energetic after meals and, without any kind of conscious effort, I lost weight. With two years of work in a health food store and three in a mostly veggie restaurant under my belt, I’ve had a fair shake at adjusting to this way of life. It took time, but slowly and steadily I began to see that there was life beyond soy products and sprouts.

Educating yourself about vegetarian cooking is the easiest way to happily acclimate. I found the more I learned about cooking, the healthier my diet became. I shed my habit of buying the same things in the supermarket, vowing to try at least one completely new fruit or vegetable each week.

A great introduction to a healthy vegetarian diet can be found in the pages of Family Circle’s The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, which, in addition to a wealth of recipes, includes valuable nutrition information. Another cookbook on which I’ve come to rely is Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, a winner of both the Julia Child and the James Beard Cookbook awards. From these pages you’ll learn to whip up surprisingly simple dishes like chargrilled vegetable terrine, mushroom mousakka, summer bean and vegetable soup with pesto, and rice and summer squash gratin.

Without a doubt, summer is the best time to delve into recipes like these. Tomatoes, peaches, beans, squash, corn, broccoli, peppers and more are ripe and abundant. Though we are able to get a great deal of produce year-round thanks to supermarket superstores, anyone who has ever picked and eaten a ripe tomato or sugar pea on a warm summer afternoon can understand the beauty of fresh summer produce.

As the seasons change, so do the recipes. Colder weather will offer the opportunity to try hearty stews and casseroles. Save these — and the Tofurki and mashed potatoes — for Thanksgiving. For now, enjoy the can-free wealth that summer brings.

If you’ve been flirting with the idea of vegetarianism, there’s no good reason to wait until New Year’s Day. Now is the perfect time to take a trip to your local market and do some experimental shopping. With fresh produce and a good cookbook, there’s a decent chance you won’t miss meat as much as you thought you would. In fact, you may not miss it a bit.??






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