6 Absolute basics to get when going Vegetarian

Hi Everyone,

I am enjoying reading all the posts on thsi vegetarian forum, and I am looking for advice.

I am eating clean at the moment - and wish to progess to eating vegetrian. However, I  am unsure of what basics would be required as staples in a vegetarian diet - apart from all the fruit and vegetables I love.

I am eating wholegrain, cereals, and pasta, and brown rice.

I do not eat any eggs, and I am only having 125 mls of skim milk which I intend to change to soy.

I do eat all types of beans, and am learning about other grains. Mainly what needs soaking etc, and how to use them by looking in the recipie forum.

So I am hoping for some feedback on what eveyone considered the basic staples you need.

Thanks Vera

1. A B12 supplement

2. A decent amount of sun exposure (for vitiman D)

3. Learn how to marinate, drain, and cook tofu to your liking 

4. I know it seems simple, but do your research and know exactly WHY you've become veg. It just helps:)

5. A good vegetarian/vegan cookbook (I reccomend Veganomicon)

6. A copy of the vegan food pyramid to make sure you are getting sufficient nutrients 

oh and I would also recomend reading The China Study...it offers great insight on why a diet based largely around whole foods, fruits, and vegs is the most optimal. Good Luck!

Hi Kittysly101,

thanks for the advice

B12, thanks for that did not know what supplementw were actually needed, some sites say a multivitamin - others say omega 3s, and others sites their is a whole list, and I am on a tight budget - and want to spendi it on good natural foods - my aim is to become vegan, but to do it in stages, so I learn what I need first.

Sunlight - always out in the garden so no problems there. Also, hoping to grown a lot of my own veg, organically of course so that will help the food bill, and I know where my food is coming from my back yard - also no carbon miles.

With tofu, do you only marinade the block  - I think it is the firmer tofu - and people refer to  silk tofu for other desert type things.  Do you marinate silk tofu and use it in cooking  - or is it best just to search tofu sites for ideas and ow to handle tofu.

The research is ongoing for my reasons - firstly very overweight - and eting clean to lose weight and feel fitter and healthier - going vegetarian is to enhance that as is eventually ging vegan. I studied biology and Zoology, and many conservation and ecology subjects at uni so for me it is also environmental and animal welfare. I also, have strong principles in that I do not drink, smoke, etc.  I have always tried to  do what is right, and my diet  is the last bastiion where I feel that I am comprimising, as all my life I have never used personal products, or make up that has been tested on animals, and have never worn fur.  Within the last months, I have stopped eating eggs, and all meat, only eating fish, and tht is becasue I am learing how to  change over to  a non animal protein. Have got some quorn products, but do not want faux meat for the long term, but am using it as my easing out of fish - acutally salmon, to more vegetarian scratch cooked meals with protein.

Thanks for the advice on the cookbook, only have the BBC vegetarian basic 100 recipies, but many are high in calories so having to adapt already.

Did not know there was a vegan pyramid - do I JUST GOOGLE IT. - but a definite thank you on that, as I do want to do it properly - so am tryng to stockmy store cupboard up - found some info on basics of beans etc to have and grains - so i use them, and don't have a lovely store cupboard and not know how to use it in cooking good foods.

Thanks again for the help

Vera

Milled Flax seed -- it has the same healthy fats as the salmon (Omega 3).  Also, cook w/EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) whenever you can.

Quinoa -- If you can find it, it's worth it.  It has all the amino acids for protein and you can use it instead of rice for any recipe.  Just make sure to rinse it well b/c it has a bitter coating on the grain that makes it taste odd if it's not washed.

Vital Wheat Gluten -- it's protein dense and used in a lot of home made meat subs.  Here's a easy recipe for seitan:
http://caloriecount.about.com/oven-seitan-rec ipe-r243560
You can slice seitan up and make sandwhiches, use it on top of vegan pizza, or make this:
http://caloriecount.about.com/farmhouse-frica ssee-recipe-r247858
Another great recipe is:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11364
That one comes from the veganomicon -- really is a bad @$$ cookbook.

Nutritional Yeast -- use in several of the above recipes, some kinds have B vitamins and has a kinda nutty taste that makes it good in vegan "cheese" sauces.  You'll prob have to check online or a health food store to find this -- but it lasts a long time and is worth buying!

Good seasonings -- w/o meat fat to flavor food you'll need to stock up your spice rack.  Some of my favorites, Spike, Old Bay, liquid smoke, Vegeta, Coriander (sp?), tarragon, thyme, oregano, also black and white pepper (and sooo many others, but here's a start)!  Since spices are expensive, it's good to get one each trip to the grocery store and build your spice empire over time :)

About tofu -- The trick for tofu is pressing it.  If you get extra firm tofu and either squish it between two plates to squeeze the water out or you can wrap it in paper towels and put a heavy pot on it (you'll have to change paper towels a couple of times) and leave it like that for 30-60mins.  My favorite way to eat tofu is to bake it first.  Just slice it, sprinkle a touch of salt and maybe a little maypl syrup (or agave nectar) and bake it at 400 degrees.  The longer you leave it in, the firmer it will become.  You can eat it like that, or chop it up and add it to a stir fry the next night.  If you want vegan lasagna use this:
http://caloriecount.about.com/tofu-ricotta-re cipe-r248077  (I think this also might be from the veganomicon).  You can also find recipes for tofu sour cream, (I didn't like it, but my vegan friend said she's gotten use to it). 

Go to this site http://www.theppk.com  They have more recipe's and great ideas like how to bake vegan, tofu ideas, ect . . .

Hi Vera,

   Just throwing my $.02 in.

   No real need to worry about getting enough protein if you are eating a variety of whole foods. See Keith Ackers "A Vegitarian Sourcebook" for more details. Gosh, even broccoli alone has thirty-seven percent of it's calories as protein.

   Sounds like you are going about things in a way you feel comfortable with and are looking at the big picture over the long run. Good for you!

   I wish you beautiful scenery as you journey towards your distant and short-range goals.

Peace,

Eric

Hi amber_poole and ericjeaton,

I am trying to do this the right way instead of saying I am gong vegetarian today and have no ideas about food or cooking and how to get all the right nutrients, and lose weight sensiibly at the same time.

I am going to get the milled flax seed, and I use EVOO, already so that is good, and I have loads of herbs and spices already so just added some extra flaovoursome ones hmmm....

How does what gluten come as a powder, or solid like tofu or tvp? Thanks for the links and recipies, always welcome as I hope to cook from scratch, and Iam using local surplus produce from gardeners in my village - got 2 ****, 6 courgettes, 2 bags pea bens, 1 bag runner beans, 1 bag apples, 1 bg tomatoes, and 2 punnnets strawberries for £5 all from one lady, and all picked only an hour before i bught them, and the raspberries, I waited whilst she picked them, no carbon miles for me, and they are all grown orgnically 2 minutes from my front door. 

Nutritional yeast, sound great - Im confused about 'vegan cheese', at the moment I am only eating cottage cheese as it is lower in calories.. What is a vegan cheese, as I thought all cheese was made from a milk source - unless it is a soy based cheese?

With tofu, can you leave it too long, between pressing to get the liquid out? Or does it become too firm and like a brick and not nice to eat?

I have tried my first vegetrian roast mix made from a packet with lentils, ad veg etc, it was realy nice, (husband liked it too - told him 12 veg meal a week won't hurt him and he might like them, not trying to convert him, just give him some new choices) and now I want to try and buy the ingredients to make it myself.

This is one way I am learning about new foods, buy a packet of a vegetarian dish, falafels etc, and try them, and then build up some raw ingredinets, so i can cook from scratch, and then know what I am eating, and cut done excess calories and salt etc.

hoping this is a senisble approach and my family will see, I am not having a 50 year old mid life crisis lol.

Thanks for all your support and help.

Vera

Vital wheat gluten is soft and powdery (b/c it's basically flour) it was originally used to make bread really fluffy. 

Here's an example of a home made vegan cheese sauce (some recipes work better then others)  http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Queso-277713 It doens't taste like cheese to me, but it has it's own charm.  I think vegans eat it when they want food like mac n cheese or nachos, but don't want to use dairy.  (I just use cheese, b/c I'm still a vegetarian, but if I don't have any cheese in the fridge I'm not against whipping up a vegan sub). 

I don't think you can press tofu for too long, although I've baked it for too long and burned it. 

If you're husband is anything like mine he'll eat whatever you put in front of him b/c it's better then having to cook for himself, lol.  I keep some fish in the freezer for my husband, but he's gotten where he really likes *most* of my veggi cooking. 

You can't really press tofu for too long as long as you don't put so much weight on it so as to squish it.  It will never become like a brick.  What I do is cut the block into strips or cubes - 1/2" to 1" thick each (all pieces should be fairly uniform) and place between 2 towels, then put a cookie sheet on top and 2 large books on top to weight it down.  It takes 30-45 min to press most of the water out to get a desirable texture.  I use extra firm most of the time, although I have used the medium before and it came out OK - although with a definite softer texture. 

hey,

something that keeps me really full is oatmeal. I eat oatmeal for breakfast every morning, and I always love eating it! Don't make the instant kind, but the take the time to make it the normal way, trust me, it tastes much better. Add someone cinnamon and honey/splenda. It tastes delicious, it's keeps you full for at least a couple of hours, and it's extremely healthy. You can do what I do, I bulk make oatmeal on a wkend so that I can just microwave and eat during the wk.

-jennifer

What kittlysly101 said about a good vegetarian/vegan cookbook is extremely important! I've never tried Veganomicon, but I can't live without Moosewood (the Enchanted Broccoli Forest is the best in my opinion). Moosewood is my Bible.

I also recommend subscribing to Vegetarian Times, or just going to vegetariantimes.com. They have some of the best veg recipes I've ever had. A lot of the recipes are vegan, but if they're not the have the recommended alterations to make it vegan. They also have all of the nutritional info (calories, protein, fat, etc.) listed next to the recipe.

You might also want to try tempeh, it's similar to tofu. It's basically a cube of fermented soybeans squished together. It both sounds and looks a little gross, but it tastes really good if you cook it correctly. It has a meat-like texture that will appeal to any meat eaters as well as veggies. You can learn how to cook it and find recipes if you google it, or go to vegetariantimes.com (yes, I'm obsessed).

You might want to try couscous. It's not technically a grain, but it's similar to rice. It's low in calories and fat, but high in protein. It also only takes about 5 mins. to make if you're in a hurry.

Good luck!