Vegetarian for a week

[Katie Meadow]

People tend to miss the luxurious mouth-feel of fats when eating vegetarian dishes. Vegetables may be starchy, but they are also "lean." That's why the craving for dairy and eggs. Also, veggies have an earthy, bitter edge to them, even the sweet veggies like carrots. Dairy distracts from and ameliorates the bitterness. All this is a complicated way to say, I think you're normal.

I would expect that a vegan diet is lacking the mouthfeel of fats, but most vegetarians I know eat plenty of omelets, brie, ice cream and chocolate. Dairy and eggs is a way of getting protein on a vegetarian diet. Although most whole grains and legumes have some protein, vegans need to work hard to find sources of protein beyond tofu. And, among many of the people I know who are past 50 and who have been strict vegetarians, many are now eating fish and chicken, because they just find their bodies need it.

As for very little cooking, one of my all-time favorites is uncooked tomatoes on pasta. If you cut them up and add salt and basil and let it sit for half an hour, then dump it with added butter or olive oil onto a plate of hot pasta, sprinkle with some pecorino or whatever, it's awfully satisfying. Of course the tomatoes have to be great to begin with, or it's ho-hum.

[gpark]

My incursions into vegetarian eating is when I get together with one of my daughters. She and her husband have been eating vegetarian for a long time. It has been interesting and educational to spend time with them and focus on cooking vegetarian specifically because we are with them. So it is a little like Fat Guy's week of vegeterian eating. For me, some stuff doesn't work at all. But, mostly we have great meals together because we are both creative and adventurous cooks and eaters

[Will]

I would expect that a vegan diet is lacking the mouthfeel of fats, but most vegetarians I know eat plenty of omelets, brie, ice cream and chocolate. Dairy and eggs is a way of getting protein on a vegetarian diet. Although most whole grains and legumes have some protein, vegans need to work hard to find sources of protein beyond tofu.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, protein is not actually something that's difficult to get enough of in a vegan diet. But eating a lacto-ovo diet can make it too easy to rely on the crutch of over-using milk / eggs (and of course, chocolate doesn't have to contain dairy).

I think that you do have to work hard to make vegan food which satisfies some of these other cravings for fatty, savory, and satisfying foods, and there's no question that it can be labor intensive. Nuts, oils, roux based sauces, blended tofu, coconut milk, emulsions and dressings are all ways of adding fat content or smooth texture to food. There are plenty of things you can use to add a savory component (mushrooms (and mushroom soaking liquid or ground dried porcini), tomato paste, nutritional yeast).

Fat Guy - in terms of stocks, I like the roasted veg stock from the big yellow 'Gourmet' cookbook. The recipe is online in a few spots. I put one or two suggestions for packaged stock also, if you want to "cheat" a little. In addition to the Kitchen Basics brand I mentioned, for soups, the Imagine "no chicken" stock is all right. Though I encourage you to make (and reduce / freeze) your own, buying some of the stuff in aseptic packaging is good for "emergencies".

[Jenni]

I am lacto-veggie but don't eat that much dairy. Mostly yoghurt, a small bit of milk (in tea) and very little cheese at all, mostly paneer. Ok, so I cook almost exclusively with ghee too but that is in small quantities and is more of a fat than a dairy product!

I would encourage you to try using more pulses and less dairy. Have you ever cooked dal before? For this you need any kind of dal, which is a split bean or lentil. Common dals are moong, chana, toor, urad and masoor. These are respectively split moong beans, split kala chana (a small, dark Indian chickpea), split pigeon peas, split urad beans and split red lentils. Masoor dal is also sometimes called "Egyptian lentils" and seems to be commonly available even in areas without speciality Indian foods. These dals are usually skinless, but moong and urad dal are also used in their split but skin still on form.

The advantage of dals are that they are quicker to cook than whole beans and easy to digest. Don't always need to soak either, unless you want a certain texture. You can also be very creative with them. Soak the dal for some time and cook with a minimum of water to make a dal dish where the individual grains are dry and retain their shape. Or just bung the dal in a pan and cook with lots of water to make a soupy dish. Use less water and get a creamy, comforting mash. You can add vegetables to dal or keep it plain.

And seasoning possibilites are endless! Just cumin and hing alone (in a ghee or oil tadka) makes a very simple seasoning. But then you can use a complicated seasoning involving many ground spices and serveral tadkas of wet and dry seasonings (onions, ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli powder, fresh chillies, garam masala, mustard, curry leaves, panch pooran, fennel, fenugreek, amchoor....I can go on and on!). Most dals do use either turmeric, ginger or hing, or a combination of two or more of these, because of their digestive properties.

Of course, dals are used in lots of other dishes too. One of the most interesting uses comes from South Indian cuisines. Many different regions in South India use a tsp or two of urad or channa dal fried in oil along with other spices (as in a tadka, though obviously every region in India has a different name for this technique depending on the local language) and then added to the dish. This adds a nice crunch and a nutty flavour.

Other uses of dals are pancake-type things, breads, fried or steamed dumplings, various desserts, no-cook salads (the dals are soaked to make them softer and more digestable) and so on. Really beans and lentils are so underused in the West!

Edited July 10, 2011 by Jenni (log)

[Fat Guy]

I fell off the wagon tonight.

I went with a friend to check out Zero Otto Nove, a brick-oven-pizza place on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. I didn't have the heart to make him order vegetarian, and since we were sharing everything I couldn't help myself. At first I told myself I'd just have a taste, professionally, of each thing. But as soon as I tasted animal flesh I consumed more with gusto.

We had:

Polpettine, Polenta & Caprino (small meatballs, spicy tomato sauce, polenta & goat cheese)

Pizza La San Matteo (fresh mozzarella, sausage & broccoli rabe)

Pizza Diavola (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil& spicy sopressata)

Pizza Margherita (tomato sauce, parmigiano, fresh mozzarella & basil)

I'm going to need to set the clock back to zero, and do a full vegetarian week starting tomorrow. I've got my three bean/lentil dishes laid in, and I think I can do it this time around without so much dairy stuff.

[heidih]

Do you enjoy baked firm tofu? I have had it thinly sliced along with egg in a Pad Thai rendition at a local place and found it delightful and satisfying.

[Katie Meadow]

The funniest part of this whole experiment is that my husband hasn't noticed yet. Typically we go two or three days without animal protein at dinner, but this is day five. Our lunches are often haphazard, so he's had a couple of turkey sandwiches, but hasn't said a word about the fact that dinners have been strictly veg.

Lunch today for me was leftovers from the fridge: green beans and babaganouj with crackers. Dinner was a nostalgia casserole of rice, zucchini, tomato with fresh basil and Mexican oregano, and a very modest amount of cheese mixed in; a holdover from seventies cooking. On the side was some delicious burrata, a fennel and radish salad, and a taste of pickled mustard greens which I made from a recipe my brother uses for his homegrown greens. A bit strange all together, but no one could say it wasn't healthy.

[Fat Guy]

I haven't had an actual meal today. Just cherries, watermelon, some nuts and some tortilla chips. I ate enough last night for two days so I'm detoxing today. I'm sure I'll have more snacks later tonight but between yesterday's intake and today's heat I'm just not all that hungry.

[thock]

I'd join in, but my partner insists on meat for the two meals he consumes every day (he doesn't do breakfast). He also refuses to eat eggs or legumes, so I'm kind of restricted.

Tracy

[Katie Meadow]

Okay, day six. By the time we finished breakfast (toast and marmalade as usual) it was late morning, so today was clearly shaping up as a linner day. Around 1pm I was staring at a picture in the SF Chron food section of a peach with caramel sauce, so I had exactly that for a snack, with a little salt sprinkled on. Excellent.

By the time we got a meal together it was almost 5pm. We had more burrata (I bought two of them, and splitting one works well per meal) and one of my favorite grain salads: bulgur wheat, blanched chopped swiss chard, chopped olives, a little tomato if we have some, shallots, parsley and cilantro, garnished with toasted pine nuts. Dressing is simply lemon and a little olive oil. I've determined that what I don't like about most deli grain salads is that there is often too much dressing; that ends up being wet and usually too vinegary. Less is better, for me. Great with the burrata on the side. My husband also finished up what remained of the babaganouj and we had a fresh baguette as well. I suspect he has in mind a late mint julep (what else can be done with a pint of mint simple syrup?) and a bowl of popcorn.

What's the takeaway for me? I'm thinking four or five days is about my comfort level for a vegetarian diet; I'm happy enough, but after that my body wants a real hit of animal protein. Tomorrow I have plans to make red beans 'n' rice, but I can't see making it without the ham stock that's calling to me from the freezer. So, legitimately I can't claim to have eaten strictly veg for a week, but I can claim not have had any actual chunks of meat or fish. It's hard for me to imagine life without chicken stock, at least. When it comes to food, I'm very much in favor of moderation in all things.

On Tuesday two of my favorite 20-somethings are coming over for dinner and I'm working up an appetite for grilled shrimp. Two more appreciative guests I've never encountered; they eat a ton and they appear to like just about everything that walks or grows. I like a challenge cooking for picky eaters or people with food issues, but these omnivores are a kick to cook for.

[Fat Guy]

Trying to reduce my reliance on dairy, for a light dinner I had avocado and hummus on the French Culinary Institute's whole-wheat sourdough...

[Mjx]

I haven't had an actual meal today. Just cherries, watermelon, some nuts and some tortilla chips. I ate enough last night for two days so I'm detoxing today. I'm sure I'll have more snacks later tonight but between yesterday's intake and today's heat I'm just not all that hungry.

Curious, here: How do you feel, physically? Anything different? Growing up vegetarian was a problem for me, because my parents relied heavily on wheat-based products (which I don't handle well), but several of my friends mention feeling significantly better when they remove meat from their diets.

[Fat Guy]

In my imagination your drink is also pink

Not quite pink, but the herbal iced tea I made myself last night has a hint of red.

[Fat Guy]

Curious, here: How do you feel, physically?

I haven't noticed any change, but then again I've only eaten vegetarian for a few days and on one of those days I ate meat.

[teagal]

Day six for me too! I notice an increase in energy and no heavy feeling after meals. Its been pretty easy too-even if I have to cook meat for my husband. Will definitely eat like this more often. Surprised myself not cheating-didn't think I'd have the willpower.

[annabelle]

Steven, have you tried out Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone? I have its first run edition and there has been at least one revision/supplementation since I bought it about 16 years ago. It is very approachable, has a large number of recipes that are easy to follow and have helpful tips for tweaking to your specific likes and dislikes. It has a lot of kid-friendly recipes that I used when my boys were going through different phases of hating everything to help them over that hump.

Now, our family is not vegetarian, except on Fridays during Lent, but I still use a number of the recipes quite often as they make use of fresh ingredients, readily available cookware and techniques, and are fresh, quick and tasty in that they appeal to my family's tastes. My pet peeve with many vegetable heavy diets is that they are so very time consuming. Soaking, peeling, chopping, stringing, seeding, et al. A little goes a long way. I do enough of all that when I put up our canning every summer.

Best of luck to you and it would have been a crime not to eat that pizza!

[Fat Guy]

At the moment I have no cookbooks. They're all still in storage in the Bronx, pending construction of bookshelves in our new apartment -- a job that could take many more months. So unless someone describes a recipe here or it can be linked to, I can't access it. I'm pretty sure that book is or was in my collection -- when I packed I was surprised how many vegetarian books I had -- but I'm not entirely sure what I kept, as I got rid of a couple of hundred cookbooks before we moved.

I shouldn't say I have no cookbooks. I have one volume of Modernist Cuisine with me (volume 2), as well as a Spanish-language dessert book that one of my students wrote and gave me a copy of.

[annabelle]

I just looked on Bing and there appear to be a number of links to her recipe collections. I feel your pain with having all of your cookbooks in storage. Been there, done that.

[baroness]

There's always the wonderful New York Public Library; it's a great resource!

[Fat Guy]

I did not eat well today. Up until dinnertime all I did was snack incessantly -- I didn't have an actual breakfast or lunch. I had:

A Nestle Crunch ice cream bar

Cherries

Chobani pomegranate yogurt

Stacy's pita chips

Kalamata olives

A chocolate-chip cookie

An oatmeal cookie

Costco/Kirkland chocolate-covered almonds

Assorted gummi candies

Cheddar cheese

Snyder's pretzel snaps

I did eventually have dinner. I made salads for the family (a vegetable plate for our son), and ate some of those lentils from the other day, cold. They were quite good cold.

[brucesw]

A couple of weeks ago, after reporting on a vegan restaurant on my blog, I observed that I sometimes think about becoming a vegetarian in Houston, not for ethical, religious or health reasons but just because the vegetarian restaurants here are so plentiful and the food so tasty. I never thought about doing it on a dare but I’m in on this.

Actually, I started last Wednesday so here’s a start on a belated progress report. My main meal is lunch, most of the time away from home. I don’t do much cooking.

Wednesday - lunch at Cedars Bakery, Harhoura veggie pizza wasn’t very successful. Just diced tomatoes, onions and bell pepper on a thin pita, cut in narrow wedges and so thin it drooped when picked up and the toppings fell off (no cheese). I’ve had better stuff here and never tried this before. I should have tried the Haloum pizza which looked in the pictures like just haloumi cheese and tomato sauce. I did pick up some of their markouk, tissue paper thin flat bread that I’ve used several times since at home..

Thursday lunch - I asked a friend to meet me at Pine Forest Garden, one of several restaurants in Chinatown that follows Buddhist cuisine precepts. It’s one of his favorite places but I’ve been only once and wanted some guidance on what’s good. We did the buffet and had way too much food. With his help, I got the good stuff but it turned out he didn’t know the names of most of the dishes (the buffet is not labeled) or what was in most of them.

For home meals I laid in a ridiculous amount of produce on Thursday from Fiesta for gazpacho, greens, salads, squash soup, plus tons of fruit. I eat a lot of fruit and currently have in-house grapes, kiwis, 3 kinds of apples, oranges, bananas, peaches, nectarines and plums. I’m going to have trouble eating all this up before it goes bad. I bought as though every meal was going to be at home and also like I bought 4 years and 135 pounds ago when I first started eating a lot healthier to lose weight and had a much bigger appetite.

[Jenni]

Steven, have you cooked much with yoghurt? I just wondered if you might get some of the creaminess you may or may not be seeking that way. The middle east and south asia has many dishes in this area, I am sure there are other places that do too.

[Fat Guy]

For breakfast today I had a bowl of cherries. The cherries this year have not been fabulous, as some have noted on the US Summer Fruit 2011 topic.

For lunch I had toasted gruyere cheese on whole-wheat sourdough.

Still thinking about dinner. This is shaping up to be one of the two hottest days of the year so far, so I'm feeling pretty sluggish and uninspired.

[Fat Guy]

Steven, have you cooked much with yoghurt?

Not really, though I do use yogurt in frozen desserts -- none of which I've made this week, for no good reason.

[teagal]

I like gettting to eat this way...I have more room for fruits/vegetables that are in season right now. Blueberries with my oatmeal, peach with yogurt at work for midmorning snack, tomato added to my swiss cheese sandwich, cantaloupe for dessert, dinner was a lettuce salad with peaches, blueberries and blue cheese with a zucchini and herb omelet. Just saw an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape and a guru told him even if he ate vegetarian just one meal a week he would notice a difference.