Vegetarian Cooking - Three Basics

For any of the many reasons people choose tosoup when some of the vegetables
eatvegetarian food - religion, politics, finances, or(onions in particular) are saut~ed. Use an oil
health -one thing in common is that everyonethat'sliquid at room temperature, such as olive,
prefers food thattastes delicious and providesvegetable, orgrape seed.
good nutrition. There aresome basic techniques toThe next critical ingredient of vegetarian food
vegetarian cooking which willaccomplish that.thattastes fabulous is really simple: use sea salt.
There is a range of vegetarianism. From theAlthoughany kind of salt will enhance the flavor of
vegan to theperson who eats meat on raremost foods, seasalt is best. It naturally contains
occasions. Some peopleconsider themselvesminerals, while itdoesn't contain the nasty
basically vegetarian if they never eatred meat,chemicals of regular processedtable salt.
but do eat fish and chicken once in a while.Important to note~ use salt *during* thecooking
Other vegetarians eat animal products like eggsinstead of waiting until after serving the food.
and dairy,but never the animal itself. A vegan is atThis makes a difference in the final quality of the
the far end ofthe continuum, rejecting animaldishbecause cooking is chemistry. Remember
products entirely. Veganswon't eat mayonnaiseback to your highschool chemistry classes: the
because it's made using eggs, forexample.order of combining theelements, and the
Wherever you are on the continuum ofapplication of heat to the mixture couldmake a
vegetarianism, youwant your food to taste good,tremendous difference to the results of
be satisfying, and providegood nutrition. Here aretheexperiment!
some methods for cookingvegetarian to meetThe third tip for vegetarian cooking is obvious,
those basic requirements.yet needsemphasis. Use lots of vegetables! You
To begin, if you are making some dish that iscan't over-dovegetables in your diet - the greater
actually ameat-based recipe, such as chili conthe range and color,the better. Use leafy veg
carne, stopsubstituting textured vegetable protein(lettuce, spinach, and chard),root veg (yams,
for the meat andleaving the rest of the recipecarrots, potatoes, turnips), and the stemsand
unaltered. The result nevertastes quite right, andseed carriers of veg (for example celery,
you've been robbed of the pleasureof good food:eggplant,peppers, zucchini). Buy organic veg if you
it's neither meat nor properly vegetarian.can becausethey really do taste better, and of
Furthermore, you haven't gained in terms ofcourse they providebetter nutrition because they
health oreconomy. Soy is the primary ingredientare gown in healthy, 'clean'dirt.
of texturedvegetable protein, tofu, and tempeh.Take any vegetable and bean soup recipe, and
These are usuallyhigh in fat, high in processing, andfollow thesethree simple principles: saut~ the veg
fairly high in cost.in the right oil,cook the beans in sea-salted water,
Not much better than organically raised meat, ifuse a variety oforganic vegetables, and you'll have
at all.a rich delicious soup.
So if chili con carne is what you want, buy organicThese simple tips make a big difference. Take my
meatand enjoy it! Otherwise, cook a deliciousword forit, or do a little test. Use the same list of
soup using redbeans that doesn't pretend it's chiliingredients,but don't saut~ in oil, add the salt at
con carne.the table, and useconventionally grown veg. The
The key to good vegetarian soup is to use oil.result will be inferior -still nutritious, but bland
Even ifyou prefer low fat, your body does requirerather than satisfying, andthat's a shame because
fats for healthymetabolism. And it definitelythe few simple techniques describedhere can
enhances the quality andflavor of any vegetarianmake your vegetarian cooking consistentlyterrific.