Vegetarian Cooking - Three Basics

For any of the many reasons people choose to eat vegetarian food - religion, politics, finances, or health - one thing in common is that everyone prefers food that tastes delicious and provides good nutrition. There are some basic techniques to vegetarian cooking which will accomplish that.

There is a range of vegetarianism. From the vegan to the person who eats meat on rare occasions. Some people consider themselves basically vegetarian if they never eat red meat, but do eat fish and chicken once in a while. Other vegetarians eat animal products like eggs and dairy, but never the animal itself. A vegan is at the far end of the continuum, rejecting animal products entirely. Vegans won't eat mayonnaise because it's made using eggs, for example.

Wherever you are on the continuum of vegetarianism, you want your food to taste good, be satisfying, and provide good nutrition. Here are some methods for cooking vegetarian to meet those basic requirements.

To begin, if you are making some dish that is actually a meat-based recipe, such as chili con carne, stop substituting textured vegetable protein for the meat and leaving the rest of the recipe unaltered. The result never tastes quite right, and you've been robbed of the pleasure of good food: it's neither meat nor properly vegetarian. Furthermore, you haven't gained in terms of health or economy. Soy is the primary ingredient of textured vegetable protein, tofu, and tempeh. These are usually high in fat, high in processing, and fairly high in cost. Not much better than organically raised meat, if at all. So if chili con carne is what you want, buy organic meat and enjoy it! Otherwise, cook a delicious soup using red beans that doesn't pretend it's chili con carne.

The key to good vegetarian soup is to use oil. Even if you prefer low fat, your body does require fats for healthy metabolism. And it definitely enhances the quality and flavor of any vegetarian soup when some of the vegetables (onions in particular) are saut~ed. Use an oil that's liquid at room temperature, such as olive, vegetable, or grape seed.

The next critical ingredient of vegetarian food that tastes fabulous is really simple: use sea salt. Although any kind of salt will enhance the flavor of most foods, sea salt is best. It naturally contains minerals, while it doesn't contain the nasty chemicals of regular processed table salt. Important to note~ use salt *during* the cooking instead of waiting until after serving the food. This makes a difference in the final quality of the dish because cooking is chemistry. Remember back to your high school chemistry classes: the order of combining the elements, and the application of heat to the mixture could make a tremendous difference to the results of the experiment!

The third tip for vegetarian cooking is obvious, yet needs emphasis. Use lots of vegetables! You can't over-do vegetables in your diet - the greater the range and color, the better. Use leafy veg (lettuce, spinach, and chard), root veg (yams, carrots, potatoes, turnips), and the stems and seed carriers of veg (for example celery, eggplant, peppers, zucchini). Buy organic veg if you can because they really do taste better, and of course they provide better nutrition because they are gown in healthy, 'clean' dirt.

Take any vegetable and bean soup recipe, and follow these three simple principles: saut~ the veg in the right oil, cook the beans in sea-salted water, use a variety of organic vegetables, and you'll have a rich delicious soup. These simple tips make a big difference. Take my word for it, or do a little test. Use the same list of ingredients, but don't saut~ in oil, add the salt at the table, and use conventionally grown veg. The result will be inferior - still nutritious, but bland rather than satisfying, and that's a shame because the few simple techniques described here can make your vegetarian cooking consistently terrific.

Articles by Nora Poulous on topics related to cooking are published in Z Cooking News the leading resource on-line for information about cooking. Visit the complete archive of articles here: http://www.zcooking.com

---

Google News Updated : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:49:07 GMT Study: Using fan on sleeping baby reduces risk of SIDS - San Jose Mercury News KLEW Study: Using fan on sleeping baby reduces risk of SIDS San Jose Mercury News - 38 minutes ago By Linda Goldston Ayde Gonzales's mother was surprised when she insisted that her newborn son must sleep on his back, not on his side. Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death The Associated Press Sleeping With Fan May Lower SIDS Risk WebMD U.S. News & World Report - Los Angeles Times - Wall Street Journal - USA Today all 349 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:10:32 GMT Lowell's status rest of the way in doubt - MLB.com Los Angeles Times Lowell's status rest of the way in doubt MLB.com - 3 hours ago By Ian Browne / MLB.com Mike Lowell has yet to get a base hit in eight ALDS at-bats thus far. (Charles Krupa/AP) BOSTON -- Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell's availability is in doubt, not just for the rest of the American League Division Series ... Hip check: Lowell is bounced Boston Globe Mike Lowell is off Sox roster Los Angeles Times Sports Network - The Associated Press - New York Times - The Republican - MassLive.com all 977 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:16:46 GMT LA man kills family, himself over financial woes - Reuters AFP LA man kills family, himself over financial woes Reuters - 2 hours ago LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 45-year-old Los Angeles man who was apparently distraught over money troubles shot and killed his wife, three sons and mother-in-law before taking his own life, police said on Monday. Police: Jobless father kills family, self CNN 6 Bodies Found in California Gated Community FOXNews The Associated Press - Sony Insider - USA Today - Monsters and Critics.com all 306 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:48:53 GMT New prenatal test may be less risky than amniocentesis - San Jose Mercury News Citizen New prenatal test may be less risky than amniocentesis San Jose Mercury News - 38 minutes ago By Lisa M. Krieger Building on the latest developments in DNA science, Stanford University researchers have designed a prenatal genetic test that appears to be just as accurate - but much safer than current methods like amniocentesis - by using a ... Blood Tests Ease Search for Down Syndrome New York Times Safer prenatal Down's syndrome test found in US Reuters WebMD - BBC News - Bloomberg - AFP all 51 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:10:40 GMT Tear gas fired at mass Thai rally - BBC News Canada.com Tear gas fired at mass Thai rally BBC News - 58 minutes ago Police in Thailand have fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration by thousands of anti-government protesters in Bangkok. Dozens of people were injured as police intervened in the dawn protest in front of parliament. Police fire tear gas against crowd The Associated Press Thai police clear protesters from parliament Reuters Bloomberg - ABC Online - The Standard - People's Daily Online all 194 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:51:00 GMT Many of dead, injured in bus crash were Laotian - San Jose Mercury News Boston Globe Many of dead, injured in bus crash were Laotian San Jose Mercury News - 2 hours ago By SAMANTHA YOUNG AP Writer SACRAMENTO—Almost every two weeks for the last two years, sisters Mai Cha and Ge Vue boarded a chartered bus to play the slots at an American Indian casino north of Sacramento. Video: Driver Arrested After Deadly Calif. Bus Crash AssociatedPress 8 Killed in California Bus Accident New York Times San Francisco Chronicle - KHSL - ABC30.com - CBS 13 all 2,012 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:42:30 GMT Alive from New York, Fey's Palin Paces SNL - E! Online Times Online Alive from New York, Fey's Palin Paces SNL E! Online - 3 hours ago The John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket would love to have Saturday Night Live's poll numbers. Last weekend's show, featuring yet another Tina Fey take on Palin, scored yet another big overnight rating, NBC said. Palin may appear on ‘SNL MSNBC Politics and Palin lure viewers to "SNL" Reuters TMZ.com - New York Daily News - Actress Archives - Los Angeles Times all 380 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:23:11 GMT RSS feeds Increase Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

10 Smoky Tips To BBQ Food Safely

Cooking outdoors was once only a summer activity shared with... Read More

High Altitude Baking - A Cooks Guide

High altitude baking can be a real adventure for the... Read More

Wok this Way! (Part 2 of 5) Selecting a Wok

As mentioned in Part 1 of the series, woks come... Read More

Baking Bread and Your Freezer

There's a lot of bread in our freezer. In our... Read More

The Wonderful Wok: Stir Frying Basics

Want to enjoy the tantalizing taste of Asian food at... Read More

10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors

Hiking, camping, and boating are good activities for active people... Read More

Emergency Bread: Can you Bake Bread Without an Oven?

What would you eat if you were stranded without power?... Read More

Digital Kitchen Timers ? Never Burn Another Dish

Digital kitchen timers come in many shapes and sizes. Timers... Read More

The Perfect Scone: Keys to Make Your Scone Just Right

Ah, there's nothing like a tender, steaming scone in the... Read More

Fine Tuning Bread Machine Mixes

Sometimes bread machines can be tricky. We were trying to... Read More

Eat your Veggies! Simple Cooking Methods

Vegetables add colour, taste, texture and bulk to our daily... Read More

Making Homemade Pasta for Dinner Tonight

Homemade pasta cooked al dente (to the teeth), is a... Read More

Whisk Your Way To a Perfect Meal Every Time!

The whisk. A true versatile cooking utensil. Whisks come in... Read More

How to Grill Most Any Vegetable You Can Think Of!

Grilling vegetables is easy. The fact that more people don't... Read More

Two for One Dinners: Ham

If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then... Read More

How to Bake: How Long Should My Bread Rise?

It depends. The best way to tell if the dough... Read More

Kitchen Canister Sets - How to Beautify Your Kitchen

Kitchen canister sets are a great way to accent your... Read More

Reductions: Proving Less is More

Any liquid can be reduced just by heating it -... Read More

Cooking Filet Mignon

Filet mignon is French, of course, with filet meaning "thick... Read More

Ten Steps to Perfect Pasta

I'm amazed at how often I get e-mail from a... Read More

How to Make Sandwich Rolls with Your Bread Machine

For that next picnic or family outing, consider making sandwich... Read More

Caring For Your Wooden Cutting Board

Researchers have found that bacteria have a tougher time surviving... Read More

Secrets of Great Breads

Often we field questions about making great bread. Great bread... Read More

Food Poisoning--An Overview

What is Food Poisoning?Food poisoning results when you eat food... Read More

Save Money ? The Crock Way

Saving money ? is something we would all like to... Read More