Veggi (page 2)

Vegetarians and vegans on the Go - Not Just Salads (continued)

... We especially enjoy meals from many different cultures around the world. In fact, many times I plan meals for the week by thinking `tonight we’ll eat Mexican, tomorrow French, and the next night maybe Oriental‘. We also consider a full range of carbohydrates- one night pasta, another rice a third night potatoes, etc. including all the nutritional staples of grains, legumes (beans), green and leafy vegetables, fruit and nuts. We have found that by having a variety of delicious tasting meals, one rarely becomes aware that they haven’t had meat for a long time.

A balanced diet should include grains (breads, cereals, and pasta), legumes (dried beans and peas), vegetables especially leafy-green ones, fruits, dairy, eggs and nuts.

Time IS a factor. At the moment I am fortunate enough to be at home where I can grow our own organic vegetable and prepare all the meals from scratch. Many do not have a lot of time to prepare a meal so I have adapted many of my best recipes to become quick and easier. This site includes our favorite vegetarian recipes from around the world. They are our everyday meals. There are more elegant versions of these recipes that take longer and are richer, many times I use them when we entertain, but these are the ones we use most often. Many of them have photos taken just before we sit down to eat or sometimes as we prepare them.

Food Combinations

People are always asking vegetarians "How do you get enough protein?" One must do a bit of reading to understand food combinations and nutrition but it is not difficult to understand. Most vegetables and grains are lacking in one or another of an amino acid (protein). However other vegetables or grains have the missing one, thus by combining the proper vegetables and grains you can have a complete protein without eating meat, fish or fowl. Most traditional folk meals traditionally mix a healthy variety of foods in one meal such as beans and rice or cheese and grains, as well as some leafy vegetables that are high in protein as sprouts. The following table offers choices that you can make when considering your menus so that you can have complete proteins.

Protein Combinations

You may combine any food from Column 1,2 or 3 with any other food from any other column. Column 4 contains foods that are complete proteins by themselves.