Help! I'm starving!

[displacedtexan]

My physician dictates almost a strict vegetarian diet
(with a little fish and/or poultry).

Got any quick and easy veggie recipes for me?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Check out a great book called

Passionate Vegetarian.

http://www.passionatevegetarian.com/

It's brilliantly written and full of great recipes and stories, but, mostly, it'll ease your shock.

Your physician is probably not as versed in nutrition as one would think - American medical training is sorely lacking in that aspect. So, telling you that you need a "vegetarian diet" is so ambiguous as to be almost meaningless.

Does this mean you're to cut out fat of all kind? Or what?

In any event, in spite of my snoopy questions, I hope you're doing all right.

[displacedtexan]

4. Thanks for the link!

I've never been a fan of Tofu, but that mousse looks tasty.

[BeTheChange]

5. Dragonwagon's cookbook is awesome..

Its my vegetarian bible. There is also a recipe she has that mixes some wildrice bowtie pasta, asparagus and tofu with a garlic/ginger/mirin/brown sugar/lemon dressing that is awesome.


But seriously. Can you eat Quorn? Cause as a meat eater tofu probably isnt going to cut it for you and since this doesnt sound like a permanent lifechange, I dunno how enthused you are gonna be about the idea of component plates. To me, quorn is the best meat substitute ever. Infact, now that Ive tried the quorn tenders in chicken pot pie, kung pow chicken, etc.. I think I like them MORE then I like chicken. Odd, I know.

You can also sub the veggie ground round in tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, shepard's pie.. beef stroganoff (you could use low fat sour cream, or even soy yogurt), chili, meatballs and spaghetti, meat sauce. Stuffed peppers with soy cheese and fake ground round mixed in.. you can also make a kind of Sheperd's peppers with the same concept as sheperd's stuffed pie. I like to do that and add some cilantro to the potato mixture on top. Soups will be your best friend. In the summer, bean and grain salads. Fajitas with fresh veggies and some Naked Quorn Cutlets marinaded in lime, cilantro, garlic and a little chipotle... Tofu parmesan..or you can use quorn cutlets.. or morningstar farms makes an awesome herb crusted cutlet. You can no riblets from Morningstar farms and baked beans with oven crisped fries.. Oven roasted vegetables with a splash of balsamic and some good bread can make a great meal in a pinch. Grilled soycheese sandwiches dipped in tomato soup is another good one. I always get the pepperjack soy cheeses. They are the only ones that taste good. Trust me. Im lactose intolerant so Ive pretty much tried everything at this point.


If you are looking for a lifestyle change Id still recommend trying out some adapted recipes so that you ease into it and then can start branching out. My hubby is a vegetarian and I occasionally eat meat. But I will admit, even with a zillion recipes, I had a hard time cooking for him consistantly during the first couple years we were together. I just couldnt get past the idea of a main course. Oh.. I dont know if you have alot of farmer's markets near by but there is a cook book by Deborah Madison (I think) called Local Flavors that has some kick ass veggie recipes. Cafe Flora also has a good vegetarian cookbook. Good luck!

[Warpy]

2. It would be instructive to know what provoked this

Are you on a strict cardiac diet? A weight loss diet? A low cholesterol diet?

All vegetarian recipes are not alike, and some of them are very heavy in fat. Others are full of sugars. Then there are the stern and uncompromising ones that taste like cardboard.

[displacedtexan]

3. Low cholesterol diet

and low fat.

Cholesterol meds aren't doing enough.

[Warpy]

6. OK, first start eating whole oats for breakfast

Either cold cereal or oatmeal. My pop had a reaction to a statin drug and stopped taking them, started to eat oatmeal every day. His numbers dropped far lower than they'd been on the statin. His doc kept telling him how great he was doing on the drug. I found a whole stack (about 4 years worth) of scrips for that statin drug, guess my pop never fessed up he'd stopped them. You will likely see some improvement in your numbers just by doing this. It's cheap, simple, and tasty.

There are several really wonderful cardiac cookbooks out there. If you really want to dive into this all the way, I highly recommend the Pritikin Cookbook. I've tried many of the recipes in that one and they were all good. Ornish has another one out, but I didn't find his stuff quite as good.

There's also one called "Low Fat and Vegetarian" that might be of interest. Skip "The Vegetarian Epicure." We refer to that one fondly as The Cholesterol Cookbook and use it only for parties.

I've found great things in the supermarket lately, like powdered egg whites, much cheaper than buying eggs and tossing the yolks (my cats won't eat 'em). There are some soy cookbooks out there that will tell you how to substitute tofu for eggs in a lot of desserts and baked goods.

For those days you get a wild hair and just have to have a burger, check out Boca Burgers. Doctor 'em up with lettuce and tomato and a little fat free Thousand Island and maybe some sweet onion, you'll wonder why you ever ate at a fast food joint.

Good luck with this one. It's not an easy transition, but once you've gotten used to the idea, you won't be able to go back to a high fat and red meat.

[Warpy]

9. Forgpt to add

that you need to add the oatmeal, not stop taking the statin drugs. It worked out well for my pop, but his cholesterol wasn't that terribly high to begin with.

[kestrel91316]

15. Avoid ALL saturated fats. That means NO trans fats, NO shortening!!!

Use only olive oil, canola oil, and sparing amounts of real butter (for flavor). I have done this for years and have reallya great lipid profile numbers. I eat very little, if any processed foods also.

Dean Ornish has a good book about avoiding bad fats, with super low- no-fat recipes. - I can't remember the title.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

7. You would also try the

Vegetarian, Vegan and Animal Rights Group.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=231

[kestrel91316]

8. Check out Indian cookbooks at your library or bookstore.

Many Indians are vegetarian and there are MANY delicious vegetarian recipes in Indian cuisine. And you can make many of them WITH chicken or fish as an alternative.

Madhur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, and other authors.........

[japple]

10. Black-eyed peas (frozen) cooked with onion, garlic, green pepper

and served over rice with hot sauce. Add canned tomatoes if you want a more robust taste. BEPs are kind of meaty. You might want to get some turkey bacon and use little bits to punch up your food until you get used to a mostly vegetarian diet. Cook the whole package at once, put in a plastic bag and freeze. Lentils and chickpeas are kind of meaty, too.

Try tofutti cuties (little frozen soy ice-creams) if you can find low-fat. Also, non-fat frozen yogurt is great, esp. the peach. Some brands almost taste like home-made ice cream. There's a raspberry sorbet called "Just Fruit" (I think that's the name); it is rich-tasting and refreshing and great with peaches or frozen peach yogurt.

I tried using soy milk and other soy products, and I greatly prefered the taste of soy milk, but it was causing me to have such a horrendous gas problem, even after a few months, and even Beano didn't work, so I had to discontinue eating it. I loved the soy yogurt, too.

I know how you feel about starving to death. I had to do allery elimination diets in the past and could only eat a few things. It was boring and frustrating for awhile, esp. since my husband was eating anything he wanted. After awhile, it became easier.

[displacedtexan]

11. Thanks for the turkey bacon info.

I bought turkey sausage and added basic sausage spices (fennel, etc); then I made
spaghetti sauce with it and pured it over egg white bow tie noodles.

Yum!

The turkey bacon sounds good with a nada (egg white only) omelet.

[japple]

13. Mushrooms are rich and meaty-tasting, too. n/t

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

14. Grilled Portobello Mushrooms ! n/t

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

12. Some quick and easy ideas....

Pasta with Beans Sauce
Add a can of kidney beans (drained) to a jar of pasta sauce(low fat content of course!). Heat and pour over cooked pasta. Quick and easy protein !

Pasta w/mushroom sauce
SAute some garlic and onion in olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms and saute until tender. Add parsley. Serve over pasta

Grilled Vegetables - toss sliced eggplant, zucchini and peppers with olive oil and garlic, S&P. You can roast in 400 deg oven on a cookie sheet or grill in basket on grill. Excellent on top of pasta.

I can make a meal of baked potatoes - with fat free sour cream and I Can't Believe Its Not Butter spray - and a salad. Some people like salsa on their baked taters.

Some of the frozen veggie burgers are excellent. I like Boca brand myself. Grill 'em on the George Foreman, toast a whole wheat bun, add some ketchup and a dill pickle. Add a slice of cheese if allowed. Yum ! Raw baby carrots with fat free ranch dressing are good on the side.