Can Eating Vegetarian Be As Much of a Culinary Adventure?
I’ve heard the question asked over and over again: “Can eating Vegetarian be as much of a culinary adventure as eating meat?”
From a professional’s perspective, I’ll tell you that eating and preparing vegetarian meals on a regular basis can be a real challenge. However, I’ve had a couple of vegetarian dishes that were so good – I almost thought about converting!
The interesting thing about vegetarian dishes is that they rely on unhealthy cooking methods or ingredients. Two of the main staples of vegetarian cooking are cream and deep frying. Because vegetarian ingredients often lack full-bodied flavor, we use these ingredients to enhance or increase the flavor. The result is that people end up feeling unhealthy, but not knowing what to attribute it to.
Cooking vegetarian is also a challenge because it’s hard to get complete protein in each and every individual dish. That’s why so many vegetarian dishes have combination ingredients such as beans and corn or beans and rice. Because many vegetarians are lacking vital nutrients, they end up looking or feeling anemic. Luckily, there have been some really good grains such as quinoa that have been popularized in the last few years. Quinoa provides a complete protein, which will keep the vegetarian from feeling weak or fatigued.
If you want to learn more about some great Vegetarian recipes, sign up for my Vegetarian Cooking class on Saturday, May 17th. I’ll teach you how to cook several dishes that will leave you feeling strong and healthy.
