Transition to Healthy Food Choices

Thinking of giving up meat? Okay... so, now what do I eat?

What's missing from a diet free of animal foods? Certainly not flavour or variety. The plant world offers a choice of dozens of grains, cereals and pastas, 40 — 50 commonly eaten vegetables, 20 fruits, 24 types of peas, beans and lentils, 12 kinds of nuts and a galaxy of culinary herbs and spices.

Breakfast

Cereal Lovers: Hot or cold whole grain cereal or granola with soy milk and fruit. Use maple syrup instead of sugar. Try apple juice on granola—it's great!

Bread Lovers: Whole grain bread, toast, bagels, non-dairy muffins or specialty breads, with raisins or dates and nuts or seeds. Remember, even soy margarines have just as much fat as butter. Try apple butter, pure fruit jams, nut butters, hummus, or tahini on your bread or bagel.

Egg Lovers: Don't knock scrambled tofu until you've tried it. There are easy mixes put out by several companies, as well as recipes in vegetarian cookbooks. Try sautéing cubed firm tofu with anything you would add to an omelet.

What Else? Treat yourself to waffles or pancakes made with soy milk—try using 1/2 banana in place of each egg—and smothered in fresh or hot cooked fruit. Make fruit smoothies with everything you can imagine. Use sweet fruit to make breakfast cobbler or pie and you won't need to add sugar when baking.

Lunch or Dinner

Sandwiches: Whole grain breads, avocado, grated carrots, sprouts, lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced cucumbers make great sandwiches. Try nut butters with pure fruit jams, or hummus with crisp sliced vegetables. Vegetarian cookbooks have great recipes for spreads. Falafels are delicious!

Salads: Most vegetables are yummy raw, chopped small, or grated in salads. Cooked beans (garbanzos, kidney, black, lentils, etc.), sprouts, seeds, nuts, and avocado are excellent. Try salad dressings with little or no oil and/or flavoured vinegars. Stuff your salad into pita bread and add tahini to it.

Pasta: Try all those special pastas made with wholesome grains, vegetables, and spices. Experiment with marinara, pesto, and tomato basil sauces. Try sautéing garlic, onions, summer squash, red bell peppers and tomatoes in a little olive oil—or in a little sesame oil and tamari (soy sauce).

Burritos or Tacos: Beans (black beans are great!), rice or potatoes, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce or crisp shredded cabbage, salsa, soy cheese, etc. Use soft corn or whole wheat tortillas. Find your own favorite combinations. Nachos con todo (with everything) is a great fast meal.

Potatoes: Baked, steamed, mashed, or home-fried. Try them with sauces, salsas, mus-tard, in soups or salads. Treat yourself to mushroom gravy. Remember yams and sweet potatoes.

Veggie or Tofu Burgers: There are many varieties in stores. They are delicious and easy to bake, fry, or barbecue. Tofu hot dogs are almost indistinguishable from the original. Pile on the lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, tofu mayo, and barbe-cue sauce.

Vegetables: Stir-fried or steamed, served with brown rice, millet, barley or potatoes. Add cubed firm tofu and tamari or mushroom gravy for a feast.

Pizza: Whole wheat crust, tomato sauce, spices, soy cheese, and all your favorite trimmings. Try almonds, garlic, and fresh tomatoes. Try a layer of hummus under the tomato sauce to take the place of cheese—it's delicious!

Soups: Beans, lentils, nuts, veggies, grains, potatoes, tofu—anything is good in soup. Simmer your favourite vegetables for a few minutes and add a little miso for a quick treat. There are many brands of instant soups made with wholesome and delicious ingredients—just add boil-ing water, stir, and wait.

Drinks and Snacks

Milks: Soy, rice, nut or seed milks are perfect sub-stitutes for cow and goat milk. Carob, choco-late, and vanilla versions are delicious. Watch out—some have added oils that make them just as high in fat as cow milk.

Juices: Many bottled organic juices are avail-able all across the country. Look for local fresh-squeezed brands. Juice your own. Many vegetable juices are just as delicious as fruit juices. Be daring— carrot juice can be habit-forming.

Water and Tea: Add sliced lemons, limes, oranges, or tangerines to fresh clean water. Try herbal iced teas and hot teas or one of the many grain beverages available.

Snacks: Go for crispy munchies like pop-corn, pretzels, veggie chips, fresh fruit, car-rots, nuts, seeds, and celery with almond but-ter. Enjoy cobblers and pies made from sweet fresh fruit, smoothies, non-dairy cookies and muffins, dried fruit, frozen fruit bars, and non-dairy frozen desserts like Rice Dream and Tofulati. Avoid preservatives and buy organic.

Eat lower on the food chain— it's healthy, environmentally sound, economical, fun and delicious.

STEP 1: Reduce or eliminate red meat, poultry and fish. Replace with health-supporting grain-, legume- and potato-based dish-es. Or, start by giving yourself larger servings of rice, potatoes, and veg-etables at meals—and ever smaller portions of meat.

STEP 2: Increase intake of calcium-rich vegetables. Choose vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, kale, chard and mus-tard greens. Choose more raw fruits and vegetables: Cooking destroys nutrients. Try for 50% of your daily intake as uncooked foods, and gradually increase the proportion. Buy organic!

STEP 3: Reduce the luxury fats. Hydrogenated oils (like margarine) are artificially thickened vegetable oils that can damage your arteries and have been linked to some can-cers. Gradually eliminate both butter and margarine from your diet. Reduce your use of cooking oils and oil-based salad dressings. Switch to non-fat (or low-fat) versions of prepared foods (and dairy products, if you still eat them). Read labels! Replace eggs in baking with two tablespoons of water per egg—or try Ener-G egg substitute.

Step 4: Replace dairy products with non-dairy foods. Delicious milks, cheese, and frozen desserts based on soy, rice, nuts, and seeds are available in health food stores and many grocery stores.

Step 5: Reduce refined carbohydrates. Reduce white flour, white sugar, white rice, etc. by choosing whole grain products and natural sweeteners (fruits, juices, maple syrup, malted barley, rice syrup and agave).

Not everyone makes the shift to a plant based diet overnight... though some people do. Base your diet on the New Four Food Groups: grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes, and evolving to healthier eating will be a rewarding adventure. As you begin your transition to a more wholesome diet, remember that tastes for foods are learned. You may want to begin slowly, by replacing high-fat dairy products with fat-free versions and eating meat less often. However, making a complete break from animal foods is so rewarding that it's actually easier for most people.

All your needs for protein, calcium, and other vital nutrients are easy to satisfy if you eat enough calories each day from a wide variety of foods. It's that simple! The only nutrient deserving extra consideration is Vitamin B 12 , which, since it is made by bacteria, is not naturally pre-sent in plants (or meat). Your B 12 requirements can be easily met by B 12 fortified cereals and soy milks, taking a supplement twice a week or reg-ularly seasoning your food with Red Star nutritional yeast.

Looking for Recipe Ideas?

There is an endless supply of fabulous vegetarian recipes from many cultures. Visit EarthSave Canada's resource centre and take advantage of our large selection of cookbooks, magazines and videos.

Reprinted by permission from the Canada Earthsaver.

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