How to be a part-time vegetarian ... and like it

By Randy Shore
Source: windsorstar.com


A vegetarian meal featuring hemp burger, made with hemp seeds, 
lentils, avocado, tomato, and homemade BBQ sauce, and chick-
peas fries with vegan mayo and coleslaw.

Do vegetarian meals leave you feeling a little empty? Does the idea of Meatless Monday simply leave you wishing for Chicken Tuesday?

You are not alone.

But since the City of Vancouver issued an official proclamation declaring June 10 Meatless Monday, you may be wondering how to become a part-time vegetarian either for your health or as a small contribution to global environmental sustainability.

I am transitioning myself to a more-plant-less-meat diet after a jarring set of blood tests.

I once spent about two years as a vegetarian, but that was 25 years ago and it was easy then because I had no money.

This is different.

Dabbling in vegetarianism is like quitting smoking; it often takes more than one try and you have to work at it.

“This is my fourth time trying vegetarian,” admitted dietitian and author Gloria Tsang, an ovo-lacto vegetarian. (She eats eggs and dairy products, but not animals.) “I tried first when I was in high school, two years in university and then again when I got braces in my 20’s,” she said. “I started again this year, partly because of religion, since I am a Buddhist.”

Only on this last effort did Tsang shake the craving for meat. She learned to take small steps and plan her menu carefully to avoid being unnecessarily hungry. “Becoming a part-time vegetarian is the perfect midway step to trying meatless eating,” said Tsang. “People try to do too much at once and it doesn’t work out. You have to find a way that you can stick to.” “Choose one day a week or one meal a day to go meatless,” she advised.

Tsang started with lunch, usually vegetables and grains left over from last night’s dinner and an added protein, such as a handful of nuts. Dinner is harder. During the day you can distract yourself from hunger with work, but that is usually not the case in the evening.

Here are some tips that might help you succeed.

Meat substitutes

I worry that a food that promises to be meat, but isn’t, will be disappointing for many people. I prefer to eat vegetarian dishes that aren’t pretending to be anything else.

But vegetarian burger patties, hotdogs, cutlets, tofurky and soy-based ground meat-like proteins are popular. The North American market for soy-based foods has increased about 400 per cent in 15 years, to more than $5 billion annually.

Gardein is a local company that makes a large variety of meat substitutes in the familiar form of chicken breasts, red meat skewers, rib patties and even pulled pork.

There are two schools of thought on these products. Salim Jamal, owner of the New Westminster-based vegan café and emporium Karmavore, says meat substitutes are ”great transitional foods.”

Tsang worries that the high sodium levels in many products are simply exchanging one problem for another.

“If you want to improve your health you have to avoid highly processed foods,” she said, emphasizing a key message of her book, Go Undiet. “Don’t go looking for meat flavour and texture, you should learn to enjoy the flavour and texture of plant-based foods.”

Jamal likes to make large mushrooms — such as porcinis — the focus of a meal for their chewy texture and robust flavour.

Don’t forget protein

My wife’s brain is wired to experience hunger and anger together, so meatless meals are a minefield. Fullness must be achieved and preferably be long-lasting.

“One of the main complaints I hear about vegetarian eating is people, especially men, don’t feel full,” Tsang said. “Being vegetarian is more than just eating vegetables.”

Simply taking the chicken out of your chicken stir-fry is a recipe for disaster. Supplement grains and vegetables with nuts and seeds to add protein and promote satiety.

“If you go to T&T Market there are at least 20 kinds of tofu,” Tsang said. Tofu can be gelatinous and slurpy or fried and fluffy, while others are crisp and chewy. Many are soft enough to eat like yogurt or mix into a smoothie.

Tempeh is a firm soy-, bean- or grain-based cake that can be sliced and baked or fried and generally treated like a cutlet without being much like meat.

Don’t forget fat, too

A dinner without meat often means a lower fat content, which will almost ensure you will be ravenous before you get to bed, let alone to sleep.

Fats are a long-burning fuel and essential to good health. Research suggests that it’s better for your health to add good fats than trying to go low-fat. Simply replacing some of the fat you were getting from meat with olive oil, fish, nuts, seeds and avocados should be a net benefit.

You could include oily fish such as salmon as a meatless option, depending on how you define meat.

If you take the meat out of a stir-fry, replace it with cashews, Jamal suggested. The current scientific consensus is that walnuts are the healthiest option, but mix it up if they aren’t your favourite. Pecans, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds are great, too.

A vegetable-based pasta dish with mushrooms or garden vegetables such as chard or zucchini will keep you full longer if you drizzle good quality extra virgin olive oil over top.

Adopt an ethnic cuisine

If we are just talking about going meatless one day a week, why not distract yourself and call it Chinese Night or Indian Night, or my new favourite, Turkish Night?

Asian eating traditions lend themselves naturally to meatless meals. In much of the world a meal with meat remains the exception rather than the rule. Indian and Chinese cuisine have thousands of vegetable-based dishes to choose from. India and Turkey lean very heavily on high-protein legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas.

Kofta are meatless meatballs served from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Bengal, containing everything from cracked grain, nuts, seeds, shredded vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, legumes, squash or any combination of the above.

At the very least, Meatless Monday is an excuse to buy a new cookbook.

What about grains?

Whole grains that are high in fibre and protein will keep you full longer than traditional starches such as white rice, potatoes, pasta or most breads.

Quinoa is widely available and is no more difficult to cook than rice. It takes on flavours like a champion.

Bulgur is cracked durum wheat that makes a nice base for a kofta, a salad, such as tabbouleh, a stuffing or you can use it as a thickener for a hearty soup.

Farro is the whole grain of emmer wheat. It’s a bit tough to find, but the nutty flavour and chewy texture make the search worthwhile. It can form the base for a fluffy grain side dish, like rice, a salad or a baked dish with sauce.

Millet is widely consumed just about everywhere in the world except North America, but it is enjoying a bit of a comeback as part of the gluten-free cooking trend. Ground, it is often used like flour, but whole millet can also be baked in puddings, cakes and breads.

Barley and oatmeal are the least glamorous foods I can think of. That said, barley makes a fine risotto and oatmeal for breakfast does stick to your ribs with none of the unhealthy baggage of bacon. (Try not to think of bacon while eating oatmeal, it won’t make you happy.)