Vegetarian Diet

Lesson 2: Veggin' Up

The Main Dish

According to the Food Guide Pyramid, the base of our diet should come from the cereal and grain group. We should strive to eat 6-11 servings daily from this group. Since the main dish constitutes the greater part of your meal, this is where you can make changes count the most.

One way to make this work is to think ‘veggie main dish’. Make grain your main dish and then ‘dress it up’ with side dishes. For breakfast, instead of thinking eggs and bacon with toast, think cereal, toast, French toast, hash browns, pancakes, or biscuits, with side dishes of fruit, berries, nuts, and juice. Oatmeal is a whole grain and is considered by most nutritionists to be one of the top ten health foods, as it promotes heart health. Pancake or waffle batter can be made up on weekends and sealed and refrigerated for a quick breakfast on weekday mornings, or already-made pancakes can be wrapped individually and frozen and then popped into the toaster as needed.

For dinner, think rice, and then ‘dress it up’ with stir fry vegetables, or beans and an enchilada. Think pasta casserole dishes like lasagna, or spaghetti with a salad, macaroni and cheese with broccoli and corn, dumpling dishes, tortilla dishes, or sandwiches etc. And remember to choose whole grain products and brown rice as often as possible. Grains can be quite filling but if you are one of those who will miss your meaty dish, just include it as a smaller side dish.

Okra Gumbo

1/2 cup brown rice

1 pkg frozen Birdseye vegetable gumbo mix

½ onion, chopped

12 oz vegetable juice

1 can diced tomatoes

seafood seasoning

Boil brown rice according to package instructions. While the rice cooks, simmer the vegetable gumbo mix in vegetable juice. Add diced tomatoes, chopped onion, and seafood seasoning to taste. Add a little water as needed for cooking and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. When rice is cooked, add it to the vegetable mix. Serve with whole wheat crackers or bread.

Optional: Some cook shrimp with the vegetables. This is a tasty dish that includes lots of grain and color assortments of vegetables and can be experimented with and easily adjusted to individual tastes.

Veggie Chili

1 lb soybean substitute for ground meat

1 12 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

1 6 oz can vegetable juice

1 packet of chili mix

1 12 oz can of Ranch style beans, drained

1/2 onion chopped

1 Tbsp Smart Balance cooking oil

Scramble soy substitute in oil in large pot over medium heat. As it browns, stir in chopped onion. When onion cooks clear, add in diced tomatoes and vegetable juice, then packet of chili mix. Lastly, stir in beans and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

For more zest, sprinkle in some garlic powder or a chopped garlic clove and 1 or 2 tsp of chili powder while mixture is simmering.

Serve with crackers, whole grain bread or add in fritoes, shredded cheddar cheese, and raw chopped onion for a Frito Pie.

Any leftover chili can be used to dress up veggie hotdogs.

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