Cooking Vegetarian Food

Whether you're learning how to cook vegetarian food for yourself or for your vegetarian guests, your options extend far beyond steamed vegetables, brown rice and veggie burgers. The key to cooking vegetarian food isn't much different from cooking meals that contain meat and other animal products: Create a balanced meal that includes a quality source of protein, whole grains and a variety of fresh vegetables.

Re-work Recipes You Already Know
Non-vegetarian meals usually have meat or fish as their main focus, so the first thing you'll need to do is learn how to look at your meals from a different angle. Today, meat substitutes are available at most grocery stores and if you're just beginning to cook vegetarian, start by replacing the meat in your favorite recipes with tofu, tempeh or seitan or experiment with veggie burger crumbles.

Seitan, which is wheat gluten, is a particularly good substitute for chicken as it's similar in texture and absorbs flavor well. Extra firm tofu is best used for stir-frying, baking, grilling and pan frying (save silken tofu for blending in smoothies, salad dressings and dessert recipes). Tempeh, which is made from fermented soybeans and a mixture of grains, has a dense quality that benefits from being braised prior to use in recipes.

Other good sources of vegetarian protein include whole grains like quinoa and amaranth and beans and legumes. Try making a vegetarian chili using veggie burger crumbles in place of beef and adding kidney beans. Pinto beans, navy beans, lentils and split peas are healthy and hearty additions to soups, stews and casseroles. You can also use beans and legumes in salads and in rice dishes.

Once you start experimenting with adding vegetarian elements to your recipes, search for vegetarian recipes online or visit your local library or bookstore and thumb through vegetarian and/or vegan cookbooks for ideas and inspiration.

Use a Variety of Whole Grains and Nutrient-Dense Vegetables
Plan meals based on dishes with an abundance of whole grains, like bulgur, amaranth, quinoa, spelt, couscous and brown or wild rice. For protein, look to beans, legumes and soy products like tofu, tempeh and seitan. Combined with your grains, you'll serve up a meal that delivers a complete source of protein.

Finally, round out your meal with vegetables that pack a nutritional punch: calcium-rich leafy greens like spinach, kale and swiss chard; sweet potatoes, turnip and parsnip; fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli and avocado. These vegetables not only provide you with a good supply of antioxidants, but they also contribute to helping you reach your RDA for fiber.

Get to Know Your Spices
You'll experience greater diversity with your vegetarian cooking by using a wide variety of diverse herbs and spices. Many meat replacements easily take on the flavor of other ingredients in the dish, so at first, you may find that you need to tinker with the amount of spices you use in different recipes. Curries, chilies and ethnic spice blends add heat and depth to vegetarian recipes when more traditional spices fall short.

Cream soups, which can be made with rich vegetable stocks, purees and coconut milk, may benefit from the addition of lemongrass while tomato-based broths used for soups, stews and casseroles get a lift from the cocoa in mole sauce spice blends. Rice can be cooked in seasoned vegetable stock or plain water with cumin, chili powder or other spices mixed in with the water.

The Vegetarian Pantry
Vegetarian diets force you pay more attention to how you're stocking your pantry. You want to be sure you have the ingredients on hand to support adequate intake of protein, calcium and Vitamin D. Stock your pantry with the following items so cooking healthy vegetarian recipes is easy:

• Nuts and nut butters
• Dried or canned beans and legumes
• A variety of whole grains
• Steel cut oats or long-cooking oatmeal
• 2 to 3 different types of rice, including brown and wild rice
• Vegetable stock or vegetable bouillon cubes
• Raisins, currants and other dried fruit
• Sweet and white potatoes
• Soy, almond or rice milk
• Soy yogurt
• Seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables or organic frozen, if fresh isn't available
• Tofu, tempeh and other soy products
• Olive, canola and at least one neutral-tasting cooking oil
• Your favorite fresh or dried herbs and spices

Cooking for Vegetarian Guests
Not everyone who calls themselves a vegetarian adheres to the same principles or dietary restrictions. If you're cooking for guests, you might consider asking any vegetarians for a list of foods they're not eating or what type of vegetarian they are.

• Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat no meat or fish, but tend to consume eggs, dairy and honey.
• Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy products and honey, but not eggs.
• Ovo-vegetarians do not consume dairy products, but do consume eggs and honey.
• Vegans consume no animals or animal products, including eggs, dairy, honey and items like gelatin that are byproducts of animals.

Vegetarian Biryani Recipe
This variation of the classic Indian casserole of seasoned rice, vegetables and meat gets its flavor from the use of garam masala, an Indian spice blend found in most grocery stores and ethnic food markets.

Ingredients You Will Need:
1 cup long grain basmati rice
1 15-oz can of chickpeas
1 ½ cups frozen edamame
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), diced
10 oz organic baby spinach
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 cups vegetable stock
2 teaspoons garam masala
¾ cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries
¾ cup dried, unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Combine vegetable stock and basmati rice and set on high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, cover tightly and simmer for ten minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, covered, until ready to use.

Defrost the edamame according to package directions, drain the chickpeas and set both aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then add the garlic, onions, peppers and garam masala. Saute over medium-high heat until the onions begin to sweat. Add the rice to the sauté pan and stir until the rice is thoroughly coated with the garam masala and all of the ingredients are mixed evenly.

Add the edamame, chickpeas and raisins to the mixture until heated through. Add the spinach, a handful at a time, and cook until the leaves just begin to wilt.

Top with dried coconut and serve.