Vegetarian Diet RecipesEating a vegetarian diet or vegan diet can be easier for the body, when celiac, IBS, candida and other health complaints are present. These quick easy recipes are fun to prepare and nutritious . My hope is that these recipes will make it easier for you to let go of ‘animal’ protein, if that is your need or goal. About Animal Protein:
Meat is extremely low in fiber and moves very sluggishly through the human digestive tract. Chronic constipation is a common problem in our society today. Replacement for Meat:
There are grains and beans that are high in protein. To name a few, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, garbanzo beans, lentils and brown rice. Synerprotein or Nutriburn as a protein drink could be used to get more protein if required.
One of the ingredients in Greenzone is Spirulina and that will provide vitamin b12, which is what most vegetarians are deficient in. I find this quite filling and quick to prepare for breakfast. Keep in mind, that a Vitamin b12 supplement must always be taken when you are enjoying a vegetarian diet. Spirulina is an excellent source of B12. Tofu
It is good for babies, children and the elderly. Sensitive stomachs handle tofu easily. Tofu has no cholesterol. If you have an allergy to milk or eggs, tofu can be a wonderful addition to your diet for variety. I enjoy a cup of Miso soup frequently. It is quite filling and nourishing, if you are on a vegetarian diet. About Purchasing Tofu
Always gently rinse tofu under cold running water when you bring it home. Store it in the fridge in a covered container filled with cold water. It is important to replace this water every day. Tofu will keep up to two weeks in this manner. If it starts to go moldy or turn slightly pinkish, it’s time to throw it out. Tip: Slightly sour tofu makes an excellent cheesecake! There’s your first clue, that being on a vegetarian diet, doesn’t have to be boring. Eating Tofu can be an interesting challenge for those of you who have never tried it before. Here are a few quick and easy tofu recipes for you to try. When I lived in Maui and went on a vegetarian diet,the idea of eating tofu was very foreign to me, but I discovered this wonderful restaurant that used tofu in so many different ways, that I quickly learned to cook with it myself. Just a little side note here, the restaurant was always full at meal times, men, women and children and nobody was overweight! What about trying a Coffee Cake made with tofu? This is not for you, if you are on a Candida Diet – it has sugar in it. It is OK if you are on a vegetarian diet. APPLE COFFEE CAKE –great for breakfast when you have guests - would you have believed this recipe is on a vegetarian diet! Preheat Oven to 375F Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar ¼ cup flour 1 tbsp. Oil ½ tsp baking powder 1 cup apples, peeled and chopped ½ cup chopped walnuts Directions:
Stir in the apples and walnuts. Spread in a greased 9” pie pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake 45-50 minutes. This is best served warm. A FEW MORE IDEAS FOR BREAKFAST When you are on a vegetarian diet or vegan diet, bacon and eggs just doesn't do it! Stewed Prunes (Careful how many you eat – these do work just like a laxative)
1 cinnamon stick 3 cups water You can add ½ cup raisins to make this even sweeter. Put all the ingredients in a covered saucepan, over low heat for approximately 20 minutes. These could be made ahead of time, as they can be served warm or cold. Buckwheat Pancakes Surprise! You can even enjoy pancakes while on a vegetarian diet. Ingredients:
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour ¾ tsp. Baking soda 2 tbsp. Soy powder 4 tbsp. Water 2 tbsp. Sorghum 1/3 cup oil 1 2/3 cup soy or nut milk Optional: Add some blueberries to this wonderful recipe. Directions:
Mix the soy powder, water and sorghum together in a large bowl. Add the oil and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir a few times to form a thick batter. Pour this batter onto a greased griddle over medium high heat. Cook for approximately 3 min. on each side, until golden brown Optional: Add some blueberries to this wonderful recipe. 
Hot Cereal Made with Quinoa FlakesQuinoa is a healthy protein grain to be used when you are on a vegetarian diet. A quick healthy recipe. Ingredients:
1/3 cup quinoa flakes ¼ cup walnuts, chopped ½ tsp. Vanilla extract ¼ cup raisins Option: Add 1/4 cup blueberries Directions: Bring milk to the boil and lower heat being careful not to the burn the milk. Add quinoa flakes, stirring for 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the walnuts, vanilla and raisins. Option: You could use rice flakes if you don’t have quinoa flakes on hand. Rice flakes may take a little longer to cook. SAUCES AND DIPS Guacamole Dip – This is one of my favourite recipes. This makes about 1 ½ cups. It’s so easy, just puree all these ingredients in a blender and chill.
¼ cup onions 1/2 tomato 1 tbsp. Lemon juice 1 clove garlic sea salt to taste Would you like to try a Pesto Dip or Spread? Directions: In a food processor,
½ cup (packed) fresh basil leaves ¼ cup (packed) parsley leaves ½ lb. Tofu 3 tbsp. Pine nuts or walnuts 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese 2 tbsp. Olive oil Spanish Rice
2 tbsp. Olive oil Heat oil and stir the rice into it until it slightly starts to turn brown. DO NOT BURN IT. Then add – 2 cups boiling water 1 cup stewed tomatoes ½ lb. Tofu, cut in cubes or crumbled Add herbs of your choice. My favourites are basil, oregano, a little tamari, sea salt and pepper Cover and cook over high heat until it starts to boil, then turn down to low heat and cook covered until rice is tender. Approximately 15-20 minutes.
Vegetable Saute Ingredients:
½ head cauliflower, cut into chunks 2 cups string beans, sliced 1 pound asparagus 3 tbsp. Oil 5 garlic cloves, diced 4 tbsp. Tamari ¼ tsp. Each of Garlic powder, oregano, basil, paprika, and sea salt Directions: Steam the vegetables until slightly tender. About 7 minutes. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add garlic and tamari and cook until garlic is golden. You must stir this constantly, so that garlic doesn’t burn. Add the already steamed veggies . Cook over medium heat. Add herbal seasonings. Cook until vegetables are tender or to your liking. * * * * * * * Tofu and Potatoes Ingredients:
3 onions, sliced 3 garlic cloves, diced 7 potatoes, baked or steamed, then sliced 1 8oz. cake tofu, diced ½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced 2 tbsp. Nutritional yeast 3 tbsp. Tamari ½ tsp. Each of garlic powder, sea salt, basil and oregano Directions: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the onions and garlic, sauté for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, tofu, mushrooms, nutritional yeast and seasonings. Saute for 5 to 7 minutes more. Suggestions: If you have baked potatoes for dinner the night before, do a few extra, so that you can make this recipe when you get home from work the next day. I will add more recipes for this vegetarian diet page. Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry
1 cup mushrooms, sliced ½ lb. Tofu, cut in small cubes 1 tbsp freshly minced ginger root (garlic minced is optional) 2 tbsp. soy sauce Directions: Heat 2 tbsp oil and 1 tsp. Sesame oil in a wok. Add ginger root and stir fry for one minute. Add mushrooms for another three minutes. Add broccoli and stir fry for about 6 minutes. Then cover and steam until they are crisp or cook till the consistency that you prefer. Stir in the tofu. Add the soy sauce. Serve: Serve over hot noodles or rice. Tofu/Mock Vichysoisse: This is a really good vegetarian diet recipe when served cold, especially during our hot summer months here in Toronto. Cook together -
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut up 1 medium onion, chopped ½ tsp. Salt While the above are cooking, blend in a food processor,
When the potatoes and onions are cooked, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon and add to the processor. Blend tofu and potatoes until creamy, then pour back into the potato water and stir in ¼ tsp. Black pepper or Cayenne pepper to taste. Adjust the seasonings to your liking, and use ½ cup soymilk to have soup thinner if that is your choice. Add some butter then, Gently heat the soup to blend flavours. Serve this soup hot or to make it Vichysoisse, Cool the soup, and sprinkle with finely chopped chives. This vegetarian diet recipe has tofu in it and is a good source of protein. Add a nice green salad and you have a complete meal. This soup is excellent the next day too. Lentil Loaf with Tofu Topping-(a meatless-meat loaf)
Chop 1 stick celery very finely. Chop 1 carrot very finely. Wash 1 1/4 cup red lentils, cover them with 1 cup water and bring to the boil Add the onion, celery and carrot and simmer for about 15 minutes until tender and the water has been absorbed. When the lentils are cooked, beat in the
add 1 tbsp. tahini 2 tsp. Lemon juice Turn this mixture into a greased loaf tin. Topping: Put 2/3 cup tofu, 2 tbsp. soy milk and 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a blender . Blend thoroughly. Spread the tofu mixture on top of the lentil mixture. Bake at 375F degrees for about 45 minutes until lightly browned and firm. A nice cool salad during our hot summer months is refreshing and nourishing when you are on a vegetarian diet. Lentil Salad Ingredients:
1 onion 1/2 bay leaf 3 cups water 2 tsp. vegetable seasoning 2 1/2 tsp. sesame oil 1 1/2 tbs. natural cider vinegar 1 medium-sized onion, minced 2 tbs. minced parsley Directions: 1. Place lentils, onion and bay leaf in a saucepan. 2. Add water and vegetable seasoning, simmer until lentils are tender (about 30-40 minutes). 3. Drain and discard bay leaf and onion. 4. Add oil, vinegar and the minced onion to the lentils. Let cool to room temperature. 5. At serving time, add parsley and mix lightly. Option: You could cut up a tomato and add to this lentil salad, or just use it as garnish. Avocado Salad This is also a vegan recipe, not just a vegetarian diet recipe. There are no dairy products used. Dressing Combine -
2 tbsp. grated onion 1 tsp. chopped chives 1 tbsp. chopped parsley 1/2 tsp. raw sugar 1/2 cup olive oil 2 tbsp. natural cider vinegar and vegetable seasoning. I use Herbamare sometimes. If you like tarragon you could add 1 tsp. tarragon. Mix the above ingredients well. Tear washed and chilled romaine lettuce into pieces. (2 heads of romaine lettuce) Separate and wash 1 head of endive. 1 avocado, peeled and sliced thin. Toss very lightly all these ingredients. If you are too rough with this, the avocado could go mushy. There will be more vegetarian diet recipes to come. This is a delicious Vegetable Borscht, to serve cool, during our hot summer months, when you are on a vegetarian diet. Ingredients:
1 cup organic carrots (shredded) 1 cup beets, cleaned and chopped finely 1 cup organic onions, (thinly sliced) 1 1/2 cups red or green cabbage (thinly sliced) 1 red pepper, chopped finely salt and pepper to taste herbs of your choice I am partial to cilantro. Directions: Combine broth, carrots, beets and onions in a large saucepan. Cook gently until the veggies are tender. Add cabbage and red pepper, salt, pepper and herbs. Cook for another 5 minutes. This soup seems to have more flavour when served cool or cold. of course, you can always have it warm too. This page on my website provides information on a vegetarian diet and also some vegetarian recipes. Still Having Trouble with Your Decisionto become a vegetarian after trying some of those vegetarian diet recipes? Enjoying a vegetarian diet does the least harm to living creatures on our planet and it helps us become more and more aware of the unity of life. If your desire is to become a vegetarian and you are having trouble, go to a slaughterhouse - this would certainly help you make up your mind. I personally have trouble when the huge transport passes me on the highway, crammed full of cows or pigs or chickens.
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