Cooking Advice for New (or Hungry) Vegetarian/Vegans - cooking resource

Cooking Advice for New (or Hungry) Vegetarian/Vegans

Karsten Schoellner

Introduction

Do you dislike how helpless animals are killed merely to fill your plate? Did your doctor tell you to cut back on your meat intake, or cut it out altogether? Are you simply marrying a vegetarian/vegan? This is a basic guide for people who are intent on becoming a vegetarian or a vegan, or are merely trying to curtail their meat intake. It is by no means the do all and end all of vegetarianism, but it provides some useful cooking advice and many delicious recipes.

Do not be misled into thinking the vegetarian life is one of asceticism. Many, perhaps most, vegetarians report gaining a greater appreciation of food and beginning to enjoy it more. Furthermore, many claim less fatigue and more energy and enthusiasm after making the switch. You do not have to give up your gustatory pleasures. In fact, whole cultures have been formed around vegetarianism. Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and many Hindus are vegetarian, and have been for ages. The cuisine's of China, Japan, South-East Asia, India, although not strictly vegetarian, have much to offer. Indeed, in much of the world, including some of Europe, meat is consumed in small quantities and is entirely absent from many main dishes. Italian food, especially, can be a continuous source of delight to the vegetarian. A lot of Mexican and Caribbean food can be adapted to vegetarianism. Much more can be done, too, by substituting vegetarian products for meat in dishes which require only small portions of it. Seitan, TVP, and tofu are some examples of replacement foods.

Recipes

Rice

Many people do not know how to properly cook rice, and it turns into an unappetizing soggy mess that sticks to the spoon and stays in whatever shape you put it in, like clay. Learning to cook rice is absolutely essential for vegetarian cooking.

my cooking advice is that there is no one way to cook rice. In general, ignore package directions. For the standard way, use 2 cups of water or less for every cup of rice. Bring the water and rice to a boil, then let it simmer gently until all of the water is absorbed, about 1/2 hour.

For 'sticky' Chinese-style rice, use less water. I pour the rice into a pot and measure how deep it is, and then pour water in until the water is twice as deep as the rice; i.e., if the rice is one fingernail deep, I pour in water until the water is one fingernail above the rice, or two fingernails deep. Then, cover the pot (the lid must be tight. If it's not, wrap tinfoil around the outside of the pot, and then put the lid on.) and bring it to a boil. When it boils, stir it once and then let it sit for about 1/2 hour, again covered tightly. Never, under any conditions, lift off the lid after the rice has come to a boil.

For rice pilaf, heat some oil in a pot, and then add the rice and whatever other vegetables you want in there. I always put in onions at least. Stir the rice frequently, and when it is nicely browned pour in water or broth of some kind (from artificial chicken bouillon cubes, or vegetable bouillon cubes, or whatever.) Use as much broth as you would use water in the first method, and then proceed as you would in the first method.

For light, fluffy rice, cooked in South Indian fashion, preheat the oven to 300. Heat lots of water in a pot, as you would for pasta. When it boils, pour in the rice. When the water reboils, cook the rice for 7-8 minutes, uncovered, as you would pasta. Then drain it, put it back in the pot with some butter or margarine (optional) and salt (optional) and bake it, covered, in the oven for 35 minutes.

These are but a few of the variations of rice. Rice, remember, is the food staple of myriad cultures, from the Orient to Asia to South America. It is cooked with mustard seeds, with cumin and orange juice, with coconut milk, with poppy seeds, etc., as well as the many variations on fried rice, cooked in several different Chinese styles, or in the Thai style, or in countless other ways, and there is also Basmati rice, Jasmine rice, Arborio rice, brown rice, etc.

Plantains

Green (underripe) plantains are extremely similar to potatoes, so I'll stick in a brief word about them here.
Plantains, as I see it, are somewhere in-between potatoes and bananas in taste and texture. When they're green, they are much more like potatoes, but as they ripen they resemble bananas more and more in taste and texture. My plantains ripened on me once, and I tried to cook them anyway; it was disgusting. Perhaps there are recipes for ripe plantains, but I don't know of any, so my cooking advice is to buy them green and cook them soon.

Peeling a green plantain can be tough, as the skin doesn't separate easily. Nonetheless, it must be done, and it's worth it. Then cut the plantains into small chunks and cover them with water (they turn black if you don't.) Heat some oil in a pan. Add some black mustard seeds and cumin seeds, and when the seeds start popping add in the plantain chunks. Sprinkle them with some turmeric, salt, black pepper, and perhaps some cayenne. Fry them until crisp.

Another way to cook plantains (green plantains) is to deep-fry them like potato chips. Cut them into 1/4 inch slices, sprinkle them with cayenne and ginger (or nothing), and deep fry them until the outside is crisp but the inside is soft. Test-fry a few until you get the method right.

I've also heard of something called a potocan (sp?) or a toston (sp?), which is a plantain deep-fried whole, then mashed and deep-fried again, and then covered with meats, nuts, vegetables, whatever. However, I have yet to come across a vegetarian recipe for something to go on the toston.

Please visit Animal Concerns to get your more cooking advice.

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