Storified by Jackie Lou Smith· Thu, Feb 28 2013 22:22:13
However, this is probably one of the most challenging lifestyle choices to sustain. Vegetarians who are not so strict allow themselves dairy products and eggs.
Vegetarian food can be as simple or as gourmet as one desires. For special occasions, expensive and hard-to-find ingredients like porcini mushrooms and truffle oils can be incorporated for a gourmet experience. For everyday cooking, a trip to the farmers market or even the grocery is sure to inspire one to prepare a variety of healthy dishes.
Most of the recipes shared here are easy to prepare with fresh flavor profile from simple grilled vegetables to soups, sidings, breads and starches.
Nutrient dense fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds and oils are the foundation of a balanced vegetarian plate. Like any lifestyle practice, care must be taken that enough macro- and micro-nutrients are consumed especially if one is not consuming animal products which are usually the main source of protein for most people.
For those who are transitioning to vegetarianism, they usually have challenges eating with non-vegetarian companions in most restaurants. However, there are more and more eating places from fine dining establishments to fast food joints that offer a variety of vegetarian options or can prepare some of their dishes without meat.
A sustainable menu plan of home-made dishes devoid of any meat, poultry and seafood are achievable given some creativeness in the kitchen. If anything, it encourages resourcefulness in sourcing ingredients to provide variety to the staple vegetables and fruit. Quinoa, amaranth, couscous, tamari, liquid aminos, and countless other grains, seasoning and ingredients additionally provide nutrients from more readily available ingredients.
Any cooking method allows itself a variety of applications in the world of vegetarian cuisine. In fact, it even embraces non-traditional ways to prepare foods compared to conventional diets. Vegetarian dishes can be prepared with the use of blending (raw soups), dehydrating (cookies, breads and meat-simulated foods like burgers from flax) and fermenting (drinks and pickled food).
Additional tools such as high-speed blenders, dehydrators, spiral slicers, mandolins, high-speed blenders, sprouting jars and trays are investments of vegans in their quest for attaining 100% raw food consumption.
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