Vegetarian Cooking

Vegetarian cooking involves preparing dishes without meat, fish, or poultry. Most vegetarian cooks, however, view the activity not from this reductive stance, but as a challenging and creative way to celebrate the numerous healthy grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and oils from throughout the world. Enthusiasts include those who are committed to a diet of plants, often for ethical or religious reasons, to those who simply enjoy a meatless meal once or twice a week. Most cooks agree that the tastiness and health benefits of vegetarian dishes represent the most satisfying ingredients of vegetarian cooking.

Vegetarian cooking has been around as long as humans have been preparing wild plants for consumption. After they learned to cultivate vegetables, grains, and other plants, their dishes became more sophisticated, and likely more palatable, too. At some point, humans could choose to refrain from eating meats and fish and still survive because their agricultural skills could sustain them.

Vegetarianism became a matter of ethical debate in ancient Greece when some doctors also speculated that plants might offer unique health benefits. At that time, vegetarians were called Pythagoreans, after the ancient Greek vegetarian and mathematician Pythagoras. In Asia and other parts of the world, vegetarianism became associated with religious beliefs. Other cultures and religions promoted rules governing the slaughter of animals and techniques for meat preparation.

The term "vegetarian" was coined during the nineteenth century in England, where the first known vegetarian books were published, and where the vegetarian movement gained momentum.

Early vegetarian cookbooks bore little effect upon the general population and vegetarians remained stigmatized by most of society, although the value of eating a well-rounded diet did not go unnoticed. The United States Department of Agriculture began to publish guidelines at about the turn of the twentieth century that promoted fruits and vegetables, grains, and diary products, as well as meats.

The 1960s represented a turning point for vegetarian cooking, as the influential counterculture looked to plants for dietary (and recreational) consumption. Frances Moore Lappe is credited for raising the level of consciousness among a wider girth of Americans when she warned against the ecological hazards of animal-based diets in Diet for a Small Planet (1971). Soon after, the first vegetarian restaurants and a slew of vegetarian cookbooks sprouted, including Anna Thomas's The Vegetarian Epicure (1972), Laurel Robertson's Laurel's Kitchen (1976), and Mollie Katzen's The Moosewood Cookbook (1977).

The per capita consumption of meat has been decreasing steadily in the United States, while vegetarian cookbooks feature prominently on bookstore shelves. With the many health, ecological, and ethical issues related or linked to a meat-based diet, vegetarian cooking continues to gain in popularity.

Things to Look For

Vegetarian cooking does not involve meat, fish, or poultry, while vegan dishes also exclude dairy products, eggs, and any kind of animal protein. Beyond these basic restrictions are entrees, side dishes, salads, desserts, appetizers, snacks, and beverages that can be created from any or all of the other food groups.

Many meat dishes can be made vegetarian by simply leaving out the meat. In most cases, one will want to add more vegetables or other ingredients, but chili and cheese pizza are examples of food that can be satisfying without any other additions.

Meat substitutions can give a dish the flavor or texture of meat as well as extra nutritional value. Substitutions, usually made from TVP (texturized vegetable protein), or soy protein, are available to take the place of meat products such as sausage, hamburger, chicken, and many other types of meats.

Tofu has come a long way since its entry into vegetarian cooking. It remains the most versatile meat substitute, as it can be marinated or seasoned any number of ways to give it different flavors, and diced, crumbled, mashed, or blended depending on the needs. Tofu is offered in several consistencies, including silken and regular, as well as extra-firm, firm, semi-firm, and soft.

Vegetarian cooks should plan meals that satisfy both taste and nutritional value. A basic tenet is to incorporate fruits and vegetables from all different color groups (red, yellow/orange, blue/purple, green, and white). To make up for the eight essential amino acids found in meat protein, cooks can prepare dishes or meals from complementary ingredients that will together supply the necessary amino acids. For example, stir-fried vegetables can be served with rice, or cheese can be sprinkled on top of a bean taco. Next to meat, tofu, eggs, yogurt, cheese, cereals, and nuts supply the most protein, although all foods contain at least one essential amino acid.

Trends

Vegetarian cooking has become so accepted in society that most cookbook collections include at least one vegetarian cookbook, even if used only occasionally, and now many also include a vegan cookbook. In fact, a large percentage of the population now considers themselves "flexitarians," a new term for vegetarians who occasionally indulge in meat, poultry, or fish.

As concerns over the impacts of climate change have continued to grow in the early twenty-first century, arguments for adopting a vegetarian, plant-based diet have increased as a way to further reduce a person's carbon footprint. Additionally, restaurants and food manufacturers have been experimenting more and more with creating vegetarian dishes that resemble popular meat items. Many have worked to create a vegetarian burger that has a texture and flavor similar to a beef burger, while others have fashioned patties out of vegetarian staples such as black beans.

The debate over the health benefits of soy has intensified with recent studies that demonstrate a correlation between diets high in soy and infertility and childhood development. Previous studies had shown that soy had many positive benefits, including easing symptoms of menopause and decreasing the risk of breast and prostate cancer. Some cooks also worry about the fact that most soybeans are now genetically modified.

Learning More

Books  

Abrams, Maribeth. Tofu 1-2-3. J. Wiley & Sons, 2006.

Bittman, Mark. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food. J. Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Kramer, Sarah. La Dolce Vegan! Vegan Livin' Made Easy. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009.

Moosewood Collective. Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes. Simon & Schuster, 2009.

Robertson, Robin. Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That are Ready When You Are. Harvard Common Press, 2004.

Magazines  

Vegetarian Times

VegNews