Going Vegan - Discovering a Wonderful Variety of Delicious Foods

Well, it’s a month since my first post about going vegan, and I’ve settled into this new lifestyle change even more, so I thought I’d share some updates and another quick recipe! 

One of the most remarkable things I’ve noticed about following a plant-based diet is the variety in my family’s menu. There’s a fairly common misconception that because a vegan diet is restrictive in the sense it does not include any animal products, it must be boring and lack variety. And honestly, when my husband and I followed a macrobiotic diet many years ago, we were guilty of a lack of creativity and inspiration in our cooking. We ate a lot of brown rice, adzuki beans, steamed vegetables, and miso (not to mention lotus root and umeboshi plums!). In the years since, we’ve learned a lot about cooking and both of us have worked professionally in kitchens and bakeries. Our approach to this way of eating is as open and exciting as it was when we were focused on gourmet cooking until just a few months ago.

Before embarking on this new dietary path, our weekly dinner menu might consist of grilled salmon, turkey chili, tofu stir-fry, homemade pizza, and pasta with chicken sausage. We would stick to a certain repertoire for a few weeks, then switch it around, maybe opt for baked cod rather than salmon, turkey burgers instead of chili, and so on. In the past week we’ve enjoyed for dinner, multigrain noodles and vegetables with peanut sauce, Cuban black bean soup, falafel pitas, cauliflower and sweet potato curry, and a family-size vegan calzone. All of these dishes and the others we enjoy include good sources of protein, as well as the same fresh vegetables and whole grains we were already including in our diet – and most of them are also low in fat. So far, there is as much variety now, if not more, simply because we are having fun learning new recipes and ways of incorporating new ingredients – or ways of not incorporating things like butter and cheese. Also, the main ingredient in each of these dishes is not meat or dairy, so overall the dishes are much healthier.

What became obvious very quickly was just how many cuisines we can choose to cook from, that don’t require animal products at all. For example, we have always enjoyed Indian cuisine, and except for the inclusion of ghee, many of the recipes are ready-made for the vegan lifestyle. An Indian dish is almost always on our weekly menu now, often using the same recipes we had used before, only with slight alterations. There are Mexican dishes that can be made without cheese – or using a vegan cheese substitute, and our family was simply amazed by how “real” the tofu “ricotta” tasted in our calzone. Many of the Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dishes we had been making are also perfectly acceptable on a vegan diet – focusing on pasta or rice, olive oil, beans, fresh vegetables, and herbs and spices. We’ve even done an all-American sloppy Joe using tempeh. I admit, I was at first skeptical about this, but was impressed by the taste and texture of the tempeh filling. The sloppy Joes were also as much fun to eat as they were when we were kids!

For the first few weeks we did do a lot of simple substituting, and it’s great that there are now some fantastic products that make this easy and delicious (and they are not all soy-based). If we had previously made pasta with chicken sausage, for example, we could easily replace the sausage with a flavorful, meatless seitan variety. The cost is a bit higher, and for those who really love meat – i.e. the particular greasiness of meat, perhaps the seitan isn’t an exact duplicate, but for me (never a big sausage lover), the seitan is almost too much like meat. We have made pizzas using a vegan cheese substitute and although they are not entirely like the best New York style they are darn good, especially when loaded up with fresh or roasted veggies (think perhaps, California style). 

I hope that if you are considering a vegan diet, you will be reassured that it can be a truly bountiful way of eating – and I mean that in the best, most beautiful way – eating vegan truly is an enjoyment of nature’s bounty! 

~ Nellie Levine

Vegan Sloppy Joes with Tempeh

8 oz or 1 package tempeh, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil or water
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 cup cooked or canned white or black beans
15 oz or 1 can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
4 large buns, lightly toasted

Steam tempeh in a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water - not enough to cover the tempeh. The tempeh is ready when you notice a strong nutty aroma, approximately ten minutes. Drain the tempeh, and mash coarsely in the pan with a spoon or potato ricer.

In a large saute pan, heat oil (or water) over medium heat, and saute onion. Key to a good flavor is letting the onion brown. Add pepper, jalapeno, tempeh, and beans, and saute for a few minutes. Stir to prevent sticking. Add chili and chipotle powder, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. After adding sauce, simmer for a few minutes. Finish by turning up the heat a little and stirring rapidly to thicken sauce.

Serve on toasted buns, either as sandwiches or open face.

Shown served with http://piratebrands.com/products/tings/original">Original Tings (or as my family calls them - Cheesy Poofs; they are in fact dairy-free and vegan, but with a great cheesy flavor) by Pirate Brands, sweet gherkins, and a glass of almond milk. Very kid-friendly!

* This recipe is adapted from the Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Resources: 

http://www.fieldroast.com Field Roast Grain Meat Co. – delicious sausage-like seitan. Never having been a huge fan of sausage, I actually find these products almost too meat-like! These are flavorful and high quality. Soy free.
 

http://www.daiyafoods.com Daiya cheeses are our first choice for vegan cheese, for their flavor and meltability. They come in two varieties – cheddar and mozzarella. We are now seeing these in our local major supermarket! Soy free.

Almond milk is my personal favorite alternative to dairy milk (in fact, I’ve been drinking it for years and prefer it to cow’s milk). It tastes great in tea. The chocolate is delicious. http://silksoymilk.com  Silk and http://almondbreeze.com/Almond Breeze are both good brands and widely available. Soy free.

http://www.turtlemountain.com/ So Delicious makes coffee creamers with coconut milk that are quite good – we have not found a substitute for half & half that we really love, but so far these are our favorite. Available in major supermarkets. Soy free.

http://www.mimiccreme.com Mimiccreme is another brand that makes coffee creamers, but from nuts. Mimiccreme is heavier and creamier than So Delicious. Soy free.

http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/ Earth Balance, available in major supermarkets, is a brand of vegan margarine that is a great choice as a butter replacement.

Soy and almond milk can be used as a replacement for cow’s milk in many recipes. Other choices that we have not used include rice and hemp milk. Also, many of these brands make other products that are definitely worth checking out. 

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Other articles in this series:
Going Vegan – Embarking On a New Path for Better Health

Going Vegan – Embarking On a New Path for Better Health

In January my husband and I were discussing which diet we should follow. We tended to eat fairly well already, with lots of vegetables and fruits, and whole grains and natural foods, but like many others we got a bit lazy in our choices, especially through the holiday season. We wanted to do what most Americans want to do right after the new year – lose a few pounds, but more importantly, we just wanted to recommit to good health, which for my husband also meant recommitting to keeping his blood sugar numbers in control, as he has type 2 diabetes.

Our bookshelves include many alternative health books – on energy healing, meditation, yoga, reflexology, herbalism, and healthy diets. Those books on healthy diets include South Beach and YOU: On a Diet, as well as macrobiotic and ayurvedic titles, and even French Women Don’t Get Fat. It’s quite a variety, so we had many to choose from! One night after talking about some options, we sat down and turned on the TV – and caught a program on PBS that gave us our answer:  going vegan.

 The program was Taking Control of Diabetes with Dr. Neal Barnard. Being vegetarian wasn’t new to us, nor was giving up dairy – when we were macrobiotic many years ago, neither of us ate meat or dairy of any kind (though back then we didn’t think of it in terms of being vegan). What was new, was the information Barnard was sharing about how following a low fat, plant-based diet could greatly change one’s experience of diabetes, and in some people, actually reverse the condition.

The program’s message was inspiring and we decided we’d give it a try. Many of the foods significant in a plant-based diet were familiar to us already, but the next day we added a few vegan substitutes for common foods – cheese and milk, for example – to our pantry, and my husband, who once cooked for a health food restaurant, set about learning to make a great seitan from scratch.

He went vegan right away. For the first few weeks I greatly reduced dairy in my diet but continued to use milk in my tea, half and half in my coffee, and feta on my salads. It wasn’t long before I decided to entirely cut out dairy as well, so we are both now following a vegan diet. The effects on my husband’s diabetes have been truly remarkable. He has eliminated his need to take insulin, reduced his oral meds by more than half, and the continued hypoglycemic episodes have him regularly adjusting downward.  We are both enjoying the changes, not suffering any unbearable cravings, and feeling better in many ways. We both also love eating this way! Unlike how “diets” typically make one feel, we don’t feel impatient to move to the next phase or to begin to add unpermitted foods back in, and we don’t feel like we are missing out. Making these changes has been a lot easier than we would have thought. Doing it together makes it easier, keeping it delicious and healthy creates momentum, and seeing immediate health benefits gives us motivation.

I’m honestly not sure where this will lead – I can’t say that I will never again eat a salad topped with feta, or enjoy a slice of traditional cheese pizza. Also, we do need to watch numbers and track the progress of specific health issues. This is our first step, and we are just beginning; I want our expectations to be reasonable. That being said, we are both excited about continuing this indefinitely – we look forward to it, not as a “diet,” but simply as a lifestyle choice. I hope to share here my experience going vegan, any adjustments I make along the way, as well as resources, recipes, and research. If you’re interested in a plant-based diet, I’d highly encourage you to look into it and give it a try – it’s easier than you think. Also, if you’ve already adopted a plant-based diet, I’d love to hear about your experience!

~ Nellie Levine

Creamy Canellini Sauce

This sauce (as pictured in the above photo) is something my husband whipped up from scratch. It's great over rice or pasta, with veggies that are steamed, sauteed, or roasted, making it really versatile. It is creamy and full flavored.

1 onion, thinly sliced
3-6 cloves garlic
+/- 1 cup warm water

2 cups cooked or 1 can of canellini beans, warmed
2 tablespoons tamari or Bragg's liquid aminos
2 tablespoons rice wine or white wine
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian herb blend

Roast onion and garlic at 450 until browned (stir occasionally).

In food processor, process onion, then slowly add small amount of water, until smooth. Add beans, then slowly add small amount of water, until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, then slowly add water until preferred consistency - sauce will thicken when heated so make it a bit thinner than you would finally prefer. Add salt and more wine to taste. Heat in saucepan or microwave.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 - 3 cups.

* I’d like to recommend two books that my husband and I have recently bought:

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes, by Neal D. Barnard, MD – This book is straightforward and easy to follow. In addition to explaining in further detail the PBS program my husband and I watched, it also details the scientific research that proves diabetes can be greatly benefited by a low fat, plant-based diet. For those with type 2 that might mean reversal, for those with type 1, better control of blood sugar numbers and better prevention of complications.

The Vegan Table, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau – We have plenty of vegetarian cookbooks in our house, but many of them include dairy in their recipes, and we also wanted a little bit of new inspiration. The Vegan Table is a beautiful cookbook that I’d enjoy using even if we weren’t omitting animal products from our diets. The book focuses on entertaining – serving delicious meals to family and friends, but it is a great family cookbook as well.

Supporting article on vegan diet for diabetes: http://blogs.webmd.com/life-with-diabetes-2/2010/05/low-fat-vegan-diet-for-reversing-diabetes.html

One more note: if you’re going to go vegan, you do need to make sure you get enough vitamin B12, which we are unable to get through plant sources so a daily multivitamin is a good idea. Otherwise, a solid, well-planned plant-based diet should provide all the nutrients you need (and will provide much more than you would get on the standard American diet). There are many effective plant-based sources of calcium, protein, and iron. Still, it is wise to check with your doctor before making major dietary changes and especially important to do so if you are on any medications for diabetes, heart disease, or blood pressure, or if you have any food sensitivities that would create a difficulty in following a vegan diet.

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photo by Nellie Levine