INTRODUCTION
More and more people are moving towards a vegetarian diet. Eventually, you're going to come face to face with a food dilemma.
Should you include a dish at the party that vegetarians can eat? What are you going to do when your newly vegetarian daughter comes home to visit? What will you eat after the doctor scolds you for your high cholesterol level, and puts you on a mainly vegetarian diet?
Thankfully, the answers are easier than you probably thought, and none of them involves the phrase "rabbit food"!
TYPES OF VEGETARIANS & WHAT THEY EAT
First, let's go over the types of vegetarian diets. There's lots of variations, but most people who call themselves vegetarians don't eat animals. This includes beef, seafood, poultry and even animal-based broth. If they're in the "fauna" category, they're not vegetarian.
More and more people are becoming strict vegetarians, more commonly known as vegans (VEE-guns). Vegans don't eat anything made with ingredients that come from an animal. This includes milk, eggs, butter, cream, mayonnaise and cheese. Some vegans also avoid honey, which is created when a bee processes nectar inside its body.
You're probably wondering how vegans meet their nutritional needs.
It's not as hard as you think! See this
factsheet for more information.
Your friend might tell you that they're a vegetarian, even if they're a vegan. They probably think that you don't know what "vegan" means! If you'll be serving vegetarian food, you may want to play it safe by sticking to vegan dishes.
BUT WHAT DOES THAT LEAVE?!!!
Believe it or not, a lot of common foods are already vegan. Here's just a
few:
many pasta dishes (like spaghetti marinara)
many rice dishes (like black beans & rice)
corn chips & salsa
cobbler
many breakfast cereals
French fries
peanut butter & jelly
tater tots
spring rolls
sorbet
Other common foods can easily become vegan. For example:
Pizza
(Leave off the cheese & use
vegetable toppings.)
Hamburgers
(use Boca
Burger Original or Gardenburger
Vegan patties.)
Tacos, burritos & enchiladas
(Replace meat with beans; cheese with rice & veggies. Sauteed spinach & mushroom enchiladas are great!)
Ice cream
(Purely
Decadent Soy Delicious)
Vegetable chop suey
(use vegetable stock & non-dairy butter.)
Bagels & cream cheese
(use Tofutti's Better
Than Cream Cheese.)
Always be sure to read the ingredients on the packaging first. It's amazing how many manufacturers add animal products to foods that don't usually use them. Here's some common animal-derived ingredients to be on the look-out for:
butter
casein
cheese
cream
eggs/egg whites
lactose
milk/powdered milk
"natural flavorings"
whey
If you want to get really serious, here's a
more complete list.
A word of warning: Telling someone that a dish is vegetarian
or vegan when it isn't can cause real problems. Many people
have serious allergies to foods like milk. Furthermore,
vegetarians
may become physically ill when served animal products.
COOKING TIPS FOR THE COURAGEOUS CHEF
If you're cooking from scratch, you can use "vegan equivalents" (recipe
substitutions) in place of the animal products that your
recipe calls for.
Most can be found at your local health supermarket or even
many grocery stores. Here's some examples:
Butter: Earth Balance
Natural Buttery Spread
Cheese: Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet
Cheese
Chocolate chips: Tropical Source baking chips
Bacon bits: Frontier Bac'uns
Beef & chicken stock: Rapunzel
Bouillons
Cream: Cordon Vert Vegan Double Cream recipe
Cream cheese: Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
Eggs: Egg replacers
Gelatin: Emes Plain Kosher Gelatin Substitute
Gravy: Road's End Gravy Mixes
Ground beef: Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style
Mayonnaise: Vegenaise
Meats: Yves,
VegeCyber
(Check for dairy.)
Milk: Soy
milk, almond
milk, rice
milk, oat
milk, hazelnut milk, hemp milk
Shortening: Vegan
Shortening (pressed palm oil)
Sour Cream: Tofutti Sour Supreme
Whipped Cream: Try these recipes & tips!
Worcestershire sauce: Organic
Vegan Worcestershire
Yogurt: WholeSoy Yogurt
Need recipes? We've got you covered!
I JUST NUKE MY FOOD
If you don't have the time or inclination to cook from scratch, there's still
plenty of pre-packaged foods that meat-eaters and vegetarians alike will enjoy.
Again, check your supermarket and larger health food stores. Here's some of
our favorites:
Burritos: Amy's Bean & Rice Burritos, Breakfast Burritos
Chili: Amy's (4 varieties)
Chocolate bars: Tropical Source (6 kinds)
Chocolate chip cookies: Uncle Eddie's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Enchiladas: Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas w/Spanish rice & pinto beans
Ice cream sandwiches: Tofutti Cuties
Lunch meat: Yves
Deli Slices
Macaroni & cheese: Mac & Chreese
Manicotti: Celentano Spinach & Broccoli Manicotti
Pot pies: Several flavors of Amy's Pot Pies
Pudding: Zen Soy (chocolate's
the best!)
Ribs: Gardenburger Meatless Riblets
You can find vegan product reviews at these sites:
VegFamily (USA)
The Vegan News (UK)
If there aren't any health food stores in your area, and your grocery store doesn't have any of the products listed above, never fear! There are plenty of mainstream products that are accidentally vegan.
FORGET COOKING. WHERE CAN I TAKE THEM?
If you'd rather go out to eat, you still have plenty of choices. There are delicious cuisines from around the world that feature vegetarian dishes. We list some of the most promising below. You can find restaurants in your area here.
An advance phone call is a good idea. Otherwise, your
guest will probably need to ask the server some questions.
They
aren't
trying to be difficult. They just want
to be sure that they can eat the food that's served to
them.
A quick note on what you order:
Most vegans won't have a problem with other people at the table eating meat. They're used to it. However, it would be best if you don't order anything that still has a face on it. This includes fish with the heads still attached, whole roast duck or pig, lobster or other crustaceans with the heads still on them, and so on. You'll probably also want to avoid bloody meat, as in "extra, extra rare".
CHINESE: What you can
get varies widely from restaurant to restaurant. In New
York City, for example, there are plenty
of restaurants where everything is vegan. On the other hand, Chinese
restaurants in rural Texas may not stock tofu and probably cook everything
in chicken or beef stock.
ETHIOPIAN & ERITREAN: No,
Ethiopian cuisine isn't a single grain of rice. In fact,
injera bread may be the tastiest way
to roll up sandwich fillings on the planet. Sample the various vegetable
"alichas" and "wats", or try some tasty "gomen" greens.
GREEK & MIDDLE
EASTERN: Good bets include hummus, tabouli, falafel, couscous, stuffed
grape leaves (dolmas) and baklava. Spellings vary depending on the country
of origin. Some places have belly dancers on the weekends, so this could
be
a real adventure!
INDIAN: Try aloo gobi, chana
masala, pakoras and papadums on the side, or just ask.
India is a mecca for vegan food and the chef probably knows
some recipes that aren't on the menu.
ITALIAN: Pasta dishes like
spaghetti marinara, pasta primavera and even gnocchi are
often vegan. Ask to make sure there's no egg in the pasta
or cheese in the sauce. If you're having a pizza, ask about
eggs or milk enzymes in the dough. Once the sauce and dough
pass inspection, load your pizza down with vegetables and
extra sauce, skip the cheese, and you've got a delicious
vegan
pizza. (Don't forget... You can do this with just half a pizza and put cheese and anything else you want on the other half!)
JAMAICAN: Look into the curry vegetables, callaloo, Johnny cakes (corn bread patties), rice & red peas, and plantains. Double check that the Johnny cakes don't contain eggs or milk.
JAPANESE: Most places have seaweed salad,
miso soup, vegetable sushi (it may not be on the menu, but ask for it), vegetable
teriyaki and vegetable tempura. Make sure the miso soup doesn't contain fish
powder (bonito) or chicken stock.
THAI: Most Thai restaurants can make anything on the menu into a vegan dish. They just replace the animal flesh with tofu and leave out eggs. Treat yourself to Pad Thai, Panang or Masaman curries, and sweet sticky rice with mangoes.
EXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS: Obviously, this isn't a type of cuisine, but for the most part, highly trained chefs will be able to create truly tasty vegan dishes on request. Call ahead a day in advance, if possible, so they can pick up any special ingredients they might need.
CHAIN RESTAURANTS: If the only dining choices
that you can offer your guest are chain restaurants, there's still hope. This site has done the research for you. For a more comprehensive listing, order
the inexpensive 'Vegetarian
Menu Items at Restaurant and Quick Service Chains'.
There's lots of other options, but your head is probably spinning by now.
Relax and enjoy yourself! You may find a new favorite cuisine, and your guest
will think you're amazing. How can that be a bad thing?
