EAT, DRINK

 »Becoming a Vegetarian Family

Beans, Beans, the Musical, Magical Fruit

"Please, mommy, may I have some more?"

The words sounded like sweet music to my ears, after yet another vegetarian experiment had been gingerly proffered to the over sensitive and highly critical palates of my offspring.

Instead of the usual spewing of the dinner contents, not so discreetly, into a napkin, I received the accolades I craved by the obvious relish by which they ate. Every mother's dream, encapsulated in a moment, my children hungrily eating all their usually untouched veggies and asking for more! This was a recipe worth shouting from the hilltops. (See Below).

After my vegetarian husband and I had our children, I faced a new and different challenge: finding appealing, child-friendly vegetarian dishes. My two children are the most reliable of food critics. At three and five years old, they don't worry about hurting my delicate sensibilities about my own cooking. They either love it, or they hate it! Steering clear of too much garlic and spices like chili and too much onion is a given and if it is fried and served with Ketchup, it's a go!

My husband, as earlier mentioned, is a vegetarian as well as a great lover of food. He confessed once he must love me immensely: when we married, I couldn't cook worth a damn. Apparently, the internal conflict he faced was only fleeting when he said "I do"! So in the post-matrimonial haze, I had to learn not only how to cook, but how to cook vegetarian food. When you are a non-vegetarian, inexperienced cook, the task is daunting.

At first, I felt challenged with what I thought would be a very boring and unvaried diet, filled with unsatisfying fare. However, over the years, I have expanded not only my meat-addicted palate but also my vegetarian cooking repertoire to include healthy, tasty and satisfying meals to please all preferences.

On the topic of satisfying vegetarian foods, we have legumes and beans. The most "meaty" tasting would include Romano, White Navy Beans, Black Beans and Kidney beans. They are quite starchy and fill you up quite nicely. An important caveat to note, is that I don't use canned beans as I find that they don't taste as good or as fresh as cooking them from scratch. Plus, home-cooked beans are a bit higher in some nutrients than canned beans. To prevent being shot out into orbit by the gassiness that most beans produce, buy them dried, soak them overnight and rinse well with cold water before cooking. If pressed for time, using canned beans is a timesaver, but if you are on a sodium-reduced diet, be sure to rinse beans several times under cold running water to reduce the amount of sodium. Beans contain essential nutrients and minerals such as iron, zinc and magnesium, as well as vitamins B-6 and folate. The dietary fiber that beans provide is an added plus to it being a valuable source of protein.

Experiment with all the different types of lentils available. Whether you choose red, brown, yellow lentils (or Dahl) they all have a different texture and taste and you will be sure you find one (or more) that will appeal to you and your family the most. They are very versatile and can be used in casseroles, or as filler in place of meat.

One can also use different types of flour, as well, instead of just the regular all-purpose variety. You can get barley, buckwheat, corn, oat, potato, rice, soy and chickpea flour. I use a lot of pea and "Chana" (chickpea) flour in my recipes as I find this flour to be much tastier and healthier than regular white flour, plus it has the added benefit of being high in protein.

Be liberal and generous in the use of spices. The spices I favour are cumin, coriander, turmeric, yellow curry powder, basil and oregano. I mostly use sautéed garlic, onions and shallots as a base for my recipes as it seems to be a flavourful, versatile and solid foundation to build most of my recipes on. I find that the shallots add a particularly rich and intense flavour.

Chana Delights

This recipe provides an opportunity to add in all those vegetables that your children would otherwise not touch. As a parent of kids who won't touch a vegetable if they can help it, I have found the fact that I can sneak in all those healthy vegetables and be guaranteed that they will be happily eaten, counteracts the fact that they are fried. I include tomatoes and broccoli, the two most hated vegetables in my house, because in this recipe, they taste perfectly heavenly. I use either canola or peanut oil for frying. If there are no peanut allergies in the family, peanut oil works particularly well. It doesn't burn easily and gives an added deep, nutty flavour. As with all frying, be sure you use a splatter proof lid. I don't recommend using olive oil, as it has a very low smoking point and will burn at high temperatures.

• 2 cups of Chana (chickpea) flour
• 2 teaspoons each of:
• cumin, coriander, turmeric, yellow curry powder, basil and oregano.
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1 medium onion, diced finely
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup of broccoli florets

1. Mix the flour and spices together.
2. Add vegetables.
3. Add 1 cup of water and mix until it is of a paste consistency and holds together nicely.
4. If the batter is too loose, add in more Chana flour, if too stiff, add in more water to reach the desired consistency.
5. Heat oil 2 cm deep in a frying pan on medium high.
6. Once oil is hot, gently drop teaspoonfuls into the oil.
7. Be sure not to make the Chana Delights too big, otherwise they will not cook all the way through. Keep to teaspoonful size as this makes them nice and crunchy.
8. Drain on paper towel and once cool, serve with ketchup or plum sauce.

Lentil "Meat"Loaf

This turned out to be an immensely popular dish in my family. The usually upturned noses of my children, were turned appreciatively to this delicious combination of red lentils and cheddar cheese, the combination of which, work so well. Brown lentils worked wonderfully too, but do take longer to cook, whereas red lentils cook very quickly.

• 2 cups of red lentils
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of diced sweet red pepper
• 1 cup of diced green pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 4 crushed cloves of Garlic
• 2 cups of grated medium cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons each of:
• cumin, coriander, turmeric, yellow curry powder, basil, dried parsley, oregano and 3 bay leaves.

1. Simmer the lentils with the water, bay leaf and garlic until absorbed (approximately 15-20 minutes).
2. Meanwhile sauté the onions, tomatoes, red pepper, green pepper in the olive oil.
3. Add in the spices.
4. Remove the bay leaf from the cooked lentils.
5. Combine the lentils, sautéed vegetable mixture, eggs, grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
6. Pour into either a well greased loaf tin or a casserole dish.
7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until firm and cooked through in the middle.

You can serve it as a meat loaf would be served, with mashed potatoes and your family's favourite vegetables.

Adapted from the book Meals without Meat by Simon and Alison Holst (C.J. Publishing)

Other information source http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/legumes.html.