Health for life

We’re hungry. There’s nothing to eat. What are we gonna do?

Five of us are upstate at a friend’s country house. One of us is a gluten-free vegetarian, and another is off sugar. I like to eat whole grains and real food, but I’m not a total snob. Oh, and the other people would be happy with a grilled American cheese on white bread with a donut for dessert.

We blew a bunch of money on lift tickets. We want to save money.

I go to the cupboard and I find a bag of brown rice; it’s almost empty. So, I dig further and find some lentils, some dried split peas, and some millet. Some taco shells. I find a can of black beans, another can of ried beans, a tiny can of tomato paste. I know we have some onions and garlic. In the freezer there’s a bag of frozen carrots. Rummaging through the fridge, I turn up some slightly withered hot peppers and some cheddar cheese.

I’m in business. It’s gonna be chili & rice.

I sauté half a sliced onion in some olive oil and add half a bouillon cube. (I use Rapunzel, it’s vegan. At some point I recommended it to my friends and thankfully, they have some on hand.) I put in the brown rice and some salt while I have the teakettle on to heat up some water. When the onions are soft and the rice gets kind of opaque I toss in the lentils, split peas, and the millet, and then the hot water. Plumes of steam hiss up and I slam a lid on it, dropping it down to a low simmer temp.

I get some help to slice the onions and hot peppers (which leads to an alarming contact lens situation later) and toss them into a pot with olive oil. I rinse off the black beans in a colander. We’re in company; it’s essential to not make the country cabin into a gas factory. I’ve been told it helps if you rinse off the beans. I find chili powder and cayenne in the cabinet. (I wish they had caraway seeds, it’s a great anti-gas agent!)

Once the onions and peppers are soft I toss in some crushed, coarse-chopped garlic. Following quickly are the beans, the tomato paste, some water, some chili powder, salt, and for the sneaky warmth of it, a cinnamon stick. Cover and simmer. You know what? Some ried beans go in. Not the whole can, I took a quick survey and everybody wants some ried beans just as they come, warmed up. That and the carrots, I’m gonna keep simple. They go into their respective pots for a warmup. I toast the taco shells in the oven a little bit so they are warm and won’t break apart.

At the end we have a ton of food. It’s pretty low rent but with grated cheddar melting on vegetarian chili, girl, we sure did like it. Also, since the food was already paid for, we have more money for snowboarding.

The chili took about 20 minutes. If you want this whole recipe to take 20 minutes, make quinoa instead of the brown rice.

The brown rice took about 45 minutes; that’s a pretty long wait but it’d still take longer to go to town, sit in a restaurant, look at menus, decide and then wait for the food. I bet.

On the Fly Vegetarian Chili
Serves 4 or 5


Chili
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small hot red peppers, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 14.5-ounce can ried beans (vegetarian, if possible)
1 14.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can tomato paste
A little water
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chili powder to your liking
1 cinnamon stick (or a little ground cinnamon)

Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 bouillon cube (Rapunzel if you can)
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/8 cup lentils, uncooked
1/8 cup millet, uncooked
1/8 cup green split peas, uncooked
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Jack, cheddar, or Colby cheese, grated (optional)
Taco shells (optional)

See above for preparation directions. You should have just enough chili to feed everyone. There will probably be leftovers of the rice mixture.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, and Price Per Serving
4 servings: 433 calories, 13 g fat, 16.8 g fiber, $1.95
5 servings: 346 calories, 10.4 g fat, 13.5 g fiber, $1.56
For 1 taco shell add: 62 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g fiber, $0.21
For 1 ounce grated 2% cheese, add: 90 calories, 9 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.25

Calculations
1 1/2 medium onion, chopped: 69 calories, 0.2 g fat, 2.3 g fiber, $0.93
2 small hot red peppers (hot): 36 calories, 0.4 g fat, 1.4 g fiber, $0.75
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped: 10 calories, 0 g fat, 0.1 g fiber, $0.10
3 tablespoons olive oil: 358 calories, 40.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.56
1/3 can ried beans: 79 calories, 1.1 g fat, 4.4 g fiber, $1.29
1 14.5-ounce can black beans: 382 calories, 1.3 g fat, 29 g fiber, $1.29
1 small can tomato paste: 131 calories, 0.2 g fat, 7.2 g fiber, $0.89
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked: 342 calories, 2.7 g fat, 3.2 g fiber, $0.54
1/8 cup lentils, uncooked: 85 calories, 0.3 g fat, 7.3 g fiber, $0.12
1/8 cup millet, uncooked: 95 calories, 1.1 g fat, 2.1 g fiber, $0.35
1/8 cup green split peas, uncooked: 85 calories, 0.3 g fat, 6.5 g fiber, $0.25
1/2 bouillon cube (Rapunzel brand): 25 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.19
Kosher salt: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.01
Freshly ground black pepper: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.01
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder: 35 calories, 1.9 g fat, 3.8 g fiber, $0.20
1 cinnamon stick: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.33
TOTALS: 1732 calories, 52 g fat, 67.3 g fiber, $7.81
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 433 calories, 13 g fat, 16.8 g fiber, $1.95
PER SERVING (TOTAL/5): 346 calories, 10.4 g fat, 13.5 g fiber, $1.56

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian.

Meal planning is a hot topic ‘round these parts; you’d think we’d covered it all. But what if you’re a mostly vegetarian, or a family of omnis trying to work in a few vegetarian meals a week? A reader wrote in asking specifically how to plan for vegetarian meals that don’t involve tapas.

This Veg is here to help. Here are some tips and tricks to help you plan weekly meals that will improve your health, reduce your budget, and satisfy everyone at the table.

Decide How Many Vegetarian Meals/Week
Decide how many times a week you want to eat vegetarian meals and to what degree. Will you eschew all animal products (like dairy and eggs) or just meat?

Mark Bittman endorses a “vegan before dinnertime” lifestyle, only eating meat for his evening meals. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath suggests giving Meatless Mondays a try. Take a poll of your household (or rule like the theistic monarch you were born to be) and decide what works best for you and yours.


Take a Look at Your Pantry
All those staple items are about to come in very handy. Grains, beans, and pastas are your friends when you go veg. If you’re not already stocked, don’t worry: dried beans and rice are about as inexpensive as foodstuffs come.

Compare what you have to the recipes you want to make, and then supplement with fresh or frozen vegetables. You’ll be amazed at how far your food budget goes.

• Lentil, Spinach, and Bulgur Stew
• Quinoa with Mustard Greens and Mushrooms
• Kasha with Root Veg and Dill

Tweak Your Favorite Recipes
There are probably dozens of meals you love that are already vegetarian or can easily become so: spaghetti with marinara sauce, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…and those are just the beginning.

With minimal effort, you can convert your and your family’s favorite meals into vegetarian delights. Swap meat with spinach or zucchini, and you’ll have a killer veggie lasagna. Chili sin carne is just as delicious as con; and don’t forget, every kid’s favorite: pizza. Just load up the pie with cheese and veggies, like mushrooms, peppers, and spinach.

• Camp Stove Veggie Chili
• Meatless Shepherd’s Pie
• Fresh Tomato Lasagna

Try Something New
A common myth about vegetarians is that our diets are very limited. “What can you eat?” I’m often asked. “EVERYTHING!” I say, “except four things: beef, poultry, pork, and seafood. All the other food in the word is available to me.”

Eliminating one type of food forces creativity in other areas. I’ve tried things I never would have otherwise, just to keep things interesting. Explore foods of other cultures or experiment with spices. Vegetable curries, beans and rice, and stir fries are among the most versatile and delicious dishes in my repertoire. Try adding them to yours.

• Pindi Chana
• Smokin’ Summer Stir Fry
• Summertime Gazpacho

Forget the Food Myths
Worried about carbs? Fear not: complex carbohydrates are energy. Stick with whole grains and you’re golden. “But what about protein?” you ask. “What about it?” I answer. Allow me to put to rest another myth: that of the anemic, peaked vegetarian/vegan. Protein is available in variety of plant-based sources, the key being variety. Ingest a combination of grains, legumes, and nuts throughout the day, and you’ll be mighty and strong.

• Vegetable Lo Mein
• Nuyorican Beans and Rice
• Collard Greens and Black-eyed Peas

Know Your Audience
Some meat eaters want a meat replacement with their veggie meals. Some don’t. If you decide to go the meat analog route, please head this warning: Fake meat does not taste like real meat. If you can appreciate the fake meat on its own, you’ll be a much happier omni on the vege path.

That said, don’t fear the bean curd. It’s a beautiful, misunderstood food, and, in the right hands, can make your vegetarian day. Other meat subs, like tempeh or seitan, can add protein and B vitamins, not to mention texture and pizzazz, to your playlist.

• Mighty Good Veggie Burgers
• Seitan O’Greatness
• Falafel in Love

Save Money, Eat Well, and Be Healthy
Planning ahead saves time in the long run and money at the market. It curbs impulse buying and keeps you on budget. Decide what you’ll make before you head to the store. Armed with your shopping list and empowered with a plan, you’ll be ready to make healthy, delicious vegetarian meals as often as you like...and hopefully more and more.

Did I leave any unanswered questions? Would you do anything differently? Do you need a recipe for something amazingly veg you’d like to see here? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Earth Day!

~~~

If you like this piece, you might also enjoy:

• 20 Cheap, Healthy Dishes Made From 10 Pantry Staples
• Cheap, Healthy Zucchini and Eggplant: 134 Recipes
• Reaching Into the Mailbag - Mom Seeks Help with Teen Veg

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members Steeena [peanut butter],  DodogoeSLR [pasta], Ze Eduardo [veggies].)

Hello from Canada! Bonjour du Canada! My good pal KC and I are wringing out the last bit of the summer travel season with a road trip along the Bay of Fundy to Prince Edward Island.

Almost as much fun as being here (whales! porpoises! seals!), was plotting our course and picking fun things to do with her 6-year-old daughter (whales! porpoises! seals!). My additional task was ensuring there were places for me to eat along the way, here in the land of abundant seafood/fruits de mer.

Vegetarian/vegan travel can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. In my 19 years of vegetarianism, I’ve never gone hungry from lack of choices. There are a few things I do when I’m traveling to unknown locales, but starve is never one of them.

For this trip, and this post, I called on my own Veg Posse (VP) and Friends of the VP to bring you the best vegetarian/vegan travel tips they and the Web have to offer.

Meet the VP:
LEIGH: me, writer/tea-drinker, lacto-ovo vegetarian
DH: roommate/pal, actor/orator, lacto-ovo vegetarian
BA (in absentia): pal, rock star/bon vivant, vegan
LB: pal, rabble rouser/animal advocate, 98% vegan
HC: friend of the VP, giver of good email, vegan

1) Do Your Research
When traveling to an unfamiliar destination, make a plan. Both LB and HC agreed that researching restaurants online is the best way to find veg-friendly places to chow down. Sure, you can get French fries/pommes frites/chips and salad just about anywhere. But sometimes you want a healthier/less boring option.

HC wisely recommends calling ahead whenever venturing out to a new vegetarian restaurant. “One thing I have learnt is that vegan restaurants close down so frequently that information can be out of date. The number of times I have trekked through a town to find that the restaurant is no longer there...rather depressing.”

Get out your guidebooks, interweb resources, and maps, and plot a course for the nearest veg-friendly restaurant. Here are the most highly recommended sites for searching veg-friendly travel.

VEG-SPECIFIC:
Happy Cow.net: Hands-down the most popular and comprehensive vegetarian directory on the Web. You can search restaurants by country, region/state/province, and city. You can define results by veg-only and vegetarian-friendly, user ratings, and/or veg type: vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly. Plus, Happy Cow provides other resources, such as travel and health articles, as well as forums for members to share information. I used Happy Cow to find a great vegetarian restaurant in Moncton, New Brunswick that not only pleased my palate, but a picky 6-year-old’s.

VegGuide: A community-maintained veg restaurant and market guide. It allows you to search for restaurants, groceries, and markets all over the world by country, region, and city; describes each entry by “How Vegetarian?”; and allows for user ratings.

Vegan Forum: Message boards like Vegan Forum are a great way to get the skinny on local joints from local folks. After you’ve found a place that sounds good on “paper,” search for it, or ask about it, on a forum and find out if anybody really eats there.

GENERAL:
Trip Advisor: An invaluable resource when planning any trip. You will find user ratings and reviews on hotels, restaurants, and destinations of all sorts. Since I knew seafood would be all the rage where we were going, I did a little digging on Trip Advisor and found several Lobster Suppers with vegetarian options on Prince Edward Island. After emailing the proprietors, I found the one with the best veggie deal for the price.

Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree forums: The first (two) name(s) in travel guides for the modern adventurer. Just enter your destination and the word vegetarian or vegan in the Lonely Planet search window, and you’re almost guaranteed to find a thread loaded with information from fellow travelers.

2) Pack a Snack
A frugal traveler of any stripe packs a few snacks or meals for the road (or airport). For a veg, it’s especially helpful if you’re unsure of your options where you’re headed or along the way. BA, rock star and world traveler, always stocks my fridge with single-serve soymilk and soy yogurts when she’s passing through NYC. HC swears by raw cashews and veggie sausage sandwiches. LB packs apples, carrot sticks, and rice cakes for the road. Me? I’m a tamari almond, granola bar, and peanut butter sandwich traveler—plus single-serve almond milk for continental breakfast cereal.

3) Make a Few Concessions
As DH said so eloquently said, “sometimes you just have to give up eating healthy when you travel.” So true, DH. Fast food is inevitable at times, and a moment of calm and surrender can be worth far more than stress about finding organic, seasonal, local produce in the suburban jungle. HC and LB agree, though we all make an attempt to avoid it unless unavoidable. LB says, I just find it hard to patronize places that promote an unhealthy diet, nutritionally, ethically and environmentally, on such a large scale.” Preach it, sister/soeur.

Fast food joints are getting better about offering vegetarian fare. Salads are prevalent, though often less than appetizing; veggie burgers pop up every now and then, though vegans should ask for an ingredient list before ordering. I had a fast-food veggie burger on Tuesday when we kicked off our road trip with the kid’s choice of restaurant, and it was pretty good.

Still, there will be times when your only option is fast food French fries/pommes frites/chips. Remember when you were a kid and you begged to have only French fries/pommes frites/chips for dinner? When you’re a veg/vegan on the road—especially in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.—that kid gets to live his/her dream.

4) Know You Will Not Starve
There will always be something for you to eat. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your waiters and the locals. Someone will be able to guide you toward food you can eat and enjoy.

Since my international travel experience is limited to the Great White North, I put the following question to LB and HC: How do you negotiate whats available/cultural norms/etiquette? Their answers were so brilliant that I’m just going to quote them outright.

LB: “In my first serious solo trip overseas to Tanzania, I spent the first 2 weeks with a volunteer group working in a local village. The village women were responsible for preparing our meals, which we ate with our hosts. I honestly dont recall if I specified that I was vegetarian but amazing vegan options were available at every meal. Their diet in general is not very dairy-rich, probably due to limited dairy production in [that] area of Tanzania, and also, I imagine, cost. My colleagues were actually a little jealous of my diet, as the meat they were served was generally of the chewy animal sort—not very appetizing! Later, when I did a 10-day walking tour with just me and a guide, I told him I was vegetarian, and so he would buy rice and vegetables in the markets of the various towns and have our hosts for the evenings prepare them for me. I dont recall anyone thinking my diet was odd or out of place and, again, I think this is largely due to the fact that Tanzania is not a wealthy country and so meat, while available, is costly and not served at every meal.”

HC: “I find that in many countries where they have dietary restrictions for religious reasons, they find it easier to understand the concept of veganism, and its not so strange to them to hear that someone cant eat something as a result of their beliefs.”

No matter where you go, in the whole wide world, there will be something for you to eat. Except, says HC, maybe in France if you’re a vegan.

If you’d still like a little help explaining your diet, check out this article:
WikiTravel—Vegetarian and Vegan Food

There you’ll find a link to the International Vegetarian Union’s Vegetarian Phrases in World Languages page. You’ll be able to say, “I am a vegetarian. I do not eat meat, pork or chicken./Je suis un végétarienne. Je ne mange pas de viande, de porc ou de poulet,” in a bajillion/baguillion languages.

5. Relax and Enjoy
Sometimes, the best way to plan your vegetarian/vegan vacation is not to plan at all. Just get out there, meet some people, and have fun. And eat some French fries/pommes frites/chips.

All the veg-specific guides mentioned in this article, and many more, can be found at

• Circle Our Earth
• Vegetarian Guides and
• Vegetarian Resource Group—Travel

~~~

If you adored this article, vous adorerez:

• Cheap Healthy Vacation Food: 61 Tips for Travel Eats on a Budget
• Cheap Healthy Vacation Food, Part Deux: 10 More Tips for Travel Eats on a Budget
• Feeding a Group on Vacation

Today on Serious Eats: Confetti Quinoa Salad, a rainbow of vegan deliciousness that even the staunchest meaties will love.

Happy Labor Day, dear readers. Today is a day to celebrate the working people of America. For much of the country, that means picnics and cookouts. In New York City, a holiday Monday means brunch.

Now, I’m a teetotaler (for health reasons—you’ll get no moralizing from me), but I like a fancy beverage with my brunch as much as the next girl; and my favorite brunch mocktail is the Virgin Mary. First of all, I love tomato juice; I love spicy; and a virgin mimosa is just orange juice.

The problem as a vegetarian is that most restaurants use a premade Bloody Mary mix. Not only are those mixes often bland, the Worcestershire sauce is already in there, meaning the dang thing is not vegetarian.

Here’s my tried-and-true Vegetarian Virgin Mary recipe, perfect for your next brunch party or the next time you want some zesty vitamin C with your breakfast. It uses my homemade Vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce, but you can find veggie versions in most natural food markets.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses to Mrs. and Mr. Kris and Husband, the loveliest, funniest, dancingest bride and groom on the Island of Long. Sláinte!

If you liked this recipe, you’ll likely enjoy:
Mint Limeade
White Wine Sangria
Cranberry and Blackberry Champagne Punch

Vegetarian Virgin Marys



makes 4 8-oz servings

32 oz (1 quart) tomato juice
2 tsp crushed celery seed
1 tbsp hot sauce (or to taste)
2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon

1. Chill tomato juice in a medium pitcher.

2. Add crushed celery seed, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

3. Stir and pour into glasses. Garish with parsley, lime wedges, or celery.

4. Toast to your good friends.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Price per Serving
67.8 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, .5g protein, $.98

Caluculations
NOTE: I used organic tomato juice. Your cost will vary depending on the tomato juice you choose.
32 oz (1 quart) tomato juice: 240 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 2g protein, $.3.49
2 tsp crushed celery seed: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1 tbsp hot sauce (or to taste): negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.04
2 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce: 16 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $.06
1 tsp salt: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper: negligible calories, fat, fiber, protein, $.02
juice of 1 lemon: 12 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.25
Totals: 271 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 2g protein, $3.92
Per serving (totals/4): 67.8 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, .5g protein, $.98

Photo by Brian Haskell