| |
| |
|
Cooking Tips Digest |
|
|
|
Vegetarian Cooking - Three Basics
For any of the many reasons people choose to eatvegetarian food - religion, politics, finances, or health -one thing in common is that everyone prefers food thattastes delicious and provides good nutrition. There aresome basic techniques to vegetarian cooking which willaccomplish that. There is a range of vegetarianism. From the vegan to theperson who eats meat on rare occasions. Some peopleconsider themselves basically vegetarian if they never eatred meat, but do eat fish and chicken once in a while.Other vegetarians eat animal products like eggs and dairy,but never the animal itself. A vegan is at the far end ofthe continuum, rejecting animal products entirely. Veganswon't eat mayonnaise because it's made using eggs, forexample. Wherever you are on the continuum of vegetarianism, youwant your food to taste good, be satisfying, and providegood nutrition. Here are some methods for cookingvegetarian to meet those basic requirements. To begin, if you are making some dish that is actually ameat-based recipe, such as chili con carne, stopsubstituting textured vegetable protein for the meat andleaving the rest of the recipe unaltered. The result nevertastes quite right, and you've been robbed of the pleasureof good food: it's neither meat nor properly vegetarian.Furthermore, you haven't gained in terms of health oreconomy. Soy is the primary ingredient of texturedvegetable protein, tofu, and tempeh. These are usuallyhigh in fat, high in processing, and fairly high in cost.Not much better than organically raised meat, if at all.So if chili con carne is what you want, buy organic meatand enjoy it! Otherwise, cook a delicious soup using redbeans that doesn't pretend it's chili con carne. The key to good vegetarian soup is to use oil. Even ifyou prefer low fat, your body does require fats for healthymetabolism. And it definitely enhances the quality andflavor of any vegetarian soup when some of the vegetables(onions in particular) are saut~ed. Use an oil that'sliquid at room temperature, such as olive, vegetable, orgrape seed. The next critical ingredient of vegetarian food thattastes fabulous is really simple: use sea salt. Althoughany kind of salt will enhance the flavor of most foods, seasalt is best. It naturally contains minerals, while itdoesn't contain the nasty chemicals of regular processedtable salt. Important to note~ use salt *during* thecooking instead of waiting until after serving the food.This makes a difference in the final quality of the dishbecause cooking is chemistry. Remember back to your highschool chemistry classes: the order of combining theelements, and the application of heat to the mixture couldmake a tremendous difference to the results of theexperiment! The third tip for vegetarian cooking is obvious, yet needsemphasis. Use lots of vegetables! You can't over-dovegetables in your diet - the greater the range and color,the better. Use leafy veg (lettuce, spinach, and chard),root veg (yams, carrots, potatoes, turnips), and the stemsand seed carriers of veg (for example celery, eggplant,peppers, zucchini). Buy organic veg if you can becausethey really do taste better, and of course they providebetter nutrition because they are gown in healthy, 'clean'dirt. Take any vegetable and bean soup recipe, and follow thesethree simple principles: saut~ the veg in the right oil,cook the beans in sea-salted water, use a variety oforganic vegetables, and you'll have a rich delicious soup.These simple tips make a big difference. Take my word forit, or do a little test. Use the same list of ingredients,but don't saut~ in oil, add the salt at the table, and useconventionally grown veg. The result will be inferior -still nutritious, but bland rather than satisfying, andthat's a shame because the few simple techniques describedhere can make your vegetarian cooking consistentlyterrific. Articles by Nora Poulous on topics related to cooking arepublished in Z CookingNews the leading resource on-line for information aboutcooking. Visit the complete archive of articles here:http://www.zcooking.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
6 Tips for Perfect Homemade Hard Candy There's nothing better than the juicy, flavorful hard candy from your local gourmet candy shop . . Barbecue for You In may just be in human nature to barbecue. Well,we have been doing it as far back as time candenote. What is Gluten and Why does it Matter? Gluten is a substance made up of the proteins found in wheat flour that gives bread its structure, strength, and texture. Without these marvelous little proteins, bread would not be bread. The Barbecue Pit The barbecue pit has been around since 1920,s and it was used to cook barbecue beef ribs. BBQ ribs had a far more delicious than ribs cooked in the kitchen. How to Prepare the Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes Would you like to prepare the best Garlic Mashed Potatoes that you enjoy at your favorite restaurant, but have no idea where to start to achieve that wonderful and delightful flavor?There are a variety of ways to create the best garlic mashed potatoes that you have ever tasted but when it comes down to which way is best is according to your own taste buds.When you take a look at garlic you will see that there are various kinds of garlic that you can use for your mashed potatoes such as German red garlic, Spanish Roja garlic, Leningrad garlic, and Yugoslavian. Cooking -- What You Need To Know From ancient times till the nineteenth century cooking was basically a survival skill. The nineteenth century marked the division of cooking into two main categories. Troubleshooting Cookies If your cookies are too tough . . Kitchen Canister Sets - How to Beautify Your Kitchen Kitchen canister sets are a great way to accent your kitchen and give you more storage space. Canister sets of today come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Cooking Filet Mignon Filet mignon is French, of course, with filet meaning "thick slice" and mignon meaning "dainty." Filet mignon comes from the small end of the tenderloin (called the short loin) which is found on the back rib cage of the animal. Wok this Way! (Part 4 of 5) Cleaning and Caring for Your Wok Non-stick woks do not require seasoning, and come with simple cleaning instructions from the manufacturers, while steel carbon and iron woks require seasoning. Cleaning a seasoned wok is a lot different than a non-stick wok, and this is what we will cover here. Eat your Veggies! Simple Cooking Methods Vegetables add colour, taste, texture and bulk to our daily diet. There are dozens of different vegetables that can be prepared in literally hundreds of ways. Unique Cake Decorating With Flowers Flowers as a Cake Decoration, unique and easy to place on every one of your cake creations.Flowers, both real and artificial are relatively simple to use. 10 Smart Shopping Tips To Protect Your Family From Getting Sick Prevention of food poisoning starts with your trip to thesupermarket. Here's how to start off safely. Kid Birthday Cake Idea Collection - Cake Decorating Without Fear Our kid birthday cake idea collection makes cake decorating fun and fearless. You don't have to be a pastry chef to create a professional quality cake for your child's birthday or other special event. Troubleshooting Machine Bread Bread machines-wonderful inventions that they are-don't think very well. You and I, when we have a loaf of bread percolating on the counter, can look and say, "My bread is rising a little slowly today. Baking Perfect Breads, Cookies, and Desserts We're all looking for that perfect pie, or cookies, or loaf of bread. It doesn't always happen. Cooking Lobster at Home Lobster has always be one of those extravagant meals which few people ever try because of the high cost. With restaurants paying thirty dollars a pound, by the time they put their markup on it, you're easily paying sixty dollars for a ten ounce tail. The Wonderful Wok: Stir Frying Basics Want to enjoy the tantalizing taste of Asian food at home? Invest in a wok! Stir-frying is one of the easiest ways to create a delicious, healthy dinner in minutes. Learn to prepare meals the Asian way: light on meat, heavy on the vegetables, and quick-cooked on high heat to retain vitamins and flavors. Two for One Dinners: Beef If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night. What You Need in a Gourmet Kitchen The best way to decide what you need in your kitchen is to first decide what it is you are going to be cooking in there. The best suggestion I ever heard on this matter is to find five dishes you really love.
|
| Go Home | site map |
