I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is next week! It sneaks up on me like that every year! But it’s OK. Thanksgiving is not such a big deal – anymore.

Back in my turkey days, I used to stress over Thanksgiving dinner: Get the bird cooked just right, make everything to go with it, decorate and set the table beautifully (I’d even iron a tablecloth!), invite people over, pray they’d all come, everyone would behave and the big event would go off without a hitch.

Then there was clean up. And leftovers. Major stress!

An unexpected bonus to going completely vegetarian was liberation from Thanksgiving food expectations. Once the turkey was gone from the menu, all bets were off.

We could eat Indian, or Italian, or Mexican, or Thai. Or go with a Traditional Veg Thanksgiving menu, with lentil loaf and all the fixings – veggie gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, etc. Or skip the whole thing and order a pizza.

We started having vegetarian Thanksgiving potlucks, with all the guests bringing their favorite dishes. It worked great, especially if there was some direction, so that everybody didn’t bring dessert or chips. We had some very interesting Thanksgiving feasts!

It never occured to us to replace the turkey with tofurkey or any other fake meat dish, because we didn’t feel the need, and besides, those options weren’t available back in the day.

These days, the faux turklet is a popular way for new veggies to fill the gaps in their thanksgiving menu, either because they haven’t figured out what to eat instead of turkey, or because they miss eating turkey and want to get as close as they can to the ‘real thing’.

Fact is, there’s almost no end to the delicious veg dishes that can successfully replace the turkey in a Thanksgiving dinner. I suspect that even non-veggies appreciate an alternative to the same-old same-old turkey.

A major source of Thanksgiving stress for vegetarians and vegans is attending (or hosting) family TG dinners with non-veg family members. I’ve had some choice letters from both sides.

The big problem seems to be that the Thanksgiving turkey is a sacred tradition, and all the favorite dishes that go with it are sacred by association. In some families, the TG menu is set in stone, and enforced by older family members who’ve directed the event for years and years. Egos and emotions rule the day!

Then along comes the vegetarian or vegan, who all of a sudden out of the blue for no good reason doesn’t eat anything with a face, wants to overturn the established order, and generally cause a lot of trouble for the normal majority. At least, that’s how the non-veg family members tend to see it.

Responses range from loving efforts to accommodate and include the vegetarian or vegan, as with this Grandma, to trying to ignore the veg into submission, as in this family thanksgiving scenario.

What should be a time of coming together to share a feast, give thanks for nature’s bounty, and enjoy the company of loved ones, becomes a stressful experience for both sides.

The vegetarians and vegans resent being expected to pick the bacon bits out of the salad, and endure rude remarks about rabbit food. The non-vegetarians resent being made to feel guilty about their food choices – intentional or not, the veg presence implies wrong doing.

No wonder that veggies often want to boycott family TG, and gather with their own kind to eat lentil loaf! But it doesn’t have to be like that, truly. It is possible to enjoy thanksgiving with your non-veg family and friends – you just have to be one part diplomat, one part assertive, one part devious, and one part easy going.

Read the free Savvy Veg report Veg Non-Veg Together for more on how we can all just get along.

Happy Thanksgiving from Savvy Vegetarian!

Wise and compassionate response to this article from Mary Beth Akers:

Thanks for the article regarding how to handle Thanksgiving as a vegetarian guest of non-vegetarian relatives. I don’t claim to have arrived at the answers to this delimma, and I am facing the same challenge this year, but as a recently converted vegan, I can recall a little bit of what it’s like to be on the other side.

I have a friend who has many dietary restrictions, including food allergies, religious convictions, and diabetes prevention. They come to visit us for a few days occasionally, and when I was in the habit of preparing conventional American food, it was as if I were learning to cook all over again every time they came.

I would make a special trip to the health food store (90 miles away) to try to find food that she could eat. I would spend a lot of money on ingredients that we wouldn’t use up. It was a source of tremendous anxiety for me.

Before they came, she would call me to remind me of her very long list of restricted foods. She wasn’t rude about it, but I sometimes resented her telling me what I could and could not prepare in my own kitchen. It never affected our relationship, but I could see where in some cases, it could.

I would make the following points and suggestions for people on both sides of the issue:

1) Relationships are more important than food choices.

2) Before you say or do anything, consider first what you want to accomplish, and what will be the consequences of your approach. Always consider the other person’s perspective.

3) Be honest and straightforward, and approach the subject well ahead of the holiday, not when everyone is already stressed out over the pressures from all the preparations. If the person lives nearby, go and visit with him or her in person, so that you can look each other in the eye. Do not expect someone to change their entire way of cooking for one meal.

4) Keep a smiling, cheerful countenance throughout the day. Be the life of the party. This will distract from the very insignificant fact that you aren’t eating some of the food.

5) Whenever you are in a position requiring or allowing you to discuss your diet, talk about it enthusiastically, as you would if you were telling them exciting news.

6) Be aware that when people are critical of the choices of others, sometimes it is because they are insecure about their own choices. Putting down someone else is a means of making themselves feel better, or so they think. If that’s the case, there is nothing you can do except realize that they are inadvertently revealing that they believe you might be doing the right thing. Sometimes replying with a question can be a good response: “You seem to be knowledgeable about diet; where do you get your information?” If you feel you need to defend yourself: “How do my food choices concern you?”

7) Have in mind a list of positive, neutral subjects you can bring up at the family gathering. Ask people about themselves, their children, their hobbies, their jobs, their upcoming vacation, etc. Be ready to change the subject if necessary. Be a good listener. There aren’t many of those around anymore, and it’s an easy way to win hearts.

A Blessed Thanksgiving to you and all your readers! Mary Beth Akers

Guest post by Aussie Fiona Morgan, who is working on an art/veg cookbook of meatless meals.

Check out her blog, Spaces Between the Gaps, and website, Where Fish Sing for beautiful art and meatless recipes.

The sample recipes have been lifted from her blog, tested, tasted (yum!), photographed and posted on Savvy Veg.

Links to the original recipes are included so you can go see Fiona’s delightful fantastical paintings. Love the mushroom painting inspired by a Russian Orthodox Church!

How to Vegetarianize Meat Based Meals:

Sometimes you want to create a vegetarian version of a familiar meat based meal. And non-vegetarians who have to cook a meatless or vegetarian meal are often stumped about how to get past the mentality of ‘meat and three veg minus the meat’.

The bad news is that sometimes it’s just not possible. Trying to make a vegetarian version of a baked fish, for example, is just setting yourself up for failure.

However, there are many meat based meals that can be successfully adapted for vegetarians so that everyone at the table can eat the same familiar thing.

I have veg versions of spaghetti bolognese, carbonara, stroganoff, lasagna, ramen, chillie con carne, burgers, and chowder that are all usually meat dependent meals, and that my non-veg friends are more than happy to chow down on.

Let Me Make Some Suggestions:

Ditch the idea of a Western style dish. There are tasty veg sausages, veggie burgers, lentil loaves (instead of meatloaf), and meat substitute products such as TVP (use instead of mince) and various mock meats usually gluten based, BUT… it is most difficult to make a substitution success of a meat and three veg style meal.

The real variety of meatless meals is in ethnic cuisines that have a long history of meatless dishes already. Oriental, Indian, Mexican, Italian etc. Go cornicopia.

Depending on the cuisine, if you want to use a substitute for meat in a recipe you’ve found, either tofu (Oriental) or beans (South American, Indian) will generally work very very well. Sometimes an appropriate cheese is great (Greek, Italian, Indian).

I think because the meat is not the center of many of these dishes, it is a lot easier to replace or remove it than in Western style hunk-of-steak-and-unidentified-greenery-on-the-side meals.

Recipes that are defined by a flavoured sauce or soup base are the easiest to adapt. It’s a matter of recreating the taste of the sauce using plant ingredients (see the tips on umami for help here) and then finding an ingredient that gives a suitable satisfying mouth feel (texture, chunkiness, density) to replace the meat. Also, almost anything with minced meat is a breeze.

For instance, minced meat is often easy to switch for lentils or TVP, beans or even finely diced mixed vegetables (menu and recipe at the end folks). Pork mince can be replaced by diced tempeh or diced shitake mushrooms.

Tofu, in it’s many forms is an easy switch for chicken pieces. Also, chickpeas/garbanzo beans or egg can be used for chicken.

Depending on the cuisine, beef and lamb can be replaced by large mushroom chunks and wine (another menu and recipe at the end), or sometimes kidney beans and potato or even beetroot!

The trick with the heavy meat flavours is to take care of the umami. Add extra herbs, spices, fats and stock.

Seafood I usually switch out for tofu or egg, taking care to replace any brinyness with a little bit of seaweed or extra salt.

Sometimes you want a chewy texture in big chunks and this is where cheese, boiled eggs or gluten products are useful.

For a salty replacement, remember cheese, capers, olives, or a marinated tofu.

With all these substitutions, remember that taking the meat out often also takes out the source of much of the flavour.

Remember to add in extra flavour to account for this. My umami guide walks you through getting superb deep flavour in your veg meals.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to take away and try. Basically, unless you are trying to vegetarianize a slab of meat on a plate or something like a meatlovers pizza, it’s easy to make tasty substitutions for meat based meals that everyone will enjoy.

Looking for a Bit More Guidance?

Here are two sample menus - the substitutions (and taste testing!) are already done.

First is an Italian based meal where the minced meat has been switched out for lentils. I’ve had meat lovers eat this and not realise they were eating lentils until the very last mouthful. And then they didn’t care!

Italian Menu (vegan):

• Garlic Bread: French baguette sliced and slathered with butter, veggie spread or olive oil mixed with fresh minced garlic, baked until the butter melts, the garlic is slightly golden, and the bread is toasty around the edges.
• Simple Green Salad of lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
• Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese (vegan)
• Original Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps

How About a Russian Menu for Dinner? Traditional beef is switched for umami ingredients (carrot, butter and extra beetroot) in borscht soup, and in stroganoff, with mushrooms and wine.

Russian Menu (vegetarian) – serve with noodles, rice or any grain:

• Borscht Beet Soup
• Original Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps
• Mushroom Strogonoff
• Original Stroganoff Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps

About WhereFishSing:

Artist and long time vegetarian Fiona Morgan is on a blogging mission to show people how easy and tasty plant based food can be with her food meets art project. Check out her blog for all the umami filled recipes and artwork and follow the creation of the artvegecookbook.

I have a lot of a lot of allergies; however, since my husband is a diabetic and needs to watch his weight I want to change to a vegetarian diet. However, the biggest problem I am encountering concern my allergies to HOT & SPICY foods. I am allergic to the following: garlic, horseradish, cayanne, hot (white) onions and any hot peppers or seasonings with garlic or hot pepper.

My question is, are there ANY seasonings out there I can use or substitute in recipes (like hummus or pesso) so I can still enjoy vegan cooking with some flavor??? So many recipes like soups, etc call for GARLIC! I LOVE spicy foods, but they HATE me & tear up my GI system BIG time.

Thanks for any suggestions or help you can give me – Kathy D.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice

Hi Kathy,

There’s no law which states that any recipe requires onions, garlic, peppers, etc. It’s just a cultural habit. I include those foods in our vegetarian recipes because most people like them, cook with them, and would feel lost without them. And they are tasty!

However, my husband and I can’t eat much of the nightshade or onion families. So I cook without them. My strategy is to just leave them out, and add a little more of other flavorings instead. E.G. for hummus I double the lemon juice, and add a pinch more cumin and coriander.
I use herbs and spices liberally for flavoring, plus lemon or lime juice, a bit of coconut milk, etc.

Seasonings I use regularly or occasionally:

Ginger in moderation – usually a slice of fresh ginger, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, fennel, asefetida (hing), cinnamon, cardamom, basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, bay leaf, fresh herbs whenever possible (I grow parsley, thyme, basil, mint), a little black pepper, rock salt, Braggs liquid aminos (unfermented), nutritional yeast, white miso, veggie bouillon cubes or vegetable stock.

For a little red color I sometimes cheat and add a bit of paprika. The seasoning mix Mrs. Dash I’ve found to be O.K. I use curry powder if it’s very mild. I sometimes add nuts & seeds or nut butters to casseroles, or sauces. Shredded or juiced beets or carrots will also add color and flavor.

There are many other possibilities but that’s what I mostly do for seasonings.

I also use organic vegetables, which in my opinion have a lot more flavor, color and nutrition than non-organic. Especially things like carrots and celery and greens.

For vegetables, instead of nightshades, I use winter & summer squashes, yams & sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, chinese cabbage, kale, carrots, beets, celery, fennel, fresh parsley, basil, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, lettuce, avocado, sprouts, cucumber, etc.

I often saute veggies in a little oil, adding spices & dried herbs at the end. That boosts flavor too. Sometimes I add a squeeze of lemon or lime before serving or a dash of Braggs liquid aminos. Steamed veg can be made more flavorful with a little fresh or dried herb, a pinch of salt & pepper, and a dash of oil & lemon.

I tend to favor dishes like stews served over grains, sauteed veggies cooked in a sauce, soups with breads or muffins or scones, stove top casseroles, mild curries, grain salads. Those all have a lot of different ingredients, colors, seasonings & flavors compared to a meal of plain grain, plain beans, plain steamed veggies for example.

Most Savvy Vegetarian recipes reflect this way of cooking. If you leave out the ingredients you can’t eat, there’s still plenty of seasonings to flavor your dish. I never feel deprived!

Message for Savvy Vegetarian:

I have been vegetarian, in various stages, for 35 years. I have 2 reasons for writing.

1) I have been out of work for 3 years. I have a cupboard full of dhals, beans and split beans that I have had for years – I don’t even know how long and some them I don’t know what they are. Can I still use them? Maybe with longer soaking time? I would use them in soup or stew.

2) For 2 of my years out of work, I went back to college (I am now 57; graduated in May). Due to a blog I read yesterday I came to realize that I have not been eating quality protein – possibly for all the last 3 years. The blogger mentioned that it took quite some time to notice an increase in energy (my main problem). I would like to use a supplement to boost my energy until I get my diet back on track. Can you suggest a supplement and an initial diet? I would be much beholden. – P.W.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi P. W. Congratulations on graduating at age 57! I’m sorry you’ve been unemployed for 3 years, and I hope that changes soon. More energy would definitely help.

Regarding the legumes that you’ve had for years: I also have had some legumes for years, stored in glass jars in a cool cupboard. As long as they don’t look or smell bad, I would use them. They could need extra soaking (probably double) and cooking. If it’s hot in your kitchen, try soaking in the fridge. If you don’t know what they are, go to a natural food store that sells bulk beans, and do a bit of detective work. Or search online for a site with pictures of beans. Like Athena Foods.

Regarding your lack of energy: it’s could be that a lack of quality protein isn’t actually the culprit. It could be not enough calories, or poor nutrition in general, which means there could be several possible deficiencies. Nutrition is holistic and synergistic – all the nutrients work together for good health and energy.

My advice is to get tested for Vit D, Vit B12, and iron deficiencies. Any of those would affect your energy levels dramatically. It’s a good idea for anyone over 50 whether vegetarian or not to supplement with Vit D & Vit B12. Calcium & Vit C deficiencies are possible, but those are plentiful in a healthy varied diet with plenty of fruit and green veg. While you’re getting those deficiency tests, get a few other routine tests if you can: cholesterol, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, hormones for example, just to rule out other problems.

Protein: Many people I know boost their protein intake by adding protein powder to smoothies, along with other ingredients such as non-dairy milk or yogurt, green veg, fruit, ground chia seeds, nut butters. You could also add nuts & seeds & non-dairy milks to grains or breakfast cereals. Hummus is a great energy booster to have in your fridge, with a good balance of fat, carbs & protein. . Yummy in a sandwich or wrap, or with chips or crackers.

It’s easy for a vegetarian to get enough quality protein, by eating enough calories from a good variety of whole foods: whole grains, legumes, nuts & seeds, a little added oil, lots and lots of fruit and veggies, very little sugar and processed foods. Please read the article “How to Get Enough Protein in Your Vegetarian Diet”.

I repeat:It’s important to eat a high quality whole foods diet with a big variety of fresh foods, for optimum vegetarian health, with minimal supplementation, e.g. Vit D and B12 separately and possibly a one-a-day multi-vitamin. That’s according to the veg nutrition bible, Becoming Vegetarian, by Melina and Davis, and I also cover those basics in my Vegetarian Nutrition Report.

If possible, please consider consulting a veg-friendly dietitian or nutritionist for help designing the best diet for you. That’s a job that’s far beyond my qualifications!

I agree whole heartedly with the idea of umami as the missing element in so many vegetarian foods. However, I tend to think more in Ayurvedic terms. Ayurveda names 6 tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. All six tastes should be present to make food tasty and satisfying.

Umami to me is a different twist on the same food philosophy. Whatever you call it, that’s what we’re going for in Savvy Vegetarian recipes, and it’s the reason why our recipes often have many more flavoring ingredients than basic ingredients. That doesn’t make them harder or longer to make – it just makes them more tasty!

Fiona states that meat has lots of umami, which raised my eyebrows because it’s been a long time since I thought of meat as food, and I don’t have fond memories. IMHO if anything, meat has way too much umami, so that the taste overwhelms all other tastes.

In fact, plant foods also have lots of umami, but our taste buds aren’t attuned at first to those more subtle flavors. Foods that seem bland now will become more flavorful as your taste buds recover from meat.

Freshness, good cooking and preparation allow the natural good taste of vegetarian foods to shine through, and they only need enough seasoning to enhance and complement their flavors to give them umami. Juicing carrots is a perfect example. Or sprinkling tofu with soy sauce and frying or broiling it.

Complementary combinations of foods also add umami, e.g. rice and beans are tastier together than apart, even before adding seasonings. A little garlic, ginger, cumin and cilantro then make them sublime.

But enough of my blah, blah, blah. Over to Fiona’s great article about UMAMI!

Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Why Does My Vegetarian Meal Taste So Bland?

For those of you dabbling with or newly committed to a plant based diet, you will probably be having this problem. To me, a lot of vegetarian dishes suffer a lack of flavour that doesn’t seem to be fixed with salt. They taste rather one dimensional. They lack depth or fullness in flavour. To be blunt, they are bland.

This can especially be a problem for new vegetarians and flexitarians and I shall explain why. If it just doesn’t taste as satisfying as you expect, then it’s probably missing that wonderful essence known as umami.

Umami?

Umami is a taste sensation just like sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It is now considered to be the ‘fifth taste’. Most people haven’t heard of it but everyone knows when it is missing. It could also be called savouriness. It is that pleasant and even mouthwatering sensation that lingers on your tongue.

Meat has umami. Lots of it. There are plenty of veg friendly sources of umami, but if you are not aware of putting them in your cooking, that fullness of flavour they add will be missing. Which is why new vegetarians often struggle to hit that moreishness in their meals. With meat you don’t need to try. With vegetarian cooking, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way. It makes you a much more capable and versatile cook.

Vegetarian Sources of Umami

Mushrooms especially shitake, tomatoes, asparagus, celery (cooked), carrot, corn, onion (cooked), potatoes (cooked), soybeans, sweet potatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, seaweed, green tea, savoury herbs such as rosemary and thyme, yeast, fermented foods (ie beer, wine, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kim chi, soy sauce), aged foods such as cheese and also butter (for vegetarians).

Further Hints for a Rich Depth of Veggy Flavor

Perfume is designed to have bottom, middle and top notes that intermingle and come to the fore at different times. A well balanced recipe will have a complexity of flavours that make the taste feel round, rich and full. There are no ‘gaps’ in the tasting experience. It might help to think of a well rounded dish as having multiple layers of flavourings. One dimensional just doesn’t satisfy.

In practice this means, for instance, that even a simple one or two vegetable soup has a stock made from garlic, onion, celery and carrot, has some herbs such as bay leaf and thyme, a dash of salt and pepper, a slosh of wine and some spice such as a pinch of nutmeg. Or a pasta sauce has plenty of slow cooked onions and mushrooms, garlic, red wine, carrot, tomatoes and a multitude of herbs such as oregano and basil, some salt and perhaps a pinch of chilli.

What I’m trying to illustrate is that to get lots of flavour out, you need to put lots of flavour in!

• Be generous with your herbs.
• Learn to use spices.
• Never use plain water in your soups, stews and sauces. Always use stock or some sort of flavoured liquid.
• Make use of your vege umami sources.

Here’s to tasty vegetarian cooking!

About WhereFishSing:
Artist and long time vegetarian Fiona Morgan is on a blogging mission to show people how easy and tasty plant based food can be with her food-meets-art project. It combines the contemporary approach to vegetarian food as ‘meatless meals’ for everyone (not just hippies), and modern symbolist paintings inspired by the essence of each dish (without a traditional still-life-with-grapes in sight). Check out her website for all the umami filled recipes and artwork and follow the creation of the artvegecookbook.

Question for Savvy Vegetarian:

When I try to become a vegetarian – except for fish (mostly wild salmon) and eggs) – I gain weight.

I eat quinoa, but generally find I must leave beans and rice alone. I’m 68, in good shape, and very active outdoors, hiking, snoeshoeing and camping. How can I control my weight and still be mostly vegetarian? Thank you! B. B.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi B. B. Savvy Veg has had many questions similiar to yours during the last 8 years – including a letter from last year which sounds like it was from you. I don’t have much to say that’s different – except, please consider taking the leap and going all the way veg.

5 Tips for Losing Weight on a Mostly Vegetarian Diet

1. Reduce dairy consumption, and go for low fat dairy options. Salmon and eggs are high calorie, so reduce the portion sizes and frequency. Eat a lot more veggies and fresh fruit in relation to the amount of grains and protein foods (2/1 is a good proportion). Include some raw, e.g. salads or smoothies. Eat little sugar, processed foods, added oils (empty calories). Steam or broil rather than fry. Eat more whole grains and much less bread.

2. There are many types of legumes and whole grains – explore a bit and see if you can find some you can tolerate. Millet, barley, oats, buckwheat, spelt, amaranth, rye, corn are examples of grains. Mung beans and mung dahl, red lentils (masoor dahl), and urad dahl are some legumes that are easy to tolerate. Also black eyed peas and chick peas. Sprouting grains and legumes makes them easier to digest and more nutritious if you have time for that. Also how you cook and prepare them makes a difference.

See the Savvy Vegetarian Nutrition Report and the Beans Without Gas Report for more information. Visit Savvy Vegetarian Recipes for tasty ways to cook those foods.

3. A handful of pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seeds, or chia seeds, ground or whole in cereals or smoothies every day will give you vital nutrients while supplying good fats which you need in small quantities. Same with walnuts and other nuts, and avocados.

4. I’ve found that people often don’t know just how many calories they’re eating. It’s a great reality check to eat as usual for a week, but write down everything you eat, then run a calorie count, using a service like nutrition data.com, or the usda nutrition data tables.

5. Try going vegan for a week and see what happens to your weight. Or establish a vegan day once or twice a week, on which you eat no dairy, egg or fish, but lots of veggies, fruits and whole grains.

I give much more detailed advice in other weight loss advice letters. Rather than repeat myself even more, I’ll list those most relevant to your situation:

Healthy 60 Year Old Vegetarian Wants to Lose Weight

Hidden Calories and Vegetarian Weight Gain

Take Control Of Your Weight With a Nutritious Vegetarian Diet

Message for Savvy Vegetarian:

“I was so excited to find your site and have recommended it to tons of folks and posted it on Facebook walls for my clients. I was horrified to see eggs and dairy products in some of your recipes. Why on earth would you be promoting eggs and dairy. It contributes to massive suffering, planet destruction and human disease. Please consider making your site vegan and ditch the eggs and diary. Until then i will not promote anymore.”

Sincerely, Lisa S.

Savvy Vegetarian Response:

Hi Lisa,

I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m not sure what I can say that won’t sound defensive, and won’t have outraged vegans throwing rotten fruit at me, but I’ll do my best.

Savvy Vegetarian is inclusive, not exclusive. On the home page, right at the top, it says, “Savvy Vegetarian is for everybody, from life long vegetarian or vegan to just thinking about a vegetarian or plant based diet.”

Just For the Record: Savvy Vegetarian recipes are 90 – 95% vegan. A small number of the recipes have eggs and dairy, dating from my pre-vegan days. Many of those have vegan options. I can think of maybe half a dozen purely lacto or ovo-lacto recipes out of 275. We intend to add vegan versions, but that project isn’t top priority. I’m not forcing anyone to make those recipes, or promoting eggs & dairy. Nor am I enforcing a vegan diet.

If I were to make Savvy Vegetarian 100% vegan, that would exclude a lot of people who might someday become vegan and who need help getting there, in their own time and their own way. If they decide to get there.

In my experience, going veg is a personal journey. Some people go fast, some go slow. For some it’s easy, for others it’s hard. Some can jump right into a vegan diet and do it for the rest of their lives. Some go back and forth between veg and non-veg for many years. There isn’t a set of rules that can be applied to everybody.

My Story: I’m 64 years old and I’ve been vegan for 3 years. Before that I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 30 years. Before that for 7 years I considered myself a vegetarian but ate fish once a week. I started my vegetarian career as an extreme macrobiotic, became malnourished, and went back to eating meat for a while before I went vegetarian again. That’s 42 years of commitment to a vegetarian diet. Do you think that only the last 3 years of my journey count, and not all the years which brought me to the point of going vegan?

It’s wonderful that you’re concerned about the planet, and human & animal suffering. But what’s your feeling about those people who want to go vegetarian and need help and support? Do you honestly feel that they shouldn’t get any help unless they go vegan?

By turning your back on Savvy Vegetarian, you’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater, depriving yourself and others of a valuable resource for adopting a plant based diet. Why would you want to do that?

The day may come when there is no omnivore, no vegetarian, only vegan, but it won’t be soon. Meanwhile I would rather see many people going vegetarian or semi-veg than a tiny minority going 100% vegan. I think that would have a far greater and more immediate impact on the environment and on human and animal suffering.

In my opinion, “my way or no way” veganism repels more people than it attracts. Please have compassion and tolerance for those who are on the same path, but in different locations.

My belief, and the basis of Savvy Vegetarian: Every step that anyone makes toward a more plant based diet is positive for themselves and the planet, and deserves respect and support.

Martha Stewart has jumped on the vegan celebrity bandwagon with Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, President Clinton and many others.

Savvy Veg just watched Martha’s Vegan Show where she made Seitan Bourgignon and Parsley Leaf Salad with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, and energy bars with Veganist author Kathy Freston.

Then Martha talked with Gene Bauer about how Farm Sanctuary rescues and shelters animal victims of factory farming. Lots of views of beautiful happy animals. Yay Farm Sanctuary!

Food is always fascinatin’, and the recipes were interesting enough that I watched that part of the show twice. A huge sacrifice! Because it was impossible to pause, turn off, or mute the almost non-stop commercials. Very Annoying! 

If Martha Stewart wants to go vegan, that’s awesome! But I admit that I have a cynical view of celebrities publicly outing and celebrating their veganism in ever greater numbers. It might motivate lots of people to adopt a vegan diet, but I’m afraid it’s more a Flavor of the Week thing, and next week all the celebrities will be All Beef All of The Time.

Anyway, back to the vegan recipes. Martha & Biz started the Seitan Bourgignon by opening a package of prepared seitan, I assume unflavored, looked like about 12 – 16 oz. That was browned in 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Then they added a couple of carrots sliced, 2 chopped shallots, 15 pearl onions, 3 -4 cloves minced garlic, a bay leaf, and about 1/2 cup chopped parsley, lots of pepper and a little salt, and stirred it around a bit. Then they added what looked like 2 cups of red wine.

After all that simmered covered for a while , they removed everything from the pot, and made a gravy by combining Earth Balance veggie spread and flour, then adding it to the liquid. Then they added back the seitan & veggies and a huge amount of crispy fried shitake mushrooms. Voila! Seitan Bourgignon.

Naturally, I would have done a few things differently with the Seitan Bourgignon recipe. I’d have stir fried the garlic & onions first in a couple tsp (not Tbsp) olive oil, then added the carrots, then the seitan. Seitan doesn’t need to be cooked to death like beef.  I wouldn’t have crumbled up the bay leaf – that just makes it a lot harder to remove.

I can see why Biz Stone’s wife throws him out of the kitchen when she’s cooking. Not only does he talk non-stop, but he crumbles up bay leaves! He’s kinda cute though so I forgave him.

I would have used 1 Tbsp olive oil instead of several Tbsp Earth Balance for the gravy, and chick pea flour instead of white wheat flour, and roasted it in the oil before adding to take away the raw taste.  I’d have added fewer mushrooms (very strong taste, a little goes a long way), skipped frying them but cooked them with the stew.

I might have used a stalk of celery to replace part of the onion as I’m not big on onion. I’d have put in the parsley at the end to add some fresh green-ness to the recipe. And added the salt and pepper at the end, to taste. There’s sodium in everything, so I always salt at the end of cooking.

See how easy it is to be an armchair cook? Martha & Biz do all the work under hot lights, and I get to relax in front of my computer and second guess & criticize & change everything! Way more fun.

Besides the salad, I’d also serve the Seitan Bourgignon with quinoa or brown rice. Gotta have some whole grain to balance out the nutrition! That’s what’s different about vegan nutrition. It’s not just a mater of replacing the beef or chicken with seitan or tofu or beans in your favorite recipes, as Kathy Freston suggested to Martha Stewart. 

Healthy vegan diet means a whole different way of thinking about food and nutrition than with a meat based diet, where the veggies and grains, if eaten at all, are side dishes to the meat, which is considered the Big Nutrition Essential. With a vegan diet, a variety of whole foods eaten throughout the day works together to give you the nutrients you need to be healthy.

Now that I’ve got all that off my chest – nothing like a good rant to get your juices flowing – I must say I was tickled to see Martha using her fingers to clean off the spatula, and picking up a piece of seitan that fell on the counter and throwing it in the pot. If Martha does it, it must be OK for me to do it, so I’ll stop feeling unhygenic and start feeling natural and right about my fingerliness! And you can too! Go Martha!

Watch the Vegan Show with Martha Stewart

Happy Vegging! Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Question for Savvy Vegetarian:

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

15 Satisfying Ways to Increase Calories & Nutrients at the Same Time:

• Add a small amount of flax or hemp seed oil to salad dressings or cooked cereals
• Add nuts and seeds - toasted or raw - to salads, stir fries, sauces, dips, and spreads
• Eat soaked nuts and seeds as snacks (a small handful a day)
• Add hemp milk or almond milk to cooked cereal, puddings or cream soups
• Saute your veggies in a little olive oil, or add a sauce or dressing to steamed veggies
• Eat avocados, bananas, yams, potatoes, and other high cal but healthy foods
• Eat bigger servings of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, barley etc, bean dishes, hearty soups, sprouted breads & tortillas
• Eat dried fruit, soaked or in cereal or with stewed pears or apples or in puddings such as rice pudding
• Add a little coconut milk and curry powder to stir fried veggies (has saturated fat, but a little is actually good for you – if you’re trying to gain weight) or sauces
• Eat ground chia seeds or flax seeds in smoothies or cereals or sprinkled on or in things
• Add nutritional yeast to sauces, salad dressings, popcorn
• Eat hummus and nut butters with snacks or lunches
• Eat what feels good and satisfies your hunger
• Continue to eat 6 – 8 servings of fresh fruit and veggies daily along with the above foods
• Drink at least 2 quarts of water, and plenty of other fluids daily

Eat Lots of Fruits and Vegetables – From Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine February 6, 2011

“Increasing fruit and vegetable intake from five to eight servings a day prevents heart attacks and prolongs life. For every additional serving above two per day, there is a four percent decrease in the rate of heart disease deaths (European Heart Journal, January 18, 2011).

Not eating enough fruits and vegetables is a major risk factor, in itself, for heart attacks and premature death. Eight servings a day of fruits and vegetables will weigh approximately one and a half pounds.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture have just released a report recommending that Americans eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free milk, seafood, eggs, beans, peas, nuts and seeds; restrict salt, refined sugars, fats, and refined grains.”

The above quote from Dr. Mirkin rang a lot of Savvy Vegetarian bells and a few sirens went off too:

It was mind boggling to me that anyone could eat only TWO servings of fruits and vegetables per day. In many cases that would be a side of fries and burger fixings, which I’m not sure even counts as 2 servings. So I looked at some facts and figures on the cost of food, and it’s not surprising that most people don’t eat much fruit and veg.

1.  What would 1 1/2 lb, or 8 servings, of fruit and veg look like? And cost? Here’s a rough estimate, based on our grocery bills for the last month: 1 organic banana: $0.50,  1 organic apple: $0.75, handful of raisins:  $0.25, 1 carrot: $0.25, 1 cup chopped organic broccoli: $0.50, 1/2 cup frozen peas: $0.25, 1 cup chopped kale: $0.25, 1 cup chopped butternut squash: $0.50

2. 1 1/2 lb of fruit and vegetables per day for each adult in our house averages around $3.25 . That’s $97.50 per month to reduce your heart attack risk by 24%.  Some people might think that’s a lot of money to spend on vegetables and fruit, but to me it looks like cheap health insurance, especially if you also substitute less expensive legumes for meat.

3. What effect could reducing your meat intake have on your heart attack risk? The answer came from a long-term study of 85,000 female nurses at Harvard School of Public Health: swapping one serving of red meat per day for one serving of beans lowers a woman’s long-term heart-disease risk by about 33%.

4. Replacing a daily serving of red meat with one of several other foods — including nuts (30 percent), fish (24 percent), chicken or other poultry (19 percent), and low-fat dairy (13 percent) — will also reduce heart-disease risk, the study found.

5.  For our household of vegetarians and vegans, fruit and vegetables are our single biggest food expense, at least 1/2 of our monthly food budget. According to the USDA, an average family of four could expect to spend $954.50 per month on groceries. The USDA assumes that the family cooks all their own food, which isn’t that common. Anyway, if that pretend family ate 8 servings of fruit & veg a day, at a cost of $390 per month, that leaves $560 to spend on the rest of their food.

6. According to the USDA, 1 1/2 lb of meat, poultry or fish costs about 50% more than 1 1/2 lb of fruit and vegetables, so if the family of four ate that much every day, it would cost them $585 per month. Chances are good that they can’t afford to eat 8 servings a day of fruit and vegetables, organic or otherwise – not even if they never eat out, never eat expensive processed food, and budget extremely carefully. I wonder how many families with 2 working parents and a couple of kids do all that on a regular basis?

Here’s my conclusion: Eating much less expensive legumes and whole grains instead of animal products will save you enough money to eat 8 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, with enough cash left over for a handful of nuts and seeds. It will also significantly improve your nutrition, overall well-being, and lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other health problems, so you’ll save on health costs too. Of course, if you can cook at home, and pack homemade lunches – all the better.

More About Eating Vegetables:

Get Your Kids to Eat More Vegetables and Love It

Eight Ways to Get Your Family to Eat Vegetables

Savvy Vegetarian Vegetable Recipes

Vegetable Nutrition Facts