Vegetarian New & Views

[cliveb]

I always claim to be a 96.7% vegetarian. I love cheese, I eat eggs, I very occasionally eat (minced) beef, I might eat the occasional sausage, I ate a small bit of chicken breast yesterday for the first time in about 6 months, and I'll eat fish and seafood when I'm at the beach. Add it all up, divide by 12 months and you get 96.7%...
Having said that, I'll eat ANY vegetable alive (or dead).
If you've decided to become vegetarian, you need to learn to balance your diet. It's no good just eating, for example, spinach and potatoes, because there are vitamins and minerals you'll need to make up.Pulses (lentils, beans, peas) are "2nd class" protein; ie. they have protein, like meat, but in much smaller quantities. Spinach and greens are rich in vitamins and iron. Tomatoes are full of vitamin C, etc., etc. You need to investigate this a bit in order to ensure proper balance, and I suggest the quickest way is to browse through your local book shop and find a good vegetarian cook book.
Cooking with vegetables is far, far more exciting than cooking with meat. I mean, how many ways can you skin a cat? Boiled, fried, roasted, grilled, poached, or sautéed.!
And what gives meat loads of flavour? The vegetables and herbs and spices you add, of course!! What's more, you can combine lots of vegetables together, which you can't do with meat. Where would your burger be without pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions and FRIES??
Try making a chili without vegetables...
Or a casserole with just meat...