Having spent most of my life as a vegetarian, I believe you do win friends with salad. More recently, I've watched Dr. Fuhrman on PBS with his catchy phrase GOMBBS to remember the best foods to eat. GOMBBS stands for Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Beans, Berries, Seeds. These are all foods I love, so this is been a good excuse and reminder to eat more of them. I have also been inspired about food since I started teaching at PDS, with an amazing cafeteria that often features local produce (some if it from the school's garden), delicious fresh salads every day, and plenty of vegetarian protein sources. My favorite dish at the school cafeteria is probably the spicy tofu and edamame salad. Let's just say I'm more a fan of the cafeteria food than most students are.
Keep in mind that I am more often concerned with making sure that I get enough calories. Especially in the summer, I have to try very hard not to drop weight too quickly when I pick up my training. The main things I try to focus on are getting enough calories, protein, and iron from vegetarian sources. I know that a nutrition expert would probably point out the flaws that my diet is high in fat and doesn't follow the trend of reducing/eliminating wheat, which I don't subscribe to. However, I do eat a lot of foods that are healthy and delicious (in my opinion). So, in no particular order, here are some of my staples of vegetarian eating.
Frozen fruits and smoothies
I always keep my freezer stocked with big bags of frozen fruits: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, mango, pineapple, etc. Often, if I buy too much fresh fruit, it goes bad before I can eat it all, so this prevents me from wasting delicious and valuable food. Aside from making pies, frozen fruit is great to mix into a smoothie or defrost and make a fruit, yogurt, and granola parfait. Also, frozen mango and pineapple are great for mixing into homemade salsa. I often make smoothies with pretty much any combination of fruit, juice, yogurt, protein powder, chia seeds, but one other great combo is the peanut butter smoothie (any combination of banana, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, milk, protein powder, and ice). Recently, I have started to keep dried fruit in stock for snacking as well, but I have yet to find a good source for dried fruit that doesn't contain a lot of added sugar.
Beans
Beans are probably my main source of protein on a daily basis. Usually, I use canned beans (rinsed under cold water theoretically reduces some of the sodium content from the liquid they come with), but I finally got a slow cooker, which makes it much easier to cook dried beans. Cooking dried black beans without a slow cooker requires at least 3 hours to spend near the stove, which is usually too much of a time commitment for me. Living on "rice and beans" may sound boring, but I like to experiment with the endless possible combinations.
- Burrito beans: In a frying pan, add in this order: onions, garlic, optional jalapeno or other hot pepper, chili powder, cumin, mushrooms (e.g. sliced baby bellas), corn (I often use frozen), tomato/bell pepper, black beans (or mix in other types). Serve in burrito, quesadilla, or nacho form with rice, avocado, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc. I eat this almost every week and never get bored with this staple.
- Quinoa and black bean salad: Many of the same ingredients as above, but served cold. Quinoa, black beans, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, lime juice, cilantro, avocado, chunks of pepper jack.
- "Wild Caribbean Black Bean Chili" recipe from The Joy of Cooking, which includes orange juice and lime juice for a citrus twist.
- Stir-fry: I sometimes mix beans into a stir-fry, for example, garlic, onion, sesame seeds (and generic brand garlic sesame sauce), mushrooms, kale and/or broccoli, peppers, small white beans, served over rice.
- Arugula and white bean pasta salad: Bowtie pasta (whole wheat or protein plus), balsamic vinaigrette, cannellini beans, arugula, parmesan/asiago cheese
- Chickpeas and feta salad: Pasta or whole wheat couscous, chick peas, feta, any combination of black olives, sun-dried tomato, roasted red peppers, balsamic or italian dressing, sometimes with other veggies mixed in.
- Lentils (especially red lentils): Mixed into pasta sauce, served over pasta. Or cooked with garlic, onion, ginger, cumin, etc. served over rice. Or made into soup in the slow cooker with onions, celery, carrots, vegetable broth, etc.
Garden Salads
I do like a good salad that eats like a meal. Any kind of green (spinach, spring mix, romaine, other lettuces, etc) and whatever veggies I have in the fridge form the basis. I always tried to top with some form of protein. The school cafeteria always has hard-boiled eggs, and at home, I keep cashews, almonds, and seeds (sesame, flax, chia, sunflower) for toppings. A little bit of avocado makes any good salad great. I tend to go light on the dressing (not the low-fat variety, I just don't use much dressing with all this goodness), but sometimes top with croutons. Cucumber, tomato, vinegar, and dill also makes a nice summer salad, and is also good over a bed of greens.
Potatoes
I grew up in a good Irish family with potatoes for dinner almost every night, so I don't have much appetite for potatoes anymore. If I do make potatoes, these are just about the only variations I find tolerable, and I usually use excessive amounts of butter/oil to suit my taste.
- Twice baked potatoes: bake for an hour, slice in half, scoop out the insides and make mashed potatoes (using butter, milk, sour cream), then fill the skins, top with cheese, and bake again.
- Mashed sweet potatoes: boil with the skins on for one hour, run under cold water, slit the skins and put the insides in a bowl, mash with butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and sometimes a touch of maple syrup. This is also the basis of sweet potato pie if sugar is added.
- Red potatoes with rosemary: Quarter or half small red potatoes, boil, toss, with olive oil, sea salt, and rosemary, then spread on a cookie sheet and bake until crisp.
Recently, my neighbor gave me some sourdough starter, so this has been a new adventure to figure out how to make bread. I have done home-made pizza dough in the past, but this is more challenging since it requires daily feeding of the yeast, rather than a store-bought packet of yeast. I don't have a kitchen scale or a dutch oven, so this has added to the element of experimentation. I've found that covering the bread pans with foil helps keep the moisture in and make it a little less crusty. Even though it doesn't require kneading, I still knead it sometimes anyway, because that's my favorite part of making bread.
Other ways to sneak in protein
Arnold's double protein bread is my favorite (and makes a good PB&J with some raspberry preserves), some cereals with protein (Great Grains has some good options) along with milk, Nature Valley granola with protein (goes with yogurt), cliff bars, Barilla protein plus pasta, veggie burgers (black bean or Boca's spicy chick'n patties). Many of these are processed food options, which is never as good as eating real home-made food, but in reality, it's good to have quick and easy options available.
If you've read to the end, I hope you gained some inspiration for some healthy, delicious, and creative veggie eating!
