Healthy Vegetarian Cookery

  Following a healthy vegetarian lifestyle is easy

  What is a healthy balanced diet?

  Starchy foods - the basis of the diet

  Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables

  Keeping down the sugar

  Less fat is better

  Keep down salt intake

  Health is also dependent on exercise

  Food Supplements pros and cons

  Understanding food components

  Fats

  Proteins

  Vitamins, Minerals and Trace Elements

  Minerals

  Trace elements

  Digestion- how it works

  Digestion

  Eat whole grain cereals, not highly refined flour

  Protein digestion

  Evolution, diet and appetite

  Further tips for a healthy lifestyle

  Avoiding pollution

  Avoiding pesticides on food

  Aluminium

  How cooking affects nutrients

  How preserving affects nutrients

  Drinking water

  The right bacteria

  Fibre and constipation

  Tooth decay

  Getting Started - Changing your diet

  Principles of menu planning

  Sample Menus

  Equipment for pressure cooking

  Slow cookers

  Microwave ovens

  Steamers

  Food mixers, food processors, grain mill

  Where to shop

  Cooking on a budget

  Cooking for one

  Cooking for two

  Cooking for the family

  Packed meals

  Ready meals, takeaways and cook/chill

  Drinks

  Entertaining and special occasions

  Large scale entertaining

  Picnics and children's party ideas

  Diets for life stages - Pregnancy

  Feeding Baby- breast or bottle

  Toddlers to school age

  School children

  Healthy adult diets

  High energy / sports diets

  Medium energy

  Dieting for weight loss

  Menopause

  60 plus

  Know your ingredients

  The main starch grains: rice, millet and sorghum

  Other starchy grains and flours: amaranth, buckwheat, quinnoa, teff, wild rice

  Starchy roots and tubers: potato, sweet potato, jerusalem-artichoke, yam

  Vegetables

  Sprouting seeds

  Sesame, pumpkin, sunflower seeds

  Starchy fruit: breadfruit, banana-plantain, water chestnut

  Banana, date, sultana

   Milk cheese yogurt and eggs

  Pulses: dried beans and peas

  Soya bean products: tofu

  Nuts

  Fresh non-starchy fruit

  Serving fruit

  Vegetable and fruit juices

  Using herbs and spices

  Sugars

  Oils and fats: butter, olives, olive oil

  Coffee, tea

  Other ingredients

  Healthy vegetarian cookery

  Wholemeal bread

  Wheat soda bread

  Wholemeal pizza base

  Mixed grain bread

  Millet and banana flat bread

  Oat bread

  Rotla (millet flat bread)

  Parathas

  Naan bread or Pitta bread

  Carrot and Potato bread

  Rye bread

  Rotli

  Potato scones

  Wholemeal scones

  Chestnut pancakes

  Buckwheat pancakes

  Scots pancakes

  Crispbread and Crackers

  Corn Crisps

  Millet and sesame crispbreads

  Sunflower crispbread

  Rye crispbread

  Almond crackers

  Cheese crackers

  Low fat and sugar cakes

  Tea bread

  Stollen

  Apple gingerbread

  Parkin

  Pumpkin & spice bread

  Apple and fruit slice

  Cereal bar

  Breakfast

  Oatmeal porridge

  Millet and date porridge

  Rice and sultana

  Polenta

  Kasha

  Quinnoa

  Pasta

  Wholewheat pasta

  Baked potato

  Baked sweet potato

  Potato pizza

  Potato roast

  Spicy potatoes

  Hot garlic potatoes

  Cretan shepherd's pie

   Rice dishes

  Rice with a hot vegetable sauce

  Cashew nut pilaf

  Persian style rice

  Nutty flavoured risotto

  Stuffed vine or cabbage leaves

  Millet and nut pilaf

  Samosas

  Hazelnut loaf

  Chestnut and herb loaf

  Vegetable nut gratin

  Chinese cashew stir-fry

  Chestnuts with brussels sprouts

  Soups

  Cauliflower and potato soup

  Bean soup

  Vegetable broth

  Mushroom and watercress soup

  Tomato and Apple Soup

  Leek and Potato Soup

  Beetroot soup

  Cauliflower and cheese soup

  Cheese and egg dishes

  Quiche lorraine

  Cheese pudding

  Vegetables and cheese

  Bubble and squeak

  Mish-mash

  Cottage pie

  Tofu-burgers

  Sauces and dressings

  Plain wine sauce

  Rich wine sauce

  Pesto

  Tapenade

  Italian Tomato Sauce

  Blue cheese dressing

  Blue cheese and walnut sauce

  Shropshire and walnut sauce

  Marjoram pesto

  Brie sauce on vegetables

  Low-fat yogurt sauces and dips

  Horseradish sauce

  Low fat mayonnaise

  Spicy mayonnaise

  French dressing with herbs

  Sesame dressing

  Onion sauce

  Hot coconut sauce

  Mint sauce

  Salads

  Greek salad

  Celery and apple salad

  Spicy broad bean and pine kernel salad

  Fennel salad

   Pasta salads

   Pasta with pesto salad

  Rice salads

  Bean salads

  Red bean salad

  Bean and chick pea salad

  Salads - further suggestions

  Vegetable dishes

  Vegetarian moussaka

  Dhal

  Hummus

  Indian chilli tomatoes

  Herby courgettes

  Fried okra - ladies' fingers

  Vegetable and fruit curry

  Stuffed courgettes

  Baked fennel

  Tangy cauliflower

  Red cabbage with apples

  Leeks with almonds

  Crudites

  Sweet puddings

  Apricot whip

  Apple pudding

  Lemon cream

  Cornmeal pudding

  Baked bananas

  Dried fruit salad

  Rice pudding

  Brown bread pudding

  Date pudding

  Fresh fruit

  Serving fruit

  Vegetable and fruit juices

  Winter fruit salad

  Apple and bramble pudding

  Christmas menu

  Mincemeat

  Conversion Tables

Visit Peter's Vegetarian Shop for Books and Equipment

Using herbs and spices

A sprinkling of herbs and spices adds flavour and variety to meals as well as providing some extra trace elements, minerals and vitamins. Try experimenting with different combinations. Don't overdo it though. Some herbs are harmful in larger amounts.

Allspice should be ground as and when required from the whole sun-dried berries. Use in marinades, pickles, mulled wine, chocolate drinks and to flavour both sweet and savoury dishes.

Aniseed are grey-green when fresh, going grey when stale. Grind immediately before use to flavour bread and cakes.

Anise, Star is used ground into a spice to flavour savoury dishes.

Basil is an excellent herb for salads and savoury dishes.

Bay leaves can be used whole to flavour savoury stews, soups and casseroles.

Borage flowers and leaves are another useful addition to salads.

Capers are small pickled flower buds that can be used in cold sauces or with pizza.

Caraway seed can be added to bread, cakes, fruit, salads and vegetable dishes.

Cardamom pods are best used whole to flavour rice and pulse dishes, or the seed can be freshly ground to flavour cakes and bread.

Chervil leaves can be added to soups, salads and omelettes.

Cinnamon bark is difficult to grind and is best purchased as a powder. It can be used to flavour bread, cakes, fruit, rice and curries.

Cloves have a strong flavour. The dried whole bud can be crumbled to flavour cake or fruit. They can also be used in marinades, casseroles, gravies and mulled wine.

Coriander leaves can be added to salad, and the seeds should be lightly roasted before adding to stews, casseroles and curries or vegetable dishes.

Cumin seed should also be roasted before use in curry.

Dill leaves can be eaten in salads and the seed in bread and cakes.

Fennel can be cooked as a vegetable with an aniseed flavour.

Fenugreek leaves are used to flavour curry and dhal, and the seeds can be roasted before grinding into an addition to curry powder.

Ginger is easiest to use fresh. The dried root has to be crushed with a mallet before use. It can be added to bread and cakes as well as savoury dishes and curries.

Lovage leaves can be used to flavour soups and salads.

Mace should be purchased in small amounts as it does not keep well. Use it to flavour sweet and savoury dishes that include milk.

Nutmeg seeds should be grated as required. Only a pinch should be used as it is poisonous in quantity. It is used to flavour cakes, custards and fruit.

Paprika varies from a mild sweetness to a hot and fiery ingredient of curries. Purchase in small amounts and use with care to flavour savoury dishes.

Pepper should be freshly ground for the best flavour, and added to savoury dishes towards the end of the cooking period.

Peppermint leaves can be added to fruit salads.

Poppy seeds should be roasted, before crushing and adding to bread, cakes, vegetables or sauces.

Sage leaves can be added to stuffings, soups and stews.

Savory, the leaves of both summer and winter varieties can be used to flavour stews and savoury dishes.

Tarragon leaves can be used in salads and savoury dishes.

Thyme leaves can also be used in salad and savoury dishes.

Vanilla pods can be used several times by steeping the pod in the liquid of the dish for an hour, and then removing the pod and drying for re-use.

 
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