14 Mar creative vegetarian cooking
There are numerous benefits for eating more vegetarian food. Meat and dairy are often laced with numerous antibiotics and other toxins, and vegetarian food can really increase the amount of fibre in your diet. There is a great way of eating called ‘flexitarian’, which is mostly vegetarian food, but not strictly, so you can eat some meat from time to time.
I went to a vegetarian restaurant with a friend for lunch on Saturday – The Vege Bar in Fitzroy. I always feel so much more adventurous when looking at a vegetarian menu, probably because everything is mostly healthy and safe, so there is more to choose from. They had everything from raw pad thai, to raspberry and basil desserts. We had an amazing lunch. My friend had a Thali of Indian curries, and I had a mushroom burger from the specials complete with a haloumi tempura and vegan herb aoli. It was pretty amazing. My friend suggested that there are more ways to be creative with vegetables, and perhaps this is true!
Healthy, tasty, food
It is probably a cleaner way of eating, and you can find lots of interesting recipes for salads and other vegetarian dishes online or in recipe books. It doesn’t have to mean that food is less tasty. With an interesting dressing or combinations of grains and vegetables, food can be just as inspiring, as the denser, more chemical laden alternatives with meat.
I have been concentrating on lunch recipes to begin with, experimenting with different salads, wraps, and other vegetarian options, and I am feeling cleaner and lighter already.
Responsible eating
It is better for the planet too, with less water and energy needed for the production of vegetarian food, and of course the obvious psychological benefit of less killing. Last weekend I went on a houseboat holiday and we went prawning in the shallows, which was fun. . . until we had to boil them alive. *Shudder. I know that prawns do not have very sophisticated nervous systems, but it does seem incredibly cruel to boil anything alive.
We do not have to face the fact that killing animals is involved in our meat eating behaviours, but when it becomes obvious as with prawning, it makes me want to eat more vegetarian food. There are other benefits too. Less chemicals and more fibre, for example.
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