Low-Budget Vegetarian Cookbook a Tasty, Nutritious and Varied Vegetarian Diet Based Primarily of Rice, Beans, Vegetables and Other Grains
By Tony Bradey
()
About this ebook
There seems to be a prevailing popular myth in our culture that eating a diet with little or no meat or dairy products is challenging, tedious, or expensive. It takes a lot more time and effort to 'replace' animal food with a healthy diet.
I find the opposite to be true. This book is written to give you the basic knowledge and tools you need to have a diet primarily or entirely based on grains, vegetables, and beans. That is nutritious, interesting, and inexpensive. That takes no more cooking effort you would need for a healthy meat-based diet.
Grains, vegetables, and beans, taken together, make up the core of the traditional diets of most people around the world for most of our history on our planet. They are the core foods that I talk about preparing in this book.
In this book, you will find:
The Basics Shopping, Meal Planning, Cooking
Essential Ingredients and Cooking Instructions
Basic Recipe Patterns Frameworks for Creativity
Basic Rice and Veggies Recipe Patter
Sample Recipes
Grain Dishes
Bean Dishes
Dips and Relishes
Salads
Cooked Vegetable
Soups
Buy it NOW and let your customers get addicted to this amazing book!
Related to Low-Budget Vegetarian Cookbook a Tasty, Nutritious and Varied Vegetarian Diet Based Primarily of Rice, Beans, Vegetables and Other Grains
Related ebooks
The Plant-Based College Cookbook: Plant-Based, Easy-to-Make, Good-for-You Food Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWeeknight Vegetarian: Simple, Healthy Meals for Every Night of the Week Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cook Once Dinner Fix: Quick and Exciting Ways to Transform Tonight's Dinner into Tomorrow's Feast Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cooking for One Cookbook: 175 Healthy, Easy, and Delicious Recipes Made Just for You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVery Veggie Family Cookbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heavenly Bowls of Buddha Goodness: Mindful Cooking Recipes for Weight Loss, Healthy Living, and Mindful Eating Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Deerholme Vegetable Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spicy Vegetarian Cookbook: More than 200 Fiery Snacks, Dips, and Main Dishes for the Meat-Free Lifestyle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weeknight Fresh & Fast: Simple, Healthy Meals for Every Night of the Week Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Instantly Mediterranean: Vibrant, Satisfying Recipes for Your Instant Pot®, Electric Pressure Cooker, and Air Fryer: A Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTh Effective Whole Food Diet: 30 Day Whole Food Challenge Plus 101 Whole Food Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBowls!: Recipes and Inspirations for Healthful One-Dish Meals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ultimate Healthy Greek Cookbook: 75 Authentic Recipes for a Mediterranean Diet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlant-Protein Recipes That You'll Love: Enjoy the goodness and deliciousness of 150+ healthy plant-protein recipes! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBowl: Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and Other One-Dish Meals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Best of Bowls: Easy, Delicious and Healthy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVegetarian Comfort Foods: The Happy Healthy Gut Guide to Delicious Plant-Based Cooking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEasy Tofu Cookbook: 50 Unique and Easy Tofu Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSubstantial Salads: 100 Healthy and Hearty Main Courses for Every Season Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soup of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Low Glycemic Index Diet Cookbook: Essential and Healthy Low GI Recipes to Lose Weight, Boost Energy and Manage Diabetes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lunch Box: Packed with Fun, Healthy Meals That Keep Them Smiling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vegetable of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Tofu Cookbook: 170+ Delicious, Plant-Based Recipes from Around the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Steak Cookbook: A Selection of Delicious & Easy Steak Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChinese Vegetarian Cooking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ultimate Appetizer Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Wheat-Free Diet Cookbook: Simple, Healthy Recipes for Your Wheat-Free Lifestyle Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Vegan Asian: A Cookbook: The Best Dishes from Thailand, Japan, China and More Made Simple Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Cooking, Food & Wine For You
Mediterranean Diet: A Complete Guide: 50 Quick and Easy Low Calorie High Protein Mediterranean Diet Recipes for Weight Loss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Mediterranean Cookbook Over 100 Delicious Recipes and Mediterranean Meal Plan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Medicinal Herbal: A Practical Guide to the Healing Properties of Herbs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quick Start Guide to Carnivory + 21 Day Carnivore Diet Meal Plan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Plant-Based Cookbook: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free Recipes for Lifelong Health Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Everything Macro Diet Cookbook: 300 Satisfying Recipes for Shedding Pounds and Gaining Lean Muscle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Carnivore Code Cookbook: Reclaim Your Health, Strength, and Vitality with 100+ Delicious Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaste of Home 201 Recipes You'll Make Forever: Classic Recipes for Today's Home Cooks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cooking at Home: More Than 1,000 Classic and Modern Recipes for Every Meal of the Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mediterranean Diet: 70 Easy, Healthy Recipes Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taste of Home Instant Pot Cookbook: Savor 111 Must-have Recipes Made Easy in the Instant Pot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Korean Home Cooking: Classic and Modern Recipes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyday Slow Cooking: Modern Recipes for Delicious Meals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Instant Pot® Meals in a Jar Cookbook: 50 Pre-Portioned, Perfectly Seasoned Pressure Cooker Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Apartment Hacks: 101 Ingenious DIY Solutions for Living, Organizing and Entertaining Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homegrown & Handmade: A Practical Guide to More Self-Reliant Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Back to Eden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Low-Budget Vegetarian Cookbook a Tasty, Nutritious and Varied Vegetarian Diet Based Primarily of Rice, Beans, Vegetables and Other Grains
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Low-Budget Vegetarian Cookbook a Tasty, Nutritious and Varied Vegetarian Diet Based Primarily of Rice, Beans, Vegetables and Other Grains - Tony Bradey
The Basics - Shopping, Meal Planning, Cooking
On Grains, Beans, Protein and Balance
The core of a satisfying vegetable-based diet is a balance of grains, beans and vegetables. This is true whether or not you include any eggs or dairy products. It also works well even if you still decide to eat some meat or fish. In my experience, I would roughly estimate the proportions of these foods in a satisfying diet as follows:
Grains - about 40% to 50%
Vegetables - about 30% to 50%
Beans - about 10% to 20%
Everything Else (fruit, dairy products, nuts, desserts) - maybe 10%
A meat-based diet is anchored or built around the meat dish. That provides the center of the meal, and the rest of the meal is usually built to complement it.
In a vegetable-based diet, your grains and beans together form the hearty center of the diet. They are the dense and satisfying parts of the meal. If you try to eat too high a proportion of just vegetables without grains and beans, your meals will be unsatisfying and leave you feeling hungry and often ungrounded, spacey.
Your vegetables provide a lot of the variety of texture, color and taste. A diet without sufficient vegetables, with just grains and beans, is monotonous and unsatisfying in texture, and will leave you feeling stuffed and sluggish.
Get the proportions of these about right and you will have a diet that is nutritious, satisfying, that sits well and is easy to digest, and that leaves you feeling energetic and balanced. Also, these three together will give you a diet as simple, or as wildly varied, as you care to make it.
I have also found that grain, bean and vegetable-based meals leave me feeling centered, balanced. Eat these foods enough and you will develop your own intuitive sense of meal balancing. This is useful, because if you have a sense of what it feels like to be centered and balanced, you will recognize it when you get off-balance. It’s not much fun binging on sweet donuts and coffee once you recognize how off-balance you feel afterwards. Develop that feel for balance and your diet will become increasingly self-regulating. It just plain old feels better, and tastes better, to eat healthy and balanced meals.
Basically, with few exceptions, neither grains or beans by themselves are balanced and complete sources of protein. However, grains and beans complement and complete each other, so that these two foods eaten together provide complete and high-quality protein.
The optimal proportion of grain to bean for best protein balance is around 3 to 1 or 4 to 1. Interestingly, I have found that this is about the proportion that these foods seem to digest the best.
A small amount of animal food - a little bit of cheese or yogurt, or egg - also complements grain protein.
I have for me that having at least one good protein-balanced meal a day seems to provide more than enough protein. However, I have found that some form of grain is necessary at pretty much every meal for the meal to feel satisfying and balanced.
Weekly Meal Planning and Background Cooking
Cooking economically , nutritiously and tastily takes some weekly thought and planning to pull off successfully. Being able to cook quickly and economically means thinking ahead to make sure you have good ingredients readily available to be able to put together a quick meal, and some already prepared dishes to use.
Not planning your dinner meal until an hour before does not encourage creativity and spontaneity. Instead it limits your choices to what you have on hand. If you don’t take the time to think ahead you will find yourself being tempted to have pre-cooked convenience dinners sitting around, and they are not economical for money, for nutrition, or for taste. Or, more expensive yet, faced with a time pressure to cook and lack of good foods to cook with, you will be tempted to do take out, eat out, or home-delivery. That is not an efficient use of your food dollar.
A week seems to be about the right unit of time to for making a general meal plan. I use the weekend to think out meals - with the general plan in place before I go shopping and not after! - then to do the shopping and major cooking.
Bean dishes, stews and soups lend themselves to being cooked in advance, and some stews taste best on the second or third day. Grain salads for lunches, and some cabbage-based vegetable salads, can also be prepared in large batches ahead of time.
Grains cook quickly enough that they can be cooked plain, in batches good for 2 or 3 days maximum, then kept on hand to combine with vegetables and other foods for quick dinners.
When you have main bean and grain dishes chosen as the framework for your week’s meals, the one other thing you need is to have enough good quality vegetables around to quickly turn those grains and beans in to tasty and varied meals.
In your main weekly shopping trip, your task is to get the foods and spices you need for the week’s general meal plan.
Good quality fresh vegetables are the key ingredients to have around to make the meals work. You will probably have a combination of the main vegetables you always have around - things like onions, carrots, celery and such - combined with other veggies that vary by week or by season, according to what looks good at the market that day. You may end up building one or more meals around a vegetable that looked especially good that week.
Because good quality vegetables are so important to making meals work, I suggest that you make your main market for your weekly shopping run, the best source for good, fresh produce you can