Planning Vegetarian Meals

by Nikki Goldbeck

When preparing meat-free meals, the traditional menu plan that most Americans grew up with may no longer apply. At present, the typical American meal consists of three major elements:

• The focal point, generally meat or fish
• The filler, such as bread, pasta or rice
• The accompanying vegetable and/or fruit

To design a more relevant menu, the emphasis in food selection should be shifted so that the former accompaniments—grains, vegetables and fruits—are given more prominence and, conversely, many main dish foods are assigned to accompaniment or condiment status. For example, an updated meal might feature a grain- and bean-based entree, enhanced perhaps with small amounts of animal products. This meal will provide good-quality protein, a high level of complex carbohydrates, and only a small amount of saturated fat. Or, a meal may be composed of a large salad or soup accompanied by bread and an additional protein source such as tofu, a bean spread or cheese.

Several approaches to meal planning based on these principles are explored below. By using wholefoods that are similar in kind to tastes you have already cultivated, and by improving the ingredients you use in traditional recipes, you can assimilate these new concepts into your diet quite naturally. As your eating horizons broaden, you will find your repertoire of meals will follow suit.

Putting Together A Meal

People approach menu planning in different ways. Some think in terms of a particular food they would like to use, while others plan around a specific dish. The discussion that follows is based on The Food Approach. In a separate article we will discuss The Course Approach.

The Food Approach

More Fruits and Vegetables

The one dietary guideline no one has any argument with is the need for more fresh fruit and vegetables. This actually simplifies menu planning.

At every meal you should eat at least one form of fresh produce, and there is no upper limit. If the main dish includes substantial amounts of vegetables or fruit, you may wish to stop there. A hot vegetable plate, for example, with a high-protein sauce, accompanied by a complementary bread, can make a simple yet excellent meal. Classic examples include French Aioli with Vegetables—steamed vegetables and beans with a garlic sauce (which in the version we make includes yogurt), and Indonesian Gado Gado—a mixture of vegetables and tofu in a peanut sauce. Closer to home is a vegetable plate topped with cheese sauce.

You may, however, decide to include additional produce. When more than one vegetable or fruit dish appears on the menu, they should be as diverse as possible to provide the broadest taste and nutritional experience; variety of color is a good rule. Try not to repeat ingredients in several dishes; for example, don’t serve stuffed mushrooms and then mushroom loaf, or tomato soup and tomato salad.

If there is ample protein on the menu, the accompanying fruit or vegetable dish can be strictly that—just fruit or vegetables. But if the main dish is somewhat scanty, a vegetable or fruit dish with nuts, cheese, crumb topping, or a protein-rich sauce or dressing will help fortify the meal. It is also a good idea to have at least one uncooked fruit or vegetable on the menu. This may appear as an appetizer, salad, dessert, or beverage.

While fresh is preferred, plain frozen fruit and vegetables, and fruit canned in water or juice are pantry items that can fill in when needed.

Grains

Each meal should contain a whole grain in some form. Pasta, brown rice, cracked wheat, cornmeal, etc., may compose part of the main dish. Otherwise, the simplest way to provide this menu component is with a whole grain bread or cracker.

Muffins, biscuits, chapatis, and tortillas can all lend real character, and there are dozens of recipes for homemade whole grain baked goods, some requiring only a few minutes to put together. Many such baked goods are also available commercially, and we always make sure our freezer and pantry are well stocked with home-baked breadstuffs supplemented with the best of the commercial choices to round out any menu.

A cooked grain dish is another way to fill out the meal and is a necessity when the main dish is primarily nuts or beans. A simple bowlful of brown rice or kasha may do the job, or you may wish to choose something with more zip if there is no saucy or spicy dish to accompany it. Pilaf recipes, grain-stuffed vegetables, pasta accompaniments, or cold grain salads can be incorporated here.

Soup can also be used to fulfill the grain portion of the meal and offers an outlet for leftover cooked grain or pasta.

Two dishes featuring grain are not generally suited to the same menu. Grain burgers and a grain-stuffed vegetable, for instance, would be somewhat redundant, as would a macaroni casserole with a rice pudding dessert.

If you do serve bread and a grain dish, aim for variety. Offer corn bread when rice is on the menu, rye bread or muffins to accompany a stew with barley or cracked wheat. Don’t forget, crackers can be made primarily from rye, corn, oats, or rice as well as wheat.

The Value Of Grains

In terms of quality of protein, grains actually rank higher than many beans, nuts and seeds; whole grain rice and millet are both thought to contain all eight essential amino acids. The actual quantity of protein in grains, however, is low. In other words, it takes a larger serving of grains to provide as much protein as other traditional foods. For this reason, grains are more useful for increasing the value of other protein foods. Whole grain breads, corn tacos, rice, cracked wheat (bulgur), barley, millet, oats, buckwheat (kasha), pasta, etc., all serve the important function of elevating beans, nuts and seeds to animal protein status. Moreover, the combination of these grains with milk (as in cereal, rice pudding, macaroni and cheese) is a traditional means of raising their level of protein.

Beans on the Table

Beans can be appropriate to every course in the meal, as evidenced by their international popularity in soups, dips, stews, casseroles, fritters, salads, and even sweet bean pies for dessert.

At their simplest, cooked beans can be eaten out of hand, warm or cold, as a snack or as an hors d’oeuvre. In Spain, a platter of room-temperature chickpeas liberally spiced with fresh ground pepper is as common at the cocktail hour as peanuts and pretzels in the American barroom.

Plain cooked beans can also be tossed into a salad without any embellishment. Marinated in an oil and vinegar dressing, beans become a salad in themselves or are an excellent sandwich filling, especially stuffed inside pockets of whole wheat pita bread.

Seasoned in a variety of ways, beans also provide a sauce for grains, a filling for tacos or pastry shells, a gravy for biscuits, toast or hamburger buns, or a side dish to round out the rest of the meal.

Then, too, there are bean soups, bean stews and bean-based casseroles. Some of these may be familiar; for example, minestrone soup, split pea soup, Cuban black bean soup, chili, and baked beans.

In addition to being served whole, beans can be pureed to provide wonderful dips (hummus, the garlic-laden chickpea puree from the Middle East, is now a Western favorite), as well as ground to chopped meat consistency and used in just about the same way to make bean balls, bean burgers and bean loaves.

Beans bought dry and cooked are the least expensive and allow you to control the amount of salt, but canned beans are certainly good pinch-hitters, Be sure to cook extra-large potfuls of dried beans; they can be refrigerated for a week or two or frozen for the future.

To add to the bean roster, uncooked dried beans can also be sprouted for a surprisingly vibrant vegetable.

The Value Of Beans

Beans contain only trace amounts of fat and have an abundance of complex carbohydrates. Unlike grains, beans have a substantial amount of protein.

Of all the varieties of beans, soy is at the top of the list in terms of protein quality, requiring only small amounts of complementary protein foods to be ideal. As a matter of fact, in terms of actual amounts of most amino acids, soy rates higher than meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and cheese, which means that when it is employed to its full potential it provides better value than animal protein. Soy is somewhat lower in carbohydrate than other beans and also has more fat, but largely in unsaturated form. At present, use of soy is limited in the Western diet, but it is time we began exploring the use of such varied traditional products as tofu, soy milk, soy flour, soy grits, soy nuts, soybean paste (miso), and the fermented soy cakes called tempeh, in addition to the bean itself.

Nuts and Seeds

While nuts and seeds are a versatile and valuable source of protein, they can add up in both cost and amount of fat if they are over used. If the main dish includes nuts or seeds, do not use them elsewhere. If, however, beans or grains are featured, nuts and seeds can be used to enrich this protein. Added to salads, vegetables, sandwich fillings, crumb toppings, or even as a garnish to cooked grains, nuts and seeds can really brighten these dishes. Ground into meal, they can be used to thicken soups and stews, in combination with bread crumbs in toppings and coatings, or to replace part of the flour in baking. Nut and seed butters can add a protein-enriching spread to serve with soups, stews and salads. Nuts and seeds are also excellent in desserts, which may be treated as an integral part of your menu, or can provide an after-dinner snack.

The Value Of Nuts And Seeds

Of the nuts, peanuts, almonds and pistachios have the highest protein value per calorie. Peanuts, although used like other nuts, have an amino acid arrangement that is similar to certain beans, which is not surprising since they are technically not nuts at all, but legumes. Thus, their protein quality is enhanced by mixing them with other foods in the nuts and seeds group. Of course, the grain foods and animal proteins also make ideal complements.

Too often when peanut butter is served, the principle of protein combining is ignored. Remember, peanut butter alone, or even on white bread with a glass of juice, is far less nourishing than when complemented by whole grain bread and a glass of milk (including nonanimal “milks.”)

Spreads or “butters” of cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc., should also be complemented to be of best value; serve on whole grain crackers or bread, make crunchy with a layer of wheat germ, mix with peanut butter, thin with yogurt, or serve along with a milk-, cheese-, egg-, or bean-rich dish.

Seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame, can be used in much the same manner as nuts and are generally lower in fat and calories and higher in protein. The most common seed butter is called tahini. Derived from sesame seeds, it is a staple ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking. It, too, is improved by any of the preceding combinations. In addition, tahini provides substantial calcium, making it especially valuable in a diet with little or no dairy. Unlike the saturated fat in dairy foods, the fat in tahini is largely unsaturated, another point in its favor.

Eggs and Dairy Foods

When choosing recipes, be aware that in most cases where dairy milk, cheese and yogurt are included, their soy counterparts can be successfully used instead.

While eggs and dairy foods are a convenient source of protein for the nonmeat meal, they should not be given undue emphasis. If eggs, cheese or milk are supplied in abundance at breakfast or lunch, their use should be minimized at dinner. Often a generous garnish of eggs, cheese or yogurt will be enough to insure adequate protein. A heavy cheese or egg dish in a meal that already contains good protein from vegetable sources is wasteful.

At a meal where the protein quantity or quality is questionable, eggs and milk products can be used to great advantage. A vegetable salad, for instance, can be enhanced with a yogurt or cottage cheese dressing or a cheese plate on the side. A cooked vegetable platter can be a nutritious dinner with a milk-, yogurt- or cheese-based gravy. A savory cottage cheese or yogurt dip, a “cream” soup, a cheese appetizer, or a milk- pudding dessert can all be used in this manner. But none of these choices should appear on a menu with an egg-rich souffle, a savory cheese pastry, or such amply endowed main dishes as eggplant Parmesan, ricotta-stuffed pasta, macaroni and cheese, and the like.

The Course Approach

The Main Dish

The most logical place to begin menu planning is with the main dish since this is still the focal point of the meal. Your choice of a main dish recipe will be narrowed down by many factors—the time you have available for cooking; the number of people you are feeding (some dishes are more appropriate to small service, some to large); the cost; the weather; the available help, and naturally, what you feel like eating.

The main dish you select can either be the principle source of protein, or a component of the protein-providing dish. If you already have some food on hand, see how you can use what you have, rather than choose a recipe that ignores your well-planned pantry.

Once the main dish choice is made, you can start filling in around it. Depending on your selection, you may only need to add a whole grain bread-stuff and fruit or vegetable. For more variety, you may want to add several other items to the menu.

Making Use of the Appetizer Course

The brief first course can do more than tantalize and excite the taste buds. For those accustomed to big meals, the inclusion of an appetizer may make the menu more satisfying. This is especially true when serving a one-dish main course like a stew or salad that does not lend itself to an accompaniment of vegetables, beans or grain, but might very well be preceded by a cold marinated vegetable, a light soup, a spread or dip, a simple juice, melon or grapefruit opener, or such.

Many salads, soups, vegetable dishes, beverages, and even main dishes offered in small-size portions can serve this function. And pantry condiments are standbys that may also fit the occasion.

Small portions remaining from a previous meal are ideal as a first course. You’d be surprised how different yesterday’s bean or vegetable dish seems served cold with a seasoned dressing, or how far a wedge of bean loaf or a few crepes will go when meant to stimulate rather than satisfy the appetite.

The beginning of the meal, when hunger is at its peak, is the time to take into account nutritional needs. Later on, when hunger is not so acute and the appetite less eager, the nutritional potential of food frequently goes to waste.

Viewed in this way, the American restaurant tradition of serving salad before the main course, considered uncivilized by Europeans, does make some sense. (Conversely, the offering of sherbet before the main course, as seen in some stylish restaurants, is counterproductive as it satisfies caloric needs and little else.)

While there is no hard-and-fast rule as to what foods meet the qualifications of an appetizer, it goes without saying that the appetizer should suit the meal to follow rather than detract from it.

The appetizer should not repeat basic ingredients of other dishes on the menu; thus an eggplant salad is not a suitable appetizer when eggplant Parmesan is the featured dish.

The appetizer should compensate for aesthetic or nutritional elements missing from the rest of the meal. Fruit- and vegetable-based appetizers are an excellent introduction to a meal that is primarily protein and starch: for example, marinated vegetables preceding pizza or baked macaroni. Likewise, a protein-rich appetizer can complement or boost the quality of a protein-deficient main dish: for example, peanut butter-stuffed celery or crackers with a bean spread before a primarily vegetable casserole.

The appetizer should not be so heavy as to depress hunger with the result that the main course is ignored. A pasta first course is not a recommended prelude to a hearty casserole but may be suited to a lighter vegetable dinner.

Unless an appetizer has concentrated food value, it should not be offered to those with small appetites, who will then be unable to enjoy the most important dishes on the menu. A glass of apple juice (of minimal nutritional content) can help suppress hearty appetites but may be too filling for reluctant eaters. The appetizer should not be so sweet or spicy as to dull the taste buds for the meal to come.

Add-a-Salad

There are many ways to incorporate fresh produce at mealtime, but the easiest by far is to add a salad—anything from cut-up pieces of favorite vegetables, to a mound of sprouts, to a multi-vegetable-fruit assemblage.

If you have incorporated fruit and vegetables into other parts of the meal, it is possible to skip this course. On the other hand, if you are at all concerned about the general sufficiency of the meal itself, your daily nutrition or your overall diet, you can’t go wrong adding something from the salad section.

Of course, “salad” can be much more than a few fresh fruits and vegetables. Enhance it with condiments from the pantry and its appeal will be that much greater; add beans, grains, nuts, eggs, or cheese, and valuable protein will be derived. A yogurt, cottage cheese or tofu dressing can extend the nourishment value of any salad.

Like every other item on the menu, the salad must be weighed in terms of its potential overall contribution. If the meal has a low-fat content, an oil and vinegar dressing is perfectly acceptable. However, if large amounts of cheese, eggs, or nuts are being served, a low-fat dressing is more appropriate.

Making Dessert an Essential Part of the Meal

When it is chosen to complement the rest of the menu, even dessert can make a very substantial contribution. Dessert can add protein directly to the meal, as in a pudding, a cheese or yogurt pastry, or an egg-y custard. Or, it can help augment protein by incorporating nut butter or ground nuts, rolled oats, cornmeal, rice, and other grains to complement beans or other vegetable proteins elsewhere on the menu. In using the protein-boosting qualities of dessert, it is important to balance out your choice with the rest of the menu. For example, nut cutlets can be enhanced by a rice pudding dessert, bean soup by oatmeal cookies, and pasta by a peanut butter confection. Do not, however, try to balance a grain-rich entree with a grain dessert, or use a nutted dessert to raise the quality of a primarily nut-based main course.

Whole grain cakes and cookies at dessert time can take the place of whole grain bread, while the fruit and vegetable requirement can be satisfied by a fresh fruit salad, fresh fruit pudding or sherbet, or a baked fruit dessert.

Liquid Refreshment

Most people like to have something to drink with their meal. All too often, however, the beverage merely serves to wash down the food rather than add to it. When fruit and vegetables have been underplayed, a fruit or vegetable juice can help to make up for it. For example, a glass of tomato juice can add some of the missing elements to a tofu sandwich, just as can orange juice to a simple bean dish.

When the protein content is in question, a soy or dairy drink can be added. A largely grain or vegetable plate benefits from a protein-rich shake. However, a menu that already has ample protein in other courses does not benefit from this sort of beverage.

A meal that is well balanced in every way is probably best served with plain or sparkling water. If you wish to add interest with a beverage but minimize calories, mix carbonated water with a favorite juice. In addition, hot or cold herb teas can be served at mealtime, but only if they are taken with little or no added sweetening. (Oversweetened tea is no more sound nutritionally than soda pop or commercial juice-drinks.)

For some people alcoholic beverages are a traditional part of the meal. Consumption of “moderate amounts” of alcohol is considered by some investigators to have a positive influence in controlling heart disease. We emphasize, however, that this applies only to limited use, and if you enjoy beer or wine (which can be diluted with seltzer), you might want to make an attempt to discover which brands are manufactured without chemical adulterants.

Take a pitcher of water to dinner. The addition of water to any meal can have an important health benefit. Not only do our bodies need the liquid, but according to dental authorities, rinsing the mouth out within a few minutes of eating can dramatically curtail the cavtity-causing action of many foods—particularly important when sweet or sticky foods are served.

Meals for One

Many individuals, even those who enjoy eating and cooking, often do not take the time to feed themselves properly when they are alone. They may claim they lack time; indeed, in some circles it is chicto have an almost barren kitchen. More likely, people do not cook for themselves because it seems like too much effort for a single meal, particularly when most recipes are written for four or more; somehow, making a good meal for yourself is thought to be self indulgent—it’s all right to treat others well but not yourself.

Any sensible person recognizes that a good diet is not a sign of indulgence but of self-respect. The reality is, we all make time to eat each day, so even if you have no intention of cooking, simply keeping some basic wholefoods on hand can mean improved nourishment. It is no more difficult to grab a meal of whole grain crackers, hummus and a fresh pear or can of fruit packed in water or juice, than to end up with processed meat on a saltine-type cracker and a can of fruit packed in heavy syrup.

The opening recipe section in our cookbood, American Wholefoods Cuisine, is devoted to “Short-Order Cooking,” to demonstrate what can be done when there are limitations on time and energy. Here are some ways you can improve your dining choices in a household of one:

Make use of the wholefoods pantry. You will be surprised by what you can create in just a few minutes from the condiments you’ve been collecting; olives, pickled vegetables, artichoke hearts, or eggplant caponata can dress up the simplest salad, soup or sandwich. A can of beans on the shelf can become taco filling or stew in les than 10 minutes. With an assortment of whole grain crackers and a nut or seed butter, “bread and spread” is always available.

Use plain yogurt (dairy or soy) and cottage cheese for instant dips. Even a raw vegetable and dairy or soy cheese plate, followed by a selection of nuts, dried fruit and fresh fruit in season can provide leisurely snacking and excellent nourishment without any cooking.

Take the opportunity to experiment with new dishes before you try them on friends. Also, think of all the delicacies that are too costly or bothersome to prepare in quantity and treat yourself. Prepare full-service recipes for four or more and wrap them in individual portions for freezer storage.

If you have more time available for cooking late at night or at other nonmeal hours, think about cultivating cooking as a hobby and form of relaxation. Try kneading bread to release the tensions of the day, or cooking a rich homey soup or stew. The results can be savored the next day or, again, stored in the freezer for the future.

Eating alone “lacks the condiment of companions.” If you resist cooking for yourself because you do not enjoy eating alone, the obvious remedy is to begin inviting others to share meals with you—not only friends but coworkers and neighbors as well. Do it often enough and they’ll have to return the favor; pretty soon you’ll be eating better and enjoying an active social life. As someone once said: “Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.”

Nikki and David Goldbeck's pioneering books have had a powerful influence on the way America eats for more than three decades. Best known for their 1970's bestseller The Supermarket Handbook, and their widely acclaimed American Wholefoods Cuisine, the Goldbecks are also authors of Healthy Highways, The Good Breakfast Book, The Healthiest Diet in the World, and Eat Well the YoChee Way. Their website is HealthyHighways.com.