Plant-Based eating

[Priceam]

My daughter and I have started a plant-based diet for this week. Any recommendations on foods that have flavor, but are also easy to make?

[GershonSurge · Accepted solution]

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@Priceam wrote:

My daughter and I have started a plant-based diet for this week. Any recommendations on foods that have flavor, but are also easy to make?

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If you like more complicated and tasty recipies I recommend this cookbook: The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less.

You can get many of the same recipies free  here: https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/recipes

[Priceam]

T                                   Thank you for the idea in trying new foods I will definitely give that a try!!

[MAK1973]

Try "Thug Kitchen."  Depending on her age, you may not want your daughter to read the recipes (the writers use a lot of foul language) but the recipes are easy and tasty and they rarely call for strange difficult to find ingredients.  Isa Chandra's book "Isa Does It" is another good one!

[Priceam]

Thank you for the idea and suggestions. My daughter is 19 so I think she'd
be ok with Thug Kitchen.( sounds interesting ). She has been watching
documentaries on healthier eating and plant based foods, and wanted to try
a weeks worth of detoxifing the body. So we're going to give it a shot.

[MrsHenchy]

The 'Oh She Glows" books are also some that I use a lot. And I second the suggestions for McDougall and Isa Chandra. Isa has another called Appetite for Reduction that had some lower fat options. Good luck!

[babby218]

I found the cookbook "Plenty" to be filled with recipes that have lots of flavor and tons of vegetables! There are some recipes that have yogurt, but I usually don't add it and find the food still delicious. It is based on Lebanese recipes that are delicious. Most are very easy to make with pictures and step by step directions. However, besure your knife is sharp and your peeler is handy as there is plenty of peeling and chopping involved.

[urbanbalanced]

If you are going completely plant-based, meaning vegan, you have to keep 1 thing in mind. Vitamin B12 is not something you can get naturally from plant-based foods. It is a vitamin only found in animal products. However, science and all has resolved that as there are vegan options that have foods with added B12 vitamins. Those foods are enriched using bacterias; just don't forget it as B12 is kinda important even if you don't need that much in the end everyday.

[GershonSurge]

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@urbanbalanced wrote:

If you are going completely plant-based, meaning vegan, you have to keep 1 thing in mind. Vitamin B12 is not something you can get naturally from plant-based foods. It is a vitamin only found in animal products. However, science and all has resolved that as there are vegan options that have foods with added B12 vitamins. Those foods are enriched using bacterias; just don't forget it as B12 is kinda important even if you don't need that much in the end everyday.

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People are quick to point out a whole food plant based way of eating doesn't have B-12. They say a diet can't be perfect if it doesn't have all the nutrients. In our natural state, we would get enough walking along trails and inhaling poop dust. Later research shows people synthesize B-12 throughout their digestive system from entry to exit.

More meat eaters get symptoms of B-12 deficiencies because they lack the intrinsic factor in their stomach to use it. That's why folic acid is added to many foods. 

Only about one in a million strict plant-based eaters show symptoms of a B-12 deficiency. About 80% will have less than the minimum level recommended for the test.

The experts recommend taking the smallest dose of B-12 supplement about once a week. 

[urbanbalanced]

I really don't know why you feel as if I am attacking a diet by stating a fact; the fact that plant-based foods do not contain the proper B12 vitamins humans require (plants do contain B12, but variations Humans don't ingest). I even stated that it is entirely possible and fine to live vegan when it is kept in mind.

In fact your last sentence clearly agrees with what I said even though you took offense for no reason I can discern:

> The experts recommend taking the smallest dose of B-12 supplement about once a week.

PS: Your B12 meat-eater claim is all sourced to pretty vegan activists and they never even properly source the claim; so yeah. 

[GershonSurge]

@urbanbalanced,

I'm sorry I offended you. I'm not good at tact and diplomacy. I tried to word the post so it wasn't directed at you.

You can find much of the information I posted here.

You can find the prevalence of B-12 deficiency here. 

[azerea_02]

Since B12 comes from a bacteria that lives in the soil, in today's day and age of pesticides and herbicides killing the soil, everyone should look to supplementing B12, regardless of diet. However, it takes years to develop a deficiency and since OP mentioned they and their daughter were trying it out as a 1 week detox, I don't see how B12 is relevant to this post specifically.

[trishe]

You want easy? Get a slow cooker. Great for soups, stews (veggie) and beans/grains. I love my vegetarian slow cooker cookbook, and there are several out there to choose from. 

I also have a Fresh and Fast Vegan meals in under 30 minutes.

I've been vegetarian/almost vegan for about 27 years. My basic formula is "beans, greens, grains". I also have a "miracle cooker" grain cooker with a steaming basket on top. I put red lentils and quinoa, season with Indian spices, water of course, and a bunch of greens in the basket on top (love collards and Italian kale). The greens are done when the "kitchari" is done. Add ghee or even better, coconut oil to the kitchari AND the greens for "sweetness". 

I would not go too low fat, really. I developed gallstones after years of virtually no added fat in my diet. Turns out that too little fat is as bad as too much. According to the internist I saw, anyway. I was able to avoid losing my GB, turns out diet can also put gallstones back in solution, but that is a tale for another time. (Stones are basically little "butter balls" of cholesteral "churned" into existence by the GB squeezing bile into the small intestine to aid digestion.)

I do not miss meat, although I do indulge in some meat substitutes from time to time. They tend to be processed to death tho, so I save them for cookouts, chili cookoffs at work, that sort of thing.

[DanielleinDC]

There's a website, www.vegweb.com, that has all sorts of vegan recipes. I've found a few that work for me.

If you want cheesy flavor, try some nutritional yeast (which we call nooch). You can sprinkle it on popcorn or make sauces with it. I like to use it in breading tofu to saute. I also use it as seasoning in my kale salad.

[DebFit]

Try the "Oh She Glows" website, awesome vegan recipes.  Try the vegan cesar salad, it's awesome.  Her glazed walnut loaf is good as well.  She has lots of good stuff there.

[Taurus21]

I have recently found a delicious granola called Bakery on Main. Pair it with soy milk as an option. I've only been able to find it Hy-vee so far.

[SunsetRunner]

Appetite for Reduction has so many GOOD recipes. I have not had one fail yet from that book. 🙂

[MariamV]

Hello everyone!

I'm loving all recipes sites you have shared. I have heard of the Thug Kitchen one and I'm very  impressed with it. Also to all social media lovers, Pinterest is also a great place to check out plant based recipes. I also follow lots of Facebook pages where all or most recipes are plant based. Some of them are called: Carrots and Flowers, Bosh, Nest and Glow, The Buddhist Chef, Mercy for Animals, and PETA. I'm loving the avocado chocolate cake. It's the best! 

I love Facebook pages cause they post easy to make recipes and all plant based. Pure love! 

[IceBaroque]

https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/

[access2003]

I just did this too...  I found a book called Thug Kitchen..  Its amazing and a fun read if you don't mind a book cursing at you..  lol.   Its got some great easy stuff.  I've tried two recipes so far and they are amazing