Ask me Vegan-Vegetarian and gluten free questions!

[Desidee]

I am a born Vegetarian, I do not think I will ever claim to be Vegan. I do use dairy but in the least possible quantity.

I teach cooking classes and love to eat vegetarian food from different cuisines, with two kids with strict Vegetarian diet due to allergies, I have been pouring over a lot of books, websites, talking to chefs and cooks all over. My decades of knowledge about food and passion for healthy food needs to be shared. I would love to answer any questions about food. 

I have no knowledge about sea-food, birds or meat. I have never touched them and  I will never do so in future.

If you are trying to add vegetarian food to your diet and have any questions please feel free to ask me.

Tahnx

D

[BurdsNest]

Thank you Desidee

[Paradise555]

As someone with celiac myself, why does some food taste like cardboard (taste yucky) and othe gf food taste good?

[kelfran]

Thank you @Desidee.

I have a question about beans. We are trying to get more beans into our diet and I know that a lot of vegetarians eat beans regularly. Do you have any good recipes to share (other than chili or just serving beans & rice)? I went to the store and bought chickpeas, kidney, navy and great northern beans, but I can't seem to find any flavorful and interesting recipes online. Would you mind sharing some or guiding me in the right direction?

[HelenaFitbit]

It's great to see you here @Desidee! I'd like to know what are the best plant-based foods and combinations that have the most iron in them, turns out I have a bad case of anemia and I need to boost my iron intake.

Also, how far in advance can I whip up a couple plant based meals and how long can they hold up on the fridge?

[Desidee]

Have you tried using spices in your recipes?

I can relate to food tasting awful without spices.

So my answer is Spice it up.

Let me know what are the easiest recipes that you frequestly use....I can help you to add some Pizzazz..

D

[Desidee]

I use a lot of bean flours. They taste different and have different uses.

For instance I use whole beans with chilli kind of recipes. 

here is my favourite recipe for chick Peas. I make it a bit differently but I am posting  a link for you to see the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2xZWTltJ10

Here is a recipe of authentic Kidney beans...Sikhs are known to make the best ( Rajma) Kidney beans..

Get used to Indian Accent and you will find the best vegetarian recipes on You-Tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e1PqQOfF7Q

Here is another recipe of Rajma (Kidney Beans)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAYmAyB3k

I use beans in split forms to make pan cakes/crepes So there are endless possibilites. But try the above two recipes and graduate to the next level of making Dals.

D

[Desidee]

Use Spinach and greens as Bok Choy and broccoli regularly on the daily basis. These two are the two plants based iron source that also have vitamin C to help you absorb Iron into the body.
Lentils, Soybeans Tofu and most beans have a lot of Iron in them that is good on vegan or a vegetarian diet. Trick is to add vit C to the recipe to help you.

Most of the recipes I make have loads of tomato puree in them to make it delicious....My ancestors knew the trick.
Traditionally most beans and greens are made in hand made thick iron wok. It adds to the iron intake. Make sure you move the food out of the wok as soon as it is done cooking, sour ingredients in the iron non-coated pots and pans are strongly discouraged.

Most vegetarian food must be consumed the same day, but you can make beans-green and potato patties for use over the weekday.
Keep at least half a day for shopping and cooking to keep on top of your cooking game.

[HelenaFitbit]

Thank you very much for your response @Desidee! I will get started on this 

[TeaAddictedGeek]

Flour texture. In fact there's a great website called Gluten Free Goddess that makes the best recipes IMHO due to flour combining, which is really the trick to avoid the cardboard.

[Inga]

I'll eat lentils on rare occasions but that is it. I make beans for my husband frequently. He likes beans mixed in with a skillet of sauteed fresh vegies with some chopped tomatoes, garlic and green onion added in. Sometimes I'll add a cup of cooked pasta. (we only eat green onion)

Tonight I made him a pasta salad. I cooked a cup of penne, added 1 cup of red beans, 3 chopped ribs of celery, 2 sliced green onions, 1tbs chopped parsley, 6 tbs Hampton Creek vegan coleslaw dressing, salt and pepper to taste.

This works with any type of starch or bean, or sub green beans for the penne, or fresh peas for the beans.

[Inga]

Paradise555, I think vegies and fruit always taste good just the way they are, it is the starches and fake junkfood that taste like cardboard. Just stay away from that stuff!