Spaghetti sauce adds quick flavor to dishes
Business lunch meetings, dinner at grandma’s house, or that egg’y birthday cake that a loving friend bakes; they all bring their challenges to new vegans—and sometimes to more experienced ones as well.
Thank goodness vegan eating at home can be relaxed and uncomplicated. Keep these five foods on hand to make menu-planning simple and angst-free.
Hummus: Whether you make your own or buy it at the store, hummus always comes in handy. In traditional mideastern cooking, hummus is a dip, scooped up with wedges of pita. Among vegetarians, it’s become a popular sandwich spread, but hummus can do so much more. Spoon it over a baked potato or use as a topping for brown rice and steamed vegetables. Thin it with a little water or sesame oil and use as a protein- and calcium-rich salad dressing.
Soup in a box: These aseptic cartons of soup are life savers when there is no time to cook. Several varieties—like Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Soup—are vegan. Stretch them with the addition of cooked beans, corn and other vegetables.
Veggie burgers and other meat analogs: Some vegans turn their noses up at them; they say they’re too much like the “real thing.” But meat analogs are a more ethical and healthful version of the real thing, and for newbies, they can make or break efforts to stay vegan. Look for hot dogs, sausages, sandwich slices, burgers, and chickenless nuggets.
Spaghetti sauce: Pasta and sauce is the busy vegan’s friend. A good marina sauce, however, comes in handy for so much more. Give chickpeas a slow bake in garlic-infused sauce for a taste of southern Italy that requires almost no effort. With bread and salad, it’s a meal. Or use a little bit of the sauce to perk up bean or vegetable soup.
Trail mix (without chocolate): There’s nothing wrong with a little chocolate in your trail mix, but the kind that has just nuts and dried fruit is more versatile. Toss it with brown rice for instant fancy pilaf or sprinkle on top of greens for a main dish salad. And of course, trail mix is a great grab-and-go snack.
| Check out my blog The Vegan Dietitian to learn more about vegan diet and lifestyle! |
Comments
1) Hummus, when made with tahini, is still a high-fat food product. Homemade without the tahini, and it's quite heart-healthy.
2) Most "soup in a boxes" are expensive and have high-sodium. Bette to invest in a crockpot and make the same with 15 minutes prep.
3) Many meat analogs are high fat and high sodium. Surprised that you, as a so-called nutritional expert, didn't point this out.
4) How tough is it to make your own spaghetti sauce with or without a crockpot? Most have added oils (a NON food). Are we that lazy that we have to BUY spaghetti sauce?
5) Many "trail mixes" contain high amounts of oil (fried nuts and the like)... why add that to otherwise healthy foods?
Your recommendations, although commendable in intent, lack a nutritional reality that is surprising.
Get real. It's the added fat, sugar, and salt, that's killing us, whether we are veg or not.
You need to get real and not attack the author. This article is geared to help new, transitioning vegans, many of whom are in it for the amimals. The author recognizes that.
Thank you, Ivy. I was, indeed, making suggestions to make it easier for new vegans to stick to this way of eating.
"M," all of the foods noted here fit well into a healthful diet. Fats from plant foods are compatible with good health. The idea that vegans shouldn't eat foods like nuts and seeds and olive oil is outdated. And while too many processed foods can boost sodium intake, it's fine to use these foods when most of the diet is made up of fresh foods and whole grains and beans.
Marketing surveys show that most people value convenience and taste above all else when it comes to food choices. Insisting that the only way to be healthy is to make everything from scratch is completely unrealistic. And thank goodness it's untrue as well.
Adding pasta may contribute to a serious health problem due to gluten overconsumption; symptoms are: headaches, dizziness, swelling. A better idea is to eat rice. There are many Chinese and Indian recipes which may be modified for a vegan diet by substituting tofu or simply leaving out the meat.
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