Veggie Blog

Flicking through the cooking book creates a lot of ideas, yet many of the recipes contain meat as their main ingredient. Here are three simple veggie-friendly party food ideas:

Honey and Mustard egg-fried rice

Boil three cups of black rice until cooked and leave to soak in ice cold water. Heat two tablespoons of honey with a tablespoon of oil and two teaspoons of wholegrain mustard in a separate pan, whilst simultaneously frying an omelette (3 eggs). Drain rice and fry with mixed beans. Mix in honey and mustard sauce, serve.

Rice filled Red Peppers

Fry a large onion in oil and simultaneously boil (in vegetable stock) enough rice to fill the peppers you need. Once the rice is cooked and drained, mix in the onions and some peas. Horizontally slice off the pepper tops and fill with rice mixture. Place a slice of blue cheese on top and place in a preheated oven (180º C) for 20 minutes and serve.

Bruschetta

Dice a medium red onion, 1 garlic clove and 4 beef tomatoes and mix in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of basil. Drizzle olive oil onto 6 slices of Ciabatta bread and place under the grill for 2 minutes until golden brown. Spoon the mixture onto the bread and serve.

Carrots are a staple in vegan and vegetarian kitchens, and for good reason. My original post listed five benefits, and some of them need a correction, so here is the evidence.

Do carrots improve your eyesight?

Not in the way the old post suggested. The American Academy of Ophthalmology lists the idea that eating carrots will improve your vision as a common eye myth. The truth behind it is that vitamin A is essential for healthy eyesight, and carrots have high amounts of it. Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, but it is rare in the United States, and carrots will not give you better vision than a healthy person already has.

How much vitamin A is in a carrot?

Carrots contain beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A. The NIH explains that 12 micrograms of dietary beta-carotene equal 1 microgram of vitamin A (RAE). According to USDA data, a medium raw carrot (61 grams) provides about 510 micrograms RAE. Women need 700 micrograms a day, and men 900, so one medium carrot covers roughly three-quarters of a woman’s daily need.

Do you need vitamin pills if you eat carrots?

No, and the old post was right about that. You can meet your vitamin A needs with food, and it is safer. The NIH reports that two large trials found beta-carotene supplements increased the risk of lung cancer in smokers, by 18 percent in one trial and 28 percent in the other, which also included former smokers and asbestos-exposed workers. Talk to your doctor before taking beta-carotene pills if you smoke or have smoked. Our post on antioxidant foods explains why colorful vegetables beat supplements.

Does carrot juice fight cancer or slow aging?

The old post claimed that carrot juice has anti-cancer properties, that beta-carotene slows aging and that carrots are good for the skin. I could not find solid evidence for those claims, so I have dropped them. Juice also has less fiber than the whole vegetable: USDA FoodData Central lists 0.8 grams per 100 grams for canned carrot juice and 2.8 grams for raw carrots. A glass of carrot juice is a fine drink, but it is not a miracle substitute for water or for eating the whole thing. If you want more advice on vitamins from food, see vitamin deficiency: who is at risk.

A homemade patty is lovely, but most of us reach for a packet from the freezer on a busy night. The old version of this post promised that every veggie burger is healthier than a meat burger. That is too simple: the packet on the shelf can be very good or fairly salty and processed, and the label tells you which.

Is a veggie burger automatically healthy?

No. The USDA’s reference entry for a generic soy veggie burger (uncooked, per 100 grams) lists 15.7 grams of protein, 4.9 grams of fiber and 1.4 grams of saturated fat, but also 569 milligrams of sodium. The same database lists a cooked, pan-broiled 85% lean beef patty at 24.6 grams of protein, 5.3 grams of saturated fat, no fiber and 79 milligrams of sodium. So the veggie burger wins on fiber and saturated fat, and loses clearly on salt. Treat the comparison as a rough guide, because one entry is raw and the other cooked, and brands vary a lot. You can look up any product in USDA FoodData Central.

What numbers should you look for on the label?

A dietitian at Johns Hopkins suggests choosing veggie burgers with fewer than 5 grams of saturated fat, ideally under about 400 milligrams of sodium and at least 4 grams of protein per ounce. (The published page says “grams” of sodium, which is clearly a typo for milligrams.) Walter Willett of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health gives a simple rule for plant-based patties: saturated fat should be less than a third of the total fat, and sodium about one milligram per calorie. For context, the American Heart Association sets 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day as the upper limit and 1,500 milligrams as the ideal for most adults, so one patty can use a big share of the day.

What should the ingredient list start with?

Look for whole foods first: beans, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, tofu or tempeh. The Hopkins dietitian prefers patties built on whole foods over those made from isolated or hydrolyzed protein, and notes that veggie burgers can be highly processed. Check for allergens too, since many patties contain soy, wheat, egg or milk.

Is it vegetarian, or vegan?

Not every veggie burger is both. Some contain egg or milk, so a vegan needs to check. Strict vegetarians should also remember that processing aids can come from animals. The Vegetarian Society points out that cheese is traditionally made with rennet, an enzyme from animal stomachs, so a patty with cheese in it needs a “suitable for vegetarians” label. Look for a clear vegetarian or vegan mark on the pack.

What about burgers made to taste like meat?

Plant-based patties that imitate beef are more processed than a bean burger, but the Harvard article above quotes experts who judge them a better option than beef for both personal and planetary health, as long as you check the label. Fast-food chains now sell them too, which is a long way from the old post’s remark that you can “even buy them at Burger King.”

How do you build a better burger?

Choose a whole-grain bun, pile on lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado or mushrooms, and go easy on ketchup, cheese and mayonnaise, which add salt, sugar and saturated fat. Add a side of beans or a salad if the patty itself is low in protein. For recipes that use beans and lentils see high-protein vegetarian meals and our fiber-rich cholesterol-friendly diet plan.

I used to write that a veggie burger can taste better than a meat burger. That is a matter of taste, but a good homemade one is worth the effort, and it is easier than most people expect. Here is how to build one, and what makes a patty fall apart in the pan.

What goes into a good veggie burger?

Think of three parts: a main ingredient, a binder and flavor. The main ingredient can be beans, lentils, mushrooms, cooked grains, nuts, potatoes or tofu. The binder, such as rolled oats, breadcrumbs, ground flaxseed or an egg, holds the mixture together. Flavor comes from onion, garlic, spices, herbs and a little salt. A black bean burger recipe from a Johns Hopkins dietitian shows the idea: rolled oats, bell pepper, shredded carrot, cumin, coriander, paprika and canned black beans, baked in the oven. By the published numbers, one 200-gram patty has about 10 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber.

How do you keep a veggie burger from falling apart?

Most crumbling comes from too much moisture or too little binder. Rinse and drain canned beans well, and pat them dry. Pulse most of the beans so they turn sticky and leave some whole for texture, which is the same method the Hopkins recipe uses. Cook onions or mushrooms first so they release their water before they go into the mix. Chilling the shaped patties for about half an hour is a common cook’s tip that makes them much easier to handle. Then cook them gently with a little oil and turn them only once, when the underside has formed a crust. Baking, as in the Hopkins recipe (300°F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges are crisp), is the least fussy method.

Is it safe to cook with dried beans?

Yes, as long as you cook them fully. Raw or undercooked red kidney beans contain a natural lectin that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Health Canada advises soaking dry red kidney beans for at least 5 hours, discarding the soaking water and boiling them vigorously for at least 10 minutes. It also says not to cook dry red kidney beans in a slow cooker, because it does not get hot enough. Canned beans have already been heated enough and need no extra boiling, which is one reason many recipes use them.

How do you store and reheat homemade veggie burgers?

Cool the cooked patties quickly and get them into the refrigerator within two hours. According to the USDA, leftovers keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator or 3 to 4 months in the freezer, and should be reheated to 165°F. Freezing the patties in a single layer with parchment between them makes it easy to take out just the number you need, and a double batch costs very little extra effort.

Who invented the veggie burger?

The old version of this post said the first veggie burgers were made in 1982. That year holds up for the first commercial one: Gregory Sams launched the VegeBurger in London in March 1982. Recipes for vegetable patties had been printed before that, as early as 1969, according to the Smithsonian. So the idea is older than the product, and cooks have been improvising patties for a long time.

What should you serve with it?

A whole-grain bun, lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado or mustard are a good start. For more bean and lentil ideas see our guide to high-protein vegetarian meals, the vegetarian chili recipe that uses kidney beans and corn, and eating oats, fruit and beans to lower cholesterol. The advantage of cooking at home is that you decide how much salt goes in, which is the main thing to watch with the packaged versions.

My Best Salad Recipe

Okay so I made a suggestion for a delicious salad you can serve your friends and family. Hopefully this will make them decide to be a veggie because the taste is simply amazing!

Ingredients:
• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

The progress to make this is very easy. Simply get 2 bowls and take the spinach and strawberries in one of them, than you take everything else in the other one. Mix everything well in both bowls then you get your salad bowl and pt the spinach and berries on the bottom while you take the other ingredients on top of it. This is fast and easy and will make you literally scream for more.