@ Vegetarians: I need to change my diet.

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The doc says that I have to abstain from eating processed foods, red meats, yellow cheeses, and anything with high amounts of cholesterol or salt (10% or more of the RDA per serving). Eggs, fish, poultry, and white cheeses are okay, as long as I don't exceed 4 ounces per day.

Last Saturday, I spent nearly double what I would normally spend on food because I read the labels and bought only the 'healthier' alternatives, including fresh fruits and veggies (as opposed to canned or frozen).

I also have at least 2 quarts each of brown rice, dried beans (black, pinto, and white), and various "Whole Grain" pastas. I have no problems with gluten or peanuts, but tofu and soy flour give me heartburn, and avocados make me gag.

(I'm already tired of salads, by the way.)

Please don't try to convert me to veganism, and please don't derail this thread to the alleged immorality of eating meat or the alleged dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs); because if you do, I will ask the mods to lock this thread.

Thus, my requests are simple: "How do you prepare healthy, vegetarian meals that actually taste good?", and "What are your favorite recipes?"

Thank you.

i would google mediterranean diet recipes. my personal favorite recipes are from the american heart assoc. cook book and recipes for weight loss from johns hopkins.

What are some of your favourite foods? What a lot of folks don't understand is nearly anything can be made vegetarian (outside of you know, steak, etc.) Do you like Mexican, Chinese, etc.? If you share what some of your favourite food types are it will be easier to cater to your own tastes.

There are loads of recipes online in places like this

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-ra ... s/view-all

I love vegetarian chile and soups. We eat a lot of Mexican, Thai, Italian, Indian and Italian foods at our home. I rarely follow recipes. I hate whole grain pastas, but eat gluten free pastas with no problem. Whole grain tortillas aren't horrible if they are made well, and corn tortillas are generally whole grain (and good for tacos and enchiladas).

Also frozen veggies are pretty much fresh frozen, so opting for frozen veg instead of fresh shouldn't be outside the parameters of your diet. Sometimes the frozen ones are higher in nutrition as they are frozen fresh at the source and haven't lost nutrients due to travel and shelf time.

On the fresh v. frozen statement I made earlier:

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_hea ... trition_fo

Olive oil is your friend.Use it for flavor.If you like fish,then fish tacos are healthy.Go to farmers markets for good fresh food.Stir fry fresh veggies in sesame oil,a nice smoky flavor.Some vegan food tastes good,some is crap.No reason to pay more for something that tastes bad.Make a whole grain pizza,go light on the cheese and add lots of fresh veggies.Use beans in whole grain tortillas,add a nice sauce and a bed of good greens,like leaf lettuce or arugula.if you have the room consider growing your own.Fresh herbs like Rosemary,parsley,chives etc can make what would be bland taste good.Get began bacon bits,smart balance spread and use Hreek yogurt instead of sour cream for baked potatoes.
My chloresterol hit an ungodly high years ago,part heredity,part medication.I dropped it by eating healthyL and no medication.
If you do it right,it's actually cheaper.
Go heavy on the garlic.
I still eat a bite of meat,get a free range chicken and bake it with a lemon stuck inside.Big difference in the flavor compared to a factory chicken.Keep the bones,boil and make soup stock for a veggie soup.

Aim for what's most important for your health condition. That way if you have to you can "cheat" some where it hurts you the least. Too much sugar might be worse for cholesterol levels than cholesterol itself. As mentioned, olive oil can taste good, and it seems to have some positive effects, so try not to overly restrict your intake of healthy oils. If the taste is too strong, the extra light tastes better.

To add to the above suggestions. Invest in spices and herbs from your favourite cuisines, dried ones are the easiest (bin after 3 months), but fresh from a window flower box is packed with flavor. Stock- there are healthier stock cubes, but making your own stock and freezing it for use in recipes to me is worth the extra effort. If you make your own base sauces you can control the content and the flavors you like in your diet might not need to change dramatically. It takes some time to get the mixtures right.

My favorite recipes are tomato/Mediterranean based, mild-moderate curries, stir fry chicken& veg, salad with mandarin and cashews, I use minced quorn mixed with regular minced beef/chicken for cottage pies, lasagne, bolognese.

What cuisines do you like?

Dry beans are notoriously difficult to cook. I don't think dried beans are any healthier than canned beans, so if you find your bean cooking skills are craptacular because you don't have the patience to let them soak and cook for two days, buy a pressure cooker or buy cans.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat quite a few veggies.

I eat a lot of hemp seeds, various nuts, hemp/brown rice/veggie protein powder. Mixed organic green salads, onions, various fresh veggies depending on what I feel like and what's on sale/in season.

The main herbs/seasonings I use are: Turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, coconut oil, natural mineral salts, black pepper. Sometimes I make salad dressing out of all of the above. Sometimes I go as simple as some hemp seed oil, lime juice, salt & pepper. Fresh garlic or ginger are always good.

There are a lot of options for making healthy food taste great.

As for the expense of fresh veggies etc.. I'm fortunate to live where we grow all kinds of everything so prices are relatively inexpensive compared to other parts of the world. But in general, health is wealth & you are what you eat.. so, IMO, it's worth the price to pay for quality nutritious food. Like the fictitious ancient Chinese proverb says: Good no cheap, cheap no good.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

OK, here's an easy one: stewed chickpeas. (I'll echo what the previous poster said about dried beans being more trouble, but no better for you, than canned ones.) Take 2 cans of chickpeas, one can of diced tomatoes and chilies, and half an onion. Chop the onion, soften it in a little olive oil, add the chickpeas (drain them first) and the can of Rotel, plus a can of water. Add a teaspoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point you can add a medium zucchini chopped into one inch pieces, or a handful of greens, or some frozen peas 'n carrots, and simmer for 5 minutes more if you want to get some extra veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over brown rice or whole wheat couscous. We eat this about once a week around here.

I'm no vegetarian, but I LOVE hummus. It has to be homemade though, the store-bought crap tastes disgusting.

http://www.countryliving.com/_mobile/co ... 09#slide-1


http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/category/special-diets/vegetarian/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/deenashanker/veggies-rule-burgers-drool