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When you are looking for some vegetarian alternative to regular consumption, there are ingredients and foods that are essential in the kitchen. Here’s a list of these ingredients to prepare vegetarian dishes.
How to Choose your Ingredients for a Vegetarian Diet?
Tofu: This paste made from soy milk is often used to replace meat. It is found in two forms: strong or soft. Firm tofu is used to accompany vegetables and cereals. Diced tofu or slide can be used in salads, soups, pies, or vegetables. Soy replaces silk egg whites in creams and foams.
Miso: Fermented paste made from soy beans, rice or barley, salt, water, and a fungus. Originally from Japan, miso is used to flavor sauces, soups, and cooked dishes. It is therefore an alternative to table salt, mustard, gravy, and tomato paste.
Seitan: Made from gluten wheat, seitan is used as a source of protein in veganism and vegetarianism. Its stringy texture gives it the appearance of a piece of meat and its rich flavor makes a wide variety of preparations (roasted, sliced breaded). It helps fight against high cholesterol while meeting your protein needs.
Tempeh: This soy product comes from Indonesia. It is a very balanced food with a taste similar to a mushroom. It is sold as a pudding to be fried or served with sauces. Arrow-root starch originally extracted from the root of arrowroot and reduced to a fine white powder that is used as a thickening agent.
Kaffir lime: Or combava, small bumpy lemons from a thorny lemon tree in Asia whose zest and dried form are used in cooking. In cocktails and sauces, it combines a strong aroma of lemon grass and coriander.
Brewer’s yeast: Grown on molasses or during the manufacturing of beer, it is then inactivated and presented in the form of flakes. It is very rich in protein and amine acids. It can be used to accompany salads, soups, or pasta to replace the grated cheese.
Stevia: It is a plant from South America that is often used to replace sugar and aspartame as it is natural and low in calories.
Maple syrup: Widely used in Quebec and in Canada, maple syrup is a natural sweetener made from maple sap in early spring that is concentrated by boiling.
The Gomasio: Salt sesame rich in calcium and magnesium which helps to flavor the dishes.
Vegetal milk: These are non-dairy beverages, water-based with vegetable ingredients. There are soy, rice, oats, almonds, hazelnuts, coconut milk, etc. Each is different and can replace cow’s milk in your cooking. For example, the coconut milk is used in the Indian Ocean for the preparation of cassava leaves. Almond milk has been very popular in western countries since the middle-ages.
Photo by ELEONORA
