What is the definition of a plant-based diet?
A plant-based diet is a diet that prioritizes vegetables first alongside diary and eggs. This kind of diet also includes fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. That said, a plant-based diet can also include moderate amounts of poultry, fish, meats, & seafood. “Simply put, when following a plant-based diet you’re choosing to eat more plants.” Casey Lewis, MS, RD & Clif Bar & Company’s Head of Nutrition, 2019.
Three benefits to why I would like to follow a plant-based diet
1. With a plant-based diet, where the focus is to consume larger ratios of plant-based foods versus meats, I would be “supporting a variety of health outcomes, including a healthy heart and healthy weight.” Casey Lewis, MS, RD & Clif Bar & Company’s Head of Nutrition, 2019. In doing so I will also be reducing the health risks commonly associated with heavy meat consumption diet. Some examples of these health risks are "cardiovascular disease, colon cancer & type 2 diabetes" Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst, Geneva, August 2019. to only name a few.
2. As well, with a plant-based diet, the effects on the environment are far less. The more meats that we produce, the more rapidly we affect the growing problem of global warming. Proportionate to the total greenhouse gases that we produce globally, "a quarter of our global emissions come from food. More than half of the food emissions come from animal products." Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst, Geneva, August 2019. Therefore, just from an environmental perspective, eating less meat will greatly lower greenhouse gases.
3. Furthermore, as Buddhist, who’s tradition it is to not kill animals, I would like to start doing my part by finding other tastier protein options to serve my clients.
My Future Culinary Projections
I absolutely do see myself including a whole variety of plant-based meals into my future menus.
Firstly, the appearance of vegetarian meals on my menu will satisfy my target demographic. The kind of cooking that I would like to do in the future will be in the outdoor setting. Therefore, it is more likely that vegetables and legumes that I plan to cook will actually keep longer without the need to fridge or at least use fewer cold packs.
Also, when cooking in the outdoors, there will be limited resources; therefore, it is likely that I will be also be eating the same meals that I will be serving my clients. As a result, it will be much more sustainable to for me to serve healthier food options that are also helpful to our environment.
Vegan Recipe
4. Here is a vegan recipe for a beet salad that my Chef (Amy Symington) sent me. Her original recipe called for goat cheese; however, I just substituted the goat cheese for mixed nuts with a maple syrup glaze.
Beetroot & Mixed Nuts Salad
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425ᵒF (220°C), process and wrap beets in foil as per demo. Roast on middle rack until soft. Cool, peel and cut into small wedges. (Once vinaigrette is made, marinate cut beets in dressing until ready to toss with other ingredients).
2. In a sauté pan lightly fry pumpkin seeds in canola oil, as per demo and set aside (reserve oil for dressing).
3. Add mustard and white balsamic to small mixing bowl and whisk well. Slowly drizzle infused oil and continue to whisk until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and pinch of sugar. Add to cooked and cut beets. Set aside until salad assembly.
4. Add remaining ingredients (except goat cheese and pumpkin seeds) to beets with vinaigrette, dress, season with salt and pepper and toss well.
5. In a separate pan, lightly coat the pan with olive oil. Put in mix nuts. Sauté for 2 mins on med heat, then add maple syrup. Sauté for another 2 mins on med-low heat or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 mins.
6. Place dressed ingredients on a plate and garnish with pumpkin seeds and with the mixed maple glaze nuts.
Reflections
When reflecting on this experience on gathering information about the vegetarian diet, I actually found it easier than I had originally anticipated. The surprising factor was how little I knew about cooking vegetarian. Now that I know where to find these resources, changing to a vegetarian diet will be much easier.
I would definitely make this recipe again. Next time, I will be add the goat cheese, as per Chef Symington’s original recipe.
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