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By Root 1368 0

I believe that meat has a role to play in human nutrition, since livestock can convert nonedible substances into high-grade protein for people—and in some parts of the world, where cropland is scarce but grazing land plentiful, they seem to play an essential role. Personally, I don’t like to cook with meat and I feel much better when I don’t eat it. However, my personal preference for a basically meatless diet should not deter others from using this book. If you do not want to eliminate meat completely, you can still use almost any of the recipes, simply adding small quantities of meat. Eating meat occasionally and adding small quantities to plant-centered meals does not violate the themes of this book.

The Calorie and Dollar Costs of Protein

Other questions people often have about plant-centered versus meat-centered diets concern the dollar cost differences and the calorie “cost” differences, so here are two charts that, at a glance, give you a sense of how a variety of foods rank. Figure 17 tells which foods give you the most protein for the fewest calories. Figure 18 tells you which are the cheapest protein sources.

Figure 17. Calorie “Cost” Per Gram of Usable Protein

Figure 18. Cost of Getting One Day’s Recommended Protein Allowance (40 grams)

2.

“But It Takes Too Much Time …”

… IS ONE OF the most common reactions to the suggestion of cooking with whole foods. I used to resist making even so-called quick breads from scratch. How could they be as quick as a ready-made mix? But when I began to want dishes that demanded I start from scratch, I decided to test myself. How much more time did it actually take to make my corn bread recipe than to use a commercial corn bread mix? Hardly any more time at all! Both required that I get out bowls and utensils, mix the batter, oil the baking pan, pour in the batter, put it in the oven, clean the mixing utensils and then the baking pan. The only difference was that with my recipe I had to combine a few more ingredients—a really minor part of the whole operation.

But people continue to tell me that they can’t wait for the long cooking time necessary when using whole foods, can’t take time to chop fresh vegetables and hand-make exotic ethnic dishes. Still, while the actual time my stove is in use may be longer than it takes to fry a hamburger, I am sure that I do not spend any more of my time on food than they do. So what is the secret? Part of the secret is:

1. knowing what to have on hand for easy meals;

2. taking advantage of “intentional leftovers”;

3. changing where you shop;

4. a handy kitchen layout and time-saving utensils.

What to Have on Hand

There are probably certain foods that you always have, that you shop for automatically because you know that with these basic ingredients you can always produce a good meal. As you begin to change your eating habits, your buying and stocking habits will change too. To help you, I made a list of the items that I am virtually never without. Many of these foods are probably in your kitchen right now, but perhaps it never occurred to you that you could build a meal with many of them. Of course, in each of these categories there are many, many more possibilities, but with these items you could make any of the recipes in this book. (You might have to substitute a little, but that is part of the fun!)

Again, I am not suggesting that you go out and buy a whole lot of new ingredients all at once. If you have a friend who uses whole grains, legumes, and seeds, ask if you might just have some samples to get you started. (That’s how I got started, with the help of a dear friend, Ellen Ewald.) One of the many advantages to shopping at a food co-op is that you can buy many grains, flours, pastas, etc., loose from bins, so you can buy very small quantities.

Another way to begin is to find a friend who would also like to experiment. Together you might buy one-pound quantities of a few new things, split them, then compare experiences and reactions to your new menus. This way you will not be making such a big initial investment