The Indian Vegan Kitchen_ More Than 150 Quick and Healthy Homestyle Recipes - Madhu Gadia [20]
1. Eat a wide variety of foods from all food groups—grains, vegetables, fruits, dried beans, nuts, and seeds. Variety helps ensure sufficient nutrients, phytochemicals, and fiber as well as make meals more exciting.
2. Pay extra attention to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of protein, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 from your vegan diet.
3. Eat three meals and one to three snacks each day as needed, to meet your nutritional and caloric needs. Start your day with breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day, providing you with much-needed energy and stamina.
4. Limit the intake of concentrated fats, oils, and added sugars. These foods are high in calories and a poor source of other nutrients.
5. Exercise for thirty minutes at least five days per week. Physical activity is central to energy balance and overall health.
6. When eating an all plant-based diet, it is important to make sure you are getting enough calories to maintain a healthy weight, especially for growing children and teens.
VEGAN AND VEGETARIAN RESOURCES
This is a partial list of resources that you might find helpful:
The Vegetarian Resource Group, www.vrg.org
Veganism in a Nutshell, www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan
Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, www.vegetariannutrition.net
Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom, www.vegsoc.org
Becoming Vegan : The Complete Guide to Adapting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet, Brenda Davis, R.D., and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D. Book Publishing Company, 2000.
For a listing of resources from the Food and Nutrition Information Center (National Agriculture Library), download the Vegetarian Nutrition Resource List at www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/pubs/bibs/gen/vegetarian.pdf
For more on Indian diet and recipes, go to www.cuisineofindia.com.
A Month of Meals
Menus
Over the years, I have learned—personally as well as from my clients, that planning a meal often takes longer than preparing it. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that if someone would just tell me what to make, I’d make it. But in my family (and probably yours), no one has any suggestions, or worse, they’ll tell you the most outrageous thing that cannot be prepared anytime soon.
To help you get started, I have planned a month of menus. There are seven menus in each category, from quick meals to party menus. These are just suggestions; feel free to mix and match and enjoy them any way you like.
Quick Meals
These meals can be prepared in thirty to forty-five minutes. When preparing an Indian meal, I always start with the main dish, which most often is the dal, and then work around it. A balanced Indian meal, whether prepared in a hurry or not, is typically dal, a vegetable, rice, and/or flatbread. You can add other things as desired, but overall you’ll have a tasty and nutritious meal as is.
You can replace basmati rice, long-grain rice, or brown rice wherever a recipe calls for rice. Keep in mind that brown rice will take about forty-five minutes to prepare, so start that first.
MENU 1
Black-Eyed Peas and Potatoes (Aloo-Lobhia), page 125
Seasoned Zucchini (Sukhi Lauki ), page 113
Rice, page 139
MENU 2
Quick Kidney Beans (Rajmah), page 120
Carrots and Turnips (Gajar-Shalgum), page 109
Cucumber-Tomato Salad (Kheera-Tamatar Salad),
page 193
Rice, page 139
MENU 3
Quick Chickpea Curry (Kabuli Chane Ki Subji ), page 122
Cabbage-Peanut Salad (Bund Gobhi-Mungfali Salad), page 189
Rice, page 139
MENU 4
Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal ), page 119
Cabbage Mixed Vegetables (Bund Gobhi Milli Subji),
page 108
Grilled Flatbread (Roti ), page 157
Rice, page 139
MENU 5
Ginger-Spinach Pink Lentils (Adrak-PalakDal), page 131
Curried Mushrooms and Peas (Khumb-Matar), page 104
Rice, page 139
MENU 6
Zucchini-Tomato Dal (Torai-TamatarDal), page 136
Cumin-Cilantro Edamame (Hare Soy Ki Subji), page 180
Rice, page 139
MENU 7
Kale-Tofu Pilaf (Saag-Tofu Pulao), page