how to

How To Stop Eating Cheese and Go Plant Based!

November 1, 2013 by Veronica Grace 4 Comments

Cheese might be the #1 food that prevents many vegetarians and omnivores from believing they could eat vegan, let alone be happy eating that way. I often have people telling me “Oh I could NEVER do what you do, I love cheese too much”. Some seem even proud to be obsessed with cheese! lol

So if you feel upset or frustrated at the thought of not eating cheese regularly, don’t worry you’re not alone.

Cheese is naturally highly addictive to humans because it’s both fatty and very salty and contains casein (a dairy protein that has been shown in studies to be as or more addictive than opiates believe it or not!)

The combination of these factors makes it extremely hard for anyone to willingly give it up cold-turkey, especially if you’re used to pizza, cheese and crackers, cheezy pastas and more.

But let’s say you already know that cheese and dairy products aren’t good for you because you’ve read books like The China Study or seen the film Forks Over Knives (and you want to protect yourself against cancer, diabetes and heart disease).

How do you make healthy recipes taste good without cheese?

Dairy Free Option #1: Substitute Vegan Cheese

(for beginners)

Depending where you are on your vegan journey you could switch to a vegan cheese for starters such as Daiya Vegan Cheese Cheddar. I don’t often use it, only very occasionally as it still contains oil and is high in fat, but it may be helpful to make a plant based transition for you or family members who need a little sprinkling of something cheezy for certain recipes. Daiya cheese is fairly salty though so a little goes a long way, use about half as much as you normally would to start.

Dairy Free Option #2: Make Faux Cheese At Home

Another option is to use a mixture of crumbled tofu with miso paste and nutritional yeast to create a sort of tofu ricotta mixture that is tangy and feels
creamy like regular ricotta. (I show you how to do this in my Comfort Foods From Around The World recipe ebook here)

If you are looking for a creamier cheese to drizzle you can try using cashews and blend it with some water, garlic, lemon, miso paste and liquid sweetener to create a nut cheese. This can be added to pasta for mac and cheese or steamed veggies or baked potatoes.

For lower fat cheese sauces check out my Comfort Foods ebook again (which also has an amazing Baked Mac & Cheese Recipe – but it’s actually good for you!)

Dairy Free Option #3: Go Without and Use Other Seasonings

Eventually you want to be able to enjoy healthful foods without resorting to cheese like toppings (because they are often high in salt and fat).

I recommend using more veggies and adding fresh herbs and more seasonings to make recipes taste delicious without added cheese.

For example, for pizza roast or sauté veggies in different seasonings and load up a healthy pizza crust with lots of pizza sauce and a variety of veggies. I often like to add sautéed mushrooms, sautéed zucchini, sautéed onions, wilted spinach,fresh basic, fresh garlic, red onions, pineapple, artichokes (packed in water), peppers etc. If you want something creamy on top you can take thin
slices of avocado and put it on top of the pizza after it’s cooked for that creamy texture (or drizzle with cashew cheese sauce or low fat cheese sauce)

For pasta sauces I like to use fresh garlic, basil and onions to kick up the flavor to canned tomatoes or bottled sauce and cook it and blend it together so it has more flavor. If your sauce is tasty you won’t need cheese for that tangy salty flavor.

While your cheese cravings won’t likely disappear overnight, please know that they will greatly diminishes you start eating less and less of it and trying new foods.

Did you know that your tastebuds actually regenerate every 10-14 days? So you can train your tastebuds to want other foods instead of cheese (same with sugar and salt too).

Just like any other addiction, the more you have it the more you want it. So try to gradually reduce your cheese and dairy consumption until you no longer think about it.

Once you are accustomed to eating a low fat, oil free diet even vegan cheese can lose its appeal and seem like nothing more than salty oily goo. I quite enjoy eating homemade vegan pizza as more of a flatbread topped with lots of veggies and find it doesn’t need anything else.

For tasty plant based meals that don’t require any fake meat or fake cheese check out my cookbook Comfort Foods From Around The World:

Vegan Baked Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Baked Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese preview this recipe featured in the book here

Learn how to make a healthy version of your old favourites using things like nutritional yeast, miso paste, squash and tofu instead for that creamy cheese like flavor.

I hope I’ve given you some helpful tips on how to banish those cheese cravings. Just take it one day at a time and soon cheese will be in your rearview mirror and you won’t even be missing it at all.

What’s your favourite substitute to use instead of cheese in your recipes?

How To Make Seitan or Vegan “Wheat Meat”

February 28, 2013 by Veronica Grace 7 Comments

Seitan or “wheat meat” is made from wheat gluten, the protein that makes wheat flour stick together and makes bread spongey. Seitan is often used to make mock meats and is frequently used in vegetarian Chinese cuisine. It’s also used in Tofurkey products along with tofu to help it stick together.

I was a little apprehensive about making my own seiten as I had never made it before, but it turns out to be VERY easy. To make seitan quickly it is faster to just buy vital wheat gluten “flour” (which is essentially just wheat protein with all of the starch removed). You can still make seitan using regular flour, but you have to soak it overnight and wash away all the starch and you don’t end up with as much gluten left compared to the flour you started with.

And just a note if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, please don’t make this recipe! I don’t have any problem consuming wheat or gluten containing products, so I use them occasionally as part of a low fat plant based diet.

Let’s get started.

How To Make Seitan From Vital Wheat Gluten

Makes 4-6 seitan cutlets

Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
3/4 cup vegetable broth (low sodium) or water
1-2 tbsp light soy sauce or tamari
6 cups vegetable broth (for cooking)

Directions:

1. In a medium to large sized bowl, combine vital wheat gluten and dry spices.

2. In another bowl, mix the soy sauce and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth or water.

3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir together. It should become very sticky. Use your hands to form it into a ball.

4. Knead the seitan a dozen times to ensure it’s spongey and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Separate the ball of seitan into four or five smaller chunks. Stretch each piece of seitan into a thin cutlet as best you can to around 3/4″.

6. Add seitan to 6 cups of vegetable broth in a large pot and bring to a low boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour. Depending what you are using the seitan for you can add additional seasonings or vegetables for flavor as well. Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the seitan. It will expand a lot while cooking and puff up.

7. Drain seitan and chop up to use in a recipe, or dry it off and store in a ziplock bag or a tupperware container in the freezer. You can double the recipe and make two batches to make this more cost effective if using vegetable broth.

Check out my Seitan Makhani (“Unbuttered Chicken”) recipe here.

What do you think? How did you seitan turn out?

How To Make Vegan Food Taste Good Without Cheese!

January 31, 2013 by Veronica Grace 6 Comments

Cheese might be the #1 food that prevents many vegetarians and omnivores from believing they could eat vegan, let alone be happy eating that way.

So if you feel upset or frustrated at the thought of not eating cheese regularly, don’t worry you’re not alone.

Cheese is naturally highly addictive to humans because it’s both fatty and very salty and contains casein (a dairy protein that has been shown in studies to be as addictive as opiates believe it or not).

The combination of these factors makes it extremely hard for anyone to willingly give it up cold-turkey.

But let’s say you already know that cheese and dairy products aren’t good for you because you’ve read books like The China Study or seen the film Forks Over Knives.

How do you make meals taste good without cheese?

Option #1: Substitute Vegan Cheese

Depending where you are on your vegan journey you could switch to a vegan cheese for starters such as Daiya Vegan Cheese. I don’t often use it, only very occasionally as it still contains oil and is high in fat, but it may be helpful to make a plant based transition for you or family members who need a little sprinkling of something for certain recipes. Please go easy on adding vegan cheese, it tastes quite rich and you don’t need as much as you normally would with regular cheese. All cheese and cheese-like foods are made with oil and are high in fat, it is not health food.

Option #2: Make Faux Cheese At Home

Another option is to use a mixture of crumbled tofu with miso paste and nutritional yeast to create a sort of tofu ricotta mixture that is tangy and feels
creamy like regular ricotta. (I show you how to do this for Plant Based Lasagna in my Comfort Soups From Around The World recipe ebook.

If you are looking for a creamier cheese to drizzle you can try using cashews and blend it with some water, garlic, lemon, miso paste, nutritional yeast and liquid sweetener to create a nut cheese. There’s even a whole book about making faux cheese called The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook!

For low fat cheese sauces check out my Comfort Foods ebook again for cheezy sauce for vegetables or mac & cheese recipes.

http://www.plantbasedu.com/comfortfoods

Use lots of sauce and veggies on pizza and you don’t need cheese!

Option #3: Go Without and Use Other Seasonings

Eventually you want to be able to enjoy healthful foods without resorting to cheese like toppings (because they are often high in salt and fat).

I recommend using more veggies and adding fresh herbs and more seasonings to make recipes taste delicious without added cheese.

For example, for pizza roast or sauté veggies in different seasonings and load up a healthy pizza crust with lots of pizza sauce and a variety of veggies. I often like to add sautéed mushrooms, sautéed zucchini, sautéed onions, wilted spinach, fresh basic, fresh garlic, red onions, pineapple, artichokes (packed in water), peppers etc. If you want something creamy on top you can take thin slices of avocado and put it on top of the pizza after it’s cooked for that creamy texture.

While your cheese cravings won’t likely disappear overnight, please know that they will greatly diminish as you start eating less and less of it and trying new
foods.

Also you should know that your tastebuds regenerate every 10-14 days! So you can train your tastebuds to want other foods instead of cheese by eating them instead.

Just like any other addiction, the more you have it the more you want it. So try to gradually reduce your cheese and dairy consumption until you no longer think about it.

Once you are accustomed to eating a low fat, oil free diet even vegan cheese can lose its appeal and seem like nothing more than salty oily goo. I quite enjoy eating
homemade vegan pizza as more of a flatbread topped with lots of veggies and find it doesn’t need anything else.

For tasty plant based meals that don’t require any fake meat or fake cheese check out my ebook

Comfort Foods From Around The World

And learn how to make a healthy version of your old favourites using things like nutritional yeast, miso paste, squash and tofu instead for that creamy cheese like flavor.