Who in their right minds would ever want to be a vegetarian? Sharalyn Pliler asked just months before she-accidentally-became one. A few days into a camping trip in the woods, she was amazed to experience that instead of getting weaker without meat, just the opposite happened-she felt more energetic, lighter and more clear-headed, needing to eat less than before while enjoying food even more, as if her taste buds had come alive. Reluctant to become a vegetarian but unable to argue with definitive direct experience, she had no choice but to begin the transition from familiar meat cookery to the unknown world of vegetarianism. Not many cookbooks are page-turners but with her light-hearted style, down-home sense of humor and master's level writing skills, readers are carried effortlessly as she tells her story of awakening to the pleasures and techniques of vegetarianism. Once a cook in a vegetarian university kitchen, now with three decades of vegetarian experience, she seems to anticipate every question.

The Reluctant Vegetarian Cookbook

An Easy Introduction to Cooking Without Meat, Eggs, and Other Once-Favorite Foods and Discovering What Tastes Even BetterBy Sharalyn Pliler

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Sharalyn Pliler
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-8519-0

Contents

Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................................xiChapter 1 How an Omnivore Became a Vegetarian "But I don't want to be a vegetarian!"................................................................1Chapter 2 Learning a New Diet Style Is there life after giving up meat?.............................................................................11Chapter 3 Why Would Anyone in Her Right Mind Ever Become A Vegetarian? "Try it and see for yourself."...............................................23Chapter 4 Acquiring New Tastes, Menus, & Sources of Nutrition "My goodness, I didn't realize there were so many other options.".....................29Chapter 5 Discovering Veggies "But I Don't Like Vegetables."........................................................................................41Chapter 6 Making the Transition "Now that I'm not so reluctant, how do I become a vegetarian?"......................................................47Part II Recipes.......................................................................................................................................55Chapter 7 Sources of Protein: Tofu What Chinese call "Meat Without Bones" and "the Joy of the Kitchen"..............................................57Chapter 8 How To Make Meat and Egg Substitutes from Tofu "Tastes like meat to me!"..................................................................71Chapter 9 Sources of Protein: Beans & Peas "Read this chapter if you know what's good for you"......................................................87Chapter 10 Sources of Protein: Cheese & Dairy "Indeed, the power of cheese."........................................................................103Chapter 11 Sources of Protein: Nuts and Seeds "I didn't know nuts could be used that way!"..........................................................113Chapter 12 Grains The Forgotten Staff of Nutrition..................................................................................................121Chapter 13 Breads and Baking "Look Mom, no eggs!"...................................................................................................131Chapter 14 Making Vegetables Sing "Delicious!"......................................................................................................141Chapter 15 Breakfast "Who would have thought there were so many choices?"...........................................................................163Chapter 16 Sandwiches "Why, I like this even better than meat!".....................................................................................179Chapter 17 Soup de Jour "Ah, the romance of soup."..................................................................................................197Chapter 18 Dressings, Sauces, Gravies "You're right, homemade is better!"...........................................................................207Chapter 19 Herbs & Spices "Our first line of defense against culinary boredom.".....................................................................219Chapter 20 Menus "Ah, Happy Tummy.".................................................................................................................229Afterword.............................................................................................................................................233Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................235Author Biography......................................................................................................................................237

Chapter One

How an Omnivore Became a Vegetarian

"But I don't want to be a vegetarian!"

"Who in their right mind would ever become a vegetarian?" I mused to myself as I turned sizzling pork chops in a cast-iron skillet and feasted on the meaty aroma. Pork chops were my favorite meal. When I say pork chops, I mean just pork chops, nothing else. Like many other people, I considered vegetables to be merely decoration for the meat. At family gatherings where the table groaned with the typical Ozark farm country meat, bread and potatoes, some relative would say, "Oh, yes, we need a vegetable, how about some canned peas?" Such afterthought vegetables were usually seasoned with bacon or ham to, "give them some flavor," as Grandma said. As children, we ate vegetables dutifully. "They're good for you," Mom insisted. "Yuck," I remember thinking, "how could anything that tastes so dull be good for you?"

If, at the moment I was turning those pork chops, someone had told me that before the next Thanksgiving I would become a vegetarian, I would have had a hearty laugh to go with my meal-possibly garnished with a few choice words for the person who suggested it. Give up all the great tasting meat foods for wimpy veggies? Don't be ridiculous.

Over the next few years the memory of that moment and my supercilious disdain was to come back to me on more than one occasion as I ate a new dish called "crow" or-if you prefer it in vegetarian language-"humble pie."

How I-Reluctantly-Became a Vegetarian

I became a vegetarian by the only route open to someone with a closed mind, by accident. It happened in the early '70's when I was on a hippie trip in my customized Volkswagen van. I'd built a bed on one side, bookshelves on the other, packed a tambourine, a typewriter, and a plastic port-a-potty along with such foods that would keep without refrigeration and be easy to cook on a propane stove, then set out for parts unknown.

"Hippie fling," my stern-eyed aunt called my trip. I steamed a little under her withering gaze but kept on going. I wasn't sure at the time what the trip should be called, I just knew I needed to find my own direction, to find out who I was out without alarm clocks, social mandates, friends, or family. Years later, reading about Native Americans' customs, I would understand that the trip might best be called a vision quest, and I would always be glad I did it. I believe everyone needs to have a vision quest.

But, by whatever name the journey might be called, I certainly didn't anticipate that becoming a vegetarian would be one of the outcomes.

I was in fact seriously worried about what would happen to me on a no-meat diet while I camped in the wilderness the first couple of weeks of the trip. Would I become weak? I pictured myself, alone, starved to skin and bones, crawling on hands and knees, finally collapsing on the trail. Months later, hikers would find my skeleton. I reminded myself sternly that if I started feeling weak I should cut the trip short, get back to civilization and get some decent food.

Unexpected Consequences

After leaving my Southwest Missouri "stomping grounds," as one's home area is called in Native American territory, I drove around for a few days in the four-state region looking for the right spot to park my VW. My goal was to find a place to camp where I could turn in a complete circle and see nothing man-made. Somewhere in the vicinity of...