Reader's Digest Plant Base Cooking for Everyone

Reader’s Digest Plant Base Cooking for Everyone

150 Delicious, Healthy Recipes the Whole Family Will Enjoy

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 The What, Why and How of Plant-Based Cooking

CHAPTER 2 Getting Started with Plant-Based Cooking

CHAPTER 3 Plant-Based Superfoods

CHAPTER 4 Breakfast & Smoothies

CHAPTER 5 Soups, Stews & Chilis

CHAPTER 6 Burgers, Sandwiches & Wraps

CHAPTER 7 Salads & Bowls

CHAPTER 8 Vegetable Mains

CHAPTER 9 Beans & Legumes

CHAPTER 10 Pasta & Noodles

CHAPTER 11 Rice & Grains

CHAPTER 12 Starters, Sides & Snacks

CHAPTER 13 Desserts

CHAPTER 14 Plant-Based Meal Plans

Recipe Index

CHAPTER 1

THE WHAT, WHY AND HOW OF PLANT-BASED COOKING

NEWS FLASH! MOM WAS RIGHT. Eating more vegetables is good for you. But it’s not just vegetables—fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, grains and pretty much any food that comes from plants are good for you. Now, finally, people are listening to their mothers. They’re cutting back on meat, poultry, seafood and other animal foods—or giving them up altogether—as they move toward a plant-based diet of whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables.

What started as just another food trend continues to grow and appears as though it’s here to stay. Approximately 39% of Americans are trying to eat more plant-based foods (according to a 2017 NielsenIQ Homescan survey). Approximately 40% of millennials identify as vegan, compared to 21% each of Generation X and baby boomers. And it turns out that these foods benefit not only our own health, but the health of the environment, our local economies and the animals we use for food.

Of course, there have always been individuals and communities of vegetarians and other people who eat little to no meat or dairy for economic, ethical, religious, health and other reasons. But the numbers are growing as researchers give us more and better reasons why everyone benefits from including more plant foods and fewer animal products in every meal. What they continue to discover is that plant foods in general are super nutritious and that plant protein, specifically, is healthier and more sustainable than animal protein.

Harvard University researchers, for instance, found that those who consistently follow a healthy plant-based diet may reduce their chances of experiencing a stroke and cardiovascular disease, even if they are genetically at risk. According to the Mayo Clinic, studies comparing the effects of diet on cancer have shown that those who follow a vegan diet have the lowest rates. And a study from the University of Eastern Finland found that those who rely on plant and egg protein, rather than meat protein, have a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

That’s why plant-based eating is more than a trend. The popularity of the recent Reader’s Digest book Plant-Based Health Basics was the impetus for this follow-up cookbook. Our editors worked with registered dietitians Susan McQuillan and Peggy Woodward to ensure that the recipes and recommendations in this book reflect the latest science on the health benefits of plant-based foods.

Food manufacturers—big and small—are making it a priority to develop more plant-based foods and ingredients that are better tasting and better for you than ever before. Take a look around any big supermarket and you’ll find everything from vegan mayonnaise and chicken-free chicken broth, to dairy-free ice cream, plant-based sausage and ground-meat substitutes. Restaurants, including fast-food places such as Burger King and fast-casual chains such as Panera, are likely to have multiple vegetarian and vegan offerings on their menus.

With so many new foods and ingredients on the market, it can be very easy to pick up processed food products that may not be as good for you as they sound. For example, a frozen breaded cutlet can be overloaded with breading and fat—whether it’s coating a piece of chicken or a piece of soy protein that resembles chicken.

As with all food products, try to compare different brands of similar foods to make sure you’re getting the most nutrition for your money. Keep snack foods and sugary desserts to a minimum. The goal isn’t simply to avoid meat and eat any foods sourced from plants, but to eat a varied, well-balanced, whole-food, plant-based diet that is rich in protective nutrients and phytonutrients. Given the wide range of whole foods and ingredients available in markets today, it’s not a hard goal to reach.

Because plant-based options are not as readily available in restaurants as in supermarkets—and those that are available may be higher in fat and sodium—cooking at home makes following a plant-based diet not only easier but also less expensive. Another bonus: You control the type, source and amount of the ingredients that go into your meals. Plus, you can customize them to your taste.

Whether you are just now discovering the many benefits of a plant-based diet or you’ve been incorporating more plant foods into your diet for as long as you can remember, you’re sure to find solid information, helpful tips and new recipe ideas in the pages that follow. You’ll also find sample meal plans to help you put it all together. Feeding yourself and your family wonderfully delicious and highly nutritious meals and snacks has never been easier.

WHAT IS PLANT-BASED COOKING?

Although a plant-based diet focuses on vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and other non-meat foods, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no meat in it at all. In fact, the term plant-based means different things to different people and can take many forms that include or exclude different types of foods. Here are descriptions of common types of plant-based eating plans:

Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB), also known as Plant-Forward: Focuses on eating a wide variety of whole-plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds; may include some meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs, but avoids most processed foods—even those that are plant-based

Vegan: Avoids all animal products, including meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese and other dairy products; also avoids any products derived from animals, such as honey

Vegetarian: Avoids eating meats, poultry, fish and shellfish, but—depending on the style of vegetarianism—may eat some animal foods and animal-derived products

Lacto-Vegetarian: Avoids all meats, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs; consumes dairy products

Ovo-Vegetarian: Avoids all meats, poultry, fish, shellfish and dairy products; eats eggs

Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian: Avoids all meats, poultry and fish; consumes eggs and dairy products

Pescatarian: Avoids all meats and poultry, but eats fish and shellfish; may eat eggs and dairy

Flexitarian: Mostly follows a vegetarian diet, but sometimes eats animal products

No matter which type of plant-based regimen you and your family choose to follow, this book will provide valuable tips for planning and eating the healthiest meals possible.

FOUR REASONS TO GO PLANT-BASED

A plant-forward eating style doesn’t just help you, it also helps animals and the environment.

1. REAP HEALTH BENEFITS. Perhaps the most important reason to eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet is that it can help you improve your health and quite possibly extend your life.

Eating more plant foods and less meat lowers your cholesterol and saturated-fat intake while increasing the amount of fiber you get in your diet. It also helps you avoid the potentially cancer-causing substances found in red and processed meat. This, in turn, helps lower your risk of developing serious chronic health conditions—such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and some cancers—that can impact your health and longevity.

A plant-based diet can also help you get to and maintain a healthy weight—which, again, can help reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases. Losing weight also helps ease the pain of conditions that affect your bones and joints, such as osteoporosis and arthritis.

Phytonutrients, or phytochemicals—the disease-fighting and immunity-boosting substances exclusively found in all plant foods—are also linked to increased energy, better sleep, improved mood and disease prevention. Phytonutrients act as anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, immunity-boosting and detoxifying agents.

Thousands of these compounds are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains. Each plant food may contain hundreds of phytonutrients that work alone—and together—to protect good health. Kale, for example, has more than 50 phytonutrients, including quercetin, carotenoids and leutin. See the chart on page 14

to find out which nutrients can best help you treat your ailments and which foods are rich in them.

Phytonutrients include prebiotics and probiotics, the good bacteria that help maintain a well-balanced gastrointestinal system. A healthy gastrointestinal tract, in turn, protects against the development and progression of inflammation, infectious disease, obesity and chronic conditions—such as type 2 diabetes. The recipes in this book make the best use of foods that are simply packed with phytonutrients.

2. LOWER FOOD COSTS. A whole-food, plant-based diet can be much less expensive than a diet of animal products. Today’s supermarkets offer a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan foods. But there are some ways to make plant-based cooking even more affordable.

If you’re able to join a community-supported agriculture (CSA) group through local farms, or purchase a membership to a wholesale warehouse that carries store brand foods, you can buy reasonably priced fresh fruits and vegetables as well as frozen and shelf-stable packaged foods that support a plant-based diet.

If you have space for a small garden, grow your own herbs and some of your own vegetables. Basil, thyme, rosemary and cilantro are great ones to grow in pots on the windowsill, balcony or deck.

One of the best things about the staples of a plant-based diet is that the dry foods, such as rice, quinoa, barley and other grains, nuts and seeds, beans, lentils and split peas can be stored for a long time so you can purchase them in bulk—which is cheaper than buying small quantities. The more you cook from scratch, or near-scratch, the less expensive it is to follow a whole-food, plant-based diet.

Lastly, a diet that can help keep you out of doctors’ offices and hospitals is one that will surely save you some big money in the long run!

3. REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS. Animal agriculture puts great demands on the environment because of its costly land and water usage and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Those, in turn, promote an increase in climate change. Plant-based agriculture, on the other hand, has a less-negative impact on the environment. For example, it takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef as compared to 216 gallons to produce a pound of soybeans. As a result, a plant-based diet is considered a more sustainable practice that promotes environmental as well as human health.

4. SUPPORT ANIMAL RIGHTS. Every year, after a short life in an unnatural and often unsafe environment, billions of chickens, cows, pigs and fish are raised and slaughtered in industrial food factories in the U.S. Often little or no concern is given to their welfare. Animal-rights groups and activists have long tried to persuade the food industry to adopt more ethical practices. It’s not hard to figure out that the more people who follow a diet that minimizes or eliminates animal products, the less need there will be to produce those foods in the first place. That could mean less cruelty to agricultural animals, particularly those that are factory-farmed for mass production of food.

DEBUNKING PLANT-BASED EATING MYTHS

You may have some concerns about the cost, convenience, taste, nutritional value or accessibility of the foods that make up plant-based diets. Let’s break down these myths and separate fact from fiction:

MYTH 1: Too expensive. Many think that eating a diet based on whole foods is more expensive than eating the standard American diet, which includes a lot of meat. Actually, meat is often the most expensive item on a grocery bill. For example, a 15-ounce can of beans often can be purchased for less than a dollar. Meat prices, on the other hand, can run from about $1.99 to $14.99 or more per pound, and that often includes bones and other inedible components. So, skipping meat is likely to save you a good chunk of money.

While some out-of-season produce may be more expensive, if you plan your menu around fruits and vegetables that are in season, you’ll find that they are often relatively inexpensive—not to mention more flavorful. In addition, frozen fruits and vegetables, which are just as healthful, can be a more economical and flavorful choice.

Similarly, while some whole grains—especially trendy ancient grains such as farro or millet—and products made with whole grains can be more expensive than, say, wheat flour or white bread, you can usually find foods made with whole wheat, oat and similar whole grains at a reasonable price. And because whole grains are so rich in fiber, you may find that you need less of a whole-grain product to feel full.

Additionally, to keep costs down, shop in the food section of big-box stores where there is often more brand and price variety and more economy-size packaging. Buy in bulk or large-size packages—but only as much as you’ll use in the next six to 12 months. Store grains in airtight containers for six months or freeze for up to a year so they don’t become rancid.

Cost-conscious shoppers look for fresh and minimally prepared plant foods such as chopped vegetables, frozen fruits and precooked grains when they’re on sale and stock up on these foods for later use. For the sake of meal planning, it helps to look at supermarket ad circulars and clip coupons