A Few Ways to Ease the Transition to a Vegetarian Diet

Frequently when I tell someone I am a vegetarian I get a response that is something like, “Oh, I could never give up meat.” Nonsense! Even the most ardent omnivore eats meals without meat occasionally. With a few easy steps you can change the “occasionally” to “frequently” and then “always” with very little effort. Try this:

1. Remove meat from a few favorite recipes. Spaghetti and lasagna are just as tasty without the Italian sausage. Think you can’t enjoy your chili without ground beef? Try this great recipe from Whole Foods.

2. Try Mark Bittman’s “Vegan Before 6” plan. New York Times food writer Mark Bittman (author of How to Cook Everything and the new How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) only eats animal products after 6:00 p.m. He still enjoys a steak with a buttery baked potato for dinner as long as his breakfast, lunch and snacks are dairy and meat free. You can read the details in this Seattle Times article.

3. Replace meat in some of your favorite recipes with a plant food. Substitute black beans for ground beef in your next taco or enchilada. Try roasted vegetables on your pizza instead of pepperoni. Substantial veggies such as eggplant work especially well.

4. Try meat substitutes. I will admit right now that I love a good burger and fries. If anyone was to say the words “five” and “guys” in the same sentence my mouth would begin watering instantly. To satisfy my craving for the juicy stuff I eat Boca Original Vegan. Warm it up and throw it on a bun with onions and lettuce and it tastes amazingly like a burger, but it’s made with soy and wheat gluten instead of beef. Yum! I know that soy does have its detractors. Not being a registered nutritionist I can’t say for certain whether they are full of it or not, but I do make a point not to build my diet around soy products or meat substitutes (or any other manufactured food).

So give it a try. You might be surprised at how easy going vegetarian can actually be.

Question: Have you tried reducing the amount of meat you eat? If so, what works for you?