INTRODUCTION

“Over half of Americans [52 percent] believe it is easier to figure out their income taxes than to figure out what they should and shouldn’t eat to be healthier.”

—THE 2012 FOOD & HEALTH SURVEY: CONSUMER ATTITUDES TOWARD FOOD SAFETY, NUTRITION & HEALTH, COMMISSIONED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD INFORMATION COUNCIL FOUNDATION

“In all my interviews with nutrition experts, the benefits of a plant-based diet provided the only point of universal consensus.”

—MICHAEL POLLAN, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD (2008)

This book started with a problem: I didn’t know what to eat.

In two decades of writing about food, I’ve have had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing many of the world’s greatest chefs while studying their secrets for making food taste great. My work-related eating (including wine-tasting lunches and dinners) often took me to the dining rooms of DANIEL, Le Bernardin, and Per Se—or, during a year spent eating at chefs’ favorite restaurants from coast to coast, sampling In-N-Out burgers, pork-and-crab soup dumplings, and both Pat’s and Geno’s cheese steaks. My life included an endless pursuit of deliciousness, and I was always thrilled to discover what I’d learn from the next bite. But as more and more headlines trumpeted the relationship between nutrition and wellness, it dawned on me that for someone who ate for a living, I’d thought surprisingly little about what to put in my body to keep myself healthy when I wasn’t busy eating for professional reasons.

After I lost both my father and stepmother to cancer between 2006 and 2009, I couldn’t help thinking about my own half-century birthday looming on the horizon. It finally occurred to me, for the first time in my life, that I might want to start including healthfulness as a criterion for choosing what to eat.

After poring over dozens of books and websites on food and nutrition, I found myself confused by varying (and often contradictory) nutritional advice. If I—a graduate of Northwestern and Harvard and longtime culinary professional—was having a tough time figuring out what makes a healthful diet, what about everyone else? I was not surprised, then, to discover that in a 2012 poll, over half of Americans polled said they found it easier to do their taxes than to figure out what to eat to keep themselves healthy. Now that’s frustration.

The general public’s lack of nutritional knowledge is tragic, because it turns out that the leading cause of death in this country is nutritionally controllable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Diets that forego animal protein in favor of plant protein are associated with a lower risk of all three.

I eventually did find this common thread among what I learned to be the best-respected authorities: their advice to eat a plant-based diet, especially plentiful vegetables. The corollary was to avoid processed “junk” foods with empty calories (especially from fat and sugar) and to instead opt for whole foods as much as possible.

When I finally decided to experiment with virtually full-time vegetarianism in May 2012, I kept quiet about it—because having grown up in the heart of the Midwest, eating meat at least two and often three times a day, I had serious doubts that I could stick with a meatless diet for even a week or two.

My husband, Andrew—who had cooked professionally at some of the best restaurants in Boston and New York City, and who bravely joined me in my experiment in meatless eating—typically did our grocery shopping and most of the cooking. I provided “help” by giving him a list of what not to buy: Junk foods. Soft drinks. White flour, white sugar, white rice. Anything with hydrogenated vegetable oil. Trans fats. GMOs. Every news report seemed to add a new no-no to the list.

Over time, my “what-not-to-buy” list got so long that he grumbled, “Maybe you could make a list of what you’d like me to buy.”

A light bulb went off. I realized that avoiding certain foods—whether meats or white foods—was only one part of the picture. I decided to start a list of the healthiest ingredients that would provide us with the biggest nutritional bang for the calorie—“superfoods” that we could easily enjoy at home: Black beans. Blueberries. Broccoli. Kale. Lemons. Quinoa. Spinach. Then I started researching compatible flavors and flavor affinities for each, for ease in creating dishes. Then dish ideas themselves were added, often inspired by my research on the cookbooks, restaurants, and signature dishes of America’s best vegetarian and vegan chefs, dozens of whom I eventually interviewed. Although I started without any intention other than eating healthier at home, the project eventually evolved into this book and the lists you’ll find in Chapter 3.

Months later, we were both surprised to find that we didn’t miss meat at all. Instead, we were thrilled by all of the new flavor discoveries we were making about an exciting new repertoire of ingredients. We also noticed that when dining out, others were showing more interest in the meatless dishes we were being served than we had in those they were served. Andrew and I have been eating 99 percent vegetarian ever since.

When I finally started to mention this to others, I was asked time and time again by well-meaning friends and colleagues what I’ve since learned is the Number One question asked of vegetarians and vegans: “But how do you get your protein?”

My desire to make certain that the vegetarian diet I was embracing was indeed healthful—and to have well-informed, intelligent answers to such questions—led me to earn a certificate in plant-based nutrition from Cornell in conjunction with the T. Colin Campbell Foundation. The certificate program was created by the author of The China Study, the most groundbreaking, far-reaching nutritional study ever published. This is the education that helped inform my subsequent research for this book, which addresses three primary questions: what to eat (and in what quantities), how to make it healthful, and how to make it so delicious that its meatlessness is completely beside the point!

PROTEIN: IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER (AND LUNCH AND BREAKFAST)—EVEN WHEN YOU’RE EATING PLANTS

Here’s a typical conversation I’ve had after admitting to eating vegetarian, a version of which I first wrote as a class assignment for Cornell:

“Hey, Karen—did I hear you’re a vegetarian now? How are you getting enough protein if you’re not eating meat anymore? You don’t seem like the tofu and ‘wheat meat’ type!”

“Hi, Pat—actually, I’ve had some really delicious dishes made with tofu and seitan and even tempeh, but I don’t eat them very often. I probably get my protein from many of the same foods you do.”

“You mean you’re sneaking a cheeseburger here and there?”

“No, I mean I ran into you at the bagel place around the corner the other morning. A medium-sized bagel contains 10 grams of protein.”

“No kidding—I thought I was carbo-loading then!”

“Well, you got protein along with your carbs. I had my bagel that morning with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, which added another 8 grams of protein. And that night for dinner, Andrew made pasta primavera—with 8 grams of protein from the cup of pasta and another 9 grams of protein from the cup each of broccoli and spinach he added. It was delicious!”

“Guess I thought you had to eat meat to get protein. What other foods have it?”

“Lots of plant-based whole foods have protein, including legumes, such as beans, lentils, and peas—and chickpeas, which I know you like because I saw you eating that hummus wrap the other week. Plus whole grains, nuts, and seeds.… The list is long.”

“And you get as much protein from them as you would from a cheeseburger?”

“You can easily get enough protein from a balanced plant-based diet—but with a lot less fat. And because of the health risks—including cancer and heart disease—you definitely don’t want to be eating too much protein.”

“Wow—I didn’t know.… I thought protein was good for you.”

“It is—it’s essential. But many people are unaware that it can actually be very risky to eat too much animal protein—which might just explain why there are so many sick people in the U.S., despite the fact that we spend more on healthcare than any other country.”

MAKING IT HEALTHFUL

“Let food be thy medicine.”

—HIPPOCRATES

Hippocrates was right. Each of us can play a role in solving our nation’s health crisis by taking the responsibility for choosing and administering our own “medicine,” an average of three times a day. As many doctors receive little or no training in nutrition, it’s up to each of us to learn the basics so we can eat to keep ourselves in good health and our immune systems strong. Happily, more Americans are finally understanding the health risks posed by animal protein and are reducing or eliminating it from their diets. Per capita meat consumption in the U.S. has fallen for the last five years and is forecasted to keep falling.

However, even when following a vegetarian diet, what you eat is just as important as what you don’t eat. After all, a soy burger on a white bun with corn chips and a soft drink may not contain meat, but few would argue that it’s a healthful meal.

On a visit several years ago to one of the top-rated vegetarian restaurants in the New York City Zagat Survey, I was struck by how many dishes were deep-fried and how “heavy” I felt afterward. The lesson hit home that it’s also important to favor dishes made via water-based cooking techniques (e.g., boiling, poaching, steaming) over fat-based cooking techniques (e.g., deep-fat frying, sautéing).

In addition, you’ll want to make sure your diet emphasizes foods that are the most nutritionally dense, delivering the most nutrients for the fewest calories. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, the bestselling author of Eat to Live, has developed a useful system called ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index), which Whole Foods shoppers might already be familiar with, as it’s used throughout the stores. Various foods are rated for nutrient content on a scale of 0–1000, so you can minimize foods at the lower end of the scale (e.g., cola and corn chips, which score a 1 and a 7, respectively) and seek out those at the higher end of the scale (e.g., greens such as collard, kale, and watercress, all of which score a perfect 1000). Other systems such as Dr. David Katz’s NuVal (featured at grocers like Kroger and Lowes) similarly score foods based on their nutrition. In Chapter 3, you’ll find many foods color-coded to help you find those that are more nutritionally dense (i.e., those with dark green triangles) and exercise judgment when it comes to others (i.e., those red triangles). As a rule of thumb,

	Most green vegetables (and many herbs and spices)
	Most nongreen vegetables, fresh fruits, and legumes
	Most dried or sweeter fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds
	Most dairy products (e.g., cheese, full-fat milk and yogurt)
	Most oils and sweeteners

But opting for kale 100 percent of the time to fulfill your vegetable quotient doesn’t make for a healthful diet, either, despite its status as a nutritional powerhouse. You need vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that can come only from eating a wide variety of vegetables. My own strategy is to eat “in a different country” most days of the week, which presents me with a broad range of vegetables over the course of a week or two. For example:

Chinese:	bok choy, broccoli, eggplant, long beans, mushrooms, snow peas
Ethiopian:	beets, collard greens, green beans, lentils, onions
French:	carrots, celery root, eggplant, French lentils, leeks, onions
Greek:	chickpeas, eggplant, gigante beans, romaine lettuce, spinach
Indian:	cauliflower, chickpeas, eggplant, jackfruit, lentils, spinach
Italian:	arugula, broccoli rabe, tomatoes, white beans, zucchini
Japanese:	edamame, mushrooms, sea vegetables (e.g., kelp, wakame), spinach
Mexican:	avocados, beans, chayote, chiles, corn, tomatillos, tomatoes
Moroccan:	cabbage, carrots, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, turnips, zucchini
Spanish:	green or white asparagus, piquillo peppers, potatoes
Thai:	bamboo shoots, bell peppers, eggplant, green beans, onions
Vietnamese:	cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, mushrooms, taro, watercress

Variety is just as important when it comes to the rest of your diet—namely, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds—which helps to ensure you’re taking in the variety of nutrients your body needs. Dr. Fuhrman even came up with the useful acronym “G-BOMBS” as a reminder of the most nutritionally dense foods he believes should be a part of a healthful daily diet: greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, and seeds, which he has found to be “extremely effective at preventing chronic disease and promoting health and longevity.”

I love rules of thumb because they’re straightforward and useful. One of the easiest to remember is Michael Pollan’s seven-word mantra: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By advising us to “eat food,” Pollan refers to whole foods—meaning we should avoid processed foods. “Mostly plants” means we should make sure that the majority of our diet consists of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and whole-grain products, legumes, nuts, and seeds. And “not too much” warns against overconsuming food in such quantities that we become overweight or obese and put ourselves at greater risk of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

ChooseMyPlate.gov offers “Tips for Vegetarians,” suggesting that they may need to give special attention to their intake of “protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B₁₂.” I address the (non-)issue of getting sufficient nutrients such as protein and calcium later in this chapter, but it’s worth covering the others here briefly. Vegetarians who eat eggs and/or dairy shouldn’t have a problem getting enough vitamin B₁₂. Vegans sometimes sprinkle cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast (a great source of B₁₂) on their popcorn and tofu scrambles or take B₁₂ supplements.

However, both iron (in beans, black-eyed peas, blackstrap molasses, broccoli, chard, chickpeas, collard greens, lentils, spinach, tempeh, tofu) and zinc (in almonds, beans, cashews, chickpeas, green peas, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, wheat germ) are readily available via plant-based sources. Since I started to eat vegetarian, my blood tests haven’t indicated any nutritional deficiencies; in addition, my hair and skin (which now feel amazingly moisturized from the inside out) both have a new glow, and perhaps most tellingly, I feel better than ever.

A nutrient-rich, whole-food plant-based diet is the answer to so many health concerns—from protecting our bones, brains, eyes, hearts, and kidneys, to preventing or sometimes even reversing autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and more. And if you’re seeking any additional reasons to consider a vegetarian or even vegan diet, you’re likely to find them in Chapter 1.

WHAT TO EAT (AND HOW MUCH)

“Vegetarian diets can meet all the recommendations for nutrients. The key is to consume a variety of foods and the right amount of foods to meet your calorie needs.”

—CHOOSEMYPLATE.GOV, “TIPS FOR VEGETARIANS”

“Go with plants. Eating a plant-based diet is healthiest. Make your plate vegetables and fruits (potatoes and French fries don’t count as vegetables).… Get most or all of your protein from beans, nuts and seeds, or tofu.”

—THE NUTRITION SOURCE, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH (HSPH.HARVARD.EDU)

Food is composed of one or more of three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. All three are essential to a healthful diet, so you’ll want to choose foods that provide you with sufficient quantities of each—but not too much of any, especially protein and fat, which correlate with increased rates of disease when they are overconsumed. But what is the right proportion? Based on all I’ve learned, I’ll give a short answer and a long answer.

The Short Answer: A healthful meatless diet consists primarily of roughly equal proportions of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains (accented by nuts and seeds). If you picture yourself filling your plate with some of each at every meal, making sure to eat a wide variety of whole, unprocessed foods from every category over the course of every week (to ensure that you’re getting a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients), and not overeating (i.e., not consuming too many calories, particularly from protein or fat), generally speaking, you don’t need to worry about counting calories, grams of protein, or anything else.

The Long Answer: Opinions differ on exactly what proportions of total calories you should get from each macronutrient. For benchmarks, I’ll share what the U.S. government recommends via its 2010 ChooseMyPlate.gov program—which many have argued overemphasizes meat and dairy as a result of those industries’ enormous economic and political clout—and contrast that with recommendations from other respected sources such as The China Study. Each of us needs to decide for ourselves what to eat, and those decisions are, ideally, well informed and appropriate to our personal circumstances (e.g., younger and healthy, versus older and trying to reverse heart disease). For what it’s worth, I’ll also share what I personally choose to eat, based on what I’ve learned.

PROTEIN

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that 10 to 35 percent of total daily calories come from protein.

However, in The China Study, T. Colin Campbell recommends that less than 10 percent of total daily calories come from healthful protein (sufficient to meet the body’s need for 5 to 6 percent dietary protein to replace that which the body regularly excretes, yet insufficient to trigger the onset of disease), which translates into just 50 to 60 grams of protein per day. The average American typically consumes 70 to 100 grams per day, primarily from animal-based sources (e.g., meats, poultry, seafood), a level of overconsumption that correlates with a higher risk of diseases such as heart disease and certain cancers. Because 50 to 60 grams of protein a day can easily be provided by a plant-based diet, The China Study recommends avoiding meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy.

“Dietary protein within the range of 10–20 percent is associated with a broad array of health problems [e.g., higher blood cholesterol levels, higher risks of atherosclerosis, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and kidney stones], especially when most of the protein is from animal sources.”

—T. COLIN CAMPBELL, THE CHINA STUDY

PROTEIN FOODS

ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends 5 to 6½ ounces or “ounce equivalents” of protein per day for adults.

What counts? A wide variety of vegetarian foods provide protein.

Sample choices: beans (e.g., black, kidney, navy, pinto, white), eggs (e.g., frittatas, omelets), falafel, legumes (e.g., black-eyed peas, chickpeas, lentils, split peas), nuts and nut butters (e.g., almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts), seeds (e.g., chia, hemp, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), seitan, soups (e.g., bean, lentil, split pea), soybeans and soy products, tempeh, texturized vegetable protein (TVP), tofu, vegetarian chili made with beans, some veggie burgers (e.g., those made with beans or other legumes or soy), not to mention many other foods that contain protein (e.g., grains, such as kamut and quinoa; or vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, and watercress, as more than 40 percent of their calories are from protein).

One “ounce equivalent” is about ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds. Or, if you’d rather count grams of protein to make sure you’re not getting too much, here are some examples of the number of grams of protein in common servings:

1 large egg = 6 grams

½ cup black beans = 7.5 grams

½ cup black-eyed peas = 6.5 grams

½ cup chickpeas = 7.5 grams

½ cup lentils = 9 grams

1 ounce almonds = 6 grams

1 ounce peanut butter = 7 grams

1 ounce tempeh = 5 grams

¼ cup firm (raw) tofu = 10 grams

1 Burger King veggie burger = 14 grams

1 Shake Shack ’Shroom (vegetarian) burger = 18 grams

Don’t forget that vegetarian protein sources also include vegetables and grains! Here are a few examples of other foods with protein content:

1 medium artichoke = 3 grams

1 cup asparagus = 4 grams

1 cup pureed avocado = 5 grams

½ large bagel = 7 grams

1 cup broccoli = 4 grams

1 cup Brussels sprouts = 4 grams

1 medium potato = 5 grams

½ cup quinoa = 4 grams

1 cup spinach = 5 grams

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes = 4 grams

By the way, contrary to popular belief, the idea that you have to combine certain proteins (e.g., beans and rice) at the same meal has been disproven. Given reports of the myth’s persistence as of this writing, this finding seems to bear repeating.

“Protein is found in most plant foods as well as animal foods. Your body will make its own complete protein if a variety of foods and enough calories are eaten during the day.”

—ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS (EATRIGHT.ORG)

T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, recommends that you avoid meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs; eat all you want (while getting lots of variety) of any whole, unrefined plant-based foods (e.g., legumes, nuts, etc.).

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, author of the bestselling book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, recommends “not eating anything with a mother or a face (no meat, poultry, or fish).”

What I do: I aim to consume less than 10 percent of my total calories from protein—and to get the protein from plants. A few tips: I typically eat one half-cup to one cup of legumes daily. For breakfast, I sometimes spread peanut butter on apple slices or whole-grain toast or make a tofu scramble. I love adding beans or chickpeas to soups and even green or grain salads, and low-fat hummus is one food you’ll always find in our refrigerator. For Chinese or Thai meals, I add cubes of tofu to brown rice dishes and curries.

Know Your Nutrition

If you’d like to analyze the nutritional content of various foods, visit the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference at ndb.nal.usda.gov or the more user-friendly site based on its data at nutritiondata.self.com.

To analyze the nutritional content of a recipe or your diet, visit a website such as caloriecount.about.com, which also provides “Nutrition Grades” for specific foods.

CARBOHYDRATES

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that 45 to 65 percent of total daily calories come from carbohydrates.

Dr. Campbell recommends that at least 80 percent of total daily calories come from healthful carbohydrates.

The primary sources of carbohydrates are vegetables, fruits, grains/cereals, and legumes. Legumes (primarily peas and beans) are also a significant source of protein, so vegetarians can count them as either carbohydrates (vegetables) or protein.

“The USDA Food Patterns classify beans and peas as a subgroup of the Vegetable Group. The USDA Food Patterns also indicate that beans and peas may be counted as part of the Protein Foods Group. Individuals can count beans and peas as either a vegetable or a protein food. Green peas, green lima beans, and green (string) beans are not considered to be part of the beans and peas subgroup. Green peas and green lima beans are similar to other starchy vegetables and are grouped with them. Green beans are grouped with other vegetables such as onions, lettuce, celery, and cabbage because their nutrient content is similar to those foods.”

—CHOOSEMYPLATE.GOV

VEGETABLES

ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends 2 to 3 cups daily for adults.

What counts? Whole, cut, or mashed vegetables (fresh, frozen, dehydrated, or canned, served either raw or cooked), or 100 percent vegetable juice.

Sample choices: A variety from among the five sub-groups of vegetables, each of which provides a different mix of nutrients.

• Dark green: beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, chard, collard greens, dark green lettuce, endive, escarole, kale, mustard greens, romaine, spinach, turnip greens, watercress
• Red and orange: acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, Hubbard squash, pumpkin, red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and tomato juice
• Starchy: black-eyed peas, corn, green peas, green plantains, Jerusalem artichokes, lima beans, parsnips, plantains, potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, taro, water chestnuts, winter squash, yams (Note that starchy vegetables, which are calorically dense, should be eaten in moderation, especially by those seeking to lose weight.)
• Peas and beans: black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans, split peas, white beans (These also contain significant amounts of protein.)
• Other: artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, green bell peppers, iceberg lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onions, sea vegetables, sprouts (e.g., bean), summer squash, turnips, zucchini

Dr. Campbell recommends that you eat all you want, while getting lots of variety, of any whole, unrefined plant-based food such as vegetables.

What I do: I eat as many vegetables as possible every day—about half raw (e.g., in salads, or in juices and smoothies) and half cooked. I shoot for two or three green leafy vegetables, and one or two cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower) among them. Tips: I eat a salad with lots of raw veggies at lunch and/or dinner. I also try to eat one or two vegetables at every meal (e.g., a banana-and-kale smoothie, a veggie omelet, or veggie-tofu scramble at breakfast; a vegetable-based soup at lunch or dinner, as well as vegetables in a main course, such as a burrito, farrotto/risotto, noodle or rice bowl, pasta, pizza, stir-fry, etc.). Knowing the importance of having two or three green leafy vegetables (e.g., collard greens, kale, spinach) every day, I’ve discovered that a glass of green juice gives me a great natural pick-me-up—better than caffeine!—so I’ve traded in my former 4:00 p.m. coffee break for an afternoon green juice break.

FRUITS

ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends 1½ to 2 cups daily for adults.

What counts? Whole, cut, or pureed fruit, or 100 percent fruit juice (e.g., apple, grape, grapefruit, orange). Because of its concentration of nutrients and fiber, a half-cup of dried fruit, such as prunes or raisins, counts as a one-cup serving.

Sample choices: apples and applesauce, apricots, bananas, berries (e.g., blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), cherries, citrus fruits (e.g., grapefruits, lemons, limes, oranges), grapes, kiwis, mangoes, melons (e.g., cantaloupes, honeydews, watermelons), nectarines, peaches, pears, papayas, pineapples, plums, tangerines

Dr. Campbell recommends eating all you want, while getting lots of variety, of any whole, unrefined plant-based food such as fruits.

What I do: I aim for an average of three servings of raw, fresh fruit daily. Tips: I have fruit on top of my morning oatmeal, as part of a fruit or green salad, or in a smoothie. I love freezing bananas and putting them through a Champion juicer for a softserve-like dessert.

GRAINS / CEREALS

ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends 5–8 ounces or “ounce equivalents” daily for adults, with more than 50 percent coming from whole grains.

What counts? Whole-grain foods include breads, cereals such as granola or muesli, crackers, pastas, tortillas, etc., made from whole grains or whole “pseudograins” (which are not technically grains but are commonly grouped with them), e.g., amaranth, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur, corn and whole-grain cornmeal, farro, kamut, kasha, millet, oats (including rolled oats and oatmeal), popcorn, quinoa, rice, rye berries, sorghum, spelt, teff, triticale, wheat berries, wild rice, or another cereal grain.

Sample choices: One “ounce equivalent” is about ¼ large bagel, 1 slice of bread, ½ English muffin, ½ cup cooked grain (e.g., bulgur, oats), pasta, or rice; 2 three-inch pancakes, 3 cups of popcorn, 1 cup of prepared cereal, or 1 six-inch tortilla.

Dr. Campbell recommends eating all you want, while getting lots of variety, of any whole, unrefined plant-based foods such as whole grains (e.g., in breads, pastas, etc.).

What I do: I limit my grains to three to five servings daily. Tips: I sometimes make myself oatmeal or another whole grain as a hot breakfast cereal and have a sandwich on a slice or two of whole-grain bread or pita for lunch, while dinner sometimes revolves around brown rice or another whole grain (e.g., farro, wheat berries) served risotto-style, whole-grain pasta or pizza dough, or whole-grain tortillas. Most of the time, I try to avoid refined grains (i.e., white rice or anything made from white flour, including white bread) altogether, and to opt for whole-grain versions of rice noodles, cornbread, corn tortillas, and couscous.

FAT

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that 20 to 35 percent of total daily calories come from fat.

Dr. Campbell recommends that less than 10 percent of total daily calories come from fat.

OILS / FATS

ChooseMyPlate.gov suggests an allowance of 5 to 7 teaspoons of oils daily for adults. One teaspoon of any oil or fat contains 40 calories. ChooseMyPlate.gov indicates that no added fats may be necessary, given that “some Americans consume enough oil in the foods they eat, such as nuts, [fish,] cooking oil, and salad dressings.” The Standard American Diet (SAD) is close to 40 percent fat, so for many people, achieving a healthier target requires a dramatic lifestyle change—such as not making or ordering fried dishes, omitting the oil from stir-fries, or not slathering butter or oil on breads.

What counts? oils and oily foods (Note that solid fats—fats that are solid at room temperature, such as butter, margarine, and milk fat, along with coconut oil and palm oil—should be minimized or avoided in vegetarian diets aiming to lower cholesterol levels.)

Sample choices: oils (e.g., canola; corn; hazelnut; olive and other plant-based, organic, expeller-pressed, high-oleic oils; safflower; sesame; soybean; sunflower; walnut) and oily foods such as avocados, mayonnaise, nuts (e.g., almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts) and nut butters, olives, seeds (e.g., flax, hemp, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), some salad dressings

Dr. Campbell recommends minimizing added vegetable oils (e.g., corn oil, olive oil, peanut oil).

Dr. Esselstyn famously recommends “NO OIL!” at all. Zero. No avocados or nuts, either.

What I do: I avoid adding much, if any, oil to my diet (e.g., by cooking in vegetable stock instead of oil). I do sometimes add a little olive oil to certain salad dressings, but in less than the standard 1:3 ratio. Tips: Eat something every day for healthful omega-3 fats (e.g., canola oil, flaxseeds in smoothies, walnuts in granola or oatmeal). And I do love avocados as guacamole, added to salads, or whipped into salad dressings.

DAIRY

(Note: Whole milk is 50 percent fat, 30 percent carbs, and 20 percent protein, while cheese is 75 percent fat and 25 percent protein—which is why this food group is listed here. Note, however, that dairy is not listed as a fat at ChooseMyPlate.gov.)

ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends 3 cups or “cup equivalents” daily for adults, especially fat-free or low-fat options.

What counts? cheese, cream and ice cream, milk and ice milk, (calcium-fortified) soy milk, yogurt and frozen yogurt. (You’ll also want to count foods like cream-based soups, milk-based coffee drinks, and yogurt-based dips or smoothies.)

Sample choices: One “cup equivalent” is about 2 cups cottage cheese, 1½ ounces hard cheese, 1½ cups ice cream, 1 cup milk or calcium-fortified soy milk, 1 cup milk-based pudding, ½ cup ricotta cheese, ⅓ cup shredded cheese, or 1 cup yogurt.

Dr. Campbell recommends avoiding dairy.

Dr. Esselstyn recommends avoiding dairy.

What I do: I am lactose intolerant. It’s a trait I happen to share with 75 percent of the world’s population, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which also points out that the lot of us are starting to be referred to as “normal” and those who are able to digest lactose as “lactose persistent.” I avoid milk, cream, and other dairy—and gag at the thought of ever trying to consume ChooseMyPlate’s recommended 3 cups a day! I find some cheeses and yogurts somewhat easier to digest, but—given some indication of a correlation between high levels of full-fat dairy consumption and certain diseases such as breast cancer—I eat them only very rarely, such as to garnish pasta (e.g., Parmesan), Greek food (e.g., tzatziki), or Indian food (e.g., raita). Tips: I gave up my former daily cappuccino habit more than a decade ago, and I’ve happily switched to almond milk with my morning oatmeal or granola and love the way it enhances the flavor of both.

ChooseMyPlate.gov emphasizes that foods in the dairy group “provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body,” including protein (see above), calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. However, those of us who choose to largely or entirely avoid dairy can healthfully turn to other options for these nutrients:

• Calcium: beans (e.g., black, kidney, navy, pinto, white), black-eyed peas, blackstrap molasses, bok choy, broccoli, chickpeas, dark leafy greens (e.g., collard, mustard, turnip), fortified soy milk, kale, nuts and nut butters (e.g., almonds), sesame seeds and sesame paste, spinach, tempeh, tofu that is processed with calcium sulfate
• Potassium: avocados, beans (e.g., kidney, lima, pinto), chard, fruits (especially bananas) and fruit juices, lentils, papayas, potatoes, spinach
• Vitamin D: egg yolks, mushrooms (e.g., portobellos, shiitakes), or vitamin D–fortified foods such as cereals, juices, and milks (both dairy and nondairy)—or simply spend 10 to 15 minutes in the sunshine every day or two, and your body will make its own vitamin D. If it’s cloudy or you can’t be outdoors enough, consider taking a supplement.

By the way, on the question of what to drink as a beverage instead of milk, I’ll share that I typically drink hot tea at breakfast, water or iced tea at lunch (I’m particularly fond of caffeine-free SPORTea, which I was first introduced to at the Lodge at Woodloch in Pennsylvania), and one glass of wine at dinner (per the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which allow two glasses of wine for men).

MAKING IT DELICIOUS

“I believe the future is vegetables and fruits. They are so much sexier than a piece of chicken.… You get a piece of meat and you put it in your mouth, you chew, the first five seconds, all the juices flow around your mouth, they’re gone, and then you are twenty more seconds chewing something that is tasteless at this point. Something like this doesn’t happen with a pineapple, an asparagus, or a green pea.”

—CHEF JOSÉ ANDRÉS, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDERSON COOPER ON 60 MINUTES (APRIL 27, 2010)

Once you’ve committed to enjoying a whole foods, plant-based diet, this is where the real fun begins.

In Chapter 2, you’ll find insights from some of the country’s leading chefs on how to do so deliciously. In Chapter 3, you’ll find a comprehensive A-to-Z list of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and other ingredients, along with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that best enhance their flavor—not to mention the techniques that best showcase their texture and flavor. You’ll also find tips from leading chefs on how they work with these ingredients and how the ingredients are combined into signature dishes.

My pursuit of deliciousness never went away—it’s merely changed direction over the past few years. If I hadn’t discovered eating vegetarian to be so delicious, I’d never have lasted beyond that first meatless week. But as I’ve learned through the vegetarian and even vegan anniversary and birthday meals we’ve enjoyed at Blue Hill, DANIEL, Eleven Madison Park, the Inn at Little Washington, Mélisse, Per Se, Picholine, Zaytinya, and elsewhere—not to mention at America’s diverse range of impressive vegetarian and vegan restaurants, which have been a revelation to experience, as well as ethnic and other vegetable-centric restaurants—eating this way offers the thrill of discovery of new avenues of flavor. In the pages that follow, I’m happy to share with you all I’ve had the pleasure of learning over the past several years, and I am confident you’ll be as happy as I’ve been to find that this way of eating can be even more satisfying and delicious than you ever dreamed possible. Best of all, armed with this book, you’ll be on the front line of creating new dishes and a whole new way of eating that’s as healthful for others and for the planet as it is for you.