There are many reasons to adopt a plant-based diet, be they economic, medical or ethical. Far from being dull and boring, a plant-based diet offers a rich variety of ingredients – which are both nutritious and delicious – with which to nourish our bodies and pleasure our senses.
Nutritionally related diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease have become global epidemics. Our bodies are baulking at our poor diets and lifestyles by becoming sick and dysfunctional from ever-younger ages. And with food contamination and even global food scarcity looming on the horizon, the natural vegetarian option is becoming increasingly more attractive if you want to become a more conscientious, ethical consumer. Vegetarianism gently eases you into a more harmonious relationship with yourself and your environment, freeing up your body’s detoxification organs and promoting a sense of abundant wellbeing.
More than ever, we need to start making dietary choices that support a sustainable lifestyle that harms neither our bodies nor the environment. High-density animal farming has a devastating impact on the environment, and the animals are often subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment in order to provide us with food. You wouldn’t want to cram steroids, antibiotics and hormones into your body from your bathroom cabinet, so why would you want to ingest it via the food you eat? Animals transported and slaughtered in abattoirs under stress, release huge amounts of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin, which are directly absorbed into your body when you eat the meat, thus placing massive strain on your own organs too.
We wrote this book out of love – love for food and cooking, love for the environment, and love for natural wellbeing. We hope that Luscious Vegetarian can assist and entice you to explore and experiment with recipes that will create a healthier, more ethically sound lifestyle. Recipes have been very carefully chosen for universal appeal, to satisfy the requirements of everyone from young professionals, singletons and athletes, to the health-conscious, hedonists and bustling families alike.
There are many vegetarian cookbooks available to the South African consumer, most of which are imported and therefore not truly reflective of the South African lifestyle. Many also rely on ingredients that may be awkward for local consumers to source. Alternatively, many vegetarian cookbooks propose a lifestyle change or adaptation so daunting that it may seem off-putting to all but the most fervently committed vegetarians.
With this book, we set out to demonstrate that vegetarian cooking need not be synonymous with a dull and spartan dietary regime, but can instead be a celebration of nature’s luscious bounty available all year round. Using mostly local, seasonal and, where possible, organic ingredients, the recipes cover the full range from easy, quick everyday dishes, light bites and simple snacks, to rejuvenation and detoxification with pure foods, to hedonistic feasts for celebrations and deeply satisfying soul food, as well as marvellous bakes and sweet treats.
Many people think of vegetarian food as bland, heavy stodge. ‘I never seem to feel full’ is another complaint. In fact, plant food correctly prepared and served is beautiful, colourful and extremely tasty.
Getting enough protein shouldn’t be a problem provided you make ample use of pulses, grains, nuts, cheese and eggs or soy products. To ensure your happiness at the table, try to think first about how you compose a plate and a meal – include contrasting textures such as crunchy, juicy and smooth or slippery, and serve hot and cold, bland and spicy, and moist and dry foods together.
Low-GI foods such as beans and whole grains keep blood-sugar levels stable for longer, which means no sudden awkward hunger pangs. But do make sure you don’t overdo it with refined starches, sugars and saturated fats, since that will play havoc with your blood-sugar levels, energy and weight. Moderation is still the best advice!
It’s not necessary to buy a shelf full of vitamins and supplements. We find that a few tablespoons of unsulphured blackstrap molasses daily provides healthy amounts of potassium, iron and magnesium, and regular vitamin B complex injections will help keep you nourished.
Whipping up tasty treats in a hurry poses no problem at all if you’ve got a cupboard decently stocked with the basics, and make liberal use of leftovers. Start by doing a little planning ahead for the week’s meals. When cooking rice, grains, beans, pasta or potatoes, for example, cook twice the usual amount and chill what is not used. This way you’ll always have a handy staple around which to plan a meal. (Just make sure food is thoroughly cool before you refrigerate it; refrigerating warm food is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria such as salmonella which causes food poisoning.)
Rice – short- and long-grain brown, white basmati, brown basmati, Thai fragrant, risotto, glutinous (for congee), jasmine, brown and wild mix, red, black rice
Grains – dehusked millet, barley, buckwheat (kasha), quinoa, couscous, bulgur wheat, polenta, whole wheat (stampkoring), oats, maize kernels (dried, frozen or canned), rye
Pasta and Asian noodles
Breads, etc. – bread rolls, loaf bread, frozen pastry, wraps, tortillas, frozen pancakes, tacos, waffles, English muffins, pitas, croissants, readymade pizza bases, bagels; bread freezes very well for a couple of weeks
Pulses – dried: red, yellow, brown and Puy lentils; canned: small and large white kidney, red kidney, cannellini, butter and borlotti beans, samp and beans, brown lentils, chickpeas, three-bean mix, baked beans in tomato sauce
Eggs – free-range chicken, quail, duck, goose
Non-animal rennet, soft white and hard yellow cheeses and dairy – milk, yoghurt, cream, crème fraîche, mascarpone, paneer, ricotta, labneh, goat’s milk cheese, sheep’s milk cheese, vegetarian Parmesan and pecorino; ask your deli or supermarket to source stock for you
Oils and fats – extra-virgin olive oil for salads and seasoning, blended olive oil for cooking, sunflower, peanut and canola oils for cooking, sesame oils for Asian cooking, speciality oils for seasoning, ghee, unsalted dairy butter, canola or olive oil margarine
Basic seasonings – sea-salt flakes, cook’s all-purpose salt, sesame salt, herb salt, light, dark and sweet Indonesian soy sauces, white and black peppercorns, ground pepper
Vinegars – rice, sherry, wine and malt vinegars (plain or flavoured), balsamic glaze and vinegar, sake, mirin (a fortified Japanese wine used only for cooking)
Herbs and spices – fresh and dried, garlic, ginger
Asian flavours – miso (fermented concentrated soy paste), tahini (sesame paste), hoisin, vegetarian Asian black bean and chilli pastes
Sugars – honey (preferably single-flower organic, non-pasteurised), organic white and brown sugar, palm sugar, barley malt syrup, rice syrup
Tofu – several kinds are available: soft, silken tofu is like barely set custard, best used for mayonnaises, mousses, sauces; firm tofu has been compressed, and is often sold smoked or spiced, can be cubed, grilled, fried or deep-fried
Flours – gram or besan (chickpea flour), potato, rice and soy flour. All are easily obtainable from health stores or the health section of good supermarkets. If they don’t stock it, ask for it!
It’s not necessary to invest a fortune in getting your kitchen ready for vegetarian cooking. However, since you’ll want to make the most of fresh and natural produce, you’re going to be doing more of your own food processing rather than relying on stores and factories to do it for you. Remember always to buy the best you can afford since quality appliances last longer and work better.
I grew up very close to nature in a small country village, intensely aware of the seasons and our human dependence on the earth. Like most country folk around us, we thrived on a simple diet of pure and local, seasonal foods. I was immersed from an early age in the typically carnivorous culture of rural South Africa, where meat was practically a staple and often consumed at every meal. Fortunately for us, my mother was a passionate and natural cook and baker, who grew her own vegetables and fresh herbs and kept an orchard with which to augment her cooking. She also took a very keen interest in natural living and wholesome eating. Preservatives, refined sugars and starches as well as adulterated food were anathema to her, with the result that I have always been extremely aware of sound nutrition based on natural, local and seasonal ingredients. For me food is a source of nourishment and pleasure, as well as healing. As a professional cook and food writer, this remains my guiding principle in devising menus and dishes for my clients as well as my own family.
After a health scare a few years ago, I took professional advice and became less reliant on animal sources of protein, which can lead to an over-acidic system and inflammatory diseases. I still eat meat, chicken and fish as well as dairy products occasionally, but choose to use these ingredients more as condiments to supplement a largely plant-based diet. As a very busy working mother of two small children I am acutely aware of the challenges inherent in providing fast, tasty and nutritious meals that do not merely rely on the convenience of animal protein as a main course. Since we are also very active, keeping up energy levels and strength is a constant concern. Trial and error, as well as a lot of research, has aided me in developing recipes that meet with all the above criteria. Since I also believe that eating well is non-negotiable, my recipes create luscious food so good you won’t even notice the absence of meat.
I am a keen and creative cook who grew up in a food-loving family, where everyone happily pitches in to prepare the luscious feasts we are famous for, be it breakfast or a no-holds barred dinner party for fifty. When my gold-medal winning athlete younger sister recently converted to a meat-free lifestyle, the entire family rallied behind her and enthusiastically set about experimenting with and exploring deeply satisfying vegetarian recipes.
My dishes demonstrate how to eat consciously without preaching nutrition, by using natural, seasonal produce. My ingredients range from stock available at the corner shop to more lavish and exotic substances such as quinoa, sesame oil and dried olives, which may seem like salt and pepper to more seasoned cooks, but which are unknown to the ‘new’ converts to vegetarianism. Our recipes will help pave the way for hesitant readers to embrace vegetarian eating, as well as provide some balance for carnivores, seducing the senses while satisfying the appetite.
Simply put, vegetarian eating is kinder to your body, your wallet and the environment. Eating lusciously naturally, is an everyday celebration of being alive. Vegetarian cooking our way bursts with freshness and flavour, is packed with nutrients and can be as hedonistically indulgent as the usual Western diet.