conscious eating
Easing into a Vegan Lifestyle CLEVER MEAT SUBSTITUTES THAT PLEASE THE PALATE by Sheila Julson
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oday’s wide availability of vegan meat substitutes in the grocer’s freezer helps break the ice for people that want to experiment with plant-based foods. The taste, convenience and quality of these products has improved greatly over the past decade, but like many convenience foods, some packaged faux meat products can be high in sodium or fillers. While packaged, meat-alternative products are ideal for a tasty occasional treat, there’s a whole world of options beyond the freezer aisle for those that want to expand their vegan palates. Arielle and Brandon Hawthorne, co-owners of Twisted Plants, a popular, plant-based restaurant in the Milwaukee area, make their vegan food approachable by creating plantbased foods that mimic everyday, non-plantbased options. “I think that motivates people to try it because they feel they can still have the same flavor and taste they’re used to, but in a healthier version,” Arielle says. They use items like jackfruit, a species of tree in the fig family, which takes on the taste and consistency of pulled pork when shredded and marinated in sauces or spices. Going plant-based does not mean going without. Del Sroufe, a vegan chef based in Columbus, Ohio, culinary specialist at the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies and author of the Forks Over Knives companion cookbook, recommends that people craft satisfying, plant-based entrées at home by starting with recipes they like, and then looking for plant-based versions of those. “If you like pizza, you can still have pizza. If you like Italian cuisine, there are plenty of Italian recipes,” he says. Priyanka Naik, a self-taught Indian vegan chef, Food Network champion and author of the new vegan cookbook The Modern Tiffin, advises to gradually start a plant-based diet with one meat-free day per week and then increase. She adds that when eating out, opt for vegetarian or vegan options to be sure a plant-based lifestyle is sustainable outside of the home kitchen.
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