Plant-based Diet - where to start

FOREWORD

We are what we eat. Cannot be otherwise as we literally absorb what we eat and transform the nutrients to sustain ourselves. 

More and more people are waking up and recognizing that eating animal corpses is not cool nor necessary as it was for our hunting ancestors (or for a lion in the savanna starving after days trying to hunt down the damn gazelle).

I’m not a chef, nor a nutritionist. I come from a classic Italian family where food is celebrated more than anything else. I started cooking with my mother and grandmothers when I was a little kid and always cooked my meal since I was in Uni (rarely going out, even more rarely taking-out). I cooked the whole menu for our wedding for more than 40 people attending the party.

I have hundreds of written recipes (passed by my mother or created by me) and a recipe website/android app (all free). Because of those projects I learn a bit of the art of food-plating, applying my love for art and creation.

When I went vegan in 2016, I started learning something about nutrition, consulting professionist, researching, and reading about this important topic. 

With sensationalised articles emerging daily about the benefits or dangers of specific foods/diet, people get confused and lose sight of the simple messages: fruit and vegetables are good for you as are wholegrain cereals and nuts. For fats, which you need, choose unsaturated fats such as olive oil. Stay away from excess white-flour products, sugar, salt, alcohol, processed food (yes, vegan junk food included), and trans fats such as vegetable oils and palm oils found in fast foods.

If you’re not use to cook, at this point you might think: what is left to eat? A LOT! As you find out in the list below. Reserve some time to cook your meal: you can listen to a podcast or have phone calls while cooking. The more you get used to cooking, the faster you become, obvs.

In general, to prepare your meal: always mix grains with beans + add some veggie (raw or cooked). You can add extra protein to your mix, adding tofu and similar, or fats, adding nuts and seeds.

N O T E You can eat the same mix as a soup as well: prepare a broth with water boiling, black pepper, onion, celery, carrots, miso powder or soy sauce.

PICK UP THE INGREDIENTS YOU FANCY AND COMPOSE YOUR DAILY VEGAN MIX

GRAINS

Quinoa

Couscous

Barley

Whole rice

Whole pasta

Whole corn bread

Sweet potatoes

BEANS

Chickpeas

Kidney beans

Azuki beans

Lentils

Edamame (soy beans)

MEAT ALTERNATIVE

Tofu

Feto (fermented tofu)

Tempeh

Oat based burger

Vegan Sausage

Seitan

MILK ALTERNATIVE

Hemp milk

Coconut

Soy

Cashew

Tiger nut

Peanut

Rice

Hazelnut

N O T E Same applies to yogurt

BUTTER ALTERNATIVE

Soy margarine

Plants oil margarine (sun flower, etc…)

SNACK

Cashew cheese

Dried tomatoes

Avocado

Salads leaves

Olives

Dattels and dry fruits (you can prepare raw energy and protein bars)

Nuts (same as above)

Pickles and coleslaw (fermented!) on bread

Avocado toast (smashed the avocado)

Peanut butter on bread

VEGGIE black kale, all sort of cabbages, aubergine, spinach, broccoli, Bruxelles sprouts, cauliflower, leeks, pumpkin with the skin, carrots, paprika, zucchini, tomatoes, redbeet, celery, sweet potatoes etc…

Try new things: list here

N O T E  Wash your veggies but don't peel them: most of the nutrients are in their outer skin. The chemicals used to grow veggies are either washable or absorbed by the veggies (therefore it’s pointless to peel them).

FRUIT berries, orange, bananas, apple, dattels, etc….

Try new things: list here

SEEDS 

Hemp

Flax-seed

Pumpkin

Sunflower

N O T E To be added on salad or before serving a meal. Don't cook them.

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal recipe: in a pan with 150ml water put oat, nuts, grated coconut, chia seeds, blueberry, cranberry, cinnamon powder, dates, bring to boil till you have a creamy texture. Similar recipe here

Plant-based milk

Banana

Dried fruits and seeds

Vegan yogurt (soy, almond, coconut)

Fresh press juices

Avocado toast

Coffee and Plant-based milk (hemp, coconut, soy, cashew, tiger nut, peanut, rice, hazelnut etc)

DESSERT

Dark chocolate from 85-99% 

Vegan energy balls (usually with dates, nuts, banana, coconut)

Homemade vegan pancake

Protein bars

Muffins

Cakes

Banana bread

DRINK 

Herbal teas

Kombucha (fermented tea)

Water with ginger and lemon/ lime

Protein or vitamin smoothie

N O T E Drink still water: at least 1,5lt/day; 1glass as soon as you wake up because the human body gets dehydrated during the sleeping hours.

USE SPICES

Try out what you like: paprika, provence herbs, curry etc

Little soy sauce (it's salt!)

Add a bit of fresh oil before serving. You can cook oil-free: just add a bit of water (and soy sauce if you like) and let stir-fry.

AVOID 

sugar, salt, vegan processed food (vegan sausages, no-eggs omelet, sweet treats), white flour in pasta/rice/cereals/bread

Need 1week-1month to get used to the real flavors. Be patience.

LIMIT

gluten products

alcohol (max 1glass wine or 1cocktail when you decide to go for alcohol to give time to the liver to detox)

oil 

Suggestion for restaurant/junk food

Order: ramen, pho, sushi, vegan burger, stuffed potatoes, focaccia, vegan pancake, vegan bakery, poke Hawaiian bowls

FINAL NOTE

If you’re healthy and don’t suffer from a particular condition, try some sweaty activity to eliminate toxins and some cardio workout to keep the heart used to rate changing. Seek the advice of a professionist (doctors and trainers) if needed.

If you are a professional athlete or someone who is used to workout a lot and decide to adopt a plant-based diet after years of crappy or heavy meaty diet, give time to your body to adjust and ask the support of a vegan nutritionist who will help to keep your regular calories/micro-macro nutrients intakes. You can be omnivorous, carnivoros or vegan and still have a pretty shitty diet! So research, seek help, experiment!

 Keep stress at bay with some time offline, withdrawing, resting, good sleeping, meditating etc.

MY MENU SAMPLES and OTHER RECIPES

menu sample 1

80-120 gr Lentils (boiled in hot water) 

1 bell-peppers (stir-fried with a bit of oil and laurel leaves, cook 10 min)

80gr plain tofu (add it at the pan with the bell-pepper the last 2 minutes to give flavor)

menu sample 2

2 sweet potatoes (cut them in half and cook in oven 200C for 15 min, they need to be soft) adding paprika powder, 50gr chick-peas (from the can, remove water, room temperature), rosemary and olive oil

Mixed green salad (dressing with lemon and seeds like hemp seed, flaxseed and bread croutons).

menu sample 3

Roasted bell peppers with capers, garlic and olive oil - recipe here

Whole-grain bread 

Fruit salad

Avocado hummus - recipe here

Tempeh bacon - recipe here

Vegan chili tacos - recipe here

Feijoada salad - recipe here

Sweet potatoes and avocado salad - recipe here

Smoked tofu with mushroom - recipe here

Pasta broccoli and salad - recipe here 

Polenta with mushroom - recipe here

Spicy lentils and beans soup - recipe here. Serve with whole-grain bread croutons

Mediterranean tofu - recipe here. Serve with croutons with peas cream - recipe here

Mashed potatoes - recipe here

Pancotto bread soup - recipe here

Spinach and avocado salad - recipe here

Radicchio soup - recipe here

Vegan burger (buy it prepared, just fry it few mins in small oil). Serve with boiled spelt

Pumpkin soup (replace butter with oil or margarine) - recipe here

Almond vegan chicken - recipe here. Serve with boiled rice

Roasted pumpkin (squash) - recipe here

Green beans and tomatoes salad - recipe here. Serve with boiled rice

Edamame (soy bean) stew - recipe here . Serve with boiled quinoa

Asparagus pasta - recipe here

Smoked tofu (buy it prepared, just fry it few mins in small oil)

Caesar Salad with grilled tempeh - recipe here

Quick red lentils curry - recipe here. Add chickpeas.

Power bowl - recipe here

Thai tofu soup - recipe here. Serve with brown rice or other grain

Peanut butter tofu with snow peas on noodles - recipe here

Chipotle Chili with Textured Vegetable Protein - recipe here

Asian tofu, brown rice and bok choy - recipe here

From the Italian Traditions

Whole-grain Pasta Bolognese (use granulated soy and lentils in the tomato sauce)

Vegan salatini (use pasta fillo, cut into small pieces and wrap a piece of vegan wurstel inside, bake 10-15 min at 200C)

Lasagne al forno (use soy sauce for besciamella adding salt-pepper, granulated soy/tempeh/peas as filling and on the top layer put vegan “filante” cheese and bread crumbs and sesame seeds)

Farinata - recipe here

Caponata - recipe here