Vegetable talk

Vegetarianism is not new but recently it has been gaining momentum due to the hype that it’s been getting with PETA’s campaign using famous personalities in their ads.

One time I attended a vegetarian cooking demo conducted by the Brahma Kumaris (254 5975). I was then convinced to change my unhealthy eating habit and for several years I was a vegetarian and I could attest to the many benefits of adapting this eating habit. Why I’m no longer one is another story but now my effort is to return to basics - in other words, be veg again. The biggest challenge with the diet is not the diet itself but my friends and family who seem to have plenty of excuses. Apparently many still maintain fallacious viewpoints on being veg.

It’s expensive to be vegetarian.

Most of my friends surprisingly think that if they would opt for a vegetarian diet, they would be spending more. In reality, meat diet is far more expensive because obviously vegetables are far cheaper than meat – unless you’re buying double dead meat!

What many may not know is that plenty of Filipinos are technically vegetarians, although they may not be conscious about it. A simple vegetarian dish can be appetizing, healthy, and is very inexpensive and easy to prepare.

Vegetarians are unhealthy.

The reason why my father keeps on pestering me about my diet is because he thought that vegetarians don’t get the right amount of nutrients as compared to non-veg. But then the vitamins, minerals, and all other nutrients needed by the body can actually be sourced from plants and that includes iron (kamote tops have plenty of them), vitamin B12 (richly found in fermented tofu and in seaweeds), and protein (there’s nuts and tofu).

On the other hand, meat-eaters are more prone to sickness like heart disease (that’s 50 percent more chance of getting, compared to vegetarians), cancer (meat eaters: 60 percent more prone), and nine times more likely to be obese as compared to vegetarians.

Cons of a veg diet

The only down side of being a vegetarian is that not many restaurants serve vegetarian dishes. If you want to be in the diet, you have to be patient and resourceful, plus you have to have the passion to cook, otherwise there’s a tendency for your efforts to all go to waste. This is the main challenge that will be faced by those who decide to try the diet.

There are however easy and simple recipes that you can try, and if you don’t have cooking utensils, then its time for you to invest. The good thing about this down side is that you get to save more since you would no longer be buying prepared food which is getting more and more expensive each day.

Here’s a recipe you can try:

Fried fish, tofu style

Ingredients: Tofu, nori sheets, cream of asparagus powder, vegetable oil

Cut tofu into matchbox sizes and dab with cream of asparagus. Fry both sides till half-cooked. Let cool. Wrap in nori sheets with the ends left unwrapped and then fry each side until tofu turns golden brown. Serve with condiments.