Question
Janine Baker
If someone is eating plant based purely for health reasons and profoundly misses meat and dairy; what is the best way to choose plant based recipes to in time satisfy this?
Answer
We get questions like this a lot because people, uh, you start eating plant-based for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's because of, um, environmental. Sometimes it's related to, um, people's relationships to, to animals. And, you know, the ethics of killing and eating animals. Uh, for many people, it's just a straight health decision. Their doctor, their healthcare practitioner says, you know, gosh, here's some things that we're concerned about. We know that if you change your diet, you wouldn't have maybe some of these symptoms or some of these conditions. Um, so for those individuals, I think, you know, you still maybe have a desire, a wish, a craving for some of those foods because they represent your childhood positive memories. You just like the aesthetics of it, right? You like the texture, you like the flavor, the richness, all that is totally, I think, fair game. Um, so when it comes to like, how do you build meals that are really satisfying, I think it's about really building that kind of base of what are those 2, 3, 4, 5 recipes that you develop, you know, for your own palate, your own flavor that has big, bold flavor. It has enough, um, of a caloric density or a mass or a weight. So maybe you feel more full or more satisfied, um, even from a textural point of view, you know, finding those foods if you want to have a certain chew or a bite or texture. So for me, um, I love that texture of like mushrooms or like Satan with mushrooms where you do get some of that, um, quote meaty type texture. Um, and those are all very satisfying. I would say beyond that, just really build flavor. So all those techniques that, um, are good for developing umami and developing a range of flavors in food, whether that's roasting or dry saute or grilling, uh, broiling, things that add coloration, caramelization, crispiness on the exterior texture, things that concentrate flavors tend to be really, really satisfying in that way. Um, and then look at all those things that create umami, right? So whether it's different types of ferments, things like miso, uh, koji based ferments that might be in, you know, other categories outside of kind of the miso, soy family, uh, lots of different types of sauces, um, to dress things up. These are all things that I think are gonna help with some of that, that richness. Um, I also know for some people it just means having to feel full and to feel that kind of energy, uh, again, because of their need to have a larger caloric base, potentially. It might be that you have an extra, you have an extra meal, or you have an extra large snack. Because when you're eating a lot of plants, you're just not getting that caloric hit that you would if you had a meal full of meat or dairy or other sorts of things, in most cases, absent, you know, having a lot of nuts and seeds and things like that. Um, but you know, really, if you can, if you can find a few recipes, you know, a good hearty chili or a stew, a good filling for an enchilada or a taco or a ravioli or a sandwich filling, um, that gives you that feeling that you're looking for, that creates that sense of satisfaction, that's gonna be really, really key. Um, you know, some of the things around dairy I find also really interesting. Um, I don't do a lot of dairy in any regard, but for me, when I do, um, say like a flatbread with some really thick, uh, cultured cashew cream that goes under the broiler, so it gets kind of oozy and a little bit bubbly and a little bit brown, like, it doesn't take a lot of that to be really, really satisfied with that, like, hit of mouth feel and that kind of fattiness from that, that kind of a product. So some of those little tricks can really, really help. Um, sorry if I'm off, off subject.
