If you are going to eat a vegetarian diet then you want to make certain you do not get in the habit of eating the same thing over and over. You also want to make certain that you get all of the necessary vitamins and nutrients you need in your diet.
5 Ways to Get Variety in a Vegetarian Diet
In order t be a vegetarian you have to put a little more thought into the foods you are going to prepare for dinner. You can look up the vegetarian food pyramid in order to see what things you need to eat in what amounts.
Make Menu Plans
This step is especially important for the new vegetarian because once you have gotten the hang of this diet you will not need to think as hard on it. To begin with you should look online for recipes for your new eating style, and pour through cookbooks for hints and suggestions.
Make yourself grocery lists and menu plans so that you have some idea what to buy when you are at the market and how to prepare it when you get it home.
Shop for Colors
One great way to add some variety in the foods you eat is to shop for different colors. Plan to have a meal that has a certain amount of each color. Not only will your food be delicious it will be beautiful. Some examples of shopping for colors are as follows:
- Purple: buy purple cabbage, purple sweet peppers, purple onions, eggplants, plums, grapes, figs
- Red: tomatoes are red, beets, red apples, raspberries, sweet peppers, watermelon, radish
- Orange: Oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots, sweet bell peppers, cantaloupe
- Green: green beans; lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, okra, celery, green onions, apples
- White: cauliflower, onions, patty pan squash, potatoes, corn
- Blue: blueberries, blackberries
- Yellow: summer squash, yellow melons, corn, pineapple
Shop in Season
Shop at your local farmers market for the fruits and the vegetables that are in season, this will provide you with different types of vegetables every few months and it will also reduce the amount of money you are spending on your diet.
Include Nuts, Pastas, Tofu, and Mushrooms
Do not forget to include nuts as a protein source, and plenty of pasta, and mushrooms, and all whole grains. These are all healthy to eat items that will compliment your vegetarian diet and will give you a larger variety of foods to eat.
Add Milk and Dairy Products
There are vegetarians that include eggs, milk, and milk products in their diet. For those of you that do not include these items there are wonderful soy milk’s, and whey powder that you can add to your diet for extra variety and for flavor.
You have a whole world of wonderful healthy foods open to you and you can experiment and learn all of the different tastes and textures that you like. Even some flowers like the hibiscus, the pansy, and the flower from the broccoli are delicious.
Useful References
- https://www.choosemyplate.gov/tips-vegetarians
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/vegetarian-diet/art-20046446