Accordingly, our menu should consist of three quarters of plant foods and only one quarter of animal foods. This is environmentally friendly, climate-friendly and healthier for us humans. Vegetables and fruit, legumes, nuts and grain products made from whole grain flour are full of important nutrients that, for example, support the immune system and balance blood pressure.
Get a taste for nutrition by studying nutrition
Plant-based snacks and menus are not only sustainable and healthy. Above all, they are delicious. With carrots, chickpeas or cashews you can conjure up a variety of meals that are in no way inferior to cheese casserole or minced stew. Noah Luckmann from Bremen tries it out. The 21-year-old student has been eating vegan, i.e. exclusively plant-based, for three years. For him, this doesn’t feel like giving up, on the contrary: “I’ve become much more open and am more concerned with nutrition, which is just fun.”
Noah Luckmann gets tips from friends or online from vegan food blogs. Helene Holunder alias Barbara Stukenborg’s blog also contains cooking tips and many recipe ideas from simple to unusual. The passionate hobby cook and nutritionist from Osterholz-Scharmbeck near Bremen has been eating vegan for over 20 years. She also imparts her knowledge in courses.
Renunciation that doesn’t taste like renunciation
“There are so many great ways to cook with plant-based ingredients that I don’t miss anything,” she says. Substitute products from the refrigerated section are rarely on her menu; she makes most of them herself. One of her classics is cream cheese made from pureed cashew nuts, which she refines with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
It’s not just cheese fans who get their money’s worth in vegan cuisine. Hearty dishes for meat lovers can also be made with plant-based ingredients. Tofu is a type of quark made from soybeans and is one of the classics of plant-based cuisine. Cut into cubes or strips and browned in a pan with a little oil, it gives vegetable dishes a hearty touch.
Tofu and vegetables instead of meat substitutes with additives
Smoked tofu has a smoky, spicy taste, natural tofu is ideal for marinating. You should squeeze the tofu block well beforehand as it contains a lot of liquid. Whether with soy sauce and ginger, with peppers, coconut or Mediterranean herbs – there are almost no limits to the desire to experiment with the marinade. If you like, you can then bread the cubes. This means they get nice and crispy on the outside when they are fried.
Tofu is a traditional Asian food and has almost no additives. The situation is different with many cheese or meat substitute products from the refrigerated shelf. Some manufacturers, especially in the organic sector, deliberately avoid using additives. For other products the list is even longer. Some of them contain ingredients that should not be consumed frequently, as a market check by the Lower Saxony Consumer Center on meat substitute products showed.
Plucked oyster mushrooms are very similar to pulled pork
That’s why Barbara Stukenborg tends to stick to the tried and tested, mainly fresh vegetables. Edible mushrooms are the all-rounders of plant-based cuisine. Properly prepared, they are very close to meat dishes in terms of taste and consistency.
Oyster mushrooms make a delicious alternative to pulled pork. To do this, tear the mushrooms into strips and let them soak in a marinade made from a little oil, salt, smoked paprika powder and cumin. They are then grilled in the oven or seared in a pan. “When I fill wraps with it, some people don’t even notice the difference to meat,” says the nutrition expert.
There is also more in carrots, zucchini and beetroot than many people think. Baked in the oven, the vegetables develop their famous roasted aromas. Whatever is currently in season goes on the tray: zucchini, tomatoes or eggplants in summer, mushrooms, carrots, pumpkin or beetroot in autumn and winter. Roughly cut into strips or slices, the vegetables are mixed in a bowl with a little oil, salt and pepper. Depending on your taste, you can add other spices, such as rosemary or thyme. Onions and garlic can also be baked and add even more flavor.
Oven vegetables can also be used as a base for dips or sauces
Barbara Stukenborg also uses her oven-baked vegetables as a base for dips or sauces. It’s quick and tastes delicious. “If you chop up the baked vegetables in the blender and cook them again with fresh or canned tomatoes, you have a delicious Bolognese-style tomato sauce,” says Stukenborg.
And what about the milk coffee that many people love? Plant drinks, for example based on oats, soy or almonds, are now even available in discount stores. But not everyone likes this variant. Soy drink has a strong taste of its own, and acid and bitter substances are often very dominant in coffee with oat or almond drink. A pinch of table salt in the coffee mug ensures a pleasantly mild aroma.
Whether plant-based drink or fried mushrooms – a bit of experimentation is part of plant-based cooking and eating. Noah Luckmann likes this: He now also gives unloved vegetables a second chance. After a few culinary experiments, he even likes mushrooms that he didn’t like before. And cheese or meat? He hasn’t missed either for a long time.
