Vegetarian Recipes

Vegetarian meals are often more "sustainable" because they have less impact on the earth's resources.  Vegetables and beans require less energy and water to be produced in comparison to meat.  I think it's important to share the delight in eating vegetarian food because western diets generally have a lot of meat in them.  Farming practices have streamlined meat production in a way that ensures families and individuals can afford to eat a lot of meat.  There is also a culture or expectation in many households that a meal is not complete without meat.  I find that this is simply not true!

In our household we try to focus on the quality of the food that we are eating.  We watched a documentary a few years ago (Food Inc.) that confronted us about the American methods of mass production of meat.  Although Australia is not big enough to require that scale of farming it is reasonable to presume that supermarket giants in this country put a lot of pressure on their suppliers to produce food that is very low in cost.  This will always have implications for the conditions and treatment of animals.  Unfortunately if you want cheap food then chances are the quality is likely to have suffered - also that animals you are consuming are likely to have suffered as well.

As such, we prefer to pay a bit more for our food.  We eat meat a couple of times a week and when we buy it we go to our local butcher.  We make an effort to buy local (Western Australian) meat that is free range.  The exception is that we buy free range chicken, ham and kangaroo meat from the supermarket.  We also try to buy seasonal local fruit and vegetables too.

I have added this summary of the vegetarian recipes that I like to cook.  It is a work in progress so keep an eye out for new posts.

I hope you find some inspiration to cook more vegetarian dishes from these recipes.  I am always on the lookout for new ideas so please share any of your own ideas in the comments below.

Lizzing Lightly

1. Lentil burgers

2. Kale and ricotta sausage rolls

3. Kale and celery soup

4. Tips to make a delicious curry - every time!