Being a vegetarian is easy in the summer months, but how do you handle it through the winter and spring?!
Answers: I hate canned veggies, there's no life or nutrition to them. Frozen is okay but can't take the place of fresh off the vine. Are you as conscientious about organic fruits and veggies as you are about not eating meat? It seems that most of the fresh fruits and veggies come from Chile (at least in my neck of the woods) in the winter months and their use of chemicals on plants is atrocious! Same with processed foods, veggie burgers and such. I like good wholesome, healthy foods. How do you handle these long winter months?
Traditionally - it's what is in season in the fields.
Winter vegetables include potatoes, Parsnips, cabbage, brocolli, turnip, suede, carrot, kale,
Fresh frozen sweetcorn and peas are still nutritious.
Dried beans keep their nutrition , and beansprouts can be home-made whenever. I used to grow and plait onions for winter use - still had plenty by mid summer - same with garlic.
Most herbs overwinter where they stand.
Fruit is a problem, but traditionally made into jams (not the synthetic muck thesedays - no, propper homemade jams are rich in nutrients.
Buy books on victorian food production and the seasons produce, Buy local organic fruit - and a preserving pan and make it yourself - I overfilled my pantry one year - and traded some for other produce.
Ingredients in homemade jam - Strawberries, sugar. - That's it!
I found this site for you, with google. It seems to be interesting:
http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/wi...
Just eat. Go to a store and go to vegetable section..even up here in Canada there are plenty fresh veggies...Good heavens. Just eat.
Am not a vegetarian but fresh prduce is available during the winter months. Root vegetables are great in soups and stews/chilis. Try the many variants of minestrone or bean soups and casseroles.
There is nothing wrong with canned stuff by the way if you try to stick to the better brands. Not all of them are void of nutrition.
Good cooks.chefs use what's in season and restaurants don't close for the winter do they?That means they get good quality produce whether canned or from suplliers. If it's good enough for top chefs, don't you think it's can be good enough for you? I mean at least for the winter?
I understand trying to be healthy but common sense should be at play too.
This may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but canned and frozen vegetables usually have MORE nutrition than fresh vegetables, not less. This is because produce that is destined for canning or freezing is harvested at the peak of ripeness, which is when the produce has the most vitamins. Vegetables that are destined for the "fresh" market, however, are picked long before they are ripe because pre-ripe produce is less likely to be damaged during transport. Thus, I highly doubt that the vegetables you are buying are "fresh off the vine" and think you're doing yourself a disservice by writing off frozen vegetables.