by Julie Dancer

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: April 07, 2010

To switch from a conventional western diet to a vegetarian diet - for ethical or health reasons - can be daunting. Meat often features as a mainstay of every meal, and is often our only source of protein, certain vitamins and nutrients.

To simply cut out the meat leaves us with perhaps a few salads and some cooked carrots - hardly the varied and nutritional diet we need.

It is easy, too, for new vegetarians to swap out meat for more carbs - pasta, potatoes, and rice providing a filling meal, but not exactly supplying everything our body needs to thrive. Or worse, dousing everything we eat in cheese in an effort to supply our protein needs.

Relax. A vegetarian diet doesn't require supplements from a bottle. You can eat a range of foods that will provide for all your needs - even those with a very active lifestyle.

Legumes, Beans, Peas

Firstly, let me talk to you about one of the cheapest, healthiest and tastiest backbones to your meals. That's the peas, lentils, pulses, and beans. A hearty bean stew, a vegetarian chilli, a bright green pea soup. All excellent ways of getting a good wallop of protein, and a good head start on your fibre needs. A salad made from chickpeas, a hummus dip for some celery and carrot sticks, a black bean burrito…. there are endless variations on these basic ingredients which will ensure you never get bored.

A few of my favourites:
Azuki Red Rice (made with azuki beans)
Vegetarian Chilli
Split Pea Soup (with a splash of lemon juice)

Grains

Legumes are great sources of protein, but they don't contain all of the amino acids that meat does. A quick and easy way to compensate is to serve your beans with some grains. Serve your pea soup with whole wheat bread, your curried lentils with rice, and your chilli with tortillas and you can't go wrong.

Stick to the less refined versions of grains - brown or wild rice, whole wheat bread, and not only will you get plenty of fibre but also trace nutrients, less sugar, a slower release of energy, and you'll stay full for longer.

If, after all that, you still feel the need for a protein boost, Quinoa is an amino acid-rich staple that is easy to cook, packs a powerhouse of nutrients, and can be made to taste however you want. 

Fruit and Vegetables

Vegetarian diets are often associated with salads and fruit - yet it is surprisingly easy to miss them out. Reaching for a packet of chips, or a candy bar is convenient, but every healthy diet includes a wide range of fruit and vegetables.
Ideally you

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