Eating healthy sounds great, but cutting back on meat, let alone going vegetarian is way easier said than done.
But the road to healthy eating doesn't have to include dramatic changes or big sacrifices. You can ease your way into it. That's according to chef Dan Souza.
Souza helped Morning Edition's Leila Fadel make rigatoni with quick mushroom Bolognese, one of the recipes from Mostly Meatless: Green Up Your Plate Without Totally Ditching the Meat. The new cookbook was produced by America's Test Kitchen, where Souza serves as chief content officer. The 200-some featured dishes are designed to whet the appetites of committed vegetarians and those who might be "veggie-curious."
"It's really about moving meat a little bit off from the center of the plate," Souza said. "Many of the recipes include just a small amount of meat that provides tons of flavor and texture and you don't miss out on any of the comfort."
Meaty taste and texture without the meat
"A lot of times when we get intense meatiness and savoriness, it's from other ingredients that are included with the meat," Souza said. He pointed out that a chicken breast, for example, is very plain on its own and actually derives its flavor from all the other ingredients with which it's cooked, like soy sauce, salt, lemon or vinegar. "So you can use those ingredients and a much smaller amount of, say, that chicken breast and you get something that is super savory, super enjoyable," he added. "It's not really about the meat in that instance."
Meaty taste from those sticky brown bits
Sautéing meat or vegetables (or even fruit) produces brown, glazed bits at the bottom of the pan known as "fond." These bits can form the foundation of any recipe, and are a source of flavor and aroma in what's known as a Maillard reaction. "You hear a lot of chefs talk about it, but it's essentially when proteins and sugars are involved with high heat, you get like hundreds of new flavor compounds and aroma," Souza said. "Think of a loaf of bread, that browning on the outside or the browning on the edges of a steak. It's responsible for some of the most flavorful foods that we eat."
I can't get no satisfaction
A lot of people complain they still feel hungry five minutes after eating a mostly-vegetarian meal. Souza said the secret to satisfaction is fiber, which can provide a feeling of fullness for much longer.
"Fiber and really complex carbohydrates are very slow to digest, which is really great for a number of reasons," Souza explained. "Fiber doesn't cause glucose spikes, which give you that very heavy feeling that makes it hard to go back to work after a meaty lunch."
Cooking and eating mostly meatless may line up with many dietary recommendations, but "it's also a way to eat in my mind that just makes you feel really good," Souza said.
Olivia Hampton edited the radio and digital version of this story.
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