Contemporary veggie lifestyle

• Stocking a healthy vegetarian kitchen
• Vegetarian version of meaty favorites can ease transition

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Alyssa Moreau became a vegetarian a decade ago because of food allergies. She now prepares vegetarian meals, such as this meatless, low-fat stroganoff, for her clients. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser Learn to cook vegetarian Vegetarian cooking series with Alyssa Moreau: 8 a.m.-noon April 6 (appetizers), 13 (soups), 20 (salads and dressings) and 27 (entrees), Kapi'olani Community College. Fee: $35 per class. Registration: College Information Office, 734-9211. Divine Creations Vegetarian Specials in-home cooking service: 595-5066

Alyssa Moreau, who specializes in preparing meals for clients on "special diets" and a vegetarian herself for the past decade, is happy to answer. And, no, she doesn't feel one bit deprived.

"Being a vegetarian doesn't have to be all steamed vegetables and brown rice, and it's not boring. The variety is endless," she said.

Watch her in her bright, neat-as-a-pin kitchen on 'Alewa Heights, slicing cucumbers and boiling soba noodles for a cold salad while putting the finishing touches on a low-fat vegetarian stroganoff, pulling this product and that from her well-stocked cupboards, enthusiastically describing how she uses each one.

Walk with her through Down to Earth natural foods store in Mo'ili'ili and see how much she enjoys discovering new products, swapping recipes and thoughtfully eyeing the shelves as she plans a menu.

Most urban centers, including Honolulu, now have a number of "natural foods" or "health foods" stores with take-out delis, ready-to-eat frozen meals, convenience foods such as organic canned goods and "instant" dried foods, refrigerator cases in addition to the usual stocks of organic produce and bins of dried grains and beans. These, and such short-cut appliances as today's safer and easier to use pressure cookers, microwave ovens and food processors mean you can prepare a vegetarian meal more quickly than in the past.

On the shelves: no-egg "mayonnaise," soy- and rice-based "milk" and even "ice cream," soy "hamburger," tofu that's firm enough to slice (so you don't have to press and drain it yourself), seasoned grilled tofu cakes, whole-grain pancake and waffle mixes, veggie "meats" from bacon to barbecue ribs, tofu-cream cheese, fat-free and wheat-free breads, organic instant mashed potatoes, brown-rice ramen, even low-fat, organic, nondairy cream of mushroom soup.

It must be noted that many of these items are more costly than their high-fat, meat-and-dairy cousins; those on tight budgets might find alternative convenience items out of their price range, though the bulk food and sometimes the produce can be a bargain. More of these products are becoming available in conventional stores (the Yves soy meat line is newly in Safeway now, for example), which may help lower prices.

Moreau was forced to change her eating habits after she discovered she had food allergies. An enthusiastic home cook and diner out who loves to pore over food magazines, she threw herself into learning how to eat without meat, eggs, soy and all but the occasional dairy product. Working with naturopath Laurie Steelsmith, she learned so quickly that now she is helping others make the transition.

She does so now with Divine Creations, a private in-home cooking service she operates with partner Sharon Dubois. Moreau and Dubois prepare a spectrum of dishes, from those that look — and very nearly taste — like conventional foods (casseroles and pasta dishes made with soy "meats" and "cheeses," pot roast made with a product that comes from mushroom stems, sauces made with nonfat cream, tofu tacos and musubi with brown rice and a Spam-like soy ham) to lacto-ovo dishes (those containing cheese and dairy but no meat or fish) and vegan or macrobiotic plans. For a fee plus grocery costs, they e-mail clients a menu from which to choose, do the shopping, go to the client's home to prepare three to five meals at a time, and leave these in the refrigerator and/or freezer, ready to heat and eat.

Moreau also does cooking demonstrations and classes (an upcoming series with Kapi'olani Community College begins April 6).

She has a great deal of empathy for people who are entering a new food landscape. "Whether it's diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, food allergies, or just feeling better, it's important that people get the support they need when they decide to change how they eat. Food is so important in everyone's lives. If you can't be happy with your food, you're not going to stay with it," she said.

But her message is also a realistic one: As with mastering any other new skill, learning new ways to shop and cook takes an initial investment of time and some trial and error.

With her clients, some of whom are in transition from conventional American food ways, she begins with an interview to discover "what they love, their favorite foods, as well as what their needs are."

This isn't a bad place for anyone to start: Inventory your current food habits, including what you eat most often, how much time you have to spend in the grocery store and kitchen, what staples may need to be replaced with other options. Then go shopping and start experimenting (see accompanying guide to some of Moreau's favorite staples).

"You just have to work with these things and figure out what you can do with them," Moreau said. "That's the challenge, and for me, it's a fun challenge."

Stocking a healthy vegetarian kitchen

Asked how she'd outfit a modern-day vegetarian kitchen, vegan chef Alyssa Moreau responded with a list of tools that, with few exceptions, are standard in any home kitchen: food processor, blender, good knives, good nonstick pan as well as other pots and pans. The additions include a pressure cooker, for cutting the cooking time for beans and grains, soups and stews; an immersion blender for whipping lowfat mixtures and pureeing; a spritzer for oils so you don't use as much.

As to the pantry, Moreau insists on fresh spices and herbs (buy in small quantities and discard anything old, dried out or brown); good-quality oils including olive, flax, canola or high oleic safflower, walnut and sesame oils; Bragg's Liquid Aminos to replace soy and salt in some dishes; a variety of vinegars; whole grain flours and a variety of bulk grains and beans (buy in small quantities and start with a simple recipe that reveals the flavor and other qualities of the grain); organic pastas and Asian noodles; instant split pea soup from the bulk bins, for use in thickening soups or stews.

Among the pantry products she uses are: Barbara's Instant Mashed Potatoes for soups or shepherd's pie in a hurry; Kimlan Soy Paste for stir fry, as well as Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce; KAL brand Stevia for sweetening, found where food supplements are sold; FruitSource All Purpose Liquid Sweetener and Fat Replacer, which tastes rather like molasses or pancake syrup; Emes Kosher Jel, a gelatin substitute she finds at the Seventh-Day Adventist bookstore; Arrowhead Mills Pancake and Waffle mixes (especially the multi-grain one).

In the refrigerator, Moreau's favorites include Spectrum Spread, a nonhydrogenated canola oil spread for making scones and biscuits (it doesn't saute well) or Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread; Original Vegenaise, a rich, dairy-free mayonnaise she likens to Best Foods, as well as Spectrum Lite Canola Mayo; Mrs. Cheng's Super Firm Tofu; Silk brand soy milk, which she finds so rich that she actually cuts it with a little water; Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for spreading and frostings; Horizon Organic Lowfat Sour Cream; Cedar Lane Fat-free Whole Wheat Chapatis.

In the freezer, she generally stocks some Gimme Lean ground soy "burger," which can be torn off into chunks or pieces when it's partly frozen, or defrosted and crumbled to resemble ground beef; Pacific Foods Vegetable Broth, a concentrated stock that she thins by 1/3 to 1/2 with water; Wheat-Free European Sourdough Rye Bread. Other brands of meat analogs include Un (as in unribs, unchicken, etc.), Yves and Boca Crumbles.

Moreau's favorites cookbooks, all available on Amazon.com, include: "The Arrowhead Mills Cookbook" by Vicki Rae Chelf (Penguin Putnam, 1993); "Short Cut Vegetarian" by Lorna Sass (Quill William Morrow, 1997); "Best Gourmet Recipes from the Chefs of Five Loaves Deli and Bakery," by Neva Bracket (self-published, 1999).