For any of the many reasons people choose to eat\rvegetarian food - religion, politics, finances, or health -\rone thing in common is that everyone prefers food that\rtastes delicious and provides good nutrition. There are\rsome basic techniques to vegetarian cooking which will\raccomplish that.

There is a range of vegetarianism. From the vegan to the\rperson who eats meat on rare occasions. Some people\rconsider themselves basically vegetarian if they never eat\rred meat, but do eat fish and chicken once in a while.\rOther vegetarians eat animal products like eggs and dairy,\rbut never the animal itself. A vegan is at the far end of\rthe continuum, rejecting animal products entirely. Vegans\rwon't eat mayonnaise because it's made using eggs, for\rexample.

Wherever you are on the continuum of vegetarianism, you\rwant your food to taste good, be satisfying, and provide\rgood nutrition. Here are some methods for cooking\rvegetarian to meet those basic requirements.

To begin, if you are making some dish that is actually a\rmeat-based recipe, such as chili con carne, stop\rsubstituting textured vegetable protein for the meat and\rleaving the rest of the recipe unaltered. The result never\rtastes quite right, and you've been robbed of the pleasure\rof good food: it's neither meat nor properly vegetarian.\rFurthermore, you haven't gained in terms of health or\reconomy. Soy is the primary ingredient of textured\rvegetable protein, tofu, and tempeh. These are usually\rhigh in fat, high in processing, and fairly high in cost.\rNot much better than organically raised meat, if at all.\rSo if chili con carne is what you want, buy organic meat\rand enjoy it! Otherwise, cook a delicious soup using red\rbeans that doesn't pretend it's chili con carne.

The key to good vegetarian soup is to use oil. Even if\ryou prefer low fat, your body does require fats for healthy\rmetabolism. And it definitely enhances the quality and\rflavor of any vegetarian soup when some of the vegetables\r(onions in particular) are saut~ed. Use an oil that's\rliquid at room temperature, such as olive, vegetable, or\rgrape seed.

The next critical ingredient of vegetarian food that\rtastes fabulous is really simple: use sea salt. Although\rany kind of salt will enhance the flavor of most foods, sea\rsalt is best. It naturally contains minerals, while it\rdoesn't contain the nasty chemicals of regular processed\rtable salt. Important to note~ use salt *during* the\rcooking instead of waiting until after serving the food.\rThis makes a difference in the final quality of the dish\rbecause cooking is chemistry. Remember back to your high\rschool chemistry classes: the order of combining the\relements, and the application of heat to the mixture could\rmake a tremendous difference to the results of the\rexperiment!

The third tip for vegetarian cooking is obvious, yet needs\remphasis. Use lots of vegetables! You can't over-do\rvegetables in your diet - the greater the range and color,\rthe better. Use leafy veg (lettuce, spinach, and chard),\rroot veg (yams, carrots, potatoes, turnips), and the stems\rand seed carriers of veg (for example celery, eggplant,\rpeppers, zucchini). Buy organic veg if you can because\rthey really do taste better, and of course they provide\rbetter nutrition because they are gown in healthy, 'clean'\rdirt.

Take any vegetable and bean soup recipe, and follow these\rthree simple principles: saut~ the veg in the right oil,\rcook the beans in sea-salted water, use a variety of\rorganic vegetables, and you'll have a rich delicious soup.\rThese simple tips make a big difference. Take my word for\rit, or do a little test. Use the same list of ingredients,\rbut don't saut~ in oil, add the salt at the table, and use\rconventionally grown veg. The result will be inferior -\rstill nutritious, but bland rather than satisfying, and\rthat's a shame because the few simple techniques described\rhere can make your vegetarian cooking consistently\rterrific.

Articles by Nora Poulous on topics related to cooking are\rpublished in Z Cooking\rNews the leading resource on-line for information about\rcooking. Visit the complete archive of articles here:\rhttp://www.zcooking.com