How to Shop for a Vegetarian Pantry
No rabbit food here. The top chefs and food bloggers across the country share their must-haves for nutritious, meat-free meals that taste amazing and keep you full longer.
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A Few Good Oils
For those that don't eat meat, oils derived from fruits, nuts, and seeds—which are packed with healthy fats—play an important role in building meals out of mostly plant-based ingredients. You can't go wrong with high quality olive oil, which food blogger Kate Taylor of cookieandkate.com says is her default for cooking. For roasting or high heat sauteing, food blogger Laura Wright of thefirstmess.com recommends organic grapeseed or avocado oil because of their neutral flavours and high smoke point. Specialty oils like macadamia nut or toasted sesame oil are generally used in small amounts to finish a dish, she adds. "I've been using flax oil in my salad dressings lately—it's really high in omega-3 fatty acids, but you can't cook with it," says Kate. Just skip the canola, soy and corn oil: "I don't think they taste good and if not organic, they are probably GMO," says Deborah Madison, a James Beard Award-winning vegetarian chef and author of just-released The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
By Nicole Cherie Jones