A simple pot of rice one day can become fried rice the next, the beans from last night's dinner can do wonders for tonight's vegetable soup, or they can be pureed with sage and white wine to make a tasty sauce for noodles. Combine beans and rice with fresh peas and diced carrot to make a colorful molded salad. I revel in the rainbow of foods I discover, finding food to fix rather than fixing what I find. Meat seems to encourage separation. For example, when I was growing up, Mom often served steak, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach or steamed broccoli.
Vegetarianism is about working together.
Let your foods complement each other, rather than stand alone. Serve your lentils over your mashed potatoes, or combine pasta, kidney beans, and vegetables into a tempting stew. My transition to a vegetarian diet was a great excuse to try something new. With an open mind and a willingness to experiment, cooking became a cultural adventure and a daily celebration of body and food. People in the U.S. have been led to think that we need a lot of protein each day when, in fact, we eat two to three times more than we need.