Tip 5 - Plant Based Meals are Starch-Centered

Whole Food, Plant-Based Vegan Meals center around a starch! 

When I plan a meal, the first thing I do is decide which starch I will include.  It's pretty similar how most people plan meat-based meals.  They decide on their meat, then choose which vegetables would go well with that meat.  

Starches are important to this way of eating!  Eating starches goes completely against what many people believe, especially those who are followers of low carb eating.  I wouldn't touch that way of eating with a ten foot pole.  People get caught up in keto and low carb eating when they want fast weight loss (and a rationale to continue consuming their high fat meats), but there's a major cost to their health if they do it for an extended period of time.  They can damage their heart and other major organs.  The research on the dangers is there, but it won't be found on a keto page or any page supported by meat and dairy associations!

Back to starches - 

When you eat a plant centered meal, if you skip the starch, you will get hungry in no time.    When plant eating newbies say they want to quit because they are always hungry, that's a sure sign they are holding back on starches and trying to stay low-carb.  
This short video explains a little more about starches.
The short version of my cooking style: I start by deciding on my starch. I most often choose rice, a potato, or pasta and build a simple meal around it by adding lots of colorful veggies or a salad.

Boredom? Not at all!
I am often asked if I get bored with it.  Amazingly, no I don't.    Hmmmm.... most SAD eaters (Standard American Diet) choose a poultry, cow, pig or fish product for each main meal.  They've done so for years.  Those things can be prepared a multitude of different ways to prevent boredom.  So can starches.  When I want to eat something different, just like anyone, I look for some new recipes. 

I Can't stress This Enough - 

KEEP IT SIMPLE! 

You don't have to incorporate every WFPB recipe out there.  Many WFPB bloggers and You Tubers make you think you need to learn a ton of new recipes.  For a while I felt like I had to work really hard to make every meal super interesting.  That got old fast.  I was exhausted and it seemed like my whole day was consumed with cooking and planning meals.  I regrouped and decided to focus on simplicity.  A starch with a couple of simply made veggie sides is a meal.  You don't have to produce a special recipe every meal.  Once you have eased into eating this way, you can play with finding some simple recipes that make your side dishes more interesting.   Sometimes, the solution is as easy as adding a great spice combo, a tasty sauce or a pairing of veggies.  If you set your bar too high or expect too much from yourself too often, you will burn out.  Here's a page of recipes I have found along the way.  I choose something from this page when I want to add a little something more interesting. 


Here are the starch choices in more detail:

Whole Grains
rice - brown or wild - preferably not white
farro - yummy!  It's like a fat rice.
quinoa (pronounced “keen-wa”)
oats - like oatmeal - I usually have this with fruit for breakfast


Roots
sweet potatoes and yams
potatoes - Russet, red, Yukon Gold, etc - Purple ones are at the top of the list in terms of nutrition and being low on the glycemic scale

 These are root starches, but usually not filling enough to center a meal around -
rutabaga
carrots and parsnips
beets
turnips
daikon
celeriac (celery root)
Jerusalem artichoke (sun choke)
jicama


Winter Squashes
butternut
acorn
pumpkin

Too low in carbs and calories to serve as the center of a vegan meal:  
Summer squashes 


Legumes

Easiest to tolerate if you have digestive issues - These are my go-to beans
black beans 
black-eyed
lentils - (brown, red, green) Recommended for those with bloating issues.
baby limas 
great northern 
navy beans

 A little harder to tolerate, but I still eat them sometimes -
garbanzos (chick-peas) - HUMMUS and Chick-Pea Salad!
white kidney/cannellini


Harder to tolerate - I hardly ever eat these
aduki (azuki) 
mung 
fava (broad) 
pink 
pinto 
kidney

Maybe
split yellow
split green
whole green



Egg-Free Pastas
Most pastas are made from highly refined flours and therefore should play a small role in your diet. Avoid pastas that contain wheat or gluten.

★ The trick to cooking pastas made from rice or legumes is to rinse the pasta after cooking to knock off the layer of gooey starch.  Then put the rinsed and drained pasta back in the pan to rewarm slightly.

rice pasta 
legume pastas
Asian Noodles
This is currently my favorite pasta brand.


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