Reddit mentions of The Great Vegan Bean Book (Great Vegan Book)

> 1) I know I need to get my protein somehow. How much soy is it safe to eat? I've heard it isn't safe to eat a lot of soy for various reasons. What is your opinion on this? Beans are good but I find them bland and have a hard time getting them to be flavorful or a nice texture.

You're in an industrialized nation, yes? If so, then as long as you are eating enough calories per day, you will get the protein need. If you are unsure about what you are getting/not getting, sign up for an account (free) on cronometer.com to track your macro/micros.

Yes. Soy is safe to eat. If it wasn't, then we would see problems from soy ingestion in many Asian populations and that's simply not the case. Also, people freak out about soy because of the phyto-estrogens. But these are not real estrogens, and your body will not uptake all of them, only a small percentage. Meanwhile, meat and dairy both contain far more estrogen (real, mammalian estrogen, that your body will uptake at a far higher percentage) than tofu. Also, tofu is made from beans.

Is your problem with cooking beans that they are too hard or too soft? If they are too hard you either didn't cook them long enough, didn't soak them long enough (not all beans need to be soaked but many should be), or cooked them in acidic/sodium-laden water. Acidity and sodium will cause your beans to be tough. If they are too soft you cooked them for too long. Cut up some carrot, celery, and onion and add it to your beans while cooking, or cook them in an (unsalted) vegetable broth. And salt to the beans 10 minutes before you want to eat them or when they are the firmness you want. You can also make very flavorful purees using beans, like hummus, white bean dip, and refried beans.

> 2) So far we have stopped eating beef, pork, poultry, and fish. Unfortunately, we haven't cut off shellfish yet but it's a process. I know a lot of imitation chicken and beef exists but is there imitation fish or imitation shellfish?

There is a brand of fake, breaded, fish fillets at my grocery store, I think Gardein makes them but it could be someone else. I actually can't buy them anymore because they are too much like the real thing. There are other imitation items, you kind of just have to try and see what you like. When I first went vegan I thought all the imitation products were really gross, but that was almost ten years ago and the products weren't as good. I like a lot of them now. I think my body had to "forget" what meat tasted like so I could be okay eating the imitations.

> 3) I love to cook and one of the things that makes this transition so hard is that most of my cooking incorporated meat products (I was a BIG fan of lamb curries). I have no idea how to cook mainly vegetarian dishes that are filling and flavorful. We like bold flavors, savory tastes, and lots of spices. Can you recommend a reddit or website with good vegetarian recipes?

You can still make curries that are vegetarian. In fact, that's a lot of what you will be eating when you go out to eat now, especially in Asian restaurants. Options for substitution are tofu, mushrooms, seitan, tempeh, and beans. I'm a big fan of subbing chickpeas for any recipe that calls for chicken.

Minimalist Baker, Chocolate Covered Katie, and the Vegetarian Times website are all awesome options for recipes.

> 4) Does being a vegetarian have any impact on the environment and factory farming? I ask because factory farming seems like such a huge issue and when I really think about it, I feel powerless to help those animals and I wonder whether I'm making that much of an impact.

Yes. Choosing a vegetarian diet will (very likely) significantly decrease your carbon footprint. Choosing a vegan one will reduce it even more. The best way to help these animals is to stop eating them, reducing the demand for them.

> 5) When will my body start to adjust? It's been about a week so far and although I can see positive changes in my skin I'm also getting a lot of gurgling and painful gas (due to the increase in fresh produce I'm assuming) and I'm tired more easily.

Everybody is different so no one can really answer this for you. Your gut flora will need time to adjust to your new foods. And yeah, the extra fiber you're eating will have you bloated until you adjust. On the plus side, your poops could be really awesome (more so if you cut dairy, but should still be better even if you don't). You could try taking beano or gas-x. Honestly, chewing your food better helps out a lot with this as well.

PRESS YOUR TOFU!!! By far the most important step in preparing this food.

A note on kidney beans. Either buy them canned or cook them on the stove. There is a toxic chemical in them that needs to be broken down by heat. If you are going to make them in your slow cooker, boil the beans for ten minutes prior to adding them to your crock.

The Great Vegan Bean Book is an excellent option for learning how to cook beans correctly and flavorfully.