What type of vegetarians are you ? Plus: Delicious recipes to try out

It needs certain level of strong commitment and self-control to become a vegetarian. For several people, it may be a sudden change to stop eating all kinds of meat at once. And since each person's circumstance is different and unique, it's worth taking a look at types of vegetarians and see which one matches your lifestyle and preference, to begin with.

It doesn't mean you will have to torture yourself by becoming a vegetarian, which if it's the case, would shorten your journey to become one as eventually you will likely to go back consuming meat and meat-related products sooner or later due to inconvenience and/or discomfort.

Having said that, once you are familiar with what vegetarians' choices of food are, you may be surprised that you find it real rewarding to be a part of huge group of people on this planet who are willing to sacrifice their temporary enjoyment in consuming meat and may voluntarily opt to level up to become a stricter vegetarian, which is nothing but absolute admirable !

According to veggievisitors.com, most vegetarians can be divided into these main categories:

• Vegans avoid all animal products.  They don't eat eggs, dairy products, or even honey.  Many vegans also avoid anything made from animal products, such as leather, fur, and wool.
• Fruitarians eat only fruits, seeds, nuts, and other plant components that can be gathered without harming the plant.
• Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products, but not eggs.  They may or may not avoid non-dietary use of animal products.
• Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat both eggs and dairy products.  This is the most common group of vegetarians and what most people think of when someone says they're "a vegetarian."
• Pesce-vegetarians include fish in their diet.
• Pollo-vegetarians eat fowl, such as chicken and turkey, but avoid red meat and pork.
• Flexitarians mainly eat vegetarian food, but will occasionally make exceptions.

Now you may be wondering what the vegetarians eat ? Are they going to fall ill since they may not have enough protein ? The answer is No. Remember meat is not the only protein source ? We can eat variety of mushrooms, tofu, bean curds, and nuts. For those who chose to be lacto-ovo vegetarians, you can also eat eggs and dairy products ? So, who says it's limited ?

Veggievisitors.com also provides ideas for cooking vegetarian dishes and interesting menus. It's good to know what kind of vegetarian you are, so that you can look for/prepare proper dishes, or just simply make your place a more welcoming place next time you have your vegetarian friends coming over ! Another very useful website is allrecipes.com, which generously shares variety of delicious vegetarian menus for you to try out. You may even have forgotten you enjoy it so much without meat in it !

However, let me point out here, as you may have seen a lot of vegetarian dishes with "meat lookalike" products in them. My humble opinion is, if you have decided to be a vegetarian for a good cause, while you still feel the need to "see" you're eating something looks kind of "meat" to you, you're only fooling yourself ! 

So now if you would excuse me, I've to get going to prepare my Sunday brunch:  Tofu Stuffed Mushrooms, an interesting recipe from veggievisitors.com. Would you like to try it out ? Bon Appetit !

Tofu Stuffed Mushrooms:

Ingredients

24 oz. white mushrooms (they usually come in 8 oz. packages)
2 packages firm or extra firm tofu packed in water
4 -6 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
¼ - ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
8-10 large fresh basil leaves, minced

Cooking Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Spray a large (11x13 baking dish) with nonstick spray.

2. Carefully wash mushrooms and separate stems from the caps. Cut the bottom part of the stem off and set remaining stem aside.

3. Place mushroom caps side by side in baking dish. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil if desired.

4. Slice tofu into ¼ inch slices and drain for several minutes on a paper towel. When drained, dice into fine cubes about 1/8 inch in size.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons oil on medium in a large skillet. Add tofu and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

6. While tofu is cooking, gently hollow out mushroom caps using a small spoon or melon baller. Be careful not to break the cap. Place mushroom scrapings together in a bowl.

7. Chop mushroom stems and add to bowl along with garlic.

8. Add mushroom and garlic mixture to tofu in skillet. Add additional olive oil if desired. Sprinkle Italian season and red pepper over mixture and cook on medium heat until mushroom is soft. Taste. Add additional seasoning is desired.

9. Pour skillet mixture over mushroom caps, cover with foil, and place in preheated oven.

10. Cook for approximately 20 minutes. Remove cover for final five minutes.

11. Garnish with fresh basil before serving.

Enjoy !