Vegetarian Food at The YamDaisy Cafe

Here is a picture of vegetarian Chilli Corn-pone Pie a lovely hearty dish that could work well on the YamDaisy Cafe menu.

This post is about Vegetarian issues and ideas for the Cafe.
The food in the cafe needs to be DELICIOUS: this is the highest priority, it is what will make the cafe work, and keep people coming back for more.
It needs to be EVERYDAY food. Not the rich wicked delights that are such a treat to have sometimes, but great nutritious food that gives us our health requirements, helps us avoid illness, or recover from it, helps out children to grow into healthy productive adults.
It needs to be ECONOMICAL food; by using local seasonal ingredients, avoiding expensive ingredients and using cooking techniques that celebrate pulses, vegetables and cheaper cuts of meat. (After all, it has to work as a business!)

SO... how does vegetarian food fit into the YamDaisy philosophy?

Disclaimer! I had better let you know that I became a passionate idealistic vegetarian at the age of 14. I call myself a corrupted vegetarian now, because in the last few years I have eaten a little fish, poultry and charcuterie. I have always respected the rights of people to eat meat, especially humanely treated meat and nose to tail respect for the animal. But this post will be much easier than one I might write about meat eating at the YamDaisy Cafe!

Vegetarian Customers
Firstly, vegetarian clients of the YD Cafe will be treated respectfully like anyone else with particular dietary requirements. The structure of the cafe, providing for the local community, means that the chef can work out a menu that suits as many of the clients as much of the time as possible. At least once a week, on a day suiting the client, they should be catered for. But I think it would be easy to cater for vegetarians every day. leaving the ham out of a soup, skipping the anchovies out of the mixed platter, replacing the chicken with marinated tofu in a braised dish etc.

Meatless Meals
This may cause consternation in meat mad Australia, but there are many wonderful traditional and modern meals where meat is simply not necessary. Such meals can play an important part on the YD Menu on account of being delicious, everyday and economical. I wonder if the customers would even notice they were meatless?

What is missing from most modern diets? Veggies!
Health professionals agree! People in Australia, and all over the western world, are not eating enough vegetables in their daily food. The highly respected Mediterranean Diet Guidelines recommend red meat only occasionally. I was fascinated when a Greek friend told me that in his parents village meat was traditionally a three times a year addition to the family diet: a pig at Christmas, a sheep at Easter, and another sheep in Summer. Ofcourse they made these go a long way! And what did they have for the rest of the year? Vegetables, pulses, grains, herbs and fruit, all in the most delicious meals possible.

Vegetarian meals can be part of the YamDaisy Menu!
How often, and how carefully they are introduced will be up to each community and each chef. If people think vegetables are boring and horrible, they will be surprised and delighted when they eat at the Yamdaisy Cafe! How wonderful to get great cooks making meals to introduce new or feared foods! The best way to educate a nation!

Do meatless meals feature in your diet?

Meditteranean Diet Guidelines

In my early speel about the YamDaisy idea I talked about Mediterranean Diet Guidelines and Slow Food Principles and found people querying these and saying it was negative to talk about diet and confusing because so few people know what these things are.
Having enough to explain I streamlined to talk about delicious homestyle cooking.
I am concentrating again on the Mediterranean Diet after hearing a great interview on Radio Therapy 3RRR. Catherine Itsiopoulos is a research fellow and dietitian who has studied the effect of the Mediterranean diet on people with diabetes. It made a great difference to their lives.
In the interview she said "We can't all have Greek mothers cooking for us!"
Well, step up YamDaisy cafe!!!!
Wouldn't it be easy for people to be able to get a meal that was so good for their health, at a price they could afford, AND (with exercise the other focus for improving life with Diabetes) that could involve a walk to the cafe and back. plus, they would get usede to the types of meals that they like and help their health, and the YamDaisy cafe could help with recipes and tips for when they do cook at home.
Talk about win win!

Here is some info about the Mediterranean Diet:

A recent study has once again confirmed that people who closely follow ‘the Mediterranean Diet’ live longer than other Europeans (1). So what exactly is the Mediterranean diet and how does it exert this spectacular effect.

The Mediterranean diet is not a specific diet plan or diet program but a collection of eating habits that are traditionally followed by the people of the Mediterranean region. There are at least 16 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and food habits vary between these countries according to culture, ethnic background and religion. But there are a number of characteristics common to them all…(2).

• A high consumption of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, bread and other cereals
• Olive oil used for cooking and dressings
• Moderate amounts of fish but little meat
• Low to moderate amounts of full fat cheese and yogurt
• Moderate consumption of wine, usually with meals
• Reliance on local, seasonal, fresh produce
• An active lifestyle

Source:http://www.eufic.org/article/en/page/FTARCHIVE/artid/mediterranean-diet/?lowres=1