Vegetarian Teens, Chili Beans with Kale and SKillet Cornbread

My "Cooking for Special Diets" class has morphed into "Vegetarianism for Teen-age Girls" this semester.  I have some wonderful young ladies who are new to the concept of being vegetarians so we're starting with the basics.  This week we covered types of Vegetarians and Vegans, and various reasons that motivate them including health, ethical, spiritual, and ecological concerns.  (These teens were influenced by pictures of cute baby animals on Facebook and made the switch.  This happens a lot among teenagers, as they see changing their diet as something within their power to affect larger outcomes.  The problem comes when they eliminate a large part of their diets and then don't know what to replace those foods with.  That's where my classes come in!)

Along with the motivation behind the diets, we discussed some specific definitions and variations among vegetarian diets.  These included:

Lacto-vegetarian - dairy foods and plant foods

Ovo-vegetarian  - eggs and plant foods

Lacto-ovo vegetarian - dairy foods and eggs as well as plant foods

Pescaterian - fish and seafood and plant foods

Vegan or 'strict vegetarian' - only plant foods and products.

Raw Vegan/Raw Foodist  -  unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).

Macrobiotic - unprocessed vegan foods, occasional consumption of fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided. Emphasis on the consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables, Asian vegetables such as daikon and sea vegetables.

Flexitarians - a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.

Freegans - a basic vegetarian diet, unless the food is acquired for free

American Vegetarian – a vegetarian who sometimes eats bacon.  :)  (Don't hate on me for that, I found it out on the blogosphere!)

We also discussed essential nutrients and complimentary proteins.  To round it all out we made some dynamite Chili Beans with Kale and Roasted Red Pepper along with some Southern Skillet Cornbread, cooked in my cast iron skillet to impart extra iron into the food.  (Not to mention a delicious crispy crust!)

I will come right out and admit it, I hate tofu.  (I rather like tempeh, but I'll save that for another blog!)  I want to equip these girls with a stockpile of tasty, healthy, easy-to-prepare meals that are satisfying to everyone in their families and their still-developing bodies.  And I want to introduce them to protein sources that don't include tofu!

For the recipes, check out my blog at: askchefchristy.com !