Meatless Main Dishes

HOW TO GO ABOUT PREPARING meatless main dishes? Everyone knows we should eat less meat, but the idea of a meatless meal usually conjures up visions of plates of pallid steamed vegetables or an assortment of beans, rice, or other grains, none of which seems to add up to a meal.

But when you take a look at the peasant cuisines that have nourished people all over the world since time began, you see that they rely chiefly on grains and beans. Meat and fish are added in small amounts. In Asia, the staple is rice; in the Americas, it’s often corn and beans; and in the Mediterranean, rice, pasta (from wheat), and beans.