October is Vegetarian Month!

It’s Vegetarian Month! But what does this mean? Vegetarian Month is an annual celebration that takes place globally throughout October. The vegetarian community has grown over time due to increased information and awareness on meat eating, especially during the last decade. As of today, there are about 375 million vegetarians worldwide. 🌱

The idea of raising awareness of vegetarianism stemmed from World Vegetarian Day, celebrated on October 1st in 1977 for the first time. However, did you know that vegetarianism has existed for more than 100,000 years? Yes, that’s right! There were vegetarians during the Neanderthal Age. Studies have shown that Neanderthal’s diets were heavy on plant-material. As you can see, being vegetarian is not just a modern idea from the Millennial Age, but an ancient concept that has adapted over time, with different reasons behind it. 🥗 

In this blog, we will share some of the health benefits of being vegetarian, some meal ideas and recipes for you to try and finally, how GreenJinn represents the vegetarian community. 💪

What are some of the health benefits you can get from being vegetarian?

✅ Vegetarian meals are rich in antioxidants and vitamins. Fruit and vegetable diets provide some of the most essential nutrients we need for living.

✅ Eating meat can sometimes lead to heart inflammation and in consequence, cardiovascular heart diseases. Eating less meat helps lower inflammation.

✅ Plant-based foods can help lower your body mass index, which promotes a healthy heart structure.

✅ Vegetarian diets can also help with weight loss by keeping processed carbs and meat out. Vegetables, legumes, fruit, nuts and seeds can give you the essential nutrients you need and make it easier for you to lose weight.

✅ According to Loma Linda University School of Public Health, eliminating meat from your diet can help reduce your risk of diabetes. This is because meat has greater amounts of calories and fats, increasing the amount of abdominal fat, which doctors associate with higher risk levels of diabetes.

✅ Although the media has often taught us differently, you can still get plenty of protein from a vegetarian diet. For example, lentils, chickpeas, beans and edamame are high in protein.

Give these 3 vegetarian recipes a try this month!

Vegetarian Mac and Cheese 🍝

Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 700g of Macaroni
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¾ cupHeavy vegetarian cream
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese
• 4 cups of water

Steps:

1. In an instant pot, put the pasta, water and salt in
2. Cook for 3 minutes
3. Release the steam so the macaronis don’t overcook
4. Now, stir in the heavy cream and both the parmesan and cheddar cheese
5. Mix and eat up!

Vegetarian Meatballs 🧆

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dried lentils
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms (tough part of stems removed)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 3 tsp italian seasoning
• ¼ tsp cayennes
• 2.5 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 lbs roma tomatoes
• ½ cup olive oil
• Fresh basil
• Cookes pasta for serving

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, toss together tomato halves along with 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp Italian seasoning and 1/4 cup olive oil. Arrange tomatoes on a large baking sheet cut side up, set aside.
2. Place the dried lentils into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cover them with plenty of with water, about 4 inches. Bring them to a boil before turning the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, until they are tender but not mushy. Drain any excess water and set aside.
3. Cut the mushrooms into the size of peas.
4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes when the oil is hot. Add garlic and the mushrooms and sauté for 3-4 more minutes.
5. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the contents back into the food processor along with the lentils. Pulse until combined, about 20 pulses scraping down halfway through.
6. In a large bowl combine mushroom lentil mixture along with panko bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, cayenne, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, eggs and parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
7. Roll the mixture into 1 ½ (2 tablespoons) balls, about 24 and arrange them on another baking sheet.
8. Lightly brush or spray the meatballs with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil or cooking spray.
9. Bake the meatballs and tomatoes for 30 minutes, rotating the 2 baking sheets and flipping the meatballs at the 15 minutes mark.
10. Once tomatoes and meatballs are roasted toss them together with cooked spaghetti, ¼ cup of olive oil, fresh basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese
11. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles 🍜

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 3 packages of instant ramen noodles
• ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced about 2 tsp
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 4-6 green onions 
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Steps:

1. ​​In a large pot of boiling water, cook ramen according to package, about 3-4 minutes; drain well.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce and water.
3. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet set over medium heat.
4. Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Pour in the bowl of sauce and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in cooked ramen noodles until heated through and evenly coated in sauce, about 3 minutes.
6. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds
7. Mix up and enjoy!

Vegetarianism at GreenJinn

At GreenJinn, we strongly believe in sustainability. One of our values is being “Green”. But what does this mean? This means that as a company, we care about the Earth, through the brands we work with, our community and to us as a team. We do the right thing, not always the easiest thing. 🌎

As well as all the projects we have participated in related to taking care of the environment, the brands we choose to work with are sustainable, between them, many are vegetarian. Give these brands a try during Vegetarian Month: They are on discount using the GreenJinn app!

References

1. https://nationaldaycalendar.com/vegetarian-month-october/
2. https://themodernproper.com/
3. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/history-vegetarianism
4. Images sourced from:

• https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1622008
• https://thebridge.in/fitness-wellness/world-vegetarian-day-2020-the-two-major-benefits-of-being-vegetarian/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarian_Diet_Pyramid#/media/File:Loma_Linda_University_Vegetarian_Food_Pyramid.jpgl
• https://www.kindpng.com/imgv/hxRoTo_vegetarian-icon-symbol-logo-vector-transparent-circle-hd/
• https://themodernproper.com/