Becoming a Vegetarian in 4 weeks: Week 4

There has never been a better time to take the plunge. Meatless products are more plentiful than ever. They come in a dazzling array of ready-to-eat and frozen forms. Cut flavored or prebaked tofu into cubes and add them to salad greens for a quick, nutritious lunch at the office or toss it into a stir-fry or stew at home for dinner. Veggie burgers come in frozen patties, boxed mixes, dry bulk form and in ready-to-cook "ground beef" logs in natural foods markets. Even conventional supermarkets carry a wide selection of vegetarian convenience foods these days.

GOAL: Switch completely to plant-based protein sources in your main dishes. By now, the words seitan and tempeh should be old hat. You should also have reduced or eliminated dairy products and eggs.

TIP: Pick up a vegetarian cookbook to help you become familiar with the variety of vegetarian foods. You don't have to cook anything right away. Just get comfortable with the different foods and cooking techniques. The cookbooks below can make eating like a vegetarian delicious and easy.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday	Omelette with oven-fried potatoes and vegetarian “sausage” patties	Lentil and greens soup with crusty bread and fresh fruit salad	Curried chickpeas with rice and pea pilaf, yogurt sauce and chutney
Monday	Lowfat granola with calcium-fortified soy milk or lowfat milk, served with lowfat plain yogurt and fresh fruit	Niçoise salad with boiled red potato, green beans, olives, baby beets and hard-boiled egg on mixed baby greens with vinaigrette	Spicy Szechuan eggplant and tofu served over rice with steamed asparagus
Tuesday	Protein smoothie made with soy protein powder, calcium- fortified soy milk and frozen berries with whole-grain toast	Veggie burger with the works, baked potato chips and a pickle spear	Tortellini with sautéed vegetables in garlic sauce and dinner salad with lowfat dressing
Wednesday	Hot multi-grain cereal with calcium- fortified soy milk, fresh fruit and whole-grain toast	Grilled vegetable and goat cheese sandwich on panini bread	Tamale pie skillet supper made with vegetarian "ground beef," baked corn chips, tomato and soy cheese
Thursday	Lowfat bran muffin with lowfat plain yogurt and fresh fruit	Mixed greens salad with vegetables and lowfat dressing and whole-grain roll	Vietnamese sweet potato, greens, tofu and coconut milk stew
Friday	Protein smoothie made with soy protein powder, calcium- fortified orange juice, frozen banana and tofu with whole-grain toast	Greek salad with tomato, cucumber, olives, onion and feta cheese with vinaigrette and whole-grain pita	Potato, hard-boiled egg and green pea curry served over rice with fruit and veggie condiments and chutney
Saturday	Buckwheat pancakes with lowfat plain yogurt and applesauce miso dipping sauce	Miso soup with cubed tofu and scallions, vegetable crudités, greens and orange slices	Brazilian black bean stew with seitan “chicken,” rice, cooked from mix