My Realistic New Year's Resolution

People joke about the Covid 19 pounds of weight gained during 2020, but last January, I had my eyes set on losing weight. I had to because my body demanded it. Years of overworking, overeating and over drinking whatever I felt like (or had to for my profession's sake) took its toll. My 50-year-old body faced menopause and "the change" kicked my butt.

Hormonal shifts resulted in my having a minor meltdown in fall 2019. I had oddball pains and discomfort where I thought was unimaginable. My doctor and husband were patient in helping me deal with the anxieties.

I tweaked my lifestyle with more yoga, meditation, and changed my diet. My dietary solution focused on things that we often read and hear about -- eat more vegetables and whole grains! Consume less animal protein! But who wants to wholeheartedly commit to that kind of lifestyle if it's easier to just put it off? Before perimenopause set in, I ate what I thought was plenty of vegetables. But frankly, it wasn't enough because I was also enjoying a fair amount of meat along with the vegetables.

In 2020, I went full-tilt boogie on finding creative ways to make the plant and animal kingdoms best friends forever. I'll never be a vegetarian or vegan. But I enjoy crafting food using a lot of different vegetables. I went whole hog on making low-meat dishes and meals that fascinating and tasty. And, I have no regrets, either.

Borrowing Asian Ideas

Up until modern times, Asian cuisines have mostly been plant-centric, relying on tofu, beans plus seafood and eggs for protein. As my mom says, "A chicken is more useful laying eggs than being served at the table." My friend Yun Ho, who lives in South Korea, says that traditional Korean cooking didn't involve all the meat that now popular.

When animal protein was prepared, it was often for special occasions. Otherwise, people eat a lot of plants alongside meat. Consider dishes like Chinese mapo tofu that relies on a bit of ground meat to season a block of tofu, and banh mi, which I often describe as a salad encased in bread (think of all the veggies stuff in there!).

Meaty dishes such as Vietnamese suon kho braised ribs in caramel sauce or pork belly in caramel sauce are intentionally made as flavor bombs because you're supposed to eat a bit of it with lots of rice and simple boiled or stir-fried vegetables plus perhaps, pickles. Viet shaking beef involves steak cut into cubes and served atop salad greens.

Thinking along those lines, I wrote a story for the Wall Street Journal about my approaches for making more vegetables a daily, integral part of my cooking and eating. That started out with incorporating veggies not just as a side, but in the dish itself.

The result was a moist and tender tofu meatloaf sheet pan dinner, with leftovers to last for a week. I loved experimenting with texture and seasonings. I gifted extras to unknowing neighbors, who lauded the meatloaf's texture. Here's an unfancy reference shot for the meatloaf meal recipe published at WSJ.

I also tackled hamburgers, creating a splendid 50/50 hamburger that had a 1:1 ratio of cooked vegetables and raw burger. One hundred percent vegan burgers are wonderful and I've developed an EatingWell magazine recipe for one before. But honestly, given my omnivorous tastes, I don't crave them as much as much as the burger that combines well seasoned mushroom and beef. The splendid 50/50 burger recipe satiated my needs for meaty pan-fried goodness and it didn't weigh me down.

Strategies for Creating Low-Meat Recipes

I've shared my WSJ subscriber links above in case you want to make the meatloaf and burger recipes (I hope you don't face a paywall). However, I also want to encourage you to give this a whirl in your own kitchen.

What to do? Start with favorite foods that you know how to make really well. One of my faves are pan-fried noodles topped with saucy stir-fry of meat and vegetables. I have a panfried noodles blueprint here, but what you can do with the stir-fry is play with the ratio of meat to veggies. Because the pan and noodles can only accommodate a certain amount of material, adjust that ratio to include more vegetables. Use cut of meat that's super flavorful, say chicken thigh instead of chicken breast. Decrease it by about 25 percent and replace the chicken with a vegetable that's already in the dish -- like broccoli, carrot or celery. If you like the tweak, lower the meat a little more next time you make it. There will be a point where you know you can't tweak it further -- when you say the dish has lost its essence or excitement. That's your balance point.

Upping Vegetable Intake Even More

Let's say you already have a vegetarian dish that you love but want to incorporate more vegetables. For example, this vegetarian dan dan noodle recipe. I'd cut swap out about 30 percent of the noodles with blanched bean sprouts. Eyeball it since the noodles expand and the bean sprouts contract during cooking. Serve the noodles along with one big or two smaller vegetable sides (pick a salad and/or stir-fry, for example).

Cutting out refined flours and sugar can seem challenging. I occasionally eat white rice but mostly, I eat brown jasmine, which is delicious if you find the rice kind! Three Ladies makes brown rice paper that's sturdy and performs well. Rice noodles are often available as brown rice noodles too (Tinkyada and Jovial are good brands).

The cool thing with cooking with more vegetables is you get to see veggies in a new light. They bring different flavor, texture, and color that you can manipulate to take a dish to a new and interesting place. It's a food adventure!

Putting more vegetables at the center of the plate doesn't mean cutting out meat altogether. It's actually really fun!

I lowered my BMI from a level where I was borderline overweight and lost a good 15 pounds last year. Moreover, my menopause symptoms aren't giving me major trouble.

Menopause made me pause(!) to assess and do a course correction that I know I can stick with for the long term.

If you have ideas or similar experiences, do share them via a comment. We will all benefit.