Meatless Youth

About a year ago a friend called in a panic because her son was home from college. She was delighted to see him--but a few minutes after he walked in the door he informed her that he had become a vegetarian !

For this mom, who had beef stew ready in the freezer and a turkey for the holidays, the announcement sent her into a flurry of research as to how best to feed her son.

More recently, Thelma has been teaching a cooking and nutrition class at a nearby college. At the beginning of the semester, she collected surveys querying students about food they wanted to learn how to make and discovered that vegetarian cooking appeared on a large number of the surveys.

After having had her students cook a number of vegetarian dishes in class, she can now confidently say to the panicked mother--and to others in the same situation--that the vegetarian recipes that follow are some of her students’ favorites.

These young people have eliminated meat from their diets for ecological reasons--to save the earth’s resources--but also to tone and shape their bodies, and they are combining nutrition with daily workouts.

The Mint Yogurt Sauce proved to be a favorite on everything from the Deep-Dish Burritos (choose cilantro instead of the mint) to lentil burgers. It makes a delicious salad dressing too.

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DEEP-DISH BURRITOS

8 flour tortillas

2 cups Mexican Refried Beans

4 ounces low-fat Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 large tomato, chopped

1 cup shredded lettuce

Salsa Cruda

Wrap 2 tortillas in paper towels and microwave on HIGH (100% power) 30 seconds to soften. Place heated tortillas in 2-quart rectangular microwave-proof dish. Spoon 1/4 cup heated Mexican Refried Beans onto center of each. Top each with 1 tablespoon each shredded cheese, chopped tomato and lettuce. Spoon 1 tablespoon Salsa Cruda on top.

Fold bottom 1/3 of 1 tortilla up over filling. Fold right and left sides toward center, overlapping. Fold top 1/3 down, making rectangular package. Place burrito, seam-side down, in dish. Repeat with second tortilla. Heat remaining tortillas as above, 2 at time, and repeat filling procedure with each.

Cover burritos in dish with wax paper and microwave on MEDIUM (50% power) 3 to 6 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Mexican Refried Beans

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pinto beans

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place olive oil and garlic in 9-inch microwave-proof pie plate. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) 45 seconds.

Drain pinto beans, reserving 1/3 cup of juices. Add beans and reserved juices to garlic mixture in microwave-proof pie plate. Mash beans with potato masher until all are broken up. Stir in pepper. Cover with wax paper and microwave on HIGH 3 minutes. Stir well and smooth out top to make even. Makes 2 cups.

Salsa Cruda

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

1 medium onion, quartered

2 jalapeno chiles, halved, seeds removed, optional

1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, optional

Place tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, lime juice, salt and cilantro in bowl of food processor and pulse to desired consistency or chop by hand. Keeps refrigerated 2 to 3 days. Makes about 2 cups.

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MINT YOGURT SAUCE

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped mint or cilantro

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Dash cayenne pepper

Combine cucumber, yogurt, mint, cumin and cayenne in small bowl and mix well. Cover and chill. Keeps 2 days in refrigerator. Makes 2 cups.