Great Drink Options To Compliment Your Vegetarian Meals

Great Drink Options to Compliment your Vegetarian Meals

The right drink can make the meal. It happens all the time in restaurants. Your server will approach you and offer the perfect complimentary wine for the dish you have chosen to eat. White wines go with chicken and most seafood. Red wines go with beef and pork. Wine is not the only drink that compliments foods well. Milk is almost always a must with cookies. Coffee goes with cake and breakfast pastries. The list goes on. The point is that the drink makes the meal. Whatever you are eating and wherever you grab a bite to eat, choosing the drink to go with the food can be as big of a decision as the decision of what food to eat in the first place. Meats and desserts seem to have been paired well. The combinations are well known. Pairing drinks with vegetarian dishes may be a less well known art. Following are a few tricks to making your vegetarian meals complete with the best drinks for the job.

Water, Water Everywhere
The first drink option is probably the most obvious. Water does seem to go with nearly any food you may choose to eat. While it is not difficult to figure out that water can be paired with anything, it can be easily overlooked. Regardless of the meal you are serving and regardless of the corresponding drink that will work well with that meal, you should always serve water as well. Water works well as a palate cleanser and is essential for maintaining appropriate hydration levels. Even if you have the perfect drink for the meal, it won’t be sufficient without a glass of water on the side.

Alcoholic Beverages
Many vegetarian dishes are complimented well by alcoholic beverages. Alcohol actually chemically works well with several types of vegetarian dishes. While deeply colored vegetables and whole grains are improving heart health, alcohol, in small amounts, does the same job. Richly flavored meals such as curries and other Asian dishes will be set off well by a sweet white wine. Beer works well with even more deeply flavored, nuttier dishes. The trick to choosing the right alcoholic beverage is to either match richness of flavor or to sharply contrast. If you offer a heavy meal, beers will match the heaviness. If you offer a spicy meal, something sweet will contrast beautifully. Especially with alcoholic beverages though, be sure to also offer water.

Fruit Juices
Juice may seem like a whimsical, almost childish drink. For that reason, offer juices in combination with light salad lunches. Salads are often lacking in calories, so the natural sugar content in juice will boost your energy levels after lunch. Juice is a great drink option because it is colorful and bright. Do not serve juice with starchy meals such as pasta or rice. Also avoid serving it with any meals that contain a significant amount of spice or sugar on their own. The carbohydrates and sugars found in juices should always be served in contrast to your meal. If you must serve juice with one of the restricted meals, consider vegetable juice instead.

News About Vegetarianism Animal Suicide? O?Barry of Oscar Winner ?Cove? Says Yes (Time Magazine) 19 Mar 2010 at 9:38am A new study in the British journal 'Endeavour' examines history's recorded accounts of animals killing themselves Do Animals Commit Suicide? A Scientific Debate (Time.com via Yahoo! News) 19 Mar 2010 at 5:40am A new study in the British journal Endeavor examines history's recorded accounts of animals killing themselves Legislators side with angry farmers (Detroit Free Press) 19 Mar 2010 at 12:20am A resolution asks Gov. Jennifer Granholm to rescind her no-meat proclamation. The right way to be a vegetarian (Orleans Star / Weekly Journal) 19 Mar 2010 at 6:41am There's more to being a vegetarian than just cutting meat out of one's diet and loading up on heart-healthy vegetables. In fact, doing just that can be a recipe for vitamin deficiencies and poor health, according to local registered nutritional consultant and author Kathy Smart... Candidates back Kansas agriculture (Salina Journal) 19 Mar 2010 at 3:24am ELLSWORTH -- "I think Rob's right," said one. "As Tracy said ..." added another. Taking a closer look at what we eat (The Rebel Yell) 19 Mar 2010 at 12:07am Local activist groups partner to rally for animal rights Kittens and chicks are equally cute, but why domesticate one and consume the other? This is the thought provoking message in a billboard promoted by the local association Vegas Veg in partnership with Mercy For Animals. Vegas Veg is a local organization consisting of individuals interested in promoting plant-based [...] Recent restaurant reviews (Contra Costa Times) 19 Mar 2010 at 12:09am The following are shortened versions of recent full-length restaurant reviews. The date the original review ran and its overall rating is in parentheses. Oswal takes delivery of first China-made ship (People's Daily) 18 Mar 2010 at 8:00pm Australia-based Indian industrialist Pankaj Oswal has announced that Maruti Shipping, a part of his Oswal Group Global, will spend $320 million by 2012 for nine ships built at Yangzhou Guoyu Shipyards in Jiangsu province. The first of the fleet of 57,000-ton dry bulk carriers built in Yangzhou will be delivered today and is already chartered by the Thoreson Group in Thailand. Other Maruti ships ... Votes for dogs appeals, but giving animals rights is moral chaos (Guardian Un... 18 Mar 2010 at 2:05pm Should animals get the vote? If they are said to have rights, surely they should have representation; and if representation, then the vote. In Switzerland, they have lawyers and fight cases. Their lobbyists cite chapter, verse and precedent for their moral status.

 

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