Probably the most common question I receive from vegans or ex-vegans is how to best reincorporate animal products into their diets. Many ex-vegans are reverting to an omnivorous diet because of failing health – there are many essential nutrients that are easily found in animal products, while for many of us they are not readily available/convertible from plant sources. Personally, the way that I feel after eating a plate of eggs or a steak is miles away from how I feel after eating a plant protein like beans or tofu. I am not bloated, my heart isn’t racing, and I don’t feel sluggish and worn-out just from eating. Instead, I feel satiated, grounded, and energized.
I don’t ever suggest to people how much or how often they should eat meat (or if they should even eat it at all!) because that goes against my whole ‘listen to your body’ motto that I take so seriously ever since moving beyond veganism. Furthermore, the amount of animal products I eat changes all the time. I never go too long without them, though, simply because for me eating them regularly keeps me feeling my very best. But it’s up to you to determine what works best for you.
Ultimately, for many of us eating animals and animal products is the key to good health. But for some people, after years of veganism, it’s not always easy to know where to start! There are many people who write to me to ask for advice on how to get back into the swing of eating animal products again and they always want to know my favorites and how I like to prepare them. So, I thought I would share!
Tip #1. Eggs.
I sing the praises of eggs so much these days it is ridiculous, but I just can’t stop. For the first 28 years of my life, I wasn’t an egg fan. I thought they tasted ‘funny’. Then, after I quit veganism, I tasted for the first time in my life an organic, free-range egg. The yolks were the most vibrant, vivid orange I had ever seen. And the flavor….one bite had me sold. Eggs are tremendously delicious, versatile, and pack a major nutritional punch – they are a great source of choline, iron, selenium, lutein, B vitamins, and vitamins A and D.
I keep a bowl of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge almost all the time. They make a great breakfast on the run, or can be chopped up into an egg salad sandwich, or they can transform a salad into a full meal. In addition to hard-boiling eggs, I also love to use them to make veggie packed frittatas or scrambled eggs with salmon. I probably make those 2 dishes for dinner at least once a week.
Tip #2. Chicken.
It goes without saying that I try to make everything I can in my diet free-range and organic. But with some things, like eggs, it makes a huge difference not just ethically and nutritionally, but taste-wise. Chicken is definitely one of those things – organic, free-range chickens have so much flavor! My very favorite way to cook chicken is to coat them in butter and sea salt and roast them till crispy and golden. One roasted chicken lasts us several days and we get many meals out of it. I especially love to shred up the meat and use it in quesadillas and wraps.
Another great thing about chicken is that I can buy chicken breasts/legs/thighs, and keep them in my freezer ready to use at any time. It only takes a few minutes to thaw them out in hot water, and I can chop them up, roast or sauté them with spices, add lots of spinach and bell peppers and then pile it all up with garlic yoghurt sauce into an impromptu shawarma. I cook up the chopped breasts in big batches and keep them stored in the fridge, ready to throw into eggs, or make into a sandwich, or add to a salad to give it a filling dose of protein.
Tip #3. Fish.
I didn’t use to eat very much fish before I was vegan. Cody, on the other hand, was a huge seafood lover. He really encouraged me to start cooking with fish more once we began eating animal products again. And wow, am I so glad! Along with eggs, fish is probably the most commonly eaten animal product in our house. Our favorites are hammour (that is the Arabic word for grouper. It’s caught right off the coast a few miles away.) and salmon. I like to pan cook fish till crispy and brown, or roast it in the oven till flaky and tender, and I usually serve it up with big sides of veggies or salads. Or in wraps because wraps are good for everything. .
Canned fish is also a good addition to any menu. I look for BPA-free, sustainably caught options. Tinned sardines might be my very favorite. I know, I know, not everyone agrees with me about this. But I’ve loved canned sardines since I was a little kid. Canned fish of any kind make a super healthy quick meal, especially on buttered toast or on top of a veggie-packed salad.
Tip #4. Lamb
Lamb and sheep are traditional foods here in Saudi Arabia, and I like how versatile it is. I especially adore lamb chops. I don’t even know if I had lamb chops more than a handful of times before going vegan. But now, they are on regular rotation around here. I don’t know why more people don’t think of them as something quick and easy to make. In my experience, lamb chops are typically seen as something more ‘fussy’ or ‘formal’, when really, they take about 10 minutes to cook and are delicious with a side salad or veggies and quinoa. I brown them on both sides in butter in a frying pan, and then put them in the oven for 5 minutes on 375F till they are cooked through. Lovely.
I also like to use ground lamb to make lamb burgers with feta, or, my personal favorite, Mediterranean pizza with zucchini and red onions with pesto sauce. As I said, lamb is a traditional staple in Saudi Arabia and it stands up really well to pungent spices like cumin and curry. I also love to use it in hearty barley stew with plenty of kale or chard.
Tip #5. Beef.
Beef is the least commonly consumed of the meats we typically eat. It’s not because I don’t like it, because I definitely do. It’s just that I prefer to buy locally raised animal products like chicken, lamb, and fish. There is local beef available but it is not raised in a way that I am comfortable with. So, when I do buy beef it is imported so I can ensure it is pasture raised and organic. At this point in my life I choose ethical/organic over food miles in these type of culinary conundrums.
Ground beef is something else I can keep in the freezer, defrost quickly, and use to make a quick and nutritious meal. Of course, burgers are the first thing that come to mind, but more often than not I use ground beef to mix together with sauted veggies and rice to create a sorta kinda stir fry. Cody is a huge fan of that kind of meal and the leftovers are great for him to take to work for lunch. Also – steak on the grill! Swooooon.
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Those are some of my favorite ways to incorporate animal products into my diet. I find that these ways are simple and can be easily adapted to many meals, plus the leftovers are great! These are some of the things that I ate to regain my health after I stopped being vegan, and they are what help to keep me so healthy and happy now. I hope these tips helped answer some of your questions. If you have more, just let me know!
