Traditionally considered the best source of protein in many cultures, beef is often featured as the centerpiece dish of many dinners, appearing as steak, brisket, or roast beef. From an environmental standpoint, beef production consumes more natural resources than any other source of protein. For example, producing one kilogram of beef requires 15,000 liters of water, while producing a kilogram of soybeans requires only 2,100 liters of water. Beef production also contributed many greenhouse gases. One cow emits about 100 kg of methane per year, causing the rough equivalent greenhouse effect of 2,300 kg of carbon dioxide.
Fortunately, you can lower your impact without giving up the tastes that you're used to. Healthy beef substitutes with lower environmental footprints exist. They can be purchased at natural food stores, or even made at home.
Beef Substitutes
Seitan
Seitan is a traditional Chinese meat substitute made from wheat gluten, available at most natural food stores in the refrigerated section. If you're truly adventurous, ou can even try making your own seitan. With its chewy texture, it can be substituted for steak, brisket, or roast beef. Seitan can be used in any recipe that calls for chopped beef, such as shish kebabs or goulash. Add your favorite seasonings and boil, roast, grill or saute the seitan to your heart's desire. Just don't ever eat it raw!
Mushrooms
If you're looking for both texture and flavor, mushrooms make a great substitute for beef, especially shitake or portobello mushrooms. They can be added to soups or stews, or even grilled vegetables. Broiled portobello msuhrooms make a delicious vegan steak substitute.
TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein)
TVP is a highly processed meat substitute made from soybeans, that was developed by Archer Daniels MIdland. First introduced to consumers in 1965, TVP is a versatile product that can be used in place of many different kinds of meat, including beef. However, because it is processed at very high heat and often contains MSG (monosodium glutamate), there are concerns about how healthy TVP may be.
Tofu
One of the most versatile forms of protein around, tofu comes in several different varieties, with firm or extra firm making the best beef substitutes. Tofu can be mashed up to make burgers, meatloaf, or meatballs. Marinated and cut into chunks, it can be added to sautes. You can even make cutlets or shish kebabs with it. Just make sure that your tofu dish is cooked for at least 10 minutes to make it easily digestible, and prevent bloating. If a recipe calls for less than 10 minutes of total cooking time, steam or roast your tofu for at least 10 minutes beforehand. If you're buying pre-cooked tofu, there's no way of knowing how long it was cooked, so its a good idea to cook it for 10 minutes too.
Lentils
Lentils are a great source of low-fat protein, and popular in many cuisines throughout the world. Green lentils (which are actually light brown) are the most common, and are typically used to make lentil soup. French lentils are a mixture of black and gray, and about half the size of green lentils. Red lentils (which are bright orange when raw) are very common in Indian cuisine. The green variety makes the best beef substitute, especially for ground meat. Lentil walnut loaf is an old vegetarian classic. Lentils can also be made into meatballs or shephard's pie.
Flavoring
Because much of the flavor in food comes from herbs and spices, your beef substitutes may taste closer to their original dishes than you'd expect. If you want a particular dish to have a really strong flavor, try adding soy sauce or dark miso (made from soy or barley). If you need to replace beef stock, you can easily make stock or broth from vegetables. Feel free to use leftovers such as onion skins, carrot tops or parsley stems. However, don't ever use potato eyes because they're poisonous. After you've simmered your vegetable stock, strain and use it to make soups, stews, or sauces. Your food will taste so flavorful, that you won't even miss the beef.
Sara Sezun is a long-time vegan and Massachusetts Sierra Club Volunteer