Please explain Veganism to me . . .

I made chilli last night, after partaking in this thread yesterday I thought I’d try to semi replace the meat in it, made about twice as much as normal with the usual amount of mince, added in more onions, peppers, tomatoes, kidney beans, spices and lobbed in some sweetcorn and mushrooms as I had some to hand.

Tasted like padded out chilli, the mouthfuls that contained meat were lovely, the ones that didn’t were nice and spicy and flavorsome but just not quite there 🙁
But I guess like the irish directions joke, I’m not starting from the right point. Meat filled dishes are the staple and everything gets compared to that. Ho hum.

If you want recipes you only need to ask 😉

IN all seriousness [ for one post anyway] it took me a long time to get used to eating veg rather than meat or meat type dishes and you just need to actually eat different food/have a different diet

I do think that the flavour of meat is so strong [ and tasty to be fair] that you need to take some time to educate your palate…in my case years.

WHilst there is some delicious food out there that is vegan no one is going to give up a bacon butty to eat a cous cous salad on taste grounds.

Given so much [traditional]indian food is meat free I would imagine that is a better place to start
What about veggie soups?
Cakes plenty of those are veggie

D0NK – Member

I made chilli last night…

veggie chilli is one of my staples, and i’m not even a vegetarian.

kidney beans, green lentils, and a handfull of (frozen) peas* when it’s nearly ready, and there’s plenty of ‘substance’ to keep it satisfying.

(along with the onion, peppers, courgette – which all turn a bit mushy after a good simmer)

(*might just be me, but they seem to offer a nice contrast against a good hot smokey flavour)

serve with chips/wedges/jackets, not rice.

you need to take some time to educate your palate…in my case years

Well after many years of trying* I haven’t managed to learn to appreciate the taste of whisky, ale, wine or sugarless tea (amongst a host of other stuff) so think I may be on to a loser here.

Indian may be a better shout, like I said did give it a go but it wasn’t quite right. Need to learn to cook some proper nice dal (dhal?). I do a few nominally veg soups which are good but a lot contain meat stock or some dairy. It’s mainly the health reasons I want to replace some of the meat I eat rather than moral ones 😉

*admittedly half arsed

serve with chips/wedges/jackets, not rice.

rice last night, leftovers with chips tonight (possibly more leftover with cous cous tomorrow lunch, there’s bloody loads of it)

and it turns out i have no maximum limit on dahl.

(interesting fact about dahl: there are more recipes for dahl than the number of humans that have ever lived, almost all of them are jolly tasty.)

I made chilli last night, after partaking in this thread yesterday I thought I’d try to semi replace the meat in it, made about twice as much as normal with the usual amount of mince, added in more onions, peppers, tomatoes, kidney beans, spices and lobbed in some sweetcorn and mushrooms as I had some to hand.

Any particular reason you wouldn’t just replace the mince with veggie mince (not quorn, that’s horrible, go for supermarket own brand veggie mince)? IMO chilli without some form of mince is just spicy tomato soup. I’ve come across people using lentils instead of mince but I can’t stand lentils so avoid them.

But I guess like the irish directions joke, I’m not starting from the right point. Meat filled dishes are the staple and everything gets compared to that. Ho hum.

Not really, there are plenty of vegetarian dishes that stand on their own. I can’t imagine tucking into shakshuka and wanting meat in it or a veg curry and wanting chicken. We’re not vegetarians but we eat very little meat and generally only at the weekend (we have leftover chicken and salami this week though… I have great sandwiches). We do eat a fair bit of fish and I’d wrestle a bear before giving up cheese though.

Basically I think people have problems with the labelling of diets, it instantly makes them sound a bit “other” and even a bit evangelical in a way that just saying “I don’t really eat meat” doesn’t.

Plus i don’t think its 100% possible to avoid products that use animal products. So where do they stand then.

we do what we can.

but thanks for your concern.

dazh – Member
I can’t stand lentils so avoid them.

red lentils can add an odd ‘gritty’ texture, so i wrote off lentils for years.

dark green/speckled lentils don’t turn to mush – there’s something left to ‘chew’, and have a subtle peppery flavour, a bit like bay leaves.

i reckon they’re bloody great in a chilli. I even add them to our occasional non-veggie chillies.

I can’t imagine tucking into shakshuka and wanting meat in it

never heard of that, looks good, bookmarked a recipe*.

or a veg curry and wanting chicken.

I have. But I think you’ve all convinced me to give to a go. A cafe style place near us does fantastic meat curries but atleast half of their stuff is veggie, I’ll have to give a few of them a go. I shall try to go into it with an open mind.

*looks like a damn fine breakfast too (link I saw said it’s an israel breakfast dish), not sure I’d be able to convince the rest of the family to replace their shreddies with it tho 🙂

<edit> just noticed the comments on this shaksuka recipe page (first google hit) lots of people suggesting adding bacon/meat to it 😉

I was talking hypothetically.

Hereafter simply referred as the Cardiff Defence

Curries are definitely a great place to start for non-meat dishes. When I ate meat I didn’t like curries, but became a huge fan once I’d turned veggie. It just seemed to work better.

Middle Eastern stuff is also a really good option for veggie stuff (if you can get past the kebab thing) with stuff like mezze, falafel, halloumi (if you’re eating cheese) etc.

Generally I find any type of ‘foreign’ food to be more interesting for veggie stuff.

Generally I find any type of ‘foreign’ food to be more interesting for veggie stuff.

TBH it’s pretty similar for meat eaters too.

When I ate meat I didn’t like curries, but became a huge fan once I’d turned veggie. It just seemed to work better.

Agreed – never been really happy with a veg dish unless it’s chilli, bean or curry related.

<edit> just noticed the comments on this shaksuka recipe page (first google hit) lots of people suggesting adding bacon/meat to it

It really doesn’t need it – I use Ottolenghi’s recipe, and it’s pretty close to perfect as is. It takes bloody ages to cook, though – if you do want to have it as a breakfast / brunch type meal I’d suggest precooking the sauce, then when you want to eat you just need to get it up to heat before adding the eggs.

Obviously not vegan, though 🙂

Other veg stuff we have a lot that doesn’t leave me wanting meat – not even close to being vegan though:
Okonomiaki

Courgette and Feta Fritters[/url]

Spaetzle with Asparagus, Gouda and Hazelnut Pesto[/url]

Cauliflower “Cake”

Plus endless salads, roasted veg dishes and so on…

Edit: just realised the Okonomiyaki has fish flakes on. We usually use seaweed.

Yet the vegans still feel the need to post pictures and videos of animals suffering in a graphic way blah blah blah…

They’re vegans in the same way ISIS are muslims, they’re an extreme minority. Most vegans are probably as tired of them as the omnivores, I for one am weary of being tarred with the same brush (as demonstrated repeatedly on this thread).

dark green/speckled lentils don’t turn to mush – there’s something left to ‘chew’, and have a subtle peppery flavour, a bit like bay leaves.

i reckon they’re bloody great in a chilli

+1. All lentils are not the same.

Vegan chilli? Also not a vegan yet love food – spent ages perfecting a vegan chilliI to enjoy with better half.

Much care and prep making a tasty sauce with fresh toms, proper smoked paprika or mesquite, good dried chilli peppers (toasted in pan then steeped to make a stock to add to sauce), plenty fresh garlic, chopped sweet peppers, fresh oregano and ground cumin seeds, tom puree, some water to adjust consistency, simmer until delicious. Add sugar or something sweet to taste, add seasoning.

Then use a good veggie stock with yeast/B12 flakes for the lentils which cook separately in that stock first, add fave beans (I use red kidney and haricot) . A little marmite, a little mustard – and (for the nice bite and fill) stir in some cooked pearl barley, combine all simmer for a while, then stuff face with crushed tortilla chips on top. (Salivating now)

It’s what we’re having tomorrow, yum.

Never thought to use barley in – well, anything if I’m honest. Does it work well, then?

its ok* think of a cross between a bean and massive cous cous

* IMHO all carns taste of basically nothing ALso used to make

Never thought to use barley in – well, anything if I’m honest. Does it work well, then?

I don’t think so… I would make that without them.

Barley-wise: Not vegan though easy to adapt (contains feta) but we really like this: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/barley-risotto-with-marinated-feta-by.html

Never thought to use barley in – well, anything if I’m honest. Does it work well, then?

Yep. Taste of nothing really, adds carbs and bulk and a really nice texture that goes well on its own, or as I use in mince recipes along with either TVP or lentils.

Just remembered had a nice barley/tarragon risotto recently. Albeit with fresh mackerel. Could be adapted with mushrooms, seaweed etc.

*EDIT ^. I forgot the diced onions in my chilli mole/sauce recipe. So – diced onions and oil to start. Dark chocolate is a good addition too. Have even put coffee in.

Anyone got any red dragon pie recipes? Friends cooked us one once and it really was good. Addictively so 😈

We use pearl barley in our vege chillies, have done for years, it gives a good texture to the meal. there are various other grains that work quite well in soups as well, cracked wheat, ebly, etc.
Its only in the last couple of months that I’ve cooked meat at home, after herself decided that business travel to foreign countries was so getting her down – cheese omelette and fries every night for 3 weeks does tend to make you go slightly mad – and so has started in a limited way to eat meat. 95% of what we prepare and cook at home is still vegetarian though, just that maybe once a fortnight we’ll have something meat based.

A cafe style place near us does fantastic meat curries but atleast half of their stuff is veggie, I’ll have to give a few of them a go. I shall try to go into it with an open mind.

Before moving we used a local Indian restaurant (Vasai, Malvern Link) that offered many veggie and vegan options. Speaking as the meat-eating half of a marriage I’d always taste her order to see what it was about. There is one dish named ‘vegetable chilli garlic’. Holy crap I would hurt someone to get my hands on that recipe. It became my staple, yes, even tastier than any meat curry I’ve ever eaten – incredibly rich, hot, satisfying, and with a peculiar gunpowder taste that was/is completely addictive. Have tried to replicate, failed many times, spent hrs online to no avail. I need to grab a few and freeze them when next visiting family. Think the chef would give me the recipe? What are the chances? The thought of possibly never tasting it again makes a small part of me die inside.

Disclaimer – this is not advertising copy, taste is subjective etc…

vegans or religous nuts. I’d struggle who to shoot first. I really don’t care what people eat but I can’t be arsed with all the shite they have to tell you about.

I suggest you read the rest of the thread to irk out which side of the fence has been the most preachy. STW imitates life, or something. But thank you for your useful and insightful contribution.

why?

He was politely saying you were wrong as the meat eaters were preachy and the vegans said eat what you want

I am very surprised to discover that you dont want to let the facts get in the way of your hatred nor do you want to reduce your stupidity

Do trolls eat meat or do they survive just on the attention?

Trolls eat Christians, don’t they?

Nicely completes the circle 🙂

😆

STW imitates life, or something

In many years of being vegan, no one’s ever threatened to shoot me for it so I guess you’re wrong on that 🙂

Neither do newborn human babies, yet quite rightly we don’t kill and eat them.

They’re little different to unborn babies then – but we kill those and I’m pretty sure you would support abortion.

They’re little different to unborn babies then – but we kill those and I’m pretty sure you would support abortion.

I never quite understand the obsession with abortion of meat eaters who feel the need to deconstruct other people’s eating habits. Is it because you’re so desperate to have a go that you’ll use any avenue of argument available irrespective of how silly it is? Just what is it about what we eat that annoys you so much? It’s genuinely baffling.

I never quite understand the obsession with abortion of meat eaters who feel the need to deconstruct other people’s eating habits. Is it because you’re so desperate to have a go that you’ll use any avenue of argument available irrespective of how silly it is? Just what is it about what we eat that annoys you so much? It’s genuinely baffling.

I just have a psychotic dislike for double standards/poor logic. It annoys me on a deeply personal level, like someone dragging their finger nails across a blackboard.

Either kill things based on their level of conciousness or don’t kill anything at all.

Is it because you’re so desperate to have a go that you’ll use any avenue of argument available irrespective of how silly it is?

Because sometimes, reducto ad absurdum is a very good way of highlighting the central tenants of an argument.

Yeah, it’s odd. I’ve just realised, I generally tell people I’m veggie not because I want it debating but because I don’t want a lengthy discussion.

Back when I was a kid, I’d often be offered food by well-meaning parents who wouldn’t take “no thanks” as an answer presumably because they thought I was just being polite. It’s ok, it’s no trouble, are you absolutely sure, everyone else is having one, I can do you a bacon buttie, etc etc whilst I was sitting there in a panic and wondering how I can get away from the stench of frying flesh without offending anyone.

As an adult, “no thanks, I’m veggie” curtails that line of discourse but often ends up with the person I’m talking to launching into a monologue about how much they love meat and how they could never be a vegetarian and so forth. I really don’t get it either, I’m not expecting anyone else to do anything they don’t want to do and couldn’t care less what anyone else eats, I just want to get on with having my lunch in peace.

Is it guilt, or an expectation that all vegetarians evangelise so they’re getting in the first punch, or what? Very confusing. Some folk are genuinely interested and that’s absolutely fine, and I’m happy to discuss it with people who want to know more (as per the OP), but some just seem hell bent on point-scoring about how wrong I am, usually with some broken logic about how we’re ‘supposed’ to eat meat or something.

Because sometimes, reducto ad absurdum is a very good way of highlighting the central tenants of an argument.

Only if the only options are binary, otherwise it’s a very good way of highlighting your own ignorance. By that argument, if we eat lamb then we should either also eat kittens, cockroaches and each other, or take up a raw food diet.

Well, if you told people you were a scientologist or had converted to Islam then you’d get the same reaction.

People ask questions and challenge each others views all the time, you can’t expect to go through life without people questioning your choices.

Only if the only options are binary, otherwise it’s a very good way of highlighting your own ignorance. By that argument, if we eat lamb then we should either also eat kittens, cockroaches and each other, or take up a raw food diet.

I’ve not got an issue with people eating kittens, the only reason we don’t is that people in the west have humanised them/value them as pets.

Eating each other can be dismissed from a utilitarian perspective, it wouldn’t be very good for society. Killing kittens isn’t going to cause western society to turn into Papua New Guinea.

Holoumi, i can’t spell it. but gosh that stuff’s delicious.

i’m not a vegetarian, but i’ll take Hollumi over bacon any day.

(under the grill, and when you think it’s done, just give it another minute or so)