Vegetarianism for a meat lover.

My wife has ‘challenged’ me to try a vegetarian diet for a week. Not that she vegetarian mind you but thinks I eat far too much meat and complain too much about veggies. Shouldn’t think it’ll be too hard, but I’d be interested to hear anyone’s experiences either in trying something similar or having gone full veggie. Especially any recipes that have passed muster, she did try to flank me once with a boggin vegetarian shepherds pie 🤢.

Curries, pastas both offer lots of options. Omelettes and egg dishes of various kinds.

My wife is veggie so I’m about 50:50 for main meals.

(is fish allowed?)

Wife and kids are vegetarian, which makes me one by default when at home. Loads of curry and pasta dishes and we use a lot of Quorn too.

Please don’t let this thread descend into the usual oafishness with some moron piping up with “But… Bacon!” etc.

I went veggie at the start of the year and have only had one slip up so far (ate some Haribo without thinking)

I love/d my beef/steak/burgers, but only the rare pang, there’s so many good meat alternatives (I use the stuff in sainsburys, if I can remember the details I’ll link on here with an edit later). I honestly don’t miss it. We really don’t need meat in our diets.

Never liked bacon anyway, plus it gives you cancer

Pasta, curry, risotto, stir fry are all really easy. Loads of recipes on-line.

Homemade soups can be good. Vegetable pies and pasties – but go good quality if buying not making

We eat some meat substitute but not really for cooking, it’s really just to fill the need for the less healthy end of burgers and sausages.

And cheese obviously….

Think of foods/cuisine that doesn’t already have meat in (Thai, Indian Mexican et c.) and major on that

APF

Instead of mince use bulgar wheat for a chili.
Try not to use ‘meat style substitutes’ there’s so much you can do.
Look up the old Ottolenghi recipes in the Graun – a bit more prep but pretty good. Also those from The Palomar.

Are you allowed fish and chicken breast?

Curries, pastas, chili beans and dahls are great. Buy really good quality meat (game, not farmed) and have it little and often.

wifie is veggie we eat lots from Hugh’s book ^^

Good homemade stuff isn’t difficult, I despair at some of the restaurants efforts at vegetarian food.

Better half has been veggie since before we met ~15 years ago and has got mostly vegan in the last ~6 months. I mostly get my “meat fix” at work, typically getting chicken salad sandwiches etc. as part of a meal deal from Tesco Express and Co-Op, but I buy the odd bit of cooked meat to eat at home too.

As for veggie meal, veggie fajitas, something I can even rustle up. Recently been buying the Sainsburys fajita kits (tortillas, salsa, spice mix) for £1.40 to have with cooked onion; mushroom; peppers; kidney beans; courgette; sweetcorn; spinach etc. plus some cheese; guacamole and sour cream. Cooked sweet potato slices go well with this too, but do make meal a lot more filling, as would salad (which we rarely bother with).

Ready to eat in under 15mins, simples!

I’m not veggie but do the odd veggie recipe just because they’re tasty so I would suggest just browsing recipe sites and see what floats your boat – it’s just food at the end of the day (or the middle, if you prefer!). Current favourites are gnocchi with broad beans, peas and cherry tomatoes and sweet potato and spinach curry.

Instead of chicken try Quorn Fillets. We have them in Thai Green Curry, fajitas etc and you can’t tell the difference.

Lidl and Aldi’s spicy bean burger are ace (4 for £2, in the frozen section). Add a fried egg, over easy, for extra aceness.

edit- me and my OH found it relatively easy, I was tending to choose veggie curries if we were out for something to eat anyway and my OH really enjoys cooking different stuff. It’s pretty easy to knock up a load of super-tasty vegan chili beans that can be frozen in batches and used in place of baked beans… om nom nom…

Default veggie option in our house are a selection of risottos

Beetroot risotto with feta cheese Looks weird but tastes awesome!

ate some Haribo without thinking)

Halal Haribo FTW!!

Oh… you all know who Harry the Spider is right? You’d know it if you’ve ever seen him inhale a burger 😀

I went veggie for 6 months last year, just fancied a change of diet. Loads of excellent recipes in HughFW’s veg every day book 🙂

Cheers all, lots to consider. No hard and fast rules more in the spirit of than anything else,so fish probably ok and chicken I’d say no. Somewhere down the line bacon was relagated to meh, never thought I’d see the day but quite often a packet is binned because it hasn’t been used.

Anyone notice any difference in the way the feel or health?

Binning bacon? What kind of monster are you?!!!!

It’s the first time I’ve admitted it in public.

Vegetarian is an easy change. Vegan is a whole new world of culinary learning. Some of the cakes are truly vile

I’m all over this.

Was raised as a meatarian in the West Mids where veg was optional, pulses were minimal and rare and the only nuts were Big D or KP – but pork and pig fat was plentiful and ubiquitous Am consequently lardy and meat-adddicted but quit after Xmas. Been off the wagon a few times but have found a bunch of recipes that hit the umami buds. It’s now becoming evident that what mostly gets me to crave meat ie the chewy umami/salt/sweet taste. And hot fat.

My guilty saturday breakfast is now 3 x Cauldron Cumberland sausags, cooked well done in shallow oil, then sandwiched between some thick bloomer with mushies and ketchup.

Will be back later to give some healthier tips for tasty chewy veg/vegan kicks after dinner, which tonight is peppers stuffed with mixed grains and mushroom, served with Jersey potato salad made with fresh tarragon, red onions, dijon mustard, garlic and white wine vinegar. Also asparagus and salad on the side. Will get the stuffed pepper recipe typed up. Posh Friday EDL material!

Linda McCartney mozzarella burgers nom nom nom

Eggs and cheese.

Curries are supposedly superb as veggie food so start making your own as far better than any bought

.

Good luck and it’ll be interesting to see how you get on. I love good meat, burgers and bacon so it’s not something I’ve considered. Bacon causing cancer evidence when looking at the study is not really conclusive and even the risk they perceive is tiny. I’ve get a higher risk from drinking alcohol to bacon.

Put lentils in place of mince in chilli and spag bog is an easy switch over on an existing recipe as is mixed bean chilli.

Other vegetarian (I really mean meat free – you couldn’t honestly describe us as vegetarian) things we would eat regularly would include pasta dishes (spinach and gorogonzola in a creamy sauce or some kind of spicy tomato being popular), risotto, cous cous, salads with cheeses, grilled halloumi and chunky soups and curry. I’m sure we could do more but those would be my easy wins.

Substitute chicken nuggets, absolutely delicious.

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/baked-tofu-bites/

you wont miss meat with this either.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/giant-butter-bean-stew

Herby rice, chickpeas and halloumi.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/herby-rice-roasted-veg-chickpeas-halloumi

**** no chance you’ll go a week withoot a roll n sliced sausage! 🤣😂

The Bosh recipes are good.

I’ve been veggie for almost 2.5 years now and vegan for 17 months. It’s easy really.

Eat mostly veggie here with fish once a week odd fortnightly bacon sarnie and beef wellington at Xmas. There are some lovely veggie sausages and burgers out there but best often more expensive than meat! Lots of quorn eaten here, in spag bol, chillies and some curries. Plus lots of risottos, eggs and lots of roasted veg. Salads in summer. Probably eat too much cheese..

ate some Haribo without thinking)

Halal Haribo FTW!!

Still gelatine. So really, for the lose(r).

Halal Haribo FTW!!

Still gelatine. So really, for the lose(r).

Worng! They’re marketed as halal, but that just means they’re not haram.

beer and wine?

who pays that attention when being Veggie and vegan, only know cos my OH has just turned veggie

Caldron sausages and squeaky cheez for the win!

I’d say I was mainly veggie. Probably eat meat two or three times a month. Loads and loads of choice these days for meat substitutes – caldron veggie sausages with lentils, new potatoes and lots of smoked paprika etc is belting and easily as good as the fleshy counterpart. My diet has expanded into lots more pulses and grains (emmer wheat being a big fave), with loads of leafy greens – we do about two big bags of kale a week at moment.

I find it easier to prepare, less risky to cook and simpler to store food with hardly any meat in the house (it’s butcher to plate pretty much when I do hanker for a steak or whatever).

I feel loads better. Can’t quite put my finger on exactly why but I do. Plenty of energy, muscle mass seems to be fine and oh course I guff like a god. Happy days.

Binning bacon? What kind of monster are you?!!!!

To be fair he bought packets so we can let him off for buying water injected meat

Friend cooked this the other night, and the cooked almonds (they said be really really careful not to burn them) and roasted cherry toms is a stroke of genius – giving it a really mouthwatering protein/umami kick. Don’t get me wrong, the lentil stew was delicious on it’s own but the nuts and toms addition was lip-smacking. A satisfying meal on all levels, served with jacket spuds.

Nigel Slater – Lentil stew w/almonds

Other stuff:

– +1 for using (dark green/puy) lentils in bolognaises/chillies etc. Make sure you use a decent veg stock and add a few good tbsps of Savoury Nutritional Yeast Flakes (B12, nutty cheesy taste). Brand is Engevita.

– Wild rice cooked in a light stock is great. Chewy and nutritious. Serve with anything.

– Quick good veg/vegan burger is Linda Macs original quarter pounders. Have a great meaty texture if prepared well. First sprinkle the frozen pattie/s with salt, pepper and generous smoked paprika. Cook in oven, but cook for extra 5-10 mins on top of recommended to get a chewier texture. Serve in bun with all the stuff you like.

– Baked beans and portabello mushrooms on wholemeal toast with some Reggae Reggae jerk sauce is a fast and easy pleaser.

– Alternative to minced meat in chilli con carne, instead use a mixture of different grains and beans. Add half of a big block of cheap dark chocolate to the sauce. Use a good stock to begin, plenty garlic. The grains I use for mince if in a rush are a pack or two of Merchant Gourmet brand.

Here is a link
The beans I use are usually canned, normally one tin of red kidney and one mixed beans.

Served a chilli like this to a big meat-eater last week and he raved about it. (In a good way!)
👍🏼

– Waitrose sell a veggie haggis. Also Tofu hotdogs

– Most supermarkets sell Amy’s Kitchen Organic Lentil Soup. This is delicious, and the best canned soup I’ve tried. Reminds me of Irish Stew. I add smoked paprika (1 x tsp before heating through. Again, mouthwaterng and satisfying. If you eat fish then also add a blob of anchovy laste before heating through. Stirring well. Combined with the smoked paprika it gives a chorizo-type intense umami flavour to the soup. The soup is great as is, but I like to experiment.

Are you allowed fish and chicken breast?

Why would you even imagine chicken breast would be allowed?

As others have already said go for cuisines which already have a high vegetarian content. Veggie copies of meat dishes don’t count in my opinion (disclaimer – not vegetarian but eat a lot less meat and a lot more veg than I used to).

👍 chilli is a staple and I have one of those merchant gourmet packs.

Halloumi also gets the thumbs up. Will try the rice and chickpeas recipe too.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/yaki-udon

That’s ∆ very nice.

As others have said, don’t just cook the same stuff as normal and replace the meat with a lump of Quorn. You need to do stuff that didn’t have meat to start with.

Plenty of paneer/aubergine/chickpea/lentil/pea/cauliflower/potato curries and vegetable pasta bakes to get you started.