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Going Veggie ?

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Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24209
I'm giving some serious thought to going veggie - or, in the beginning at least, cutting out as much meat as possible.

Are there any veggies here and can you recommend any recipes / books ?  I'm very wary of giving up and going back to meat because my first attempts taste like extra-bland cardboard.

To make things more difficult, I'm not a great fan of fish or salads.  I've got a few books already - including Hugh Fearnley-Eatsitall's "Veg Everyday" - which, to be honest, leaves me cold.  Nothing grabs me. :-(
Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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Comments

  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23925
    You won't live any longer.

    It will only feel that way.
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  • SnagsSnags Frets: 5326
    Thug Kitchen have done a few books.  Very sweary, but some good recipes.

    Bosh! is quite good too.

    Also, use t'InterwebTubez cos the veggie/vegan thing is massively on trend and there are some really good resources out there.  Mrs Snags does more of that than me, though, I just cook "stuff" with whatever she buys.

    It's worth bearing in mind that some stuff can be a bit of an acquired art/skill/knowledge - e.g. IMO tofu needs to be fried to absolute death, or baked (and ideally pressed beforehand), which transforms it from slimy shite to a perfectly acceptable protein source.

    There's still loads of quick'n'easy things you can do, as well as some that are good for when friends come round and you're worried they think you just live on beans on toast now. Have a good fake spag bol recipie that's really nice, and a cracking mushroom and ale pie one etc.etc.
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  • TheMarlinTheMarlin Frets: 7744
    also, Ottolenghi does lots of fantastic vegetarian recipes

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jerusalem-Yotam-Ottolenghi/dp/0091943744/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546538020&sr=1-3&keywords=ottolenghi+cookery+books

    His Aubergine-wrapped ricotta gnocchi with sage butter being one of my all-time favorites



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  • wave100wave100 Frets: 150
    I was a veggy for about 20 years when I were a yoof - I'm still happy to have a meat free meal and still don't eat sheep or cows (cos I don't like the taste). 
    There are plenty of veggy meals in the cuisines of the world, Italian and Indian spring to mind. Just remember not to substitute cheese for meat if you're doing it for health reasons.
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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    It just sounds like you've got an irrational, ingrained horror of vegetables.
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  • merlinmerlin Frets: 6595
    TheMarlin said:
    also, Ottolenghi does lots of fantastic vegetarian recipes
    Beat me to it. His book "Plenty" should sort you out for the first couple of weeks! 
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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    Emp_Fab said:
    I'm giving some serious thought to going veggie - or, in the beginning at least, cutting out as much meat as possible.

    I didn't totally realise I was going veggie when I started. 
    Just stopped eating one meat thing, then another, and so on.  The whole thing may have taken a year to happen.
    I remember not eating the sausages I was grilling and that's when I sussed that I don't eat meat any more.
    Basically, you don't have to do it with any kind of fanfare and can get in with it at any pace you like.
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  • MrsLostSon and I have somehow ended up being virtually vegetarian... I don't really like vegetables! That said, I haven't had red meat in 9months & only eat chicken/pork once a week or so. 
    I'm surprised by how much better I feel- no longer bloated/sluggish after meals, it's cheaper too. 

    I recommend this book: 
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Part-Time-Vegetarian-Flexible-Recipes-Meat-Free/dp/1848992653
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  • tone1tone1 Frets: 5112
    edited January 2019
    Linda McCartney’s sausages... bloody lovely things.... Don’t miss the meat at all..
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  • VeganicVeganic Frets: 673
    It's hard to say without living with you for a month and seeing what you eat, how much time you have and how interested you are in preparing food rather than eating it.

    I'd start by just googling "Vegan...." where "..." is whatever you fancied for tea.  I would recommend going for vegan as vegetarian leaves too much room for a tonne of cheese on a pizza and twenty slices of cheesecake. You can always reign it in after.

    I prefer substituting nuts rather than quorn or soya chunks.
    Pulses usually take some skill to get right unless it is chickpeas and are more of an alternative than a substitute.

    Now it's pretty mainstream you can be flexible as the vegan and anti-vegan police are not so prevalent. You can see the 'forbidden' stuff as something special to be had occassionally if you go for the expensive stuff with higher-standards of welfare if that's an issue.  

    Get some vegan friends.  Some of them can be pretty good at cooking and love sharing food and tips.

    Don't do it if you aren't enjoying it. We don't need any more miserable bloody vegans.


    Good luck
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  • TheMarlinTheMarlin Frets: 7744
    tone1 said:
    Linda McCartney’s sausages... blood lovely things.... Don’t miss the meat at all.. :)
    I disagree.  They're like wet cardboard. Cauldron Foods veggie Cumberlands are my favorite.  I don't eat Quorn, it's bleached mold grown in vast chemical vats.  No thanks.

    I've been a vegetarian for nearly 35 years.  Not got bored of it yet.  Having potato, fennel, and artichoke 'Al Forno' tonight.

    I could never go vegan, it's just too difficult unless you REALLY plan your meals.  My daughter is vegan, but I'm just convinced it's an attention seeking 'follow the herd, and fall in line' millennial thing.... 

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  • VeganicVeganic Frets: 673
    TheMarlin said:
    tone1 said:
    Linda McCartney’s sausages... blood lovely things.... Don’t miss the meat at all.. :)
    I disagree.  They're like wet cardboard. Cauldron Foods veggie Cumberlands are my favorite.  I don't eat Quorn, it's bleached mold grown in vast chemical vats.  No thanks.

    I've been a vegetarian for nearly 35 years.  Not got bored of it yet.  Having potato, fennel, and artichoke 'Al Forno' tonight.

    I could never go vegan, it's just too difficult unless you REALLY plan your meals.  My daughter is vegan, but I'm just convinced it's an attention seeking 'follow the herd, and fall in line' millennial thing.... 

    Linda's fingers are not what they once were but work ok in a casserole.
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  • tone1tone1 Frets: 5112
    TheMarlin said:
    tone1 said:
    Linda McCartney’s sausages... blood lovely things.... Don’t miss the meat at all.. :)
    I disagree.  They're like wet cardboard. Cauldron Foods veggie Cumberlands are my favorite.  I don't eat Quorn, it's bleached mold grown in vast chemical vats.  No thanks.

    I've been a vegetarian for nearly 35 years.  Not got bored of it yet.  Having potato, fennel, and artichoke 'Al Forno' tonight.

    I could never go vegan, it's just too difficult unless you REALLY plan your meals.  My daughter is vegan, but I'm just convinced it's an attention seeking 'follow the herd, and fall in line' millennial thing.... 

    Brilliant Thanks 
    I will give them a try  :)
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  • Rose Elliot,

    https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Rose-Elliots-New-Complete-Vegetarian-ebook/dp/B006BARW40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546547390&sr=8-1&keywords=rose+elliott+vegetarian+cookbook

    I got the first edition of this in the 1980s and recently obtained the new edition as the old one had fallen apart from use.   

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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    edited January 2019
    Rose Elliot,
    I got the first edition of this in the 1980s and recently obtained the new edition as the old one had fallen apart from use.   
    That was my first vegetarian cookbook back then too!  Got me started at least.  I like the Thug Kitchen ones. 
    The one I still come back to is Vegan Cooking for One (a) cos I live alone; (b) the book was written when you might have been the only veg*n in the house.  I've literally just now gone and bought it again for the third time because I couldn't find it so must have given it away again!  I've got about 6 meals in there which I really like and know off by heart but there's about 150 in there and every one I've tried has worked and tastes good.  Basically gives you a shopping list of stuff to get each week and that week's worth of meals to use it all up.  Makes the planning super easy.

    I've been thinking about what @Veganic was saying about cheese and I'm ready to let that go again.  I've been eating much more of it because of the need to reduce blood glucose and I did a sort of half-arsed low carb high fat diet.  This does not work if you don't reduce your carbs enough!  Anyway, blood sugars are back in range so time for a rethink about what I'm eating.
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  • revsorgrevsorg Frets: 874
    I went vegan in June 2016 for health reasons and it's transformed my enjoyment of food.  Previously I really was eating myself into an early grave.  It was Michael Gregor who convinced me at the time.  This Christmas we got How Not To Die and have decided to completely conform to it for a few months to see how it goes.

    My wife's been cooking recipes from Bosh for some time - they're great.

    And of course anything by Jack Monroe is cost effective and dead easy to cook.  This evening I cooked her Peach & Chickpea Curry to which I always add half a dozen lumps of frozen Iceland spinach.  Totally easy to cook, delicious, and as I say above - non-deadly.


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  • ReverendReverend Frets: 4974
    The Vivera range is pretty decent. Their kebab stuff great
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  • I'm not Veggie, but try this.

    Fry Garlic and Green Chillies in Olive Oil

    Cook Linguine or Spaghetti.

    Stir Chilli and Garlic Infused Oil into Pasta

    Add generous amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano (not any old Parmesan), stir into pasta.

    This is gorgeous enough like this but you can add:

    Lentils that have been cooked with Red Chillies and Celery.

    I mean Lentils that still look like little balls when done, not the Mush that Neil from the Young Ones serves up :)

    YMMV as I've got an Italian Chef for a Brother in Law. It was as good as anything I'd ever tasted with meat in it.
    Only a Fool Would Say That.
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  • I'm not Veggie, but try this.

    Fry Garlic and Green Chillies in Olive Oil

    Cook Linguine or Spaghetti.

    Stir Chilli and Garlic Infused Oil into Pasta

    Add generous amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano (not any old Parmesan), stir into pasta.

    This is gorgeous enough like this but you can add:

    Lentils that have been cooked with Red Chillies and Celery.

    I mean Lentils that still look like little balls when done, not the Mush that Neil from the Young Ones serves up :)

    YMMV as I've got an Italian Chef for a Brother in Law. It was as good as anything I'd ever tasted with meat in it.
    Dont want to piss on your bonfire but adding Parmigiano Reggiano will make this a non veggie meal.  Parmigiano Reggiano is made using calf rennet.

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