Need Help from Vegetarians, Please!

[ugadog99]

I have a friend who has a family member that has been told to drastically cut back (more like eliminate) meat from his diet. The friend has no idea how to even get started with recipes and meals that are vegetarian. If you all could share recipes, websites, cookbooks, and anything else you think that might help, my friend and I would be most appreciative. Thanks!

 

[Docopth]

There are dozens of web sites that have recipes for dishes without meat, such as delish.com, allrecipes.com, etc. However, I feel that an excellent way to make a transition, is to cook as many as your old stand-by recipes, just leave out or use the absolute minimum of meat.

 

[sallybrealey]

There are loads of meat substitutes like boca and quorn so they can still make things like spaghetti, burgers etc.

 

[disneychrista]

A vegetarian diet is really not that difficult. You can replace meat with beans, tofu, and there are TONS of meat replacements on the market.

Just google vegetarian recipes and you will find tons of things.

 

[npmommie]

my favorite vegetarian cookbook is by Nava Atlas..........The Vegetarian Family Cookbook
she has a website www.vegkitchen.com
www.vegweb.com is another fav site for recipes.

Vegan Family Favorites by Erin Pavlina is another one I like and use a lot.

hope this helps.

also the morningstar faux products are good, the grillers crumbles, and the faux chicken strip starters are very good.

 

[queendisney]

A vegetarian diet is really not that difficult. You can replace meat with beans, tofu, and there are TONS of meat replacements on the market.

Just google vegetarian recipes and you will find tons of things.

Yes this is the best way forward. I have been a vege for about 25 years and basically the best way to look at this is just find ANY recipes that you like and subsitute the meat element of it. Example, I have a really quick and easy sweet and sour chicken recipe and instead of chicken I use quorn fillets. What you have to remember is that quorn cooks in a fraction of the time that chicken does so you add it a lot later. There is an excellent web site in the UK which I use a lot for ideas and its
www.bbcgoodfood.com

also web sites like the quorn one have ideas as well. I use A LOT of tofu (full of protein) and this again is great to use in Asian dishes, you will find a lot of Asian recipes with tofu in as well, beans and pulses may sound a bit yuk but can also be fantastic and are a must for a vege diet. I have a great red lentil soup that I do.

You said he is just cutting out the meat so I assume he is still eating fish so at least thats something he doesn't have to change.

Your friend is obviously not becoming a vegetarian just changing the meat element of his diet so its not so hard because they don't have to worry about other non vege parts of a meal ie chicken stock, beef stock etc in soups and geletine in desserts, cheese (parmasen, cheddar etc are often not vege) etc etc etc...

So basically just don't look at it as finding a load of vege recipes, just substitute meat instead.

 

[minkydog]

I would strongly recommend that your friend have a few sessions with a nutritionist, in light of the fact that there are health issues. Going from being a meat-eater to a veg-only can be traumatic if you really don't want to do it, but you have to. We went through something similar several years ago when DH had to go on a very low sodium diet. I had to completely relearn how to cook for him. It was hard and i felt resentful at times. We all went through a period of mourning while we adjusted to a new way of eating. Then my DD18 became vegetarian about 4 years ago and i went through it all over again.

That said, once you get used to it a vegetarian diet isn't hard to manage. Like a PP said, there are a lot of items out there specifically marketed to vegetarians. Most restaurants have menu selections for vegetarians, or at least will happily alter a recipe to accomodate you. Once I got used to the diet I even learned to make Thanksgiving completely meat-free except for the turkey!

The one thing that you have to watch is carb intake. Because veggies are almost 100% carbs it can be very easy to ingest too many calories and carbs. It is entirely possible to be overweight, even obese on a vegetarian diet. That's why your friend needs to seek out an expert in diet and nutrition. So he doesn't fall into the trap of thinking "Yum! Potatoes! Rice! Bread! Corn! Salad and piles of salad dressing!" instead of "Beans & brown rice! low fat cheese! Green beans, broccoli,and cabbage! Egg whites! No ham in the beans and greens! Vegetable broth for seasoning!"

 

[meggiebeth]

I agree that you should just substitute the meat in recipes you already use for quorn. It is quite similar to meat in texture, and takes less time to cook generally though.
I would reccommend this website for vegetarian recipes. It also gives advice on becoming a vegetarian and really helped me when I first started to give up meat...
https://www.vegsoc.org/
Hope he finds adjusting easy

 

[stillwater]

My favorite is How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. It's a HUGE book but covers all the basics.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Is he trying to go vegetarian or meatless? I was meatless for a long time, not vegetarian because I still ate things like chicken broth, dishes cooked with chicken or beef stock, meats used for flavoring, etc. I never used meat substitutes, just ate things like pasta with marinara sauce, and macaroni and cheese. (And yep, it was 100% carbs, which is why I now eat meat!)

 

[hambirg]

I was a pescetarian for many years.

I agree with the taking recipes you like and simply substituting with meat substitutes, tofu or beans. It's the easiest way to start.

Several PPs have mentioned Quorn. Have him start with those. They really do taste the most like the meat they are substituting. . .very yummy! And they cook very much the same. HTH

 

[Cooky]

.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Meatless is different than vegetarian slightly. I consider myself meatless. I don't eat any form of meat or seafood, but I will eat something made with gelatin or chicken stock, and those aren't vegetarian.

You can go meatless very easy. Just make the same kind of meal you would normally make, a starch, 2 vegetables some bread, fruit salad for dessert. Just leave out the meat.

I have never eaten those funky meat substitutes. If I wanted something that looked, felt and tasted like meat I would just eat the meat.

You have to be careful when going meatless to not add a bunch of starch to your diet like double servings of potatoes and rice, or adding more bread products. The key is to increase the veggie and fruit intake drastically.

If you are dealing with a picky eater who doesn't like many fruits and veggies then you may have one hard job cut out for you.

 

[Cooky]

.

 

[minkydog]

Meatless is different than vegetarian slightly. I consider myself meatless. I don't eat any form of meat or seafood, but I will eat something made with gelatin or chicken stock, and those aren't vegetarian.

You can go meatless very easy. Just make the same kind of meal you would normally make, a starch, 2 vegetables some bread, fruit salad for dessert. Just leave out the meat.

I have never eaten those funky meat substitutes. If I wanted something that looked, felt and tasted like meat I would just eat the meat.

You have to be careful when going meatless to not add a bunch of starch to your diet like double servings of potatoes and rice, or adding more bread products. The key is to increase the veggie and fruit intake drastically.

If you are dealing with a picky eater who doesn't like many fruits and veggies then you may have one hard job cut out for you.

And just be sure that you're getting enough protein, about 50-70 grams/day for an adult. It's hard to get enough protein from a purely vegetable diet, so you have to know what combinations of food will give you the most bang for your efforts. A protein shake like EAS will deliver 17 gms protein and it's no sugar added.

 

[disneychrista]

Just make the same kind of meal you would normally make, a starch, 2 vegetables some bread, fruit salad for dessert.

You are leaving out some type of protein source. Beans, lentiles, legumes, etc. I do not eat meat substitues but do think that you have to replace the meat with some other type of protein.

 

[Poohforyou]

One of the most important things is to make sure you're getting enough protein and that you combine vegetarian protein sources with carbs to create a complete protein. For example beans on their own aren't a complete protein but combined with rice they are. Very few vegetarian sources are a complete protein by themselves.

 

[cornflake]

Agree on consulting a dietician.

Also agree it's very easy to go veg, though he doesn't seem to have to. In my experience, just going cold Tofurkey, heh, is best.

I don't like meat substitutes or tofu, there are TONS of great recipes and things - and plenty of things most people eat already that they don't think about as being vegetarian.

Lots of Mexican food is vegetarian, tons of Italian food, Chinese food, etc., etc. Once you start thinking that way, you begin to realize.

I prefer the Moosewood Cookbooks - there are a bunch, from the original Moosewood to the Enchanted Broccoli Forrest, etc. They're not all veggie but they have a really wide variety of dishes that are mostly vegetarian.

In general, protein isn't something to worry about - Americans eat way, way too much protein. There's protein in legumes, nuts, greens, etc., not even counting stuff like low-fat dairy.

Someone in the thread said to watch vegetables because they're all carb - I think they meant fruit. Fruits have a lot of carbohydrates (but it's a slower-acting carb and combined with fibre, so it's not like eating sugar), but most vegetables (there are a couple of exceptions) generally have very, very few carbs to almost none in plenty of vegetables.

Oh - to the 'meatless' Dis members in the thread - this vegetarian would like to say THANK YOU, sincerely, for making the distinction. The people who do not make the distinction end up making other people in the world ask 'but you eat chicken and fish, right?' 'Oh, no it's fine for vegetarians, it just has chicken stock,' etc., etc. to vegetarians. Specificity in language is helpful!

 

[ugadog99]

Thanks everyone. I've sent my friend a link to this thread. If you have any other ideas, please keep posting!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Agree on consulting a dietician.

Also agree it's very easy to go veg, though he doesn't seem to have to. In my experience, just going cold Tofurkey, heh, is best.

I don't like meat substitutes or tofu, there are TONS of great recipes and things - and plenty of things most people eat already that they don't think about as being vegetarian.

Lots of Mexican food is vegetarian, tons of Italian food, Chinese food, etc., etc. Once you start thinking that way, you begin to realize.

I prefer the Moosewood Cookbooks - there are a bunch, from the original Moosewood to the Enchanted Broccoli Forrest, etc. They're not all veggie but they have a really wide variety of dishes that are mostly vegetarian.

In general, protein isn't something to worry about - Americans eat way, way too much protein. There's protein in legumes, nuts, greens, etc., not even counting stuff like low-fat dairy.

Someone in the thread said to watch vegetables because they're all carb - I think they meant fruit. Fruits have a lot of carbohydrates (but it's a slower-acting carb and combined with fibre, so it's not like eating sugar), but most vegetables (there are a couple of exceptions) generally have very, very few carbs to almost none in plenty of vegetables.

Oh - to the 'meatless' Dis members in the thread - this vegetarian would like to say THANK YOU, sincerely, for making the distinction. The people who do not make the distinction end up making other people in the world ask 'but you eat chicken and fish, right?' 'Oh, no it's fine for vegetarians, it just has chicken stock,' etc., etc. to vegetarians. Specificity in language is helpful!

You're welcome. I have a friend who recently told me she has been a vegetarian since March, but she's not vegan because she still eats fish and shrimp. I was thinking you are not vegetarian either, you are meatless!

I used to eat dismally little protein. I didn't eat meat, no nuts, no dairy, a little beans, but just bread, pasta, rice, veg & fruit. I am allergic to nuts, but I used to think that dairy and meat were too fattening. Then I realized that it was the carbs that were doing me in, and "less carbs, more protein" is my diet plan.