Any vegetarians/vegans in here?

Soldato
Joined
19 Jul 2013
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derby
As the title any vegetarian/vegans in here?

Im vege and the wife is vegan, seems to be coming on leaps and bounds recently with most major chains having some good options.

what are your Favourite meals to cook?

I cook a lot of bean currys and noodles dishes wanting some inspiration for some other meals to cook and more lunch ideas.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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12,331
Location
Birmingham
The Doctor's Kitchen cookbook has a lot of good vegetarian and vegan recipes. Highly recommended! The black bean chilli has pretty much replaced the minced beef version that we cooked before.

Indian meals are always a winner. Daal for lunch with chapati is amazing and will keep you full for hours for almost no money at all! Aubergine, cauliflower or potato can all go in almost any Indian curry to replace meat and will be much cheaper. Chick peas are a winner too added to almost any Indian dish.

We've been trying to eat less meat in the week and so far have been doing a reasonable job. It's easy to get bored and into the same routines, but the above cookbook really helped us!
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,167
no but thai green curry is super easy to cook and really amazing.
pretty mild even if you go with a supermarkets own curry paste just check you get one that doesn't contain fish sauce, seems in the UK most don't
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
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10,231
I like the BOSH burgers, and the southwestern soup from Thug Kitchen (only vege Monday to Friday though)
 
Caporegime
Joined
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38,372
wife is vege and i'm not but I don't get on with a lot of lactose so i tend to avoid as much dairy mainly milk as i can and it's easier to cook for 2 than to cook separately for both so most of our meals are the same so therefore i'm vegetarian when we are eating together at home 90% of the time. the odd time i'll cook separately if it suits.

dairy tbh is one of the worst things to ever happen. it's so bad for you. it's meant to be drank by calves to make them grow from like 20kg to 400kg. not human beings. peoples logic fails when you present them with this fact it's for calves not humans. also the way the industry is set up the stuff you buy is really bad for you pull of pus, etc. anyway i digress but i absolutely hate dairy and this is from a guy who loves his chicken, sausages and bacon, etc. but however having had dairy for so long it's been hard to remove it as it's in so many things. so if you have managed to do it i congratulate you. i use coconut/hazelnut milk instead of cows milk now and cut down normal cheese a lot but use paneer/halloumi from time to time however it's bad for me especially the paneer, halloumi i'm usually okay with. i also still use yogurt a lot unless you know of a substitute?

as for cook books don't bother. every recipe you want is online these days. books are dead.

go on instagram and follow fellow vegans. pinterest is a good one just type a few ingredients and then it brings you ideas.

mexican, indian, thai, stir frys is your friend.

rice dishes are better than those using bread. you can even substitute rice with cauliflour rice which takes 5 minutes to make from scratch. you simply throw culi into a processor. blitz for 10 seconds. then either fry it using coconut oil or throw a few teaspoons of water over it and microwave it. add peas to rice for additional protein. you can also add jeera (cumin seeds) for additional flavouring and also salt.

you can take any meat recipe and substitute the meat with either of the following:

mushrooms, halloumi, paneer, quorn, peppers.

use coconut oil for all cooking. potatoes are a good source of many nutrients so baked potatoes is a must at least once a week with beans, cheese, chilli, cottage cheese, etc.

wife likes pasta a lot but i've gone off it. you can add any veg you want to it like sweetcorn, courgettes, etc.

eat a lot of small things on the side like fresh olives, gherkins, cherry tomatoes, rocket. balsamic vinegar is your friend for salads.

it's not hard to eat different veggie stuff you just need to find what you like and what works for you. sometimes simplicity is best. yesterday for lunch i had beans on toast. however it was tiger bread and the beans i fried with a little coconut oil, tabasco, peri-peri sauce and habanero chilli seeds. a little of each to spice them up.
 
Associate
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31 Jan 2018
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535
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I have been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and my doctor has suggested to try to move to a more plant based diet. I have always been on a meat diet and have started to wien myself off and start to transition to this diet. I have started to switch normal milk for almond milk. However i still have a fair bit of meat and fish in the freezer which i don't want to waste so will finish that without buying any more. I have been eating a lot more salads and veggies in my dishes. So have been researching dishes and i do like Indian food, been using the Rick Stien's cookbook and will swap meat/fish for more veggies and pulses.

Also seen some presentations from Micheal Kalper which are really interesting and echo what @Psycho Sonny was saying about dairy.
 
Caporegime
Joined
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38,372
I have been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and my doctor has suggested to try to move to a more plant based diet. I have always been on a meat diet and have started to wien myself off and start to transition to this diet. I have started to switch normal milk for almond milk. However i still have a fair bit of meat and fish in the freezer which i don't want to waste so will finish that without buying any more. I have been eating a lot more salads and veggies in my dishes. So have been researching dishes and i do like Indian food, been using the Rick Stien's cookbook and will swap meat/fish for more veggies and pulses.

Also seen some presentations from Micheal Kalper which are really interesting and echo what @Psycho Sonny was saying about dairy.

the problem is we have polluted everything and corrupted the food chain.

i used to advocate fish. but fish has been overfarmed for years to make money. their food chain is also polluted thanks to all the plastic and other crap we have thrown into the sea. you now have plastic particles inside all fish.

dairy has always been bad but the way it's aggressively farmed these days it's really bad. pumping cows full of antibiotics, etc. same goes for chicken and all other animals reared to eat. they are all pumped full of antibiotics because they all live in really bad conditions where disease is rife and they can't afford for them to all die.

the other arguments against eating meat is look at our closest related animals. monkeys. what do they eat? fruit and insects. they don't eat cows, pigs, chickens, etc.

our teeth aren't built to rip raw flesh from a carcus. not like a lion, dog, etc.

i am a meat eater, i had chicken yesterday for dinner with rice. at lunch i normally have sushi but i opted for a ham salad seeded baguette yesterday. i feel that i should be trying a lot harder as all the evidence is right there that we shouldn't be eating this stuff. i have been buying a lot more fruit and veg recently to force myself to cook/eat it. i usually buy organic bananas, etc too. i've had corn on the cob with every meal this week as it's so cheap right now thanks to the heat wave. delicious too smear it with coconut oil, wrap in tin foil and bake in oven for 20 minutes. i add a little lemon juice too.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Dec 2004
Posts
1,098
Location
England
Falafel!

dairy tbh is one of the worst things to ever happen. it's so bad for you. it's meant to be drank by calves to make them grow from like 20kg to 400kg. not human beings. peoples logic fails when you present them with this fact it's for calves not humans. also the way the industry is set up the stuff you buy is really bad for you pull of pus, etc. anyway i digress but i absolutely hate dairy and this is from a guy who loves his chicken, sausages and bacon, etc. but however having had dairy for so long it's been hard to remove it as it's in so many things. so if you have managed to do it i congratulate you. i use coconut/hazelnut milk instead of cows milk now and cut down normal cheese a lot but use paneer/halloumi from time to time however it's bad for me especially the paneer, halloumi i'm usually okay with. i also still use yogurt a lot unless you know of a substitute?

Absolute rubbish. The evidence milk consumption is bad for health has always been weak there there is plenty of evidence that the consumption of fermented milk products is beneficial to health.

If it's meant to be consumed by calves only why did a large minority of us evolve the ability to consume lactose in unlimited quantities?
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
Falafel!



Absolute rubbish. The evidence milk consumption is bad for health has always been weak there there is plenty of evidence that the consumption of fermented milk products is beneficial to health.

If it's meant to be consumed by calves only why did a large minority of us evolve the ability to consume lactose in unlimited quantities?

because humans adaptability to survive is unparalleled. it takes roughly 30 generations before a diet change forces the body to evolve to take on a major change.

so that is why. if we started eating plastic and in 30 generations time the body evolved to make eating plastic okay. do you think that means everyone should eat plastic?

as for fermented milk products those benefits can also be found elsewhere in other fermented products too not just dairy.

also something like 90%+ of asians are lactose intolerant and asians make up the bulk of the worlds population. with around 2 billion in china and india alone.

the reason why they are is because dairy was only introduced to them around 100 years ago. they still have at least 25 generations to go before they too can consume dairy.

also it's not unlimited amounts of dairy. shows what little you know about lactose. basically everyones body creates an enzyme which breaks down lactose. asians create less of this as it's never been in their diet. your bodies create more. so basically there will come a point where you run out of the enzyme and then start to have issues.

so basically person A could consume say 2 pints of milk before they run out of the enzyme. person B could consume 5 pints of milk before they run out.

the enzyme is produced by the body all the time but obviously in much smaller amounts in asians.

so basically everyone has different tolerance levels to lactose. if you were to consume 10 pints of milk for breakfast. then have a triple cheese sandwich and a halloumi snack for lunch then eat a triple cheese pizza for dinner. your body would say no.

no human can have any amount of lactose they want. we all have a level we can have without issue and that all depends on how much of that enzyme our body can produce.
 

LiE

LiE

Caporegime
Joined
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25,601
Location
Milton Keynes
I've been trying to cut down my meat consumption, so far my go to is a bean chilli with sweet potato. Tastes amazing, but my god does it give me flatulence. Anyone else find this?

Breakfast is easy enough, I normally go with a smoothie (1 scoop whey, frozen blueberries, banana, oats and almond milk) and some poached eggs on avocado toast and it's a decent meal.

Next week I'm going to make some wholewheat pasta to have for lunch as well. Bean burgers look interesting, I may look at making some of those soon.

If you eat fish/seafood then gives you quite a few options. I usually eat a couple portions per week of salmon and prawns mainly.

Waitrose sell a range of pies that are vege, some really nice flavour combinations.
 
Caporegime
Joined
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Posts
32,615
Bean chili is good, as are homemade bean burgers.

Look to Indian food for really good vegetarian curries, if you go to India meat is a bit of a luxory. Lentils beans and veggies.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Feb 2009
Posts
3,814
My wife and I have been trying to cut down on meat consumption a bit and introduce a bit of variety into our diets. So easy to get stuck on the same four or five dishes centred around the same meat, as others have said.

I'm a big fan of lentils, and it's super easy to make a good dahl/lentil curry. When pushed for time I have a basic but tasty one I knock up in 20 minutes:

Fry an onion until soft, add some black mustard seeds and fry until they pop, stir in curry paste (I used Patak's Madras paste, couple of tablespoons, depends how spicy you like it), stir in a cup or two of lentils, add enough water to cover plus a bit more (I don't sweat the measurements here), simmer for 15 minutes or so until the lentils are soft/desired texture (add more water if it starts to get too dry). Can add variety/bulk by roasting some veggies in oil and chilli power/cayenne pepper and adding them in towards the end. Super easy.

We're both also big fans of tofu. I prefer firm tofu for curries and stir fries, and the secret here is to make sure you get as much moisture out of the tofu as possible. I get through about half a roll of kitchen roll, wrapping and pressing it repeatedly until the kitchen roll stays reasonably dry. You can get tofu presses, though, to take the effort out of it. We keep meaning to get one. Then cut the tofu into cubes and either fry until browned first or just drop straight into a curry. We use this in slow-cooker curries and it's great. Tofu is not only healthy, but also very cheap. When dried like this, it's excellent at absorbing flavour, and it has a really nice texture. Asian supermarket near us sells a square block for about £1.25, which is easily enough for two meals, and we usually get enough leftovers to bulk up into a second meal each too.

Also ramen or pho with shitake mushrooms to provide the meatiness is something we go to for a quick 'n' easy meal.

We're also looking for a few other ideas as well, though, so I'll follow this thread and look up some of the suggestions above.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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12,331
Location
Birmingham
I would always engage in a healthy discussion regarding ethical veganism. The amount of palm oil that goes into vegan products is incredible - palm oil production isn’t far off cattle farming in the scale of rainforest clearance.
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
I would always engage in a healthy discussion regarding ethical veganism. The amount of palm oil that goes into vegan products is incredible - palm oil production isn’t far off cattle farming in the scale of rainforest clearance.

i have the same issue with products being mislabelled in supermarkets.

like butter with olive oil.

then you read the ingredients. they also added rapeseed oil as it's cheaper. so i'm not actually getting butter with olive oil. but butter with mainly rapeseed oil and a tiny hint of olive oil. so i choose to buy plain old 100% butter instead.

same goes for a lot of spreadable butters. none of them use just healthy oils. rapeseed is in everything.
 
Soldato
Joined
4 Jul 2012
Posts
16,911
because humans adaptability to survive is unparalleled. it takes roughly 30 generations before a diet change forces the body to evolve to take on a major change.

so that is why. if we started eating plastic and in 30 generations time the body evolved to make eating plastic okay. do you think that means everyone should eat plastic?

as for fermented milk products those benefits can also be found elsewhere in other fermented products too not just dairy.

also something like 90%+ of asians are lactose intolerant and asians make up the bulk of the worlds population. with around 2 billion in china and india alone.

the reason why they are is because dairy was only introduced to them around 100 years ago. they still have at least 25 generations to go before they too can consume dairy.

also it's not unlimited amounts of dairy. shows what little you know about lactose. basically everyones body creates an enzyme which breaks down lactose. asians create less of this as it's never been in their diet. your bodies create more. so basically there will come a point where you run out of the enzyme and then start to have issues.

so basically person A could consume say 2 pints of milk before they run out of the enzyme. person B could consume 5 pints of milk before they run out.

the enzyme is produced by the body all the time but obviously in much smaller amounts in asians.

so basically everyone has different tolerance levels to lactose. if you were to consume 10 pints of milk for breakfast. then have a triple cheese sandwich and a halloumi snack for lunch then eat a triple cheese pizza for dinner. your body would say no.

no human can have any amount of lactose they want. we all have a level we can have without issue and that all depends on how much of that enzyme our body can produce.
You talk so much rubbish.
 
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