Vegetarianism

[philmayfield 5,364]

We had steak last night that was decidedly ‘off’. It was immediately binned. The remaining chips, mushrooms and tomatoes made a pleasant enough meal. It got me thinking. Why do we eat fish or meat every day? I used to think that a vegetarian diet would be bland but I’ve just ordered a veggie cookbook and we’re going to try at least two non meat meals each week. Out daughter and her boyfriend are veggies and they appear to be fit and healthy. This could be the start of a new chapter! There’s one distinguished veggie on this forum, are there others? Belly pork tonight though!

[West Bridgfordian 126]

Eldest daughter went vegetarian when she was 16, it only lasted a couple of weeks 'cos I made some bacon sarnies one morning!

Middle daughter has been vegetarian since she was in her early twenties, now in her forties and when we go round to her house I always have vegetarian meals.

Can't beat a good roast though when we go home.

Youngest daughter loves meat and fish.

[philmayfield 5,364]

I’ve just found a vegetarian cookbook in our vast kitchen dresser library of cookery books. I buy my wife one every Christmas! Looking through the recipes I can see why I’m not a vegetarian! I hope the book coming from Amazon tomorrow will have something more tempting to offer.

[radfordred 6,278]

 

When I worked @ Imperial it was quite noticeable in a small tea bar, that the vegetarian work colleagues had quite high & very smelly flatulence levels, they where also blamed for blocking up the toilets, used to send the cleaner round the bend, she had to break it up with a big stick.

[philmayfield 5,364]

Perhaps being a veggie is not such a good idea after all.

[Jill Sparrow 9,575]

Absolute nonsense. Being a vegetarian can be very healthy, provided people are sensible. I haven't eaten meat since 1977. No ill effects.

[philmayfield 5,364]

When you live alone flatulence is not quite so anti social.

[Jill Sparrow 9,575]

I wouldn't know! 

[philmayfield 5,364]

Give me an example of an enjoyable, tasty, well rounded vegetarian meal because I’m having difficulty finding one until the recipe book arrives tomorrow. Should I try some of the veggie ready meals from the supermarkets? I seriously want to have an occasional variation from my meat diet.

[siddha 797]

If you cannot conjure up a decent vegetarian dish then that is a shame.

There are loads!!

If you like a challenge then try any of the Yotam Ottolenghi books I reckon Simple and Plenty are the best.

 

After that then look for recipes of dishes you may have had os seen in Indian Restaurants ............... Indian cuisine is God’s gift to vegetarians. 

[philmayfield 5,364]

Yes but curry flavour masks the blandness. 

[annswabey 599]

I don't eat meat and haven't eaten it for probably 20-25 years. I eat fish, though, so I probably have 3 x fish in a week and 4 veggie meals. Ottolenghi books are great, as suggested, for veggie meals

[siddha 797]

12 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Yes but curry flavour masks the blandness. 

OK if that is how you see (taste) it then do not eat curries

Curry includes a range of spices depending on the blend of curry you are using they are a melange of spices generally including, turmeric, cumin, ginger, and black pepper. How you put them together matters if you are interested in variations of tastes.

Food and how it ends up on your plate can be a most interesting exploration and like any endeavour has ups and downs.

Blandness lies in the taste buds of the consumer!

 

[Oztalgian 2,859]

I am certainly not a vegetarian, nothing better than a medium rare eye fillet but I did work in India quite a lot and became very partial to the variety of vegetarian dishes available. The flavours were subtle as Siddha said and were not just heat generated by the over-use of chilli.

[philmayfield 5,364]

I agree about the subtle flavours of spices in a decent curry. Some think a curry is a hot Vindaloo which blows you head of and is to be eaten after a night on the beer. Such curries were probably developed to hide the flavour of meat which had gone off, much like the French sauces during the Revolution!

[philmayfield 5,364]

Well the veggie cookbook has just arrived from Amazon. There’s an few interesting possibilities at first glance. It’s too late for dinner tonight but I did get a vegetarian pizza from Sainsbury’s this morning and I do have a bottle of good red wine to wash it down if it disappoints. My journey into vegetarianism begins although I think I might get a piece of pork for Sunday!

[nonnaB 4,752]

We aren’t vegetarians but we do eat a lot of veg. With just a few ingredients you can create a very tasty meal. Here we do have a good variety of vegetables though so it does make it easy.

The other day I emptied the fridge and picked 2 fennel bulbs 2 carrots and 1 potato , it made a really nice soup. Crusty bread to accompany it what more do you want.

[philmayfield 5,364]

We're of a similar mind. We do eat lots of vegetables and we had a thought of having wholly vegetarian meals occasionally. We looked at the vegetarian ready meals available for a trial and found them very unappealing and the vegetarian cook book I bought had nothing that tempted us. It's quite amusing to see that a lot of veggie foods are made to look like meat products! My favourite long standing vegetarian meal is our homegrown beef tomatoes, sliced, with olive oil, wine vinegar, sprinkled with chopped chives or spring onions and seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, with wholemeal bread to mop up the gravy!  

[Jill Sparrow 9,575]

As I've said previously, I haven't eaten meat since 1977. Veggie ready meals, like most other types of ready meals, are full of salt and fat. I avoid them. I have no pretensions to being able to cook and, indeed, cooking doesn't interest me at all but concocting a veggie dinner from scratch is within even my severely limited culinary capabilities.

[philmayfield 5,364]

'The Great Plant Based Con' by Jane Buxton. Available on Amazon. Interesting read.