To miss genuine veggie food

[IdiotIntrusion]

In the light of all the vegan options coming out, what's happened to veggie food? Granted veggies can eat vegan but I want real cheese or mayo on my burger instead of the fake stuff.

Not even allowed to add a coffee to a 'vegan' meal at burger king, I assume because of the milk. Had to pay separately.

Just having a moan. It's annoying as hell. Anyone else?

@toastofthetown

Exactly what's wrong with an actual veggie chilli with lots of nutritious veggies.

Why put make it vegan by putting fake "meat" into it.

A veggie chilli is delicious and you could easily make it vegan without adding fake meat.

I don't want a meat substitute.

But they aren't 'making it vegan' by adding a meat substitute. Every veggie chilli I've eaten or cooked as you describe was vegan in the first place. Vegan food doesn't requite meat substitutes and many vegetarians enjoy them (as evidenced by the popularity of Quorn, most of which isn't vegan). My own experience is that no good pub or restaurant I've been to serves meat substitutes for any dietary requirements and I would avoid eating there regardless if the dish I wanted had a meat or dairy alternative.

I'm not saying it's made vegan by adding fake meat.

But instead of just making a vegan version, it seems they cant help adding fake meat to the vegan versions.

@Suzi888 what's the eyeroll for?

Haha

We want to eat vegetables!

Smothered in the coagulated breast milk of another mammal though.

I don’t know where you all eat, you need to avoid McDonald’s, Costa, KFC etc.

@IdiotIntrusion

Usually carveries are quite good for subbing out the meat for an extra Yorkie and stuffing ball (which is an absolute bonus might I add). Not yet had one tell me no - could it just have been that specific place was awkward?

Completely understand why people are vegan as you want to stamp out as much animal abuse as you can but I don't understand the egg and milk situation...

Eggs are a bi-product of chickens. They'll lay them irrelevant and unless they're fertilised then it will never become a chicken. I understand not buying them from commercial shops due to caged hens and poor conditions but surely farm shops, or even home reared chickens, would provide ethical eggs?

Same goes with milk?

No animals harmed... Just animals doing what they do?

I’m pretty sure being artificially inseminated, having their calf taken off them immediately and then being hooked up to an artificial milking machine twice a day isn’t what a cow naturally does! I’m a vegetarian so not here to preach veganism but how anybody can think a dairy cow suffers less than a meat cow is beyond me, if anything I’d say they suffer more. A meat cow won’t usually be forced to have a calf it isn’t even given the opportunity to rear (and animals certainly become distressed when their unweaned young are removed from them) and won’t have to be hooked up to an uncomfortable milk-pumping machine twice a day; how can you possibly think that’s a natural life for an animal?

As a dairy free vegetarian I quite like it, we have a lot of vegetarian and vegan restaurants round here, so there is a great deal of choice rather than a few token things on the menu. You don’t see as much fake meat etc in a vegetarian or vegan restaurant.

I'm neither veggie nor vegan, but BF my DD with dairy, soy and egg allergies. So I'm happy there are so many vegan options but agree with you the lack of being able to change stuff is very frustrating! Take dominos for example, you cannot add meat to their vegan pizzas in the customise section, but I can't have their meat alternatives as they contain soy. I get that they want to keep the vegan vegan, but you could add cheese to a meat burger that didn't contain cheese originally, why then do places not allow you to customise the vegan options in the same way?! Very annoying

[quote IdiotIntrusion]@Suzi888 what's the eyeroll for?[/quote]
🤣

I miss bean burgers. I eat meat and live burgers but I also lived a good beanburger. Now the veggie option is usually some coconut oil, pea protein mixed thing.

@toastofthetown - no, I agree that vegan is fine for me. But that is caveated by saying that I haven’t really noticed this phenomenon, and if I had it might have bothered me more. I actually feel like in the restaurants I go to, the meatless choices are really good - sometimes half the menu or more, with multiple vegan and vegetarian options. And often switches so you can make a vegetarian dish vegan or vice verse. I don’t like fake meat and cheese generally, but it seems easy enough to avoid that. In fact, I’m pescatarian and this used to help hugely eating out. I rarely bother with fish in restaurants now.

I’m intrigued by pizza places that don’t do vegetarian pizzas. Can anyone give an example? A margherita pizza is an absolute staple! I’d boycott anywhere that would only allow me to have it with the oil slick that is most vegan ‘mozzarella’.

@StScholastica

kittenkong Completely agree with you. DH has been quietly veggie for 58 years, he really misses a cheese omelette when we are out and about. He recently asked for just the roast veg, stuffing and a Yorkshire pudding when we went out for Sunday lunch and this was apparantly not possible, so he had to have the beetroot risotto instead.

how can that not be possible! FGS. How hard can it be to put stuff on a plate and miss off the meat. I suppose the gravy might have been meat-based.

For those of you in Belfast, Millie's Yard does lovely and creative veggie and vegan meals. I am neither, but I had a lovely vegetarian starter and main there a few weeks ago.

What's the vegetarian take on non processed mock meats like Seitan?

@Carpy88999

Haha

We want to eat vegetables!

Smothered in the coagulated breast milk of another mammal though.

Lol and people wonder why vegans have got such a bad reputation!! I'll stick to my cheesy veg thanks!

It impacts desserts too. Everywhere I go now the majority of the cakes seem to be either GF or vegan or both.

I want a rich, buttery wheat based cake!! And I am denied this everywhere.

Totally agree. Give me a proper veggie burger with identifiable vegetables any day, ideally with cheese. I can't stand the soya / pea protein options. Especially the ones that taste genuinely "meaty" - presumably aimed at meat eaters cutting down, rather than those of us that meat gives the boke to.

Sigh

I agree OP, been veggie for 25 years. Reason being I do not like the texture or smell of meat.

I will never forgive dominoes for removing the veg a roma from its menu! I also miss halloumi on pub menus.

It's surely not hard to offer a couple of veg and vegan choices each on a menu, prob cheaper than additional meat dishes.

@pigsDOfly I was given some vegan cheese as a freebie with an online food shop and the ingredients were insane! Basically a list of 15 chemicals. Why is that better for you than just eating cheese?

Not read the whole thread but I say this often

Veganism has fucking ruined vegetarian food.

Bastards.

@Carpy88999

For the actual vegetarians can I ask why you don't eat meat?

I neither like the taste nor the texture. Also, there were certain meats I really didn't want to eat (elk/reindeer in Scandinavia, duck/venison in the UK) and it got too difficult saying I'd eat lamb or beef but not venison or pork. Easier to say none at all and now I don't like any of it.

Totally agree! I hate the move towards meat or vegan. I just don’t want vegan. I want all of the cheese!
I also don’t want fake meat substitutes all the time.

@Carpy88999

What's the vegetarian take on non processed mock meats like Seitan?

I’ve not tried it but eat Tempeh because it’s good for you apparently (apparently I have said it tastes like bottoms, and I stand by that). I’m sure it can be cooked nicely it it tastes sour to me.

I like tofu (if cooked properly - a relative once gave me it raw).

I do miss a good cheese omelette and chips!

It's surely not hard to offer a couple of veg and vegan choices each on a menu, prob cheaper than additional meat dishes

it's not hard at all, I often go to a pub with my mum that offer a vegetable curry and a vegetable lasagne. Not vegan. They also offer a chicken curry and a beef lasagne. And different sizes, too.

@BiscuitLover3678

It depends where you go but I’ve found the vegan option are genuinely delicious! like you wouldn’t know it wasn’t real cheese. And tbh as I’m veggie for ethical reasons I feel like a hypocrite for being a dairy lover so it’s great

This is me! Long term pescatarian, former vegetarian. It’s about factory farming for me, and I aspire to veganism, but haven’t managed it. The proliferation of vegan food in restaurants makes it a doddle.

@KittenKong seitan is incredible have a look at a few things on YouTube.

Tempeh I cannot stand has the texture of a baked bean which is OK if you're eating a baked bean!

Tofu I love though.

@Carpy88999

For the actual vegetarians can I ask why you don't eat meat?

I haven’t eaten meat /fish/poultry since I was 14.

I couldn’t imagine killing an animal myself to eat, and had seen a documentary about the gloop they put into ‘meat’ products that was just nasty and unhealthy. I never used leather or silk (or angora/cashmere) etc either and tried to a kick things with animal byproducts in them.