Vegans and vegetarians

[sugarrosepetal]

This is probably the wrong place to post this but possibly the best place to get the most traffic.

Going off from another aibu post, would I be unreasonable to ask for vegan and vegetarian recipes for weeknight dinners and lunches?

I am an omnivore but the cost of meat is going up in price, plus I'd like to cut down on the amount of meat I eat. This is for a few reasons; dietary, ethics, carbon footprint, etc.

Please help me so I can bring my meat consumption down by at least half.

I'm a good cook but I'm not very inventive when it comes to meat and dairy free dishes.

Thanks.

Boohoo. You’re not the police.

I made the Jamie Oliver Sicilian aubergine stew with cous cous at the weekend. It was very tasty.
I sometimes make chakkalaka.
Veg curries are good as well.
DH is a meat lover and loves all those.

OP asked if they are being unreasonable. My answer is yes, because they posted this on the wrong board (and knew that they did).

Not sure when I said I was the police. I answered with my opinion as everyone does (including you, obviously!)

So pipe down.

I'm vegetarian and I have two go-to's

The first is a very easy and quick mushroom stroganoff.

1/2 pack of grains - zap in microwave
Mushrooms fried in olive oil with salt, pepper and paprika
Stir through some 1/2 fat crème fraiche

Add to the cooked grains and fold in.

My other one is to roast sweet potato, Brussels and baby carrots in olive oil and a teaspoon of rose harissa. Serve on a bowl of chopped red cabbage mixed with plain bio yogurt and scatter feta over the top.

The Green Roasting Tin book has a heap of great veggie and vegan recipes

Hi @sugarrosepetal indian vegetarian dishes are great, loads of videos on you tube on how to make it 👌

I seriously can't recommend it enough!! To be honest, I'd always been put off the idea because we're by no means well off, and I kind of viewed them as a sort of luxury subscription, but we tried a free week from a friend and haven't looked back 😂It's so fun choosing your meals every week, too, like setting your own little menu. The quality of the meals from Hello Fresh and Green Chef has been excellent so far, really really tasty, healthy portion sizes, fresh ingredients. We're definitely saving money as well because you only purchase what you need for each specific recipe with the meal boxes, instead of having to plan out your weekly shop and potentially waste food or get tempted to pick up snacks and extras in the shop.

Huge additional vote for this. Rukmini Iyer's whole roasting tin series are amazing with new-to-me ways to put stuff together, and are usually 'chop -> one tray roast -> make a dressing' level of simple.

@Elsiebear90 do you mind me asking why you aren't vegan now? I am currently but wondering whether to continue.

I have got way more mileage out of Miguel Barclays One Pound vegan meals book than the green roasting tin one. The recipes are for one portion then you scale up as needed.
Maybe because we’re a family who often don’t all eat the same thing, or maybe our usual cupboard staples aren’t the ones you need for the roasting tin book.

Just curious. Do the green chef give fake meat/fish or is it just healthy vegan recipes?

@PuddlesPityParty no-one cares.

There are options for both! I personally enjoy fake meat and cheese, but also want plenty of fresh whole foods. Some of the recipes are just vegetables etc., and others have things like This Isn't Chicken. Definitely enough different options that you could avoid fake meat if you wanted to.

Sorrry @PuddlesPityParty that was meant for @navithefairy

Oh also I've had quite a few meals containing Tofoo (that brand), and there's often pulses etc. for protein.

Black bean and squash enchiladas
Halloumi salad/ wraps
Sweet potato and peanut red curry (coconut milk)
Chickpea curry
Lentil dahls
Bombay potato
Bean chilli

Loads of stuff. Just make sure you're getting enough protein in - beans and lentils are great for this

I've just stuck that in my basket and another one of hers, thank you.

We've got a part time house-guest who's veggie so I've used their presence to steer some of the dinners in the last few months to a meat free option.

A couple that has passed muster with the resident carnivores are:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/halloumi-tomatoes-pomegranate-molasses - perfect for a veggie option at a BBQ,
A couple of others that went down really well are:

https://rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-red-lentil-curry/

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lentil-sweet-potato-cottage-pie
In the last one, I modified the topping to 50% potato, 50% sweet potato, and mashed it with just a greek yoghurt instead, but you should probably stick to the vegan margarine if you wanted to keep dairy to a minimum.

https://2015fortheanimals.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/but-what-do-you-eat-part-two/

https://2015fortheanimals.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/but-what-do-you-eat-12/

I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but I love this one. I was looking for a less calorific version but if you don't want to lose weight, use paneer all the way for the vegie original. But this works too.

Meera Sodha's vegan recipes are brilliant and if you follow the links at the bottom of the page you'll find lots of other great ones from her and other cooks.

I look at The Guardian Lifestyle online every day and there are brilliant ones. Today is how to cook the perfect tomatoey butterbeans - that is more delicious than it sounds. and you can have it on its own or as a side with meat or fish.

I've been eating meat-free at least once a week since January and this week is going to be three times.

I love cooking with all sorts but I wanted to try something different and with the exception of two things that were a bit boring everyone loves it. I've lost weight and it saves a lot of money too.

I don't understand the hostility towards vegan or vegetarian food you sometimes come across. I'm a meat eater but like delicious food.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jun/25/vegan-matar-tofu-pea-cashew-tofu-curry-recipe-meera-sodha

Egg and chips
Beans on toast
Jacket potatoes with beans/cheese

The Happy Pear books are really good, or try Gousto and pick the veggie recipes.

This is good and there's also a sausage recipe for meat eaters that I love.

I recommend Sainsbury's own brand Stamford Street Greek-style cheese at 85p for 400g to crumble on. It's very good

It's the much easier version of the tomatoey butter bean one I mentioned

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/may/29/budget-meals-butter-bean-recipes-tomato-leek-feta-mash-crisp-sausage-jess-elliot-dennison

Not sure AIBU is the right place for this! But have a look at Chetna Makan on YouTube. She has an amazing selection of vegetarian recipes-many of which can easily be veganized.

And Ottolenghi has a ton of vegetarian recipes.