Advice please - how to accommodate meat and non-meat eaters

[JonahB]

I'd like to ask for some advise from the MN-wisdom collective....

I'm mostly veggie, although I do eat fish. Although its not particularly a moral decision, more a lifestyle one, its one I'm comfortable with. I will, in the future, need to accommodate the eating habits of a meat eater - by that I mean someone who LOVES his meat and doesn't really appreciate non-meat based meals (maybe now and again, but certainly not on a regular basis). I really don't want to have to cook 2 separate meals every night.

Has anyone any experience of cooking a meal that can cater for both veggies and meat eaters? I'm thinking along the lines of something that I can add meat to later, or cook a meat element separately and stir it in to the veggie food. All ideas/suggestions are welcomed.....

Hi! Im a bit like you, i eat mostly veggie food but i eat fish and occasionally chicken.

I usually cook something that can be with meat and without because I have friends and a boyfriend who like meat.

You can do chinese food or a stir fry, do the veggie version and just cook some chicken seperate or beef for him, you can do this with pasta, cook pasta and a tomato based veggie sauce then fry some chicken up seperately or bacon, if he doesn't want chicken.

You could do chips, peas and veggie burgers for you, steak for him.

Fish pie?

You could make smallish pies or pasties and do a veggie one and a meat one.

Hope that helps

Thanks Nats, some good ideas there...:-)

and now remember that FB isn't a text and i actually meant

my husband loves his meat - although I have made veggie chillie with veggie mince and he loved it. He didnt realise it didnt have proper mince in it.

Dp loves meat but I am veggie. He has got used to the fact that if I am cooking, he gets veggie stuff!

Otherwise:

Make a chickpea and vege tagine and he can add meat to his portion.

Fajitas - he adds chicken to your veggies/beans.

Stir fries dead easy for this.

I often make a risotto and dp sometimes cooks some salmon to have with it.

Thanks everyone for the good ideas. I'll try some of them out. Most meat eaters i know will eat and potentially enjoy the odd non-meat dish, so I'm hoping the same will apply here. I'll do as most of you seem to suggest and try out on a few veggie meals. Even if they're not a favourite, i'm hoping they'll be okay now and again. My veggie lasagne was enjoyed. Some other good ideas here - thanks.

Agree stir-fry is the easiest option, with the meaty bits cooked last and separately.

BBQ this time of year is dead easy, meat on one side, veggie on the other.

Omelettes. Make up all the egg mixture and have your other ingredients ready, then make the meat one (with bacon/shredded chicken/whatever) last so as not to "contaminate" the other dishes.

You could also make a really colourful, exciting veggie pizza, or risotto, or lasagne, and give your meat-eater a lamb chop and a spud. They'll soon learn.

chorizo and crispy bacon are useful ways of adding meat to veggie food - fry up a few chopped bits and sprinkle on top of veggie meals like bean casserole, mushroom risotto, spanish omlette, macaroni cheese - anything really - it's a rare veggie meal that won't taste nice (to a meat eater) with some crispy bacon.