"Cooking vegetarian meals is complicated."

[kentauros]

Huh?

No, it isn't. But, cooking without meat is such a foreign concept to people that it refuses to compute in their heads. Making a nice genoise cake with buttercream frosting is complicated, and yet I don't see any bakers complaining about making such a thing for friends because of the complexity of putting it together.

My OP-title is a generalized statement from far too many posters to Luminous Animal's thread in GD about her dense omnivore friends. I haven't finished reading the thread, but I am truly amazed at how many people don't understand how to cook for a vegetarian, or that think it's "difficult."

So, for the omnivores that read this group, here's how you do it:

Make everything else. Leave the meat out.

Now, how difficult was that?

[roody]

1. Beans in crock pot-oh so complicated.

[uppityperson]

2. It really isn't that difficult, I don't understand either why people have problems with cooking vege

oh, but it's so complicated"? So is a lot of omnivorian cooking. And it can also be very simple. And for those who are omnivores, have meat as a side dish, not the main.

[matt819]

3. That's what the Google is for

Google vegetarian recipes. Click on results. Whew! That was hard. It's amazing vegetarians don't starve to death.

[Binkie The Clown]

4. I have found that cooking VEGAN is much easier than cooking the omnivore way.

And cheaper too.

To take one (obviously extreme and ridiculous) example, if I wanted to eat nothing but rice and beans for every meal I could buy bulk dry beans and rice at Costco and feed myself for under $200 per year. That's less than a dollar a day.

Of course, that's a pretty boring menu plan (and lacking in some key nutrients) but one can introduce variety with potatoes, squash, yams and colorful veggies (greens and yellows) and probably get by on only twice that budget, or $400-$500 per year (per person). I'm extravagant with my food budget and I usually spend $40 or $50 per week (I live alone) and eat a very healthy, well-balanced diet. (Disclaimer: I grow a lot of veggies and greens, and bushels of tomatoes to blanch and freeze, plus winter squash to eat most of the winter)

Cooking vegan is easy. Cooking vegetarian is even easier still, because you have the flexibility of using eggs and dairy.

BTW: I have a lot of recipes from back in the day when I was an omnivore, and like kentauros says, make the same recipe without the meat. My chili still tastes as good without the ground beef. My spaghetti sauce is just as good without the ground beef. My bean burritos taste just as good as my beef ones used to. I have a lot of casseroles and stews that are just as good without the beef or chicken or whatever they called for.

[Snarkoleptic]

5. Mrs. Snark and I recently began our "vegetarian experiment"

and the kindle book The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen has been very helpful.
I feel great and have lost almost 40 pounds (also been walking a lot and swarn off beer).

I can say that I've not missed meat at all, although the upcoming Labor Day cookout thing may be a challenge.
Cooking has been much easier than I'd thought and I haven't goofed up anything yet.

So far, our faves have been-
Tempeh Tacos, Falafel, Red Beans & Rice, various salads (luv the Trader Joe's Cilantro dressing), and veggie sandwiches (knockoff of the Panera Mediterranean Veggie sandwich).

We have tried several of the veggie burgers and have ranked them-
1) Trader Joe's Quinoa Cowboy
2) Harvestburger
3) Gardenburger
4) Dr. Praegers

We're still seeking out burgers, so please let me know your fave burger.
Thanks!

[stopwastingmymoney]

6. Trader Joe's has a pizza veggie burger that my hubs even likes

For fish eaters the salmon or mahi mahi burgers are also delicious

[kentauros]

7. I didn't know America's Test Kitchen had done a vegetarian book!

Thanks for mentioning it I'll have to look into getting it for my kindle, too. I have their print-edition "Baking Book" and so far, I haven't screwed up a single recipe. Sure, I have a background in baking and pastry; however, they are such experts at explaining, and just working a recipe to the point where it is almost literally perfect.

And congratulations on losing weight. Maybe the same will happen here after making some of their meals. I'm looking forward to reading their vegetarian recipes now

[freshwest]

8. Many use huge portabellas to make burgers without meat up here. Simple and tasty. n/t

[roody]

9. Tempeh burgers rock. Tempeh is delicious.

[nadine_mn]

10. I had to stop reading the thread because I was getting pissed

I am a lapsed vegetarian. Raised one by my mom (she has been a vegetarian for 46 yrs) but "rebelled" as a teen and ate meat at my grandma's house. And from then on I have eaten meat maybe a few times a week. I am an extremely picky eater - super fat because when I like something, I eat it all. Hate most veggies, not a big pasta fan, detest mushrooms with a passion - basically all the vegetarian staples.

I am trying to go back to being a vegetarian full time - still probably have meat once a week or less. I married a man who is was raised hard core carnivore - meat every meal. I can't even grasp that. When we first got married, I couldn't believe how much meat we bought and he ate - daily.

But I slowly incorporated more veggie meals, and he is also coming around. Helps that he loves mushrooms, pasta, and veggies. Finding something he will eat is a lot easier than finding something for me. Tomato soup and grilled cheese I can handle all day. He likes variety.

So I have always cooked a vegetarian option - for my mom, for friends, for myself. It isn't hard.

And sweet mother of Mary - so many ANGRY meat eaters in that thread. I don't get it. The assumption that vegetarians are "snooty" or difficult - while at the same time saying all these snarky things.

I don't understand the mentality of not only saying "I'm not a vegetarian ... I LOVE meat" [umm ok yay for you?] but then to go on about how much you love a juicy steak, fat pork chop whatever... in a thread written by a vegetarian. That is just waving a middle finger around.
It's like a challenge to them - and I don't get it. My family (other than my mom) eats meat. But no one ever ridicules my mom (other than lighthearted brother-sister teasing that honestly is less about meat/veggies and more about siblings) for not eating meat. She doesn't gag or lecture family members (apparently the assumption is that vegetarians are also difficult to eat with because they preach dramatically), she just eats her meal and we all have fun.

If we grilled out with family - she brought over her veggie burgers or hot dogs and no one died when they shared the grill.

I am irritated at the attitude expressed regarding ooh how hard to cook for vegetarians and towards vegetarians in general. Why so much anger

[kentauros]

11. "It's like a challenge to them"

That's it, exactly. It's an affront to them, to their "normalcy." And they're not going to change that to please anyone they deem less than normal (vegetarians/vegans.)

Plus, I do think some of the anger is justified. We all know a vegan or vegetarian that went overboard in preaching the benefits of eschewing meat. That attitude has hurt those of us that take the more diplomatic route, the one where you can discuss cooking and eating any food with an omni without automatic judgment. It doesn't mean that we approve, only that we aren't going to tell them that they're wrong, and horrible, and whatever else the proselytizers spout. If an omni wants to learn about vegetarianism, then they will, and more likely accepting it if they do so on their own.

Now, I did notice that when people in that thread asked for recipes, and I supplied them, that none either thanked me for them or acknowledged it. Oil well. If even one person gets some benefit from them, then that's good

One thing I've noticed with where I live (Houston) is that while I have been attacked by hard-core carnivores for my choice, that other people (usually coworkers) have attacked them for being jerks. I usually dismiss the jerks and hope they'll forget about it eventually, and that works for the most part.

Another thing your reply has reminded me to do was to send off an email to a place in Austin called Jack Allen's. I was there a couple of weeks ago with family, but as it's a grill, it wasn't a place I'd normally even look at twice for eating vegetarian. My email was a bit of a complaint in that while they did offer two vegetarian entrées, the one I chose still needs some work on execution. I'll let y'all know if I get a reply from anyone there. Good quality food, just not really thought out all that well as a meal.