How to Adapt Your Meals to Make them Vegetarian Friendly
When my vegetarian friend Amber moved into my house, I had
visions of having to cook one meal for us and another for her.
But I quickly learnt that
not all vegetarians are the same, and that the majority of
meals can be easily adapted to make them veggie.
So if you fancy a change, have a veggie friend coming to
dinner, want to be a bit healthier this week or are
even thinking of becoming a vegetarian, here are a few tips.
What is vegetarian to you?
People generally understand vegetarian means no meat.
However some vegetarians eat fish but not meat, this is called
being demi-vegetarian or a pescetarian.
Most don’t eat
either fish or meat, the 'nothing with a face' rule as Amber likes to call
it, and some vegetarians don’t eat foods containing
ingredients derived from the slaughter of animals. The
Vegetarian Society has a
handy list of these on their web site. So if you find
yourself cooking for a veggie, always ask what being a
vegetarian means to them.
Adapting meals to suit vegetarians
There are loads of vegetarian alternatives to meat available.
Even the most basic of food stores tend to stock Quorn or
Linda McCartney's ranges, even if they don’t stock tofu, Soya
or other brands.
Some people simply don’t like, or aren’t interested in, “meat
alternative” products, but my advice is don’t knock it till
you’ve tried it (or don’t tell them what they’ve got till
they’ve eaten it!)
Personally, although I find alternatives to bacon horrid,
other products like Southern Fried Burgers or Quorn mince, are
just as good, if not better than the real thing. If you don’t
like the grease or are trying to cut down on fat in your diet,
then meat alternatives are a great way to do it.
But substituting meat for a meat free alternative isn’t the
only way to make a favourite meal vegetarian.
Adding extra, and different, vegetables is the most obvious,
giving you a colourful dish, and don’t be afraid of adding
fruits like pineapple or mango to the mix. Another great tip
is play around with the textures of vegetables. Don’t just
chop and throw them in, slice, dice, spear, peel, grate and mash
your vegetables.
Another idea is to add grains, pulses and nuts to recipes
to create a variety of textures to a meal like you would get
when meat is present in a recipe.
Here are a few of my favourites, which
regularly make an appearance on our dinner table.
Toad in the Hole – With Linda McCartney's sausages.
Chicken Stir-Fry – Replacing the chicken with tofu or Quorn
pieces
Chinese Stir-Fry – No duck or pork here, instead we mix
bean sprouts, broccoli, cashew nuts, courgette, pineapple,
sweetcorn, tomatoes and water chestnuts with a vegetarian stir
in sauce and served with egg fried or boiled rice.
Spaghetti Bolognese, Shepherds Pie or Chilli – substitute the meat mince for Quorn mince. With the
flavour of the sauce you can’t really taste the difference and
you don’t get that greasy after taste that you can get.
Well I don’t know about you but that lot’s made me mega
hungry! So go on, try it veggie!
Useful Links -
www.vegsoc.org
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