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Vegetarian entrees


jimmyjazz

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My stepson is back home after a few years in Virginia, and he is a vegetarian (not vegan).  I need to come up with some dinners that will meet that need, beyond the obvious (pasta marinara, etc.).  I'm looking for dishes that might not ordinarily be vegetarian but could be modified.

I'm not going to change the rest of our family's diet.  We eat pretty healthy, but almost always have some kind of mostly lean meat at dinner.  Any thoughts on dishes that could be easily split in two, one veggie, one not?  As in, a couple of pots a jambalaya, but one is veggie?  What would that even look like?

Monkey wrench:  I can't eat any soy products, so a tofu substitute for the whole family ain't gonna work.

For the most part, he's just going to have to deal with his own dietary needs, but it would be nice to meet him in the middle a few nights a week.

Yes, I've thought of substituting beans for meat in his batch of chili.  Sacrilege.

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My wife has had to make that same accommodation for our son when he comes back from college - her go to is to buy vegetarian burgers if we are grilling, or either tofu or quorn and make a small batch of chili, lasagna, sloppy joe, etc using the veggie "meat" substitute. He is also okay with just having a salad, bread, and veggie sides. 

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Meat substitutes not needed.  That stuff is garbage anyway.

Fajitas are easy enough to satisfy everyone, if you have all the fixin's like onions, peppers, guac.  Maybe add a portabello mushroom to the grill.

Indian food was a good idea.  Veggie curry, dal, etc.  

Pot of beans or black-eyed peas with some onions, garlic, bell peppers, etc.  Put on top of brown rice, quinoa, etc.  Cornbread on the side.  Us hte leftover rice to make some fried rice later.

Anything with eggs.  Hell, we love breakfast for dinner--pancakes, waffles, etc.

Big, hearty salads are simple enough to make, and you can add chicken, fish, etc to yours.  Put a bunch of nuts on his.  Or maybe sear some haloumi cheese or something.

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4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Good ideas, all.  I was suffering paralysis by analysis.  I'll ask him about veggie burgers, and I'm quite sure I can do some quiche or frittata dishes with spinach, tomato, onion, cheese, etc.

If you are into smoking meats, throwing Zucchini and Yeller Squash on a smoker with a little olive oil, onion, garlic, basil, and S/P is both a badass side or a meal base for a vegetarian.   Also, a smoked sweet potato is something divine.  I hate sweet potatoes, but I’ll eat the hell out of a smoked sweet potato.  

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8 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Good ideas, all.  I was suffering paralysis by analysis.  I'll ask him about veggie burgers, and I'm quite sure I can do some quiche or frittata dishes with spinach, tomato, onion, cheese, etc.

They make all kinds of meat substitutes these days that taste pretty good. 

The best would be Gardein Meatballs, Impossible Burgers, Lightlife hotdogs


 

 

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11 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

They make all kinds of meat substitutes these days that taste pretty good. 

The best would be Gardein Meatballs, Impossible Burgers, Lightlife hotdogs


 

 

I used beyond crumbles in place of breakfast sausage for my breakfast burrito bc I was out.  Barely noticed a difference 

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We sometimes grind up Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger in a pan and add olive oil and season it like taco meat. Then we make tacos with our preferred fixings and it tastes like a fairly normal taco once it’s loaded up.

I personally think Impossible Burger tastes better but it has soy so you would need to use Beyond Meat instead.

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On 11/9/2021 at 10:17 PM, CooterBrown said:

Beyond/Impossible meat is a good substitute as long as you’re not vegetarian to be healthy. That stuff has more saturated fat than beef.

This. That shit is worse than meat. I like vegetarian food when it isn’t trying to be meat.

Edited by Hank_Hill
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On 11/9/2021 at 11:17 PM, CooterBrown said:

Beyond/Impossible meat is a good substitute as long as you’re not vegetarian to be healthy. That stuff has more saturated fat than beef.

This is factually incorrect 

https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20210617/how-healthy-are-the-new-plant-based-fake-meats#1
 

Quote

The answer is yes, according to new research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. It found the imitation meats to be a good source of fiber, folate and iron while containing less saturated fat than ground beef. But the researchers said they also have less protein, zinc and vitamin B12 — and lots of salt.

 

 

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