4 ms·

You don't need plant based meat. That's just a a crutch for people who don't know how to cook. It's much easier to take decent meat, throw it on a pan or gril

by blunte 5y ago

You don't need plant based meat. That's just a a crutch for people who don't know how to cook. It's much easier to take decent meat, throw it on a pan or grill, and end up with something pretty tasty. As a Texan, former steak and ribs consumer, and now 10+ year vegitarian, I have discovered that _good_ vegitarian creations are divine - textures, flavors, and fewer belly aches later. But it takes some real effort for a while to start to learn to really cook. And it's as or more expensive, since quality organic veggies are not cheap (and you can consume more by volume than you can meat). However, even the best meat replacements are rarely as nice to eat as a good veggie dish (imo). So people just need some good education and training. Then they can eat very healthy and very tasty food without all the sodium and other additives that go into the manufactured fake meat.

bradgessler 5y ago
What’s a good veg cookbook for preparing such dishes?
- blunte 5y ago
  I'm sorry, I don't know! I'm just really skilled at searching for and selecting restaurants with good vegetarian options. That said, there are a lot of recipe books. And most of the ones I've seen seem to have good combinations of ingredients. There are certain things that tend to go well together (and prep techniques that work best). In general, you have to consider both flavor characteristics (such as bitterness, acidity, "green" taste (brussel sprouts, kale, spinach, broccoli), sweetness (cooked peppers, onions), and so forth. Then you consider textures - too many crunchy veggies in one dish make you feel like you have to work to eat... LOTS of chewing. However, too many soft stuff without some firm/crunch can be like just a sauce. So you'll see things like cashews added for protein and texture, etc. Not all veggie dishes need a lot of ingredients. Just go dine at some places that have good reviews about their vegetarian dishes to start to get an idea. But avoid the really expensive places, as they tend to like to turn everything into some kind of cream sauce :P.
- IdoRA 5y ago
  Vegetables Unleashed by José Andrés and Matt Goulding is great.
- smartbit 5y ago
  Try Plenty by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotam_Ottolenghi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotam_Ottolenghi
OJFord 5y ago
Really agree with that. 'Plant-based meat' is just barely an improvement on, and still very much in the same zone as 'vegetarian burger', 'vegetarian x' - what? What is it?! Jackfruit for example makes a pretty good burger (at least, I like them, so I keep making them). The resulting burger is vegetarian, yes. But at a restaurant I'm never going to order 'vegetarian burger', just like I wouldn't order 'meat pie', it just doesn't sound at all appetising (someone's going to call me out here with 'fish pie'... sure, but that's an established dish, and you have a good idea of the fish/seafood you should expect). 'Vegetable' is slightly better in that it at least doesn't sound like 'this is the knock-off version if you have specific requirements' - 'vegetable lasagne' is sort of fair enough for example. Still not as good as being a bit more descriptive though. Not to say that I want to teach these places to do a better job on their menus - it's a great indicator to avoid them!

by blunte 5y ago

bradgessler 5y ago

What’s a good veg cookbook for preparing such dishes?

blunte 5y ago
I'm sorry, I don't know! I'm just really skilled at searching for and selecting restaurants with good vegetarian options. That said, there are a lot of recipe books. And most of the ones I've seen seem to have good combinations of ingredients. There are certain things that tend to go well together (and prep techniques that work best). In general, you have to consider both flavor characteristics (such as bitterness, acidity, "green" taste (brussel sprouts, kale, spinach, broccoli), sweetness (cooked peppers, onions), and so forth. Then you consider textures - too many crunchy veggies in one dish make you feel like you have to work to eat... LOTS of chewing. However, too many soft stuff without some firm/crunch can be like just a sauce. So you'll see things like cashews added for protein and texture, etc. Not all veggie dishes need a lot of ingredients. Just go dine at some places that have good reviews about their vegetarian dishes to start to get an idea. But avoid the really expensive places, as they tend to like to turn everything into some kind of cream sauce :P.
IdoRA 5y ago
Vegetables Unleashed by José Andrés and Matt Goulding is great.
smartbit 5y ago
Try Plenty by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotam_Ottolenghi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotam_Ottolenghi

OJFord 5y ago

Really agree with that. 'Plant-based meat' is just barely an improvement on, and still very much in the same zone as 'vegetarian burger', 'vegetarian x' - what? What is it?! Jackfruit for example makes a pretty good burger (at least, I like them, so I keep making them). The resulting burger is vegetarian, yes. But at a restaurant I'm never going to order 'vegetarian burger', just like I wouldn't order 'meat pie', it just doesn't sound at all appetising (someone's going to call me out here with 'fish pie'... sure, but that's an established dish, and you have a good idea of the fish/seafood you should expect). 'Vegetable' is slightly better in that it at least doesn't sound like 'this is the knock-off version if you have specific requirements' - 'vegetable lasagne' is sort of fair enough for example. Still not as good as being a bit more descriptive though. Not to say that I want to teach these places to do a better job on their menus - it's a great indicator to avoid them!