Rules of Veggit

Okay so much conflicting information out there. Is it safe and nutritious to eat store bought tempeh raw?

I may have been doing this for quite some time…

What in the name of non-vegetarian limes has the world come to??

I used to get great hibiscus tacos s a restaurant I FL. I moved to AZ and no one served them. I tried an online recipe and the hibiscus came out chewy and gritty. I soaked them longer than the asking time. Any advice and/or recipe is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Apologies to grouping these cuisines all together but I'm UK based.

Can anyone recommend a good modern cookbook for Southern US food that is specifically vegetarian and not vegan?

Bonus points for originality and a mix of both everyday recipes and more complex - even michelin standard - recipes for entertaining.

Thanks in advance.

Over the years, I've given up on tofu dozens of times but I keep coming back to try again because it's so cheap, you know? This time, I think I found a winning method -

First step is to buy tofu packs and shove them straight into the freezer, unopened. Leave them in there until you're ready for some tofu. It doesn't actually have to be frozen, I just like keeping it on hand in the freezer instead of the fridge.

Second step is critical, BOIL YOUR TOFU!! Apparently this is how Chinese restaurants prepare their tofu, they blanch it. I broke my tofu block into generous pieces and boiled it in salted water for 15-20 minutes, gentle boil. Drain and rinse in cold water until the pieces can be handled.

Put the pieces on a towel or press and drain. Drain it as much as you desire; I left mine tightly rolled in a towel for a few hours.

Cook the tofu however you like. I coated mine in a coconut flour/oat fiber/psyllium husk powder blend with spices, airfried at 425F for 15 minutes, coated the pieces in sugar-free mongolian sauce, then back into the air-fryer for 5 minutes.

It's soooooooooooooooooo freakin yummy and not even a hint of soy flavor. The boiling really removes the majority of the soy smell and flavor imo.

Im making eggplant glazed with a fish sauce caramel for a vegetarian banh mi sandwich. I need a good veg replacement for fish sauce that comes as close to the real thing as possible. Any suggestions??

Fish sauce caramel im doing is sugar, star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, red onion and rice vinegar.

https://pickledplum.com/korean-spinach-side-dish/

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dubu-jorim

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-tongdak

Had a huge bag of yellow lentils (daal!) and don’t really have a taste for typical daal but I have to use them up. What else can I do with them? I’m allergic to milk, so no dairy please!

My wife and I are doing some non-traditional Ottolenghi dishes from Plenty and Flavor. Black Pepper Tofu, Asparagus Pancakes and Watercress, Pistachio and Orange Blossom Salad along with a dessert of Orange Blossom Water Buttercream Carrot Cake with Pecans (I just took a basic carrot cake with buttercream recipe, but subbed vanilla in the icing for orange blossom water & added pecans).

hello! i’m looking for a bacon alternative that doesn’t have a smoky flavour, but i really can’t seem to find any! even when i ate bacon i always hated it being smoked, so wondering if i should just give up with bacon alternatives or if there are any good ones. thank you :))

Hi everyone, I come from a big meat eating family and I am hosting a BBQ this weekend. We have a relatively new in-law attending that is vegetarian and I want to make sure they feel welcome and well catered for. All the sides will be vegetarian but I’d love for you to please share your favourite BBQ recipes?

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can black beans
• 1 whole sweet potato
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 of a red onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

1. Place one tablespoon of olive oil in a small pot over medium heat
2. Add onion, garlic, cumin, two teaspoons of chili powder and lemon pepper. Stir until fragrant and onions are soft.
3. Add black beans, stir to combine. Wait 3-5 minutes, then mash until beans form a paste. Salt to taste, then reduce heat to low to keep warm while cooking sweet potatoes.
4. Chop sweet potato into 1/2 inch chunks, toss with remaining olive oil, remaining chili powder and cinnamon.
5. Heat a large skillet on medium, add potatoes. Leave still for 4-5 minutes.
6. Stir potatoes, then cook for 3-5 minutes. Check for doneness.
7. Add spinach leaves, then cook for additional 1-2 minutes until spinach is moderately wilted.
8. To serve, spread black beans on plate with back of a spoon. Add potatoes and spinach on top.

I’m annoyed about people on the internet telling me to go keto or eat low carb high protein. I’ve been a vegetarian for 12 years.

I’ve even tried a high protein low carb diet without meat and I gained weight. Not everyone benefits from that type of diet. People just need to eat healthy in a way that works for them.

I’m sick of fake counter culture where people think eating pounds of animal meat a day is healthy and I’m sick of people thinking everyone’s bodies benefit from the same diet. This is a trend that needs to go away and people need to stop giving unsolicited health advice.

Do y’all have this experience as well?

Went on a work trip recently and it was the greatest hits of omnivore nonsense.

“Look! A salad bar! You must be so excited!” As if the salad bar is the beginning and end of vegetarian cuisine.

“I just don’t know why they call it chicken if it’s not chicken.” Because it sets expectations. How is that not obvious?

“Can’t you just pick the meat off?” No, that’s gross.

“You can have the vegetarian delight stirfry!” Yes, I also instantly recognized the single vegetarian option. Thank you for your service.

“So why are you vegetarian anyway?” I’ve known this person for decades. We’ve covered this many times. And it’s the most basic reason ever. The answer is animal welfare 99% of the time.

And so many vegetarian options when travelling are way lower in calories, so I was hungry a lot of the time. They don’t replace the meat with anything. It’s just less food and nutritionally deficient.

Also, Carnival cruise lines has a vegan menu, which is pretty neat. But, everything I ordered was either not vegan, which was fine for me but sucks for vegans, or what was served simply wasn’t what was on the menu. It’s like they made the menu with no plan to actually offer it and scrambled when presented with the request.

I’m so tired of everyone glitching out when meat is eliminated as an ingredient. So happy to be home because I’m a great cook and my food is balanced, delicious, and satisfying.

I'm missing my mom and feeling nostalgic for all of her crazy hippie food today. I was born in the 80s so her kitchen and recipes had that unique 90s feel. I think a chickpea salad sandwich on sprouted grain bread with onion, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts needs to be in my immediate future lol so seriously satisfying

She had this one cookbook that I'm pretty positive was from a commune, but it wasn't The Farm and it wasn't any of the Moosewood ones... If anyone has ideas or just wants to share any old vegetarian hippie cookbook, I would definitely like to expand my collection and possibly track that one down.

Any dishes, recipes, ingredients, trends, or cookbooks you love/miss from that era? Any lovely people that have been making veggie food since the 90s or before? <3 tia

Edit the cookbook I was looking for was Laurel's Kitchen! I think I misremembered/had memories of two different books mixed up together, but this is for sure the one I wanted. :)

Yes I know, you should freeze it, marinade it overnight, bake it, etc etc but sometimes I just can't be bothered, or my child is whining at me, and so I just fry it up plain, and drizzle some sauce over top. And honestly I like tofu enough that this is fine. Usually I use hoisin but wondering what else might be a good option?

Basically I’m aiming for “chicken strips” that I can put straight onto my work sandwiches, salads etc from the freezer.

Would the above method work? Any better way to do it?

Hey! I used to be OBSESSED with the PC plant based caesar dressing, however I can’t find it anywhere anymore… so I’m looking for a new brand. Any suggestions? (In Canada BTW). Thanks! 🥰

Hi y'all! What are y'all's favorite spicy chips? I tend to crave spicy snacks/chips so was looking for some at the grocery store. So many were flamin hot (not veggie) or ones I've already had like takis or chili lime chips. Non chili lime (more like flamin hot) would be great as I feel like I get that more often. Some I've had are:

- Takis (a few flavors), rolled tortillas and their kettle chips

- La Molienda hot chips

- Lays chili lime (wasn't really a fan)

- Spicy corn snacks from my Asian store that weren't actually spicy :/

- Utz red hot

Suggestions outside of these would be great!

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So I'm a huge taco bell fan, I love getting their veggie fiesta burritos and their veggie bowls but I noticed in my county they've been taken off the menu. I noticed other fastfood places took down lots of their options as well, has this been happening in your area??

I’ve just been on a pepper kick lately. I’ve been eating sweet red and yellow bell peppers with all sorts of dips, on their own, etc.

When I was young my grandma made stuffed bell peppers with meat a few times and while eating some this week I thought hey… it might be nice to eat that again, but how do YOU make them?

Which vegetarian deli meats taste really good & you enjoy?

I had been looking for a recipe that was “old school cool” These are great. Packed with so many healthy nutrients and my toddler loved them too. Highly recommend!

https://www.101cookbooks.com/grillable-tofu-burgers/

I’ve been a vegetarian nearly my whole life but I still always struggle with meal ideas when we have people over, or if I’m bringing a meal over to someone. Especially when there are kids. I probably overthink things but there’s still very much the mentality that no meat=gross, so I feel a lot of pressure that is has to be amazing. I love to cook, I cook from scratch every night of the week, I even have a culinary degree! But I still struggle with what to cook for meat eaters.

Has anyone ever done a food tour in Bologna, Bari or Lecce that was vegetarian-friendly? I don't need the whole tour to be vegetarian (I don't mind learning about meat and seafood options as well) but I don't want to have to sit out at a bunch of spots and have nothing to eat while the people around me are eating ham and fried fish. Thanks! (FWIW I am a "cheese is vegetarian" person.)