Rules of Veggit

If this has been answered before, I’m really sorry, but searching “veggie burger no black bean” and every variation of such only brings recommendations of veggie burgers that ARE black bean based. So, again, apologies in advance, I did my best.

I love a classic garden veggie burger. I’m actually no longer vegetarian, but I still try my best to eat mostly vegetarian (I travel internationally too much to fully avoid meat if I wanna try food from other cultures) and when I was fully vegetarian, I ate a lot of black beans. A lot. To the point where I have pretty much burnt myself out on them. Does anyone have recommendations for either recipes or frozen veggie burgers you like that are that classic garden veggie burger taste?

I was just looking for cooking instructions for Corn Jacks when I accidently downloaded a product data sheet... as I read it I was alarmed to discover that it listed Animal Fat as an ingredient.

I immediately freaked out as I have been eating these for years.

When I look at product descriptions everywhere else it does not list and animal products, but on the offical doco it does, so now I don't know that to believe.

They have made reaching out to the manufacturer extremely difficult, but I will try anyway!

I will start a class-action lawsuit if they have been lying.

Hi, feel free to remove if this doesn't belong, sorry

I'm an aspiring flexitarian, I suppose? But due to circumstances, such as disability and living situation, I eat to survive right now. I had made some small moves forward by cutting out beef and pork products but after a recent and pretty harsh fall, I've been unable to cook by myself without help, so im having to make adjustments.

I used to be able to make boxed meals myself, but now I need a little help, which is ok. But all the varieties are meat based, "Hamburger Helper", "Chicken Helper" and "Tuna Helper", no "Veggie Helper". I tried replacing hamburger with mushrooms in one box, but I honestly I think the product lacks a bit.

Is there something I could do, a recipe blog or a system, to make my own "Veggie Helper" packages? Maybe a ziploc a mix of seasoning, add pasta/rice and some veggies(dried or frozen)

I can start messing around with it myself(with help of course) but I wanted to know if someone has some really good recipes, blogs, videos or tips first

Soon to be moving in with vegetarian gf, want to know what best option is for meat alternatives? So far it's mostly been frozen bags of quorn pieces or quorn mince but it's quite expensive for just 500g bags each time. Are there any like bulk buying options, be it quorn or other?

Thanks!

I recently acquired 2 giant bags of dried chickpeas. I realize you have to soak them to use them, but what are some tasty chickpea recipes (besides falafel and hummus)? Thank you!

What are your tips and tricks to making fried tofu?

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'd say my diet is about 90% vegetarian. One of my favorite things is fried tofu and, while what I make isn't bad, I can never really seem to get it right.

I always use firm/extra firm tofu, I always pressed to release any extra liquid, I've air fried and fried in a skillet, I've used varying kinds of flour and cornstarch, but something usually ends up going wrong.

I worked at an Oregon summer camp a number of years ago, and for banquet we ordered an array of different meatless products (either vegetarian or vegan or gluten free) for those with dietary restrictions. For a brief period we ordered from either Sysco or Food Services of America (it changed from time to time) and found an excellent meatless turkey patty that I can’t seem to find anywhere and should like to find again.

It was around a 1/2” to 3/4” thick, was kind of gray/tan, maybe 6” long at max, an ovular patty/steak in sometimes unique shapes, and was extremely juicy. Texture was similar to a tofu or soy product, but not unlike halloumi cheese. There were sometimes raised bumps sporadically across the surface that would brown and crisp when cooked but no major chunks or pieces within; homogenized. Not breaded, to my recollection, simply the same colour throughout.

Any thoughts on the brand, name, or where to locate? Thanks in advance!

I love drinking broth. Since I’ve become vegetarian, I’m having a hard time finding a replacement for my bone broth fixation. The closest I’ve come in a vegetarian pho broth I make. I want something complex and comforting. Any recommendations? Homemade or store bought are equally as appreciated

Ive tried conventional american sweet potatoes and I do not mind the taste, but I would prefer something more dry, starchy, and less moist like the japanese sweet potatoes.

Ive also tried Kombucha Squash and I was fond of the starchy texture.

Any recommendations for “starchy, dry, texture” vegetables like the japanese sweet potato?

Edit: With a hint of sweetness or more

I’ve had tofu pressing in the refrigerator since yesterday morning. I thought I would be making it today, but I had something come up and won’t be able to cook it until tomorrow. Will it still be fresh and good enough to cook?

Hi y’all. I volunteer for an group that provides free vegetarian meals twice a month for my local community. I got 10 lbs of frozen Sweet Earth “Awesome” burgers handed down from the food bank and I’m trying to figure out how to cook as many of them as possible while making sure they are cooked all the way through and still taste good.

I was thinking some combo of oven and stovetop? Sadly I don’t have a grill. Any ideas?

Update: Made it work using my oven on the air-fry setting. Definitely should have read all the comments and not used parchment paper, because they put off a lot of liquid, but I was able to drain it off. They came out well! Started with 32 patties, and only had 5 left at the end, so we fed quite a few folks! Thanks everyone.

I love hummus and I put it in lots of recepies.

What unique ways do you use your?

I often use the red pepper hummus in my mashed patatoes, about 3:1 it gives the mashed patotoes a philadelphia cream cheese taste and a nice color.

I have used it to make a hollandaise-like sauce for my poached eggs.

It's going to be quite hot so I don't want to bring anything that tastes bad warm.

I've been trying to eat healthier but also on a tight budget. Just wondering what the healthy eaters have for the bulk of their meals.

Whenever I try to fry tofu it sticks to my frying pan! Any idea what I’m doing wrong or advice on how to avoid this?

I'm going to Taco Bell later today to order vegitarian only dishes and I want to know where else you all go for fast food.

I don't care about healthy or low calorie. Only that they have tasty meat free dishes.

I'd like to make a ranch/creamy pasta salad similar to my mother's, but she uses chunks of salami and/or ham in combination with veggies and chunks of cheese. I've made it without and I find myself missing that extra piece, especially the bit of salt it brings.

Any good meat alt sub for the chunks? I've considered tofu, but I've never made it firm enough to withstand the rigors of pasta salad mixing. Deli meats might be okay but I would prefer something I can cut into chunks/cubes.

Edit: thanks all! These are great suggestions!

Hi! To start, I am not actually a vegetarian. However, I am pretty close to being one (in a sense) because I do not enjoy most meat and don’t eat meat too often. I also find meat to be very inconsistent so I don’t really like to bother. Sometimes it tastes okay, sometimes it’s chewy and undercooked (in my opinion). I am also upset by the way animals are treated so I no longer eat mammals of any kind. I rarely eat fish. I occasionally eat chicken and turkey (usually turkey). Basically, chicken and turkey are the only types of meat I ever find myself eating. However, I don’t even like to eat most dishes with chicken or turkey in it at restaurants because (again) the inconsistency of how meat is cooked and tastes.

I LOVE vegetables and go crazy for vegetable focused dishes. My family calls me a picky eater a lot (which is unfortunately true in many ways). I have been a vegetarian in the past and have considered becoming one again.

Anyway, going out to eat at restaurants is such a challenge for me. Basically EVERYTHING has meat in it. Seriously, everything! And barely any restaurants have vegetarian options.

How do you guys go out to eat? Any options in the western suburbs of Chicago?

I have found myself declining to go out to eat with my family a few times recently due to how meat-focused every place seems to be. It just doesn’t even seem worth my time. I really wish more restaurants would consider offering vegetarian and vegan options.

I appreciate any tips or suggestions!

Edit: So, yeah. I exaggerated a little. There are usually some vegetarian options. But, they are usually pretty bland or kind of juvenile. I don’t love ordering Mac and cheese while everyone else is eating sophisticated dishes. I tend to order a Caesar salad a lot but that gets old. So, yeah I exaggerated a bit, but it still can be really difficult to find good vegetarian meals.

2nd edit: Surprised I need to say this but there is a huge difference between the city and the suburbs. Also, I live an hour away from the city so it’s not close. I also have epilepsy so I avoid long drives (although taking the train is an option). It’s just not convenient at all for me.

I made these kind of birria taco inspired chili tacos with my vegetarian chili, flour tortillas, and cheese. I've already posted both recipes on an earlier post (I make them both at least once a week) and it's linked in a comment below. When I have access to masa harina, I'd do them with corn tortillas, but these were really good. I think they'd also be better served with crema. It comes together pretty quick with the chili and tortillas done ahead of time and can liven up eating the same pot of chili for a few days straight.

Chili tacos:

Ingredients: -Chili (my chili has whole beans in it, so it doesn't have the small chunks of some. With thicker chilis your consome may not be as thin and sauce-like and your filling runny) -Tortillas (preferably corn though flour were used here) -Cheese that melts well (cheddar was used above) -Garnishes (onion, cilantro, lime, pickled red onions, jalapeños) -Sauces (crema, salsa de aguacate, whatever sounds good)

1. Cook chili or reheat on the stove. If reheating, add some water to get back moisture and even have it on the runny side. The consome will be that cooking liquid so it is important its not too thick. The chili can be cooked down further afterwards.

2. Dip tortillas in the chili directly or in cooking liquid taken aside. Cover both sides in the liquid.

3. Add cheese to one half of the tortilla so it can be easily folded, then a bit less chili than would cover the half, draining some of the moisture back into the pot (a wooden spoon and ladle works well), then a bit more cheese.

4. Move the tortilla to a hot griddle and fold in half. Cook until it has some char and crispiness. Flip and so the same. I find flipping about the fold mitigates slipping. Press the taco with the spatula.

5. Serve with some of the cooking liquid from the chili, and desired garnishes and sauces (at least lime, onion, and cilantro).

Wanna make a quick pho broth, prepping for a weekday meal. Looking for a good ready made or almost pho broth ( like Ocean's Halo but the reviews are terrible) or stock/bouillon cubes. I don't have most of the hard spices in my cabinet to be able to make it from scratch. What do you recommend?

This is not my recipe, but here is the link I followed.

Ingredients

1 pound fresh white noodles or lo mein egg noodles (450g)

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar (plus 1 teaspoon hot water to dissolve the sugar in)

Pinch of five spice powder (optional) 1 tablespoon oil

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (shiitakes, button mushrooms, or anything you like)

1 scallion (split at the thick parts and cut into 2-inch lengths)

1 bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow; julienned) 1 small carrot (julienned)

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 cup snow peas (trimmed)

1 cup leafy greens (bok choy, choy sum, etc.)

Instructions Boil water in a large pot for the noodles. If using the lo mein egg noodles, you can skip this step, as those noodles do not require any pre-cooking. But if using fresh white noodles, you will have to boil them. Just cook until al dente, drain, and rinse in cold water. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauces, sesame oil, dissolved sugar, and five spice powder, if using. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over high heat and add the garlic, mushrooms, and the white parts of the scallions. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and add the peppers and carrots. Make sure your wok is searing hot, and then add the Shaoxing wine. Stir-fry for another minute.

Next, add the snow peas and leafy greens to the wok and cook until the greens are just wilted. Then add your noodles. Make sure that before you add them, they’re somewhat loose and not all clumped together (you can rinse them in warm water to loosen them up before adding them to the wok).

Pour your sauce mixture over the noodles and stir-fry until the color of the noodles are uniform. A folding or scoop-and-lift motion works well for that. Once everything is well-combined, dish out the noodles and serve.

I saw someone ask a question about tofu on this sub, and I know that outside of Asia, most tofu is the firm or solid kind. I'm from Asia, been vegetarian 15 years and tbh the only reason I could be vegetarian is because of tofu. So I'd like to share all the different kinds of tofu and tofu related products we get in Asia and hopefully you can find in an Asian supermarket near you. If you don't like tofu, one of these is bound to change your mind (and my money is on tofu pok!) -sorry if this already exists somewhere in this sub-

1. Firm tofu - this is normal tofu. It's not very firm and not very soft, it is amazing when fried so the skin becomes crispy. Good for virtually any dish. Super easy to crumble as well.

2. Extra firm tofu - this is the one I see most people in the West using. People usually press this so that the texture becomes less moist and you can tear it apart to resemble chicken. Many people also freeze this because it then becomes a little spongy when you cook it. This tofu is also great to marinate and use as tofu steaks or fry like chicken.

3. Japanese pressed tofu - this tofu is pretty soft in texture. It comes in a tray, you flip the whole block out of the tray and slice it up. Usually great in ramen and soups. Miso soup with this tofu is the best.

4. Soft/smooth/silken tofu - this tofu is suuuuper soft. Like, you need precision so you don't break it. It also comes in a tray with water, you slit the plastic at the top and plop the tofu out directly in whatever you want to cook it in. This tofu is perfect for steaming - just place it in a bowl, pour some soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, red chilli and spring onions over it and steam away. People also like using this tofu to blend and create sauces as a replacement for cream.

5. Egg tofu - for the ovo-vegetarians out there. This tofu comes in a plastic tube and is yellowish. You slice it and deep fry it, really good for sizzling dishes or with soy sauce. Nice with noodles too. // Note that you can also get smooth, eggless tofu in a tube, that's more white and says silken tofu or smooth tofu instead of egg tofu.

6. Tofu pok / deep fried tofu puffs - my absolute favourite tofu in the world. This tofu is spongy, and when you cut it in half you can see that it's porous inside. So it's great to absorb things - therefore great in soups, ramen, curries. You can also fill it with things and deep fry it for a snack.

7. Seasoned tofu - this tofu is already fried and seasoned. There are different kinds, eg. Five spice tofu, seaweed tofu. You can just cut them up and use them straight away. Great for stir fries, noodles or fried rice.

8. Tofu skin/ fuzhuk - this is another one of my favourites and it comes in different varieties. These are the skins removed from heating soy milk and dried. You can sometimes also get them fresh. You can do lots with these - usually tear it up and cook it in curries or soups, or you can soak them for a while, then fill them, roll them and fry them. You can also marinate and pan fry them like bacon. These skins also come in rolls or sticks which are good for soup.

There are more, but these are the most popular ones. Happy trying all the different kinds of tofu and the millions of things you can do with them, everyone!

Does anyone know of a brand of black bean burgers that are thick? I buy the Morningstar and like that but I would like something thicker. Sam's use to have a thick black bean burger but I haven't seen it there in a long time.

Hello all,

When I was in university, there was a Thai restaurant on campus that made the most amazing (in my opinion) tofu. The texture was kind of spongy, full of holes that held a bunch of the curry in was cooked in.

Whenever I make tofu, it comes out…. Not like that. Nor have I been served tofu at any other restaurant like this. It’s usually more solid/crumbly. I haven’t experimented much so far, but I’m wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to up my tofu game? Thank you.

https://preview.redd.it/8inrppasxqad1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=09fff61d574be82227e48b1c882e2751f4b78b23

Made this the other day and could eat it every day until I die. Recipe below. You can also roast the radishes if you're short on time or sensitive to how much oil it takes to confit.

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 6 radishes with healthy greens intact
• Olive oil, to confit the radishes
• 1 c. ricotta
• Zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Sprinkle of freshly cracked pepper
• Sprinkle of capers
• Honey for drizzling
• Optional: a handful of fresh herbs

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 300.

If the leaves of your radishes are beautiful, I recommend leaving them on. Thoroughly wash your radishes and slice them in half, lengthwise. Put in a shallow dish and pour in olive oil until they’re just covered. Add salt and pepper.

Bake at 300 for 1-1.5 hours- this will vary based on the size of your radishes. At the 1 hour mark, check the radishes for doneness. A fork will easily go through them when done!

While your radishes are cooking, get your puff pastry out of the freezer and let thaw.

Mix 1 c. ricotta with lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reserve the lemon juice for the end. Set aside.

Pull the radishes out of the oil and set on a paper towel. Be sure to dab the leaves to soak up excess oil. Keep the oil for salad dressings, or cooking vegetables. It will have a beautiful earthy flavor from the radishes.

Turn up the oven to 400 degrees.

Lay out a thawed puff pastry. If you know how to reliably produce puff pastry from scratch, do that, but I’m an inexperienced baker and opt for the premade pastry.

Create a small crust by folding the pastry over itself just on the edges.

Spread the ricotta mixture on the pastry, and then arrange the radishes. Cook the pastry for 14-16 minutes in the oven, until the pastry is browned and risen.

Add capers, honey, lemon juice, and fresh herbs if you so desire. Slice and enjoy!

https://preview.redd.it/lgia4uwoxqad1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f2ae86509e723e7dee12a9c4d3dead50c57f557

In the 1970s, I went to a daycare run by Seventh Day Adventists. They fed us lunch, and they made this one dish I absolutely loved. For those that don't know, SDAs tend to follow a vegetarian diet, so I suspect this meal was vegetarian. I always referred to it as "macaroni and green beef" (I was 4-5). It consisted of pasta, something the consistency of hamburger, and it was all tinted a kind of olive/sage green color. Hence my name for it. I'm wondering if anyone knows "vintage" vegetarian recipes and might have some clue as to what this could have been. Vegetarian/Vegan food options today are so much more expansive, which has made it hard to search for something like this. Plus, it's pretty simple and vague.

It's been bugging me for years, I really want to scratch that nostalgia itch from my childhood. Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

The food basically consisted of two ingredients -- 1) mixed pasta (macaroni, pinwheels, etc) like you'd see used to make kids art projects at the time. Color not consistent with spinach pasta (too pale), but more the color it would be if you cooked it in some sort of broth of that color. 2) spongy, hamburger-like substance that many suggests might have been "TVP", which fits the time period. 3) If I had to mention a third, there was a little bit of a clear, greenish broth (not enough to be called soup, but also not a sauce), with maybe some visible green flakes/particles no larger than dried parsley.

Again, this was food made for preschoolers at a not-fancy daycare in the 1970s. Think more like an easy slow-cooker food for kids than something using any fresh-prepared ingredients.

I'm going to grill a couple of veggie weenies with some baked beans and potato salad.

Hi, I'm looking for some good zucchini recipes (preferably savory) as my zucchini plants are currently bearing fruits like crazy. No food allergy, just no dill or cumin please. I have full kitchen available. My usual zucchini recipes: pancakes, couscous, ratatouille, frittata

edit: thank y'all for the recipes and ideas!