Vegetarian?

[Laz116]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

Funny thing.

Back around page 7-8 of this thread, Zelda asked for my Coconut Rum Carrot Cake recipe. On page 9, I gave the recipe. She hasn't made a post since.

I think Zelda is drunk off her arse and gorging herself with carrot cake!!

Well it is weekend after all.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Laz116

My dabbling in meat replacements has only gone as far as to Chili con tofu and, Quorn Lasagna. Neither were succesful.

I find tofu works better in stir fries - you can get it nice and crispy on the outside that way! Marinade it first for more flavour.

I've made lasagna with Quorn mince:

Serves 4-6, probably
One large onion
One pack quorn mince (*)
About half a bottle of passata
About half a bottle of sugacosa/sieved tomatoes & tomato puree mix
Mushrooms if you fancy
Tablespoon or so of olive oil
Garlic (I use about 6 cloves...)
A teaspoon or two of Balsamic vinegar or a few drops of angustura bitters (or both)(**)
Teaspoon of Marigold Swiss Vegetable buillon powder
Herbs of preference - oregano and basil work well, with maybe a bit of thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
Lasagna sheets

For the cheese sauce:
About 25g butter (I'm currently hooked on whey butter for making sauces with)
Flour - plain flour so it looks about the same size as the chunk of butter, or cornflour so it looks about half the size
Milk (3/4 pint or so)
Water (3/4 pint or so)
Teaspoon or two of English mustard powder
Salt and pepper
Mature cheddar (I usually cut about 2" down the long side off the block), diced (you can grate it, but dicing works just as well)

Put oven on to about 175c

In a large frying pan/saute pan/saucepan heat the olive oil, then turn heat down quite low
Chop the onion as finely as you prefer, and fry for several minutes until it starts to turn clear
Chop the garlic and add to pan
Chop and add mushrooms if having
Add the Quorn mince
Turn heat up to medium-ish and fry for 5 minutes
Add passata, sugacosa, herbs, buillon powder, salt & pepper, vinegar/angustura bitters
Stir all together and cook for the length of time indicated on the packet

Whilst that's going on, in a smaller saucepan melt the butter
Once the butter has melted remove pan from heat
Add flour and mustard powder and stir to a smooth paste.
Slowly add milk, stirring all the time, until you have a smooth sauce.
Put back on the heat and keep stirring
Add the cheese, and keep stirring
Once the cheese has melted, slowly add the water, keeping stirring
Taste - and add salt & pepper as needed

Once everything's cooked, grease a large, deep baking tray.
Line the bottom with lasagna sheets (yes, I know that's a weird way of doing it!)
Cover with about half the Quorn sauce
Add another layer of lasagna
Cover with some cheese sauce (about 1/3)
Cover that with remaining Quorn sauce
And a last layer of lasagna
Cover that with remaining cheese sauce
Shove in the oven for about 20 minutes

Once cooked, try to dish up gracefully...

(* Puy lentils work well instead of the quorn mince. As do lots of finely chopped mixed mushrooms)
(** red wine also works)

[Laz116]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

I find tofu works better in stir fries - you can get it nice and crispy on the outside that way! Marinade it first for more flavour.

I've made lasagna with Quorn mince:

Serves 4-6, probably
One large onion
One pack quorn mince (*)
About half a bottle of passata
About half a bottle of sugacosa/sieved tomatoes & tomato puree mix
Mushrooms if you fancy
Tablespoon or so of olive oil
Garlic (I use about 6 cloves...)
A teaspoon or two of Balsamic vinegar or a few drops of angustura bitters (or both)(**)
Teaspoon of Marigold Swiss Vegetable buillon powder
Herbs of preference - oregano and basil work well, with maybe a bit of thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
Lasagna sheets

For the cheese sauce:
About 25g butter (I'm currently hooked on whey butter for making sauces with)
Flour - plain flour so it looks about the same size as the chunk of butter, or cornflour so it looks about half the size
Milk (3/4 pint or so)
Water (3/4 pint or so)
Teaspoon or two of English mustard powder
Salt and pepper
Mature cheddar (I usually cut about 2" down the long side off the block), diced (you can grate it, but dicing works just as well)

Put oven on to about 175c

In a large frying pan/saute pan/saucepan heat the olive oil, then turn heat down quite low
Chop the onion as finely as you prefer, and fry for several minutes until it starts to turn clear
Chop the garlic and add to pan
Chop and add mushrooms if having
Add the Quorn mince
Turn heat up to medium-ish and fry for 5 minutes
Add passata, sugacosa, herbs, buillon powder, salt & pepper, vinegar/angustura bitters
Stir all together and cook for the length of time indicated on the packet

Whilst that's going on, in a smaller saucepan melt the butter
Once the butter has melted remove pan from heat
Add flour and mustard powder and stir to a smooth paste.
Slowly add milk, stirring all the time, until you have a smooth sauce.
Put back on the heat and keep stirring
Add the cheese, and keep stirring
Once the cheese has melted, slowly add the water, keeping stirring
Taste - and add salt & pepper as needed

Once everything's cooked, grease a large, deep baking tray.
Line the bottom with lasagna sheets (yes, I know that's a weird way of doing it!)
Cover with about half the Quorn sauce
Add another layer of lasagna
Cover with some cheese sauce (about 1/3)
Cover that with remaining Quorn sauce
And a last layer of lasagna
Cover that with remaining cheese sauce
Shove in the oven for about 20 minutes

Once cooked, try to dish up gracefully...

(* Puy lentils work well instead of the quorn mince. As do lots of finely chopped mixed mushrooms)
(** red wine also works)

Ty for that. I doubt I'll try quorn again though, since my wife finds the texture "too meaty" for some reason. But it really sounds good with puy lentils or chopped mushrooms. So I'll definitely try that next week.

[griffonwing]

GREASE! That's the answer!

I can take all of the veggies I don't like (being, well, almost all veggies), dip them in batter, and fry them in grease!!

THERE'S my nutrition!

I'll take some of your carrot slices, batter them puppies up and deep fry em, cover them in salt!

Egad, I can already feel my arteries clogging just imagining it...

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

GREASE! That's the answer!

I can take all of the veggies I don't like (being, well, almost all veggies), dip them in batter, and fry them in grease!!

THERE'S my nutrition!

I'll take some of your carrot slices, batter them puppies up and deep fry em, cover them in salt!

Egad, I can already feel my arteries clogging just imagining it...

Ooooh tempura and dipping sauce - yum!

[griffonwing]

batter-dipped and fried in grease can make ANYTHING taste good.

Oh, and THE best seasoning you can find is Cavender's Greek Seasoning. It's good on chicken, eggs, tuna salad, beef, turkey, ANYTHING. I use it as a popcorn salt. And the best thing, it's made right here in Harrison, AR.

If you'd never had any, mI heartily recommend heading to the grocery store and picking up a shaker of it.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by griffonwing

batter-dipped and fried in grease can make ANYTHING taste good.

Oh, and THE best seasoning you can find is Cavender's Greek Seasoning. It's good on chicken, eggs, tuna salad, beef, turkey, ANYTHING. I use it as a popcorn salt. And the best thing, it's made right here in Harrison, AR.

If you'd never had any, mI heartily recommend heading to the grocery store and picking up a shaker of it.

Everytime I see you avatar description it brings back memories of Mountain Home.

Darn I miss that place! (but not raking leaves and the ice storms........)

[griffonwing]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Everytime I see you avatar description it brings back memories of Mountain Home.

Darn I miss that place! (but not raking leaves and the ice storms........)

Really? How can a pirate remind you of a bomber?

(To any and all, the high school mascot of Mt Home were the Bombers. Yes, bomber planes. Harrison mascot is the Goblin. We were rivals. Funny thing is Pyatt mascot was the Pirates. Anyway, a bit of local lore.)

The ice storm this last winter was beautiful. Power was out for most of the area for a week, other parts had no elec for 4 weeks or more. Limbs fell and pulled the phone line from off of my rent house. I laughed and laughed. I only have a cell.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Laz116

My dabbling in meat replacements has only gone as far as to Chili con tofu and, Quorn Lasagna. Neither were succesful.

I'm not a big fan of meat substitutes. There's a chicken patty that's ok in a Parmesan dish, and there are some "sausage" products that I've had that were ok (most of the flavor of sausage is in the spices anyway), but in general I'd rather just have good food that doesn't happen to have meat in it. I like a lot of Indian and Chinese food for that reason. But then again, I don't miss meat, and I actually like vegetables and grains. So there's no "virtue" in my abstention from eating meat. It was a choice that was pretty easy for me to make.

Originally Posted by griffonwing

GREASE! That's the answer!

I can take all of the veggies I don't like (being, well, almost all veggies), dip them in batter, and fry them in grease!!

I have to admit, this was how I found out that I like sweet potatoes-- in tempura. Pretty much anything is good battered and fried in oil.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by nekokami

HansTWN, your advice to live and let live would be stronger if you did not then proceed to try to convince us that eating meat is "right." It's a choice, and choices have consequences. I agree that people should decide for themselves what consequences they prefer and choose accordingly. If you want to base your decisions on what humans have eaten in the past or the shape of our teeth, you are free to do so, but not everyone needs to agree with your reasoning, just as not everyone needs to agree with my reasoning regarding limited resources or health concerns.

The value of a discussion like this is that we can see each other's reasons and consider them in our own decisions, though we may still not come to the same conclusions. I think this works best when we can say "I decided X and this is why," rather than "I decided X and you should too" or "I decided X for these reasons, which you must also accept as being of prime importance."

You totally misunderstood me. I said I decided X and you decided Y and I don't want to be called a "murderer" or "heartless" for doing what comes natural to me. Those who want to be vegans or vegetarians, go ahead. I just don't like people making a religion out of it and trying to convert others. Let vegetarians be vegetarians, let meat eaters be meat eaters. Besides that I was just making a few arguments, why many humans eat meat and that it was the way we evolved. Sure you still have a choice. Go for it, if it makes you happy!

[Xiaopanda]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Humans are adapted to eating meat. Just look at your teeth. Plant eating animals have several stomachs. You don't fault a lion for killing a gazelle, why blame humans for doing what nature intended them to do?

I think there is a good argument that humans are now acting outside of "What nature intended them to do."

For me a life without meat would be so miserable, I cannot even imagine it. .

I thought the same way, then (for reasons best left unexplored in an Ebook forum) I "went vegan" for about 8 months. After a very short amount of time, the smell of meat (even chicken) and animal products (butter, eggs etc..)cooking made me feel very very ill. Might not imagine it, but its true! Its amazing what you can just get used to.

Killing animals for food is not inhumane, it is necessary for our health and survival. Important is that animals are being raised in the right conditions and treated well.

Agreed, it is important that aminals are being raised in the right condtions and treated well.

I have to disagree and say (IMHO) there is no truely humane way to kill another living thing. The best I can do is give thanks to "the forces of the universe" that something (plant or aminal) has died so that I may live.

BTW: Not Vegan anymore, I'm a proud omivore...Viva L'choice!

[yvanleterrible]

I used to be a vegetarian as a youg adult as a matter of principle.

The north American indians whom I share partial heritage with were mostly vegetarian during summer (2 days ) and meat eaters during winter. With the winters here, they had to eat meat because snows were so thick. As they were always on the move, they also couldn't afford to carry much food from harvests, although they used caches at some point.

What I retain from that heritage is that they said a prayer after a kill, thanking the soul of the animal for the survival it will help. That eased my apprehentions towards eating meat.
Once in a while we have a "Raclette" of the traditional beef, pork, turkey, chicken, wild duck, deer, caribou, moose (good stuff!), wild boar (sanglier), horse and emu. With a topping of shrimp. What a feast!

If you can't eat something with a face, cut the head off!

[HansTWN]

Yes, some people are vegans and are healthy, but on the other hand Inuit, some American Indians, and native peoples who live in Siberia never see a vegetable in their lives. And still heart disease is unknown to them, as long as they stick with a traditional diet.

And does anyone know of a vegan who has a physically very demanding job, that requires a lot of strength?

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

I find tofu works better in stir fries - you can get it nice and crispy on the outside that way! Marinade it first for more flavour.

'Marinade it first for any flavour'
I struggle with tofu, haven't found a version I like so far.

Originally Posted by HansTWN

And does anyone know of a vegan who has a physically very demanding job, that requires a lot of strength?

Quite a few sportspeople are vegan.
Carl Lewis said he's best performances were when he was a vegan.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...65316519516434

[GeoffC]

My lady and I say we are Vegan (dietary), but unfortunately minute amounts of milk products appear in medication we both need - otherwise we stick to the general theme.

There are pleasant tasting alternatives for bacon, sausages, meat etc (soya-based); The only problems we have is with making decent Yorkshire Puddings to go with roasted vegetables - the substitute egg doesn't work correctly - but pancakes are a whizz ...... !!!!!