The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[ApertureRomance]

I've been vegetarian since I was born so I'm lucky in that respect. I've gotten into cooking recently and I love it , my favourite being a Greek style recipe with butter beans and mint.

I'd go vegan but I like cheese too much

 

[mousquerader]

I abso-freakin'-lutely LOVE allrecipes.com. Here's a link to the vegetarian section: http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Vegetarian/Main.aspx

 

[adi]

^ oh it even has the nutrition facts on every recipe. i'm already in love with that site that's like every girls best friend

 

[tott]

http://missvickie.com tells you all you need to know about cooking with pressure cookers; they're the best, everything cooks so quickly!

Perfect if you want to cook beans yourself instead of buying canned, for instance.

 

[ApertureRomance]

Thankyou for the links !

 

[Deleted member 36123]

Thanks for the link to the site It has given me some yummy fresh ideas!

 

[marcy248]

I need to find a good butternut squash chili receipe. Anyone have one?

 

[Anastasia]

This one is super tasty, from Bon Appetit:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 1/2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled butternut squash
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
3 cups (packed) coarsely chopped Swiss chard leaves (from 1 small bunch)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender and golden, about 9 minutes. Add squash; stir 2 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cumin. Stir in beans, broth, and tomatoes with juices; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in chard; simmer until chard is tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.

Makes 4 main-course servings. I throw a dollop of sour cream on it too.


I was vegetarian for years growing up, because we couldn't afford meat. Vegan for awhile too, because of the same reason. I eat meat now, but enjoy meatless meals just as much, most of the time.

My sister chose to return to vegetarianism when we were teens, and stuck with it for 10 years...recently though she's been eating meat, while still calling herself a vegetarian. Like, she fries up bacon when she's drunk. And doesn't count chicken wings as meat. Or hotdogs. When she told me she ran out and bought a cheesesteak, and when I called this weekend and the boyfriend was out buying hamburger, it was just...give it up. She's afraid she'll lose friends (most of whom are very vocal vegetarians) if she admits it's not for her anymore.

 

[marcy248]

This one is super tasty, from Bon Appetit

That sounds terrific! Thank you very much!

 

[misssakura]

Watched fast food nation yesterday. Really atrocious film, poorly cut, looks ugly, doesn't make a point, mediocre acting. Very disappointed.

Also made a thai green curry, went to buy some green curry paste and found out that it had SHRIMP in it. Ugh. So I had to buy all the raw ingredients which in a way cost more but in a way didn't because you have to use less of each one. Turned out quite well except I put a bit too much chili in and not enough coconut.

 

[in the miso soup]

you guys are making me so hungry . . . . WAAAAH

it's nice to know that there are other vegetarians around here . . . that people have ethical interests and morals, on top of being wonderfully stylish.

i can't wait to home (i'm at school now) and cook some of these recipes! i think tonight i'm cooking the morrocan lentil soup recipe i got from allrecipes.com (thanks for the link!) but i am sooo looking forward to being able to cook those stuffed peppers someone posted a few pages back! thanks!!

i also have a great recipe i'd love to share with you guys when i have more time. curried veggie burgers. YUM YUM YUM. anybody interested?

 

[Bel]

Is there a word for a diet that excludes only vertebrates? I cound imagine cutting out eggs and dairy, but not honey. And it would include shellfish too.
Not that it matters if there's a word for it, I'm just curious.

 

[kateelle]

I was a strict vegan for 4-5 years then had chicken one day. It was gooood.

 

[misssakura]

That's the point. It is really good...insanely good. But the small sacrifice can help so many living things ....it's not always easy but we can't be selfish in this day and age. Too many problems being caused by excessive consumption and production of meat.

 

[kateelle]

That's the point. It is really good...insanely good. But the small sacrifice can help so many living things ....it's not always easy but we can't be selfish in this day and age. Too many problems being caused by excessive consumption and production of meat.

I don't think there is a problem with excessive production of meat, nor do I find consumption of meat to be selfish. I don't want to sound defensive, don't take it the wrong way please! I was vegan not for any ethical purposes, but because I thought it would be a healthier choice (only ate organics, a true health freak) but I became anemic and was feeling weak constantly even if I took vitamins regularly, so I reformed. I find there's nothing wrong with killing and eating animal meat, there is hierarchy of value and animals to me, are not quite up there.

 

[misssakura]

Re: Heirachy

Put it this way, my boyfriend got me a cheap $20 ring, but I prefer it more than the $400 one. Ergo it has value regardless of whether it's the prettiest or most expensive ring.

Re: Excessive production

I do beg to differ just from everything i've seen personally, to endlessly researching the matter. As I said before, it's not to do whether it's right or wrong to be omnivorous and eat meat (although as I stated before I don't personally feel it's necessary in this day and age), it's to do whether it's right to create excessive pollution, to spread disease among livestock, to make animals endure suffering (of course this doesn't necessarily apply to smaller organic farms although transportation and slaughterhouse policies are always going to be somewhat barbaric) and to deny the majority of the population access to healthy vegetation instead of poor quality junk meat (which is the majority of meat produced).

I say it's selfish because I feel it's completely unecessary given the proven research on how detrimental meat farming is to the environment, and how land could be better used to preserve precious soil and farm crops for human consumption.

Re: feeling weak constantly

That's just odd..I've felt so much stronger since becoming a vegetarian and I know a helluva lot of strong healthy vegans/vegetarians. Then again all of them cook from scratch all of the time and have quite a varied diet. I do think you need to know how to cook if you're going to be vegetarian. It's a must. Can't just throw a slab of steak into a frying pan and be done with it.

 

[kateelle]

rings are rings, they have sentimental valued attachments to them and are entirely different subject matter to even compare to humans and animals. Human life will ALWAYS (even the homeless) hold more value to me than animal life.

Lets not make one overview generalization how vegans and vegetarians are more healthy than those who are not. It isn't a matter of cooking, my father is an organic chef and is also vegetarian so preparation of food was not the issue.

 

[misssakura]

It's not that i'm making an overview about how all vegetarians are healthier - merly that your post seemed to imply that one could not get adequate nutrition from a vegetarian diet as you became so sick and anaemic from it.

So because something doesn't have as much value, means that it's worthless? I'm sorry I really don't share that same opinion. Worth is worth regardless of the 'quantity'. I made the comparison with the rings not as a literal translation but because it shows how even things that may not conform to a pre-defined standard are still worth something.

I still believe that if people were compassionate, and ONLY when we're compassionate towards all living things can we treat one another with respect and compassion.

The world needs to change...

And I wish I had the luxury of an organic vegetarian chef for a father!

 

[kateelle]

Again, rings do not have life and are empty objects. If you value materialism to human life; well that’s just you and I have my own views. What about quantity? I don’t understand how thats even relevant to anything....
Anyway, it was slow graduation, I wasn’t "sick" in just one month or such. My point is exactly the opposite of how you've translated my post. I'm not saying because it lacks value it has no worth. That’s redundancy. You must not have understood my post. Would a homeless person have "value" to society? Probably not, does not mean he is worthless. I would value that homeless person more than a beloved animal. That is the hierarchy of life. Just making my point clear so you understand me this time, I won't go further into this disagreement if thats all it is.

 

[misssakura]

It seems we are both misunderstanding one another's posts then.

You say that quantity has no relevance and that just confuses me, we're talking about how much worth something has, ergo a quantity of worth.

We're both arguing essentially the same thing, I'm merely stating that just because a human may or may not have more intellectual capacity and therefore more worth from a human perspective it doesn't cheapen or diminish the worth and intellectual capacity of another species.

I'd also like to point out that once again you're misinterpreting my statement with the rings. I'm not chosing materials, inanimate objects over human life and it sort of baffles me how you could interpret my post that way. It's an analogy as to how things which may not immediately appear to have worth in fact do.

I agree that to us, a humanlife is more valuable, we can communicate with it, empathise, collaborate. I do slightly resent the use of 'homeless person', that bears no weight with me, homeless people are merely people without homes, it in no way diminishes their mental capacity. I'd rather refer to severely mentally incapacitated people if we're discussing value in society.

Don't get me wrong, if I was standing by a river and there was a human child drowning and oh lets say, a cat (again, do you ever see this situation happening haha), i'm going to save the child. No question. My allegiance in general is to respectable functioning humans. But you know, I have the argument thrown at me time and time again "you should care about humans and not animals" or "humans are worth more than animals". And it irks me because I wonder "why can't we care about both?".

Again, i'm merely expanding my points to try and make them as clear as possible. I discuss the topic merely because I like to engage in thought, I like to engage other people in thought. This is a subject that's very dear to me and I like to get other people really truly thinking about it, they challenge me, I challenge them. Only then can we make the best choices for ourselves.