I’ve made up my mind to commit to this. It’s been a week and so far so good. I’ve not had any cravings - not even for chicken, which I always thought I couldn’t live without.
Question now is - anyone has any good veggie recipes to share? Many thanks in advance.
Congratulations! And welcome to the fold. (Has anyone shown you the vegetarian “secret handshake” yet? 
)
I always liked the recipes from Vegetarian Times magazine. And, the McDougall cookbook is easy. (I have used their spaghetti marinara recipe forever.)
Sorry, I don’t have any recipes off the top of my head, just some favorite sources for recipes! But I am sure many other veggie dopers will be able to amply help you out!
You know, when I went veggie (over 10 years ago) it wasn’t that hard either. Sure, I missed meat a little in the beginning, but I didn’t miss all the gristly, too rare, yukky meat that I had been trying to avoid for years, more and more. At least for me, becoming vegetarian was a natural progression.
There’s skadillions to be had by doing a Google search. It always turns up something fun to try. If you like cookbooks, one I wholeheartedly recommend is “Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone” by Deborah Madison. She’s like the Julia Childs of veggie cooking, and I’ve always been pleased with the results from her books.
Here’s something incredibly simple, fast, and tasty from those bastards at PETA:
1½ cups of frozen corn (canned works fine)
1½ cups of lowfat or regular soy milk
2 Tbsp tahini (optional)
1 Tbsp onion granules
1 tsp salt
1 lb fettucine noodles
White pepper
Thaw the corn if you’re using frozen, and place all the ingredients except the fettucine in a blender. Blend until smooth. While doing the blender thing, start water to boiling for the fettucine. Once the water is boiling, cook the fettucine noodles as you normally would. Pour the sauce from the blender into a sauce pan, and heat it over a low heat. Drain the cooked pasta, and mix it with the sauce. It’s quite tasty for something so simple.
You can enjoy it with a nice salad. Or a fifth of decent tequila.
To speed up the recipe more, I usually just add the drained pasta back to the cooking pot and dump in the sauce, heating it over a low flame. Good stuff.
My friend Max is the best veggie I know. When my photgraphy group went to San Diego, he was the only one who brought food while we documented the protests. He brought these “Mock Chicken Wraps” from Trader Joes which, of course, tasted nothing like Chicken, but hot damn! They were good nonetheless. Basically just a letteuce wrap with different spices. Very good, I’d look around for these.
Yes, I was at their website just yesterday (by a strange coincidence - it’s not a place I regularly check out), and they do have some recipes posted online. Some of them even sound pretty tasty!
Congratulations on making the decision! I’ve been veggie for several years on and off now, lately, mostly on. I feel healthier and happier without the meat, plus I can be all self righteous when I see the poultry trucks on the interstate.
Something I enjoy is portabella burgers - a portabella head sauteed in butter, white wine, maybe some garlic and whatever spices strike your fancy, and I like to add slivered onions too, cooked to the proper degree of tender firmness, and served up like a regular hamburger (or a fancy hamburger if you prefer). I don’t have a proper recipe, but that’s pretty much how I do it.
Mushrooms are a fabulous meat substitute - they have a consistency that is not unpleasant and a somewhat “meaty” flavor in the proper context. Also, zuchinni and aubergine (eggplant) have smilar qualities and work well in soups, stews, casseroles, stir fry, etc, IMO best cut into chunks about 3/4 inch on a side.
Also don’t forget all the sources of non-meat protien - beans and rice, peanut products (try Thai or Malaysian cooking if that’s your bag), and soy. Soy can be nearly all things to all people, if you know how to flavor it. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them offhand.
I have a cookbook published some years ago by Vegetarian Times that has lots of meat substitute ideas, and many alternative protien sources. I would definitely reccomend getting a good cookbook or three specifically for vegetarian cooking, as most cookbook ideas for veggies are at best glorified side dishes. Quality, substantive fare is key to success.
I love vegetables. Never was able to get into fruit too much, though.
I suppose if I ever needed to become a vegetarian, I could, because I just love food in general, but MAN, I don’t know how you could give up cow. I love cow. Grilled, baked, charbroiled. And seafood. Do you eat seafood? Will you stop? Will you be vegan? I don’t mean to be rude, I’m just curious. I gave up pork, it was giving me way to many stomach aches, but I still sneak a little in sometimes.
Heloise, the nosey omnivore
I find that once you stop eating or drinking something, the craving goes away.
Have you gone to the locla health food store?