I’m looking for something that I can substitute for meat in a low fat, low cholesterol diet. So whole grains are probably the thing. I’ve tried tofu but I don’t really want to use that; I’m trying to save money, actually, on the cost of meat as a source of protein. Tofu is okay, i like it sometimes, but I don’t think my family will like it all that much as a meat substitute. And admittedly I wouldn’t be that happy either. LOL
I’m planning on a visit to Whole Foods (yeah, I know … whole paycheck, geesh!) some time this week and am hoping to get some idea on what grains I can get that won’t cost an arm and a leg. I know a bit about quinoa; I think there’s other, newer things available. Any help would be -greatly- appreciated!
Dried beans are the obvious choice for cheap, yummy, and proteinalicious. Plus you can buy 'em anywhere, not just at Whole Paycheck. You can use canned beans in a pinch, they’re not as cheap as dried, but also don’t take hours to cook.
Quinoa is good as well, though I think beans are a bit more versatile.
Steel-cut oats for breakfast in the morning are lovely.
Lentils are a great source of protein, versatile, tasty, and more varied than you’d think. Beluga lentils could be nice sprinkled in a salad; pink lentils are great spiced up with turmeric, ginger, and cumin.
Seitan is just about my favorite meat substitute. It’s wheat gluten, and Whole Foods should have a couple of different varieties (seasoned vs. unseasoned). It’s got a nice texture and can be flavored to taste a lot like beef or chicken.
Get yourself some TVP (texturized vegetable protein) granuals if it’s cheap you want. Not all that flavorful but great to add heartiness and protein to spaghetti sauce or chili.
Thanks for the responses so far, this is great! I’ve already got some lentils, Biffy, and am planning on making some dahl with them. I’ll have to check out Beluga lentils, though, sounds intriguing. Athena, yes we’ve tried dried beans and canned beans–thank goodness for the crock pot, it’s made ground turkey and chicken palatable to my family & I. Thanks especially to you, Rufus, I wasn’t sure what exactly seitan was; I had thought it was just another way of making tofu! :smack: I may try some of that, thanks!
Chickpeas are yummy and versatile: add to salads, soups, vegetable sides. Also, you can find commercial hummus that contains no saturated or trans fats and no cholesterol. I’m also a big fan of kidney beans.
Egg whites. All the cholesterol is in the yolk, but the white still has plenty of protein. Make omelettes, use in sauces.
Unsalted peanuts and almonds. No cholesterol, but they do have some saturated fat. Add to salads and use as an edible garnish. Natural peanut butter and almond butter are also healthy protein rich options.
Another option might be to look at cooking that uses meat more as a seasoning than an ingredient–your various Asian cuisines ought to be good for that, as should Middle Eastern food. It might not be the strategy you want to go with long-term, but I’d think it would at least make the transition to mostly meatless eating somewhat smoother.
There are lots of things you can reduce the amount of meat in without it really being a big deal. Like if you make a pot of red beans and rice, and only put in half the amount of sausage, nobody would really notice. If you make fajitas and the filling is mostly pepper and onion, with only a little meat, people would notice but nobody would really mind.
You might also check out some of the Moosewood cookbooks, a lot of their recipes are either veggie or semi-veggie.
And things that are unapologetically meat-free are often much, much more palatable to the average omnivore than things that are supposed to mimic meat. Plants aren’t meat, and they tend to do a piss-poor job of imitating it, so meat substitutes are (ime) often very unattractive, with a disappointing flavor and a rather disturbing texture.
Oh, yeah. Years ago, upon learning that I had high bad cholesterol, I bought a book by Dr. Dean Ornish and found the recipe for Mushroom Stroganoff using Boca Burgers (soy burgers) as a meat substitute. Now, on their own, I don’t care much for Boca Burgers, but in a dish, they make a decent substitute.
The recipe is reprinted here along with many other yummy vegetarian recipes.
This is all so great, thank you all so much. GangsterOctopus. I think what you’ve mentioned is the protein substitute that I’ve been looking for. I’ve eaten it a couple of times and really liked the taste of it, but couldn’t remember what it was called. It’s not as popular in the US as it is in Europe, or not as well known of in the US maybe.
We are already fans of hummus. Delicious stuff indeed!
Quorn (not Quoron ) is pretty tasty IMO–I think their fakeo chicken nuggets kick McNuggets’ gristly pulverized byproduct ass–but it’s not cheap.
Meat has a lot of umami, or savory, flavor to it, and that’s part of its appeal. I’d suggest using a bit of high-savory meat (e.g., fish sauce), or some other umami ingredient (mushrooms, brewer’s yeast, etc.) to satisfy that flavor.
Beans, as previously mentioned, are great; black beans are my favorite.
Ah, Quorn! LOL, thanks Left Hand of Dorkness - no wonder it wasn’t coming up in a Google search! And thanks for the suggestion about the umami flavor, I’ll definitely try that.
I am so appreciative of the feedback in this thread. I’m making an effort to change my diet and eat more healthily but still have tasty food. It’s a fine line to tread sometimes, I realize. This is most definitely helpful, so thanks to ALL of you!
Another vote for TVP. It’s actually quite good in sauces and casseroles. (Like Oredigger77 said )
If your only issue is cost many of the leanest cuts of beef are also the cheapest and go great in dishes where meat is used as a flavoring instead of being the star of the dish. A little bit of bottom round or cube steak goes a long way.
If it’s protein you want try the Barilla Plus pastas.
