Vegetarian & Vegan food

Damn, how did I miss @not4sale 's offer of jerusalems... There's an awesome chutney recipe (guardian, Alys Fowler, if anybody's interested)... would have had them like a shot if you are near enough.

Only problem with using wine for the slurry is it's going in at the and and you won't burn the alcohol off so you'll taste it.

-Thicken with a slurry of cornflour and water to your desired consistency. Don't add cornflour directly to the pot as it will form clumps.

My mother taught me to thicken with a beurre manié

Before the stock and after the wine, and Bob's your uncle.

Anyway, I came here to ask about reducing meat.

For a while now, I've been reducing the meat in my diet, at the very least keeping it to one meal a day. Not for any health or ethical reasons, other than I reckon the world could do with less meat consumption.

I feel I'm getting something wrong though - I realise that meals tend to be focused around a central meat dish, with veg / fruit / pulses etc... being accompaniments.

I've got a few go-to vegetarian recipes, but I guess i need a go-to format, much like meat & 2 veg.

Is quorn palatable? It can often form the central protein to be adorned with veggies.

I guess veggie meals tend to have a single item on the plate, a dollop of curry or a stew, or lasagna...

We generally have something, salad/green veg and stodge. Stodge being a carb like cous cous/rice/quinoa/potatoes etc, salad/greens just made up of whatever we have in, and the something being the main part of the dish (stuffed peppers/beetroot gratin/roast veg/curry/pie/fritters/chilli/etc/etc/etc). Means you don't have to think too much about the accompaniments, just the "something" part and then the rest is whatever is in the cupboard/fridge.

I've been doing the same. I've been mainly eating spicy soups, dahls, beans dishes. Which are tasty but it's all a bit wet. Saw a recipe for aubergine katsu curry that I'm going to try for something with a bit of texture variation.

I've found myself doing exactly what you've aimed at, key for me was to buy a couple of good vegetarian cookbooks as I think there isn't such a clear "format" for meals as you might have with meat - i can recommend Green Kitchen and a Modern Way to Eat, both full of good + easy recipes (they do get a bit "super foods" now and again but you can ignore that as the recipes are actually nice)

Jamie Oliver has a korma paste (which i add moar coconut to) that I use with aubergines - I half, score, oil & roast the aubergines first, then fry off the paste, add the aubergines, then add coconut milk (just the solids if you want to keep it dry).

Fancy veggie recipes (and some meat), always one ingredient impossible to find: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/yotam-ottolenghi-recipes

Easy plant-based stuff: https://minimalistbaker.com/

Lots of recipes to emulate meat counterparts: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/

Whole roast cauliflower amazingness: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/10/whole-roast-cauliflower-muhammara-spices-recipe-thomasina-miers

Typical format is to mix "amino acids"* and get plenty of fresh veg. So brown rice with, say, gomashio (sesame seeds) or tofu or lentils or some other pulse. Then add fresh veg -- preferably, greens of some kind -- to go with it. That is your basic vegetarian diet.

You can do other combinations of seeds and nuts and pulses with grains (rice, wheat, millet, etc.). And obviously vary your veg as well. Generally, you don't need quaron and such like.

• *one grain doesn't have all the amino acids to make full protein, so you mix them. A falafel, for example, has wheat (the outside wrap) and chickpeas and tahini (on the inside), and so is balanced.
  

always one ingredient impossible to find

Challenge accepted.

Cheers for all the suggestions though!

Yes, thanks for the recommendations.

Red Dragon pie is a more than acceptable substitute for shepherd's pie.
Loads of versions online, here's the first I found
http://thinlyspread.co.uk/2011/02/28/meat-free-monday-red-dragon-pie/

Oh yeah toasted seeds on EVERYTHING!

Don’t try too hard. I’ve been cooking from Ottolenghi for the past year and just make do with whatever I can buy easily. Can’t say that the dishes have suffered as a result. They are a bit of a faff though. The tarts and pies are very good and last for several meals.

We generally live off pasta and veggies, or Quorn products and veggies. Took us a bit of time to find out which products we liked and which we didn’t. Freezer is useful.

As above, quorn is such an easy thing to replace meat with. You barely have to change your diet.
However, Linda McCartney frozen stuff is on another level. Pulled Pork burgers are a personal recommendation

Fry's cutlets make a great katsu.

And as ^, LMc have really stepped it up quality-wise in the last few years, and have much more vegan stuff than Quorn.

Skully I have loads left and they are still in the ground - so fresh.

I'm up here top of Shooters Hill but I get down to Lewisham regularly.

Have you got a decent sauce recipe?

If you can be bothered, rolling Quorn fillets in flour, egg then Panko Breadcrumbs makes a great Katsu protein. Slice after frying...

Sauce wise I think there’s one in Ottolenghi ‘plenty’ or ‘plenty more’ both worth getting...

Orly!?

I walk to dog on a weekend at Oxleas, I could swing by one week! Let me know in a PM when you get round to digging some up, and I'll come the following w/e...

I'll take tons, the chutney's badass. Jars for you natch.

Will do.