Vegetarian Meals: Tasty & Affordable for Vegans

[Evo]

Moonbear answered ahead of me.

Supply and demand dictates that meat is given more attention than vegetables, as most people prefer meat.

It depends where you shop here. Some of the grocery stores here have incredible produce sections. In the summer, a local farmer sells fresh fruits and vegetables at the corner of the main street in my town, we have a stop light now! (it turns out I live in an official ghost town). He has wonderful produce, and he's cheap.

 

[laminatedevildoll]

I will still eat a cow's stomach though, if it is fresh and nicely prepared

I wish I had the guts to eat that.

 

[Smurf]

It's not polite on either side. If someone invites a person to dinner, it is incredibly rude of the guest to make requests. If they aren't willing to eat whatever their host chooses to serve, they should turn down the invitation, not try to dictate the menu.

I would consider it extremely bad and impolite hosting not to prepare food to someone's special food needs (i.e. vegetarian) if they have any. Any good host will find out ahead of time if their invitees have any such condition or allergies and will not prepare a meal that they can't eat.

However, preparing extra (i.e. meat if someone isn't a vegetarian) is not necessary, because it's not a restriction the person has, it's a preference.

ah screw it.

 

[Evo]

I would consider it extremely bad and impolite hosting not to prepare food to someone's special food needs (i.e. vegetarian) if they have any. Any good host will find out ahead of time if their invitees have any such condition or allergies and will not prepare a meal that they can't eat.

However, preparing extra (i.e. meat if someone isn't a vegetarian) is not necessary, because it's not a restriction the person has, it's a preference.

It can get a bit crazy though, what if they're Orthodox Jewish? I don't have a Kosher kitchen. I use the same utensils and pots for meat, milk and vegetables and I don't have a Kosher water filter (after the microscopic crustacean water crisis in New York). I'd have to buy all new cookware, utensils, cutting boards, etc...

Yes, if you invite someone to eat with you, it is now politically correct to find out what they will not eat, is it also ok to uninvite them if they turn out to be a royal pain in the rear?

What do you do if one guest is on Atkins (low carb) and the other is vegetarian (high carb). One won't eat sugar, the other has a wheat allergy, and one is lactose intolerant. I guess I could hand out a 10 page questionaire to anyone before I invite them.

 

[Smurf]

It can get a bit crazy though, what if they're Orthodox Jewish? I don't have a Kosher kitchen. I use the same utensils and pots for meat, milk and vegetables and I don't have a Kosher water filter (after the microscopic crustacean water crisis in New York). I'd have to buy all new cookware, utensils, cutting boards, etc...

Yes, if you invite someone to eat with you, it is now politically correct to find out what they will not eat, is it also ok to uninvite them if they turn out to be a royal pain in the rear?

If I had any such restrictions I would uninvite myself, because it is also incredibly impolite on the guest's part to be a hassle for the host. Not cooking meat, however, is not a hassle.

 

[Smasherman]

True, some areas have wonderful selections. Unforunately it's not the norm. The US is a predominantly meat-eating society, so meat has a main focus. Cities and some small towns have excellent vegetable selections, though. I know of one fairly small town with severalgood vegetarian and vegan restaurants.

I happen to live in a ranch town, so meat is in almost everything, though not because of the cattle so much as the attitude. The cattle are too valuable to feed to to our poor populace.

 

[Evo]

If I had any such restrictions I would uninvite myself, because it is also incredibly impolite on the guest's part to be a hassle for the host. Not cooking meat, however, is not a hassle.

I know, I'm just taking it to an extreme.

Perhaps if someone has a very restrictive diet, but would still like to be social, that they gain the host's agreement that they bring a special food, with enough to share with others?

 

[Smurf]

What do you do if one guest is on Atkins (low carb) and the other is vegetarian (high carb). One won't eat sugar, the other has a wheat allergy, and one is lactose intolerant. I guess I could hand out a 10 page questionaire to anyone before I invite them.

Well, assuming I actually invite someone over who is stupid enough to be on an Atkins diet I would tell them it's a low carb meal and feed them a high carb meal for their own good.

Or you could just not invite over 10 strangers whos eating habits you don't know anything about and THEN try to compensate.

 

[Smurf]

I know, I'm just taking it to an extreme.

Perhaps if someone has a very restrictive diet, but would still like to be social, that they gain the host's agreement that they bring a special food, with enough to share with others?

That's exactly the answer. A small pot-luck.

 

[Moonbear]

I would consider it extremely bad and impolite hosting not to prepare food to someone's special food needs (i.e. vegetarian) if they have any. Any good host will find out ahead of time if their invitees have any such condition or allergies and will not prepare a meal that they can't eat.

However, preparing extra (i.e. meat if someone isn't a vegetarian) is not necessary, because it's not a restriction the person has, it's a preference.

ah screw it.

I don't consider vegetarianism to be a special food need, but a preference, just as eating meat is. Food allergies are of course something entirely different. Who would invite over guests and not serve anything except meat anyway? There will be vegetables, just don't expect the main dish will be vegetarian if everyone else prefers meat. Pass the turkey to the next person and take a double helping of the rice dish, just as the person who doesn't like broccoli can pass the dish to the next person without putting any on their plate, or just leave it uneaten if the food is served already plated.

 

[Moonbear]

If I had any such restrictions I would uninvite myself, because it is also incredibly impolite on the guest's part to be a hassle for the host. Not cooking meat, however, is not a hassle.

Well, it would be quite a hassle for me since part of the fun of inviting over people is that I can cook those big things that I could never cook for just myself, like roasts and turkeys. Why do I have to refrain from serving meat just because one person doesn't want to eat it? I'm not going to shove it down their throat or even force it onto their plate if they have some phobia of food touching other food, but I'm not going to make my home meat-free for them either. Though, I do have an easy solution... don't invite anyone a second time if they make a royal pain of themselves the first time they are invited.

 

[Smurf]

obviously you don't have to create a whole meal based around it if you don't want to. But part of being a good host is to make sure that if you invite a vegetarian over, that (s)he has more to eat that just rice while everyone else chows down on meat. Basically, If you invite someone over to a meal, you should make sure you provide them with a meal, not the left overs that meat eater don't want. That's all.

 

[Smurf]

Well, it would be quite a hassle for me since part of the fun of inviting over people is that I can cook those big things that I could never cook for just myself, like roasts and turkeys. Why do I have to refrain from serving meat just because one person doesn't want to eat it? I'm not going to shove it down their throat or even force it onto their plate if they have some phobia of food touching other food, but I'm not going to make my home meat-free for them either. Though, I do have an easy solution... don't invite anyone a second time if they make a royal pain of themselves the first time they are invited.

No one thinks you're going to force them to eat meat, but if you invite a vegetarian over you better as hell provide them with a vegetarian meal, or else they're just going to sit there while everyone else eats. They're not the one's being the pain then and I doubt they'd have any desire to have dinner with you again, invitation or no.

 

[Smasherman]

I'd say that it's rude of the vegetarian not to let the host know that they won't eat meat. If the host knows, they should separate the vegetables from the meat, so everyone can eat what they want. The problem with having the vegetarian just not eat the meat is that usually vegetables are mixed in with the meat.

 

[Smasherman]

Steamed Lemon Broccoli:

Get some broccoli and soak it in olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. I can't give you exact amounts, but cover the broccoli fairly well.

Steam the broccoli. Take the broccoli out when it becomes a squishy (though it should be a little squishy).

Eat the brocolli.

Sorry I can't give you better details, but I cook by feel and not numbers.

 

[Skyhunter]

I'm like Kerrie where I actually feel sick if I don't get a little meat in my diet. It doesn't need to be much, even a half of a chicken breast will do, but if I don't eat any, I end up tired with a headache and a growling stomach. And I love milk and cheese, so could NEVER go totally vegan. Whenever a vegan has cooked a dinner for me, I end up having to stop and get more food on the way home. I do like some vegetarian dishes, but they just aren't enough food for me (maybe because I can't actually eat large volumes without feeling sick to my stomach, so can't get enough nutrients out of something vegetarian). I do tend to eat meat only at one meal of the day.

Something I love is spaghetti squash. You just bake it and then use a fork to scoop out the flesh, which is stringy, and use it the way you'd use pasta. You can put any sauce on it you like. I bet it would be really tasty topped with a vegetarian chili.

I was the same way, in fact when I first stopped eating meat it felt like I was hungry all the time and had a low level fever. I went totally vegan after about 6 months and there was a change that occurred. I started eating about 1/5 as many calories as I used to (I was a big eater) and eating became more like breathing. In other words food was once a central focus in my life, and now I just eat when I get hungry.

Variety is important, not only what you eat but where it is grown. You get different minerals in foods grown in different areas.

Douglas J. Lisle, Ph.D. and Alan Goldhamer, D.C. have recently published a book based on their studies of the brain, appetite, and how it relates to survival. I have not read the book, but I watched one of Dr. Lisle's lectures and found it somewhat compelling. Here is a link to a review of their book.

http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/pleasure_trap_review.htm

 

[JamesU]

My neighbor has some gigantic moshrooms in her front yard. she works 24-hour shifts as a nurse, so she's not home very often, no need to take care of the yard

 

[Skyhunter]

On a light handed note: if you have a veggie to dinner and they requested a special meal (ie vegetarian) and then offer you an invite to dinner is it ok to request a special meal (ie meat)?

Depends on the person. Some people don't eat meat for health reasons, in that case it would probably be ok. If they do not eat meat for ethical reasons it would be inappropriate.

When someone invites me to dinner, I tell them I don't eat animal protein. If it is a problem I will bring my own food and still enjoy their company. If I invite someone, I tell them I don't serve animal protein. They can eat what I prepare or not the choice is entirely theirs.

I don't make a special request, nor will I make a special exception.

When I go to dinner with a date, they are welcome to eat whatever they want, however if they want me to pay for dinner it has to be vegan. This usually is not a problem since I normally go to some great vegan restaurants and they seem to always enjoy the food.

This is for ethical reasons not nutritional. I won't buy meat because an animal was killed for the meat. I don't know where the eggs or milk came from so I won't buy them either. I can't stop certain practices but I can refuse to support them.

 

[Smurf]

Depends on the person. Some people don't eat meat for health reasons, in that case it would probably be ok. If they do not eat meat for ethical reasons it would be inappropriate.

I think it's inappropriate no matter the reasons. If someone invites you to dinner you shouldn't really be asking for anything except a drink of water. Mind you, with a good host you wouldn't have to ask for anything else either.

When someone invites me to dinner, I tell them I don't eat animal protein. If it is a problem I will bring my own food and still enjoy their company. If I invite someone, I tell them I don't serve animal protein. They can eat what I prepare or not the choice is entirely theirs.

Curious, would you allow them to bring their own meat?

When I go to dinner with a date, they are welcome to eat whatever they want, however if they want me to pay for dinner it has to be vegan. This usually is not a problem since I normally go to some great vegan restaurants and they seem to always enjoy the food.

I think I'm going to copy that ethic from you.

This is for ethical reasons not nutritional. I won't buy meat because an animal was killed for the meat. I don't know where the eggs or milk came from so I won't buy them either. I can't stop certain practices but I can refuse to support them.

Hurray!

 

[wolram]

Well when i invite you all to my place i will serve salad, and you can pick and
choose what to have. Tuna, boiled egg, ham cheese, beans, chicken.
The party will be at Halfe past twenty to seven an all crotchets day, evoary
the thirty second.

 

[Monique]

There's a difference between including meat in a balanced meal and going to the unhealthy extreme of over-eating meat or not including enough vegetables.

Sure, but just look at the food that you get in a restaurant. I always find that if you would order a meat dish without the meat, there is nothing left. My mom doesn't cook unhealthy, but a few weeks ago we had some vegetarians over and she had no clue what to cook. Eventually she bought 'meat', the vegetarian variety, and continued to call it meat while obviously it is not, I just think it is silly.

Sadly, at the supermarkets around here, the produce is of terribly poor quality. I don't think their produce buyers know what they're doing. The onions I looked at today all had rot on them, like they weren't left to dry properly before being shipped, and the bin of avocados had mold in it. I had to dig through the peppers to find one that didn't have bruises or other soft spots on it. One variety of tomatoes were going rotten in the bin, another variety looked too green, another were mostly bruised, and I luckily found a few good tomatoes of decent ripeness without bruising in a fourth variety. I miss my grandfather's garden! (I can never get much to grow here...the "critters" all get to it first.)

That's bad. Such a store was my only choice in Detroit until I got someone to go shop at a farmers market with me, 13 miles out of the city.

But then, that does not explain why vegetarian meals are more expensive. You still need to buy the vegetables if you cook a meal with meat, you can't go without. Right?

It's not polite on either side. If someone invites a person to dinner, it is incredibly rude of the guest to make requests. If they aren't willing to eat whatever their host chooses to serve, they should turn down the invitation, not try to dictate the menu.

This has been covered by others, mainly Smurf. The problem is that meat is mixed in with all the recipes, or there are not enough vegetables. Not telling the host that you are vegetarian would be rude in my opinion. You can still make your roast, but don't expect the vegetarian to eat it.

Some people have been vegetarian their whole life, you need to respect that. For me it is a preferance and not a 'religion', so when I am at my parent's house I will eat whatever is served.

On a note, attending a barbeque as a vegetarian is no fun. I don't understand why as a vegetarian you are served french bread with butter all night. It is not that hard to put some veggies on the barbeque, people are not creative enough to think of that

 

[Monique]

Ah, and the only thing that was hard for me when taking on a vegetarian diet is finding something to put on my bread for breakfast and lunch I don't like sweet things at all like jam or chocolate paste, so I always used slices of meat.

But I have found an alternative, I now make bread spreads for myself. One is with plain peas stir-fried with differently flavoured sambals (currently one with tamarinde) the other a paste of chickpeas with lots of spices. I make enough for a few days and eat it.

Then there is always cheese with some home-made sambal that I can put on my bread. The sambal is just oil with finely sliced peppers, onion and garlic that my boyfriend's mother makes for us.. soooooo good

 

[wolram]

Ah, and the only thing that was hard for me when taking on a vegetarian diet is finding something to put on my bread for breakfast and lunch I don't like sweet things at all like jam or chocolate paste, so I always used slices of meat.

But I have found an alternative, I now make bread spreads for myself. One is with plain peas stir-fried with differently flavoured sambals (currently one with tamarinde) the other a paste of chickpeas with lots of spices. I make enough for a few days and eat it.

Then there is always cheese with some home-made sambal that I can put on my bread. The sambal is just oil with finely sliced peppers, onion and garlic that my boyfriend's mother makes for us.. soooooo good

Monoque, what spices do you use in your chickpea paste, it does not sound
very nice, would it be ok for a packed luch, or does the bread go soggy
i will try any thing once

 

[Smurf]

Not telling the host that you are vegetarian would be rude in my opinion. You can still make your roast, but don't expect the vegetarian to eat it.

I wouldn't consider it rude so much as... well... stupid. If you're a vegetarian you're part of a minority, you should assume that someone doesn't know unless you tell them... and if you don't tell them they'll try to feed you meat. It's... common sense.

 

[Monique]

Monoque, what spices do you use in your chickpea paste, it does not sound
very nice, would it be ok for a packed luch, or does the bread go soggy
i will try any thing once

I had a lot of chickpeas left over from a diner last weekend, so I blended that up into a paste and added flavored oil to that to make an Indian soup called Dahl (originally made with lentils, not chickpeas), fortunately it was thick enough to put on bread. I don't know how it does on a packed lunch, the thicker you can make it the better I guess.

Fry onion with cumin powder, cumin seeds and coriander add tomatoes to make lots of sauce, add chickpeas and cook until done. Blend everything into a paste. Put some oil into a pan, be a little generous with it, fry mustard seeds and diced garlic, I added some extra garam masala at this point (indian spice mix) and then pour it over the paste for a flavour boost (the bits of garlic bring another dimension of texture/flavour to the paste, as do the mustard seeds).

I didn't get to eat much of it, my boyfriend ate the rest of it when he came home (two plates full) he liked it more then the original recipe

Actually, do you know Hummus? I think it is a Greek thing, chickpea paste. I was always eating that as bread spread in the US, but can't get it here. Very tasty.

 

[wolram]

Monique

Actually, do you know Hummus? I think it is a Greek thing, chickpea paste. I was always eating that as bread spread in the US, but can't get it here. Very tasty.

All this stuff is new to me, i just invented Mushroom and pea pie though, and
mushroom muffins, yummy. i will experiment with your ideas, may be jar some
of those pastes for packed lunch. Thanks Monique.

 

[Moonbear]

I wouldn't consider it rude so much as... well... stupid. If you're a vegetarian you're part of a minority, you should assume that someone doesn't know unless you tell them... and if you don't tell them they'll try to feed you meat. It's... common sense.

So if someone invites a person who is vegetarian, but doesn't know they are vegetarian, and are only informed after they have accepted the invitation, are you expected to change your entire menu for one person? This is the part of vegetarianism that bugs me. If I were invited to a vegetarian's house, I wouldn't make a big fuss about being a meat eater or that I know I'll go home feeling hungry if I am only served vegetables, or that I can't think of a more disgusting food than tofu. If that's what shows up on my plate, it won't kill me, and I politely take a VERY small serving of tofu and manage to eat it so I don't offend my host, and when the party is over, I go home and make a sandwich if I'm still hungry. But, then when the invitation is reversed, it seems at least some vegetarians feel the need to impose their eating habits upon everyone and start insisting upon dishes the host had either no intention to serve, no knowledge of how to prepare, or that just don't go with the rest of the planned menu.

It's your obligation to inform your host if you have food allergies so your host doesn't kill you, but it's rude to expect your host to change the entire menu if the food isn't going to kill you, no matter if you dislike it.

Of course, I suppose the best way to approach it would be at the time you receive the invitation and before you respond by simply inquiring if there will be any vegetarian dishes served because you're vegetarian. At this point, the host can respond by either telling you, "Of course there will be" (whether they really planned to have them or not, they've now agreed they will include something), or "I'm sorry, we were planning on roast lamb as the main course." You can then decide if you are willing to take your chances on the other dishes being served with it, or to decline with the suggestion that perhaps some other time then.

I guess it also makes a difference depending on who is being invited and why. If you're inviting a friend over to celebrate something they've accomplished, and they have special food preferences, of course since they are the guest of honor, you'd want to go out of your way a bit to accommodate them and serve all their favorite foods. But, if instead, there's some other event you're celebrating, and someone else invited other than the guest of honor has such preferences, then it would be more rude of them to expect the menu will be catered to their special requests. Basically, it's the difference between inviting 2 couples who are close friends just because you want to see your friends vs inviting over 20 people to celebrate someone's birthday.

 

[wolram]

Or you could just nibble on the host.

 

[*Kia*]

Monique

Actually, do you know Hummus? I think it is a Greek thing, chickpea paste. I was always eating that as bread spread in the US, but can't get it here. Very tasty.

All this stuff is new to me, i just invented Mushroom and pea pie though, and
mushroom muffins, yummy. i will experiment with your ideas, may be jar some
of those pastes for packed lunch. Thanks Monique.

Houmous - try tesco hon! - near by the fruit and veggie section

 

[Monique]

It's your obligation to inform your host if you have food allergies so your host doesn't kill you, but it's rude to expect your host to change the entire menu if the food isn't going to kill you, no matter if you dislike it.

I always inform if there is something that my guests dislike, I then make sure there is an alternative for them. I think it is very rude for the host not to consider their guests, why would you want to invite them over if you don't care about their feelings. Then don't invite them over, since obviously they don't count as friends.

For instance, I like spicy foods. If I have guests I don't put as many chillies in the food, or none. I like to use a lot of ginger, when I have guests over I will limit my use. If people don't like tofu I'll cook a veggie burger for them. I also try to limit my crazy dishes to the more traditional ones, unless they indicate they'd like to try something different.

 

[Monique]

All this stuff is new to me, i just invented Mushroom and pea pie though, and mushroom muffins, yummy. i will experiment with your ideas, may be jar some of those pastes for packed lunch. Thanks Monique.

My boyfriend's mother is a cooking wonder, she makes wonderful things that look so easy but tickle your taste buds.

She makes the most wonderful can of pickled vegetables, or ginger in oil with garlic, or the sambal I mentioned, or some dressing with advocado and garlic and other ingredients, or a 'cake' made with mushrooms and pieces of cheese (yum!). I asked for the recipes several times, but somehow I can never recreate the taste the only thing I came make from her inspiration is moldy cheese mashed with oil and garlic: makes a wonderful spread for toast or bread (avoid coming close to people once you have had this)

 

[Moonbear]

I always inform if there is something that my guests dislike, I then make sure there is an alternative for them. I think it is very rude for the host not to consider their guests, why would you want to invite them over if you don't care about their feelings. Then don't invite them over, since obviously they don't count as friends.

Well, I'm thinking more of situations when it's not your friends who are being invited, but maybe co-workers...something business related...people who you wouldn't know as well and where things are supposed to be more formal. Or maybe when someone hosts a bridal shower in their home...the people being invited are friends of the bride-to-be, but not necessarily of the person hosting the party. If I invite my friends, I already know their preferences in advance of the invitation, so of course I would keep that in mind before even inviting them.

 

[Evo]

You can't always know the food preferences of everyone. If you invite someone and they bring their spouse or a date, you won't know. It can be a business affair and you won't know. It's not always close friends or relatives that you are entertaining.

When I used to entertain, to be safe, I served a wide variety of hors d'oeuvres and canapes, people could fill up on those alone.

 

[Moonbear]

When I used to entertain, to be safe, I served a wide variety of hors d'oeuvres and canapes, people could fill up on those alone.

Don't you just love the guessing game when you go to something like a wedding and they serve fantastic hors d'ouvres, so you wonder if you should fill up on hors d'ouvres in case the dinner is terrible or if the fantastic hors d'ouvres are a sign of a fantastic dinner coming, so you should only taste a few?

I do that when I entertain a lot of people. I set the hors d'ouvres out on a tray or table so as people arrive, they can snack a little, and then I leave them out until after dinner, so if anybody didn't get enough during dinner, they can munch on the rest of the hors d'ouvres while chatting after dinner.

Ah, yes, the spouses and dates! That's a fun one. I have a friend who is quite carnivorous, but her husband is vegan. When she first started dating him, it wasn't me, but someone else, who had a BBQ and invited everyone to bring any "significant others." Well, our BBQs did not include much vegetables other than salad and corn on the cob, so that made for an interesting experience. And since he's vegan, not just vegetarian, he couldn't even eat any of the dishes with cheese or eggs in them, which pretty much eliminates everything served at a BBQ. BBQs are of course less formal, so in the future, we would just invite him to bring something that we'd cook for him just because we had no clue what would be a meal for him. It would be much harder at a formal sit-down dinner. I definitely haven't got a clue how to cook anything vegan...it does all look like side-dishes to me. How do you make a dessert without eggs and milk?!

 

[Evo]

I do that when I entertain a lot of people. I set the hors d'ouvres out on a tray or table so as people arrive, they can snack a little, and then I leave them out until after dinner, so if anybody didn't get enough during dinner, they can munch on the rest of the hors d'ouvres while chatting after dinner.

I also did that. I always made sure there were plenty of raw veggies for the hard core.

I definitely haven't got a clue how to cook anything vegan...it does all look like side-dishes to me. How do you make a dessert without eggs and milk?!

A bowl of cherry pie filling? Vegan is too limiting for me. I must have eggs and cheese.

 

[Skyhunter]

You can make anything vegan... cakes, pies, chocolate...

 

[Moonbear]

You can make anything vegan... cakes, pies, chocolate...

Yeah, but I want it to actually taste good. You can't make a real cake or pie without real butter, and cakes need milk and eggs. I don't care what people say you can use to substitute, it's not the same, not even close.

 

[Evo]

Yeah, but I want it to actually taste good. You can't make a real cake or pie without real butter, and cakes need milk and eggs. I don't care what people say you can use to substitute, it's not the same, not even close.

Yeah, crustless carob tofu pie is NOT a substitute for chocolate French Silk pie.

 

[Tsu]

Yeah, crustless carob tofu pie is NOT a substitute for chocolate French Silk pie.

Ya tryin' to make me SICK?

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, crustless carob tofu pie is NOT a substitute for chocolate French Silk pie.

I don't understand how people can eat carob and think it tastes like chocolate, or why you'd need to substitute it anyway. Even when I was still a rather unsophisticated chocolate eater, I got some trail mix as a kid that had carob chips in it that I thought were going to be chocolate chips. Definitely not the same thing! You just can't subsitute carob for chocolate in recipes unless you regularly cook with that cheap chocolate they make hollow Easter rabbits out of (the really cheap ones you find in the grocery store). Carob is WAY too sweet to give that rich chocolatey taste, and what do they hold the carob powder together with? Wax? Sure, some people might just like carob, but that still doesn't make it a chocolate substitute. And there's still no proper substitute for dairy and eggs in baking.

But, why substitute the chocolate anyway? Chocolate would still be vegan, wouldn't it? At least as long as it isn't milk chocolate, right?


Edit:
Okay, I was curious to see what passed as vegan desserts aside from fruit salad, so I went looking. This is what they are calling French silk pie!
The ingredients list:

16 oz applesauce
1 cup sugar
4 bananas
chocolate

Why do they even bother calling it French silk pie? It's not even close! Who do they think they're fooling? That's baby food with chocolate added! Mashed apples and bananas with chocolate. If you like stuff like that, fine, but give it a new name, because it's just NOT French silk pie. French silk pie does not have apples and bananas in it! It has cream and eggs to make a chocolate custard.

I like this comment they have:

Naturally you can taste the difference...

Do you think?

Well, for those of you looking for a vegetarian/vegan recipe, there you go, enjoy!

There are several on this site: http://www.boutell.com/vegetarian/dessert.html

(By the way, I tried making oatmeal-raisin cookies with applesauce once for a lactose-intolerant co-worker...I tasted one and threw them away...dog biscuits have more flavor and are easier to chew.)

 

[hypatia]

Hummus is ground chick peas mixed with tahini{sesame oil} garlic and lemon juice.

 

[Evo]

Edit:
Okay, I was curious to see what passed as vegan desserts aside from fruit salad, so I went looking. This is what they are calling French silk pie!
The ingredients list:


Why do they even bother calling it French silk pie? It's not even close! Who do they think they're fooling? That's baby food with chocolate added! Mashed apples and bananas with chocolate. If you like stuff like that, fine, but give it a new name, because it's just NOT French silk pie. French silk pie does not have apples and bananas in it! It has cream and eggs to make a chocolate custard.

I like this comment they have: Quote: Naturally you can taste the difference...

Do you think?

Well, for those of you looking for a vegetarian/vegan recipe, there you go, enjoy!

That's fruit and chocolate, what besides nothing does that have to do with French Silk Pie?? I guess their adaptation of "chocolate milk" would be to blend chocolate into a glass of apple juice? But like they say "Naturally you can taste the difference".

 

[Tsu]

Hummus is ground chick peas mixed with tahini{sesame oil} garlic and lemon juice.

Have you ever thrown a little mint leaf into the mix? VERY tasty!

 

[Moonbear]

That's fruit and chocolate, what besides nothing does that have to do with French Silk Pie?? I guess their adaptation of "chocolate milk" would be to blend chocolate into a glass of apple juice? But like they say "Naturally you can taste the difference".

It seems that at least the people who wrote those recipes have some "issues" with veganism. I see it a lot, just trying to substitute meat or eggs or milk with other things. It's like their diet is still meat-centric and they're in denial about it if they have to try to pretend the food is still the same stuff they've always eaten. It just makes for some nasty foods. I'm also trying to figure out why they need to add so much sugar if it already has sweet fruits in it...applesauce and bananas should be pretty sweet already!

Maybe Monique needs to write a vegetarian cookbook. At least her recipes sound tasty and are not just meat-based recipes without the meat.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, that apple-banana-chocolate pie thing might taste delicious; I wouldn't know without tasting it, but my argument is just that it ISN'T French silk pie, so don't call it that and pretend that it is as if you aren't missing out on indulgences that include dairy and eggs. Obviously, if someone is going through the trouble to call it French silk pie, they are missing and craving French silk pie, or else they'd call it apple-banana-chocolate pie.

 

[wolram]

I made myself a cheese and onion pie with a tomato sauce today, it was absolutly Horrible

 

[Moonbear]

I made myself a cheese and onion pie with a tomato sauce today, it was absolutly Horrible

That sounds like pizza, but I like pizza. What type of cheese did you use? Or maybe it was too much onion? Or the wrong crust?

Oh, and thanks everyone for getting me craving hummus! I love hummus, and can only get the packaged stuff in the supermarket here, which is not very good. I've never tried making my own. It sounds like it should be easy, so maybe I should. Is tahini really just regular sesame oil? I have sesame oil, but I thought tahini was something a little different.

And if anyone is going to suggest any other tasty ethnic recipes, hurry up and do so while I still live within a half hour of an international supermarket and can pick up some ingredients! I don't think there's a very big international community in the middle of West Virginia to have much of a selection of ingredients. Otherwise I'll have to wait until I can make periodic visits to cities.

 

[wolram]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

 

[Evo]

Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. I also have a craving for freshly made hummus, I think I'm going to make some tonight. The ready made stuff they sell here is just awful. It tastes more like wallpaper paste.

 

[Moonbear]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

Sounds more like a quiche than a pie. Maybe you should have left out the blue cheese. That doesn't sound like it would go well with eggs. Otherwise, the rest sounds like a breakfast omelet in a pie crust.

 

[Evo]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

The tomato sauce must have been the killer. I can't imagine blue cheese and tomato sauce. Sounds like you had a nice quiche there.