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In reply to the discussion: PETA attacks Thanksgiving tradition of eating turkey(offering free tombstones) [View all]MineralMan
(146,116 posts)Some people do make yucky food for that diet, but there are so many ways you can go that end up with delicious food that doesn't pretend to be anything else. I've never understood trying to make "spare ribs." Why would anyone want to do that?
My former wife was a vegetarian for a couple of years. Since I always did the cooking, I learned to cook vegetarian. I hate terrible food, so I learned to cook delicious, balanced meals that I could enjoy, too. For a while, we seemed to be entertaining a lot during that period, so I even cooked for groups of vegetarians and shared recipes with others.
It's not that difficult, as long as you forget about trying to duplicate non-vegetarian dishes. Start with good ingredients, combine them in ways that taste good, learn about creating satisfying textures and flavors, and Bob's your uncle.
There are some really good cookbooks, too, but they're not the ones that are the most popular. You have to dig a bit. There are a million great Indian vegetarian recipes, along with Buddhist recipes, and homegrown American recipes, too. I cooked from a variety of international cuisines, and came up with a few of my own inventions, too. The key is flavor and texture. Aroma's matter, too. Umami is very, very important, maybe even the most important in creating satisfaction for those who are eating what you cook.
It was fun. I still make some of the best of those meals, as a change from our regular diet. I even do it for non-vegetarian guests from time to time. It's always fun to get raves for a meal that contains no animal products from people who normally eat meat at every meal.