Taming the inner carnivore - how to eat less meat?

You need the Crank's Cook Book! Has loads of good recipes in it that non-veggies tuck into and do not miss the meat! Homity pies are a favourite for us! Think you can google them!

Vegetarian cou Cous made with courgette carrot leek aubergine, jar of tomato passata, cumin, coriander, chilli if you like.

Method. Cook veg with passata and spices.
Cook couscous
Serve with Harissa and yoghurt

Very nice and healthy.
One of the few veggie dishes I actually enjoy
Of course, you can alter the veg

Oddly, yoga the DH prefers coleslaw variants to cooked veg. (i think it may partly be down to the soggy veg syndrome in his youth - would like everything to be crispy) so we have a lot of shredded veg, few walnuts, few sultanas - cabbage/carrots/beetroot etc .
Oh dear ariadne that sounds like a lot of cooking.

Ooh! I like the dash of cream added to the cabbage mixture, flickety. Must try adding it to my usual recipe.

I like the sound on the asparagus risotto Ariadne and what a good idea to add mushrooms and garlic to yorkshire pudding batter. Think that's what I shall do tomorrow for supper.

I'm not a great meat eater but OH is a "meat and two veg" person. Well - actually not two veg - it's a struggle to get him to eat vegetables apart from peas. I'm getting fed up with b*****y peas with everything....

I'm vegetarian, he isn't. He likes:

Mushroom strudel
Any veggie pasta dish improved with a sprinkling of crispy bacon
Cauliflower cheese with added Stilton and (see above)
Pea, mushroom and spinach curry
Asparagus risotto with bits of chicken chucked in his helping
I don't much like meat substitutes but he quite likes dishes made with Quorn mince e.g. chilli con (not) carne, spag Bol etc.
I mix chopped mushrooms and garlic into a Yoirksgire pudding batter too
Inside out bean burgers
Sweet potato wedges

We try to be as low fat as possible, so the Stilton is only occasional, and I don't really do dairy anyway. Actually, I usually cook two meals, when we are in!

I've done that too Phoenix

How about serving meat dishes but 'diluting' them. Almost every time I make a dish involving minced meat I add half a tin of lentils to every pound of meat. It means that instead of getting four portions from a lb of meat I now get six, reducing the amount of meat in each portion. With stews and casseroles I add lots of vegetables for the same effect. I choose vegetables that I consider best fit in with the type of meat and recipe I am using, for example carrots go well with beef, pork works better with mushrooms, Lamb with pumpkin.

Almost any cabbage can be enhanced by chopping and frying an onion and diced bacon rasher, stirring in the cooked cabbage then adding a spoon or two of cream.

jane ! I think that's actually worse than me loading my toothbrush with Savlon, at least no wine was wasted with my error!

Don't worry granny knot I have just managed to top up my with olive oil

'MMMmushsroom Roast', 'Been and Gone' or 'Lovely Lentil Lasagne' are long standing family favourites (we're all veggie)

Yikes and when I say repeat twice, I mean altogether. So just 2 layers in total. Note to self, do not post on GN + try and cook + drink .

Mushroom stroganov? Cauliflower cheese with added mushroom and onion (Mr P does a really yummy cauliflower cheese with mushroom, onin and bacon added, also uses the same principle for "special" macaroni cheese, you could just leave out the bacon)

Oh and parsnips "Molly Parkin" which I never have lately as Mr P doesn't like parsnips!

A veggie friend who is married to a meat eater uses quorn mince for chilli, spag bol etc.

Glad the MC sounds appealling! I realise I should have been specific - I usually put a good spread of tomato sauce as the base for first layer, then the mac, then the cheese, for the second layer of tomato sauce you can be a bit more sparse, just a dab here and there, then I distribute it slightly with a fork. It doesn't matter if the layers mix a bit. It's that last crunchy layer of the cheese on the macaroni that makes it! And don't overcook it, it must be stiff but not dry. Oh yes and you need to season the milk/egg mixture with salt and ground black pepper.

I didn't mean oddly-shaped carrots if that's what you're thinking Jess
I meant spicing up the vegetables a bit.
For example, stir-fried green beans.
Saute a teaspoon of brown mustard seeds in some olive oil. When they start spitting, add some crushed garlic.
Stir till golden.
Add some long green beans, fresh or frozen.
Add salt to taste, half a teaspoon of sugar and a good sprinkling of black pepper.
Stir and fry till soft and slightly browned.

Or parsnips roasted with olive oil, salt & pepper and sprinkled with fresh parsley or chives.
grannyknot your macaroni cheese sounds lovely, I'm going to print the recipe out now!

Hey grannyknot - sounds good. Macaroni cheese without cheese sauce.
Sexy veggies? jane - its true he will eat spinach but other greens are very much on sufferance. he is one of those people who is very sensitive to bitter tastes. To me broccoli does not taste at all bitter but it does to him. There is a gene for this.

Hmm, that's a tricky one, Jess. I'm a demi-veggie and my husband doesn't eat fish (I do), so I often find I'm betwix and between.
One goodie is chicken (boneless) and chickpea casserole, with choritzo. (I pick out the choritzo), but it does add a good spicy flavour. I also stir in some frozen spinach to add a bit of green and vitamins.
Good luck.

jane i remember that book Jess I would also suggest veg curry and having butternut or sweet potato as the "main" veg ingredient, very tasty. Also if he likes eggs, I find as long as I 'dress up' an egg dish e.g. bakes eggs in ramekins (I do them in the slow cooker too, forgotten the fancy name for them) and cheese and a salad my carnivore is happy, laps it up.

Here's a recipe for special macaroni cheese, whenever I make it, people love it and request it again and again, it's a family favourite (was my mum's recipe). Sorry I can't give exact quantities!

Make an onion and tomato gravy, ensuring that the onion (1 chopped onion) is nicely browned before you add the fresh, chopped tomatoes (to taste, but not too many, you don't want to overwhelm the onion flavour. (In South Africa, this is called 'bredie', a word of Malay origin). Let it cook for a while till it has thickened. In the meanwhile cook your macaroni (about a cup of dry macaroni does for us). Drain, rinse in cold water so it doesn't stick, and set aside. About 1.5 cups of grated cheese (strong cheddar) is needed. 2 large eggs slightly beaten in a cup, and fill the rest of the cup with milk.

Once your tomato stew is ready start layering as follows: Tomato stew, macaroni, grated cheese. Repeat twice. Pour the egg mixture over, tilting the dish to distribute it. Bake till the egg mixture is set (about 35 mins at 180) and it is nicely browned on top. If you want to be fancy put sliced fresh tomato rings on top, about 3 will do. The cheese on top of the last layer of macaroni crunches up nicely. Delicious served with a splash of brown sauce.

I hope you enjoy it.

Does he like curry? Chick pea curry + yoghurt as a side dish should provide all the amino acids he would get from meat.
Another thing I do is chick pea and avocado salad, served with pitta bread.
I still like to have some meat with most meals but have gradually increased the proportion of veg/meat. Perhaps sexing up the veggies might help Jess
Does anyone remember that book from the early 80's 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche'?

Chickpea and vegetable spicy stew (north african spices), lentil burgers and glamorgan sausages. Favourites with the men in my life and girls.