Trying to give up red meat

I agree with everyone else. Meat replacements aren't usually very nice. It's better to use lentils, beans and an array of lovely veg instead. Having said that, I have eaten tofu in various Asian dishes and found it to be delicious. However, it was cooked by skilled chefs in restaurants. I've never tried soya chunks and I really don't think I want to!

Cannellini beans are nice in soups. I used to make one that I think was a Weightwatchers recipe where you added rosemary to it. That was very tasty. Sorry I don’t have the recipe but am sure a Google search will come up with ideas.

www.bosh.tv/recipes/ultimate-chilli

You don’t have to replace meat with processed soya chunks, beans are packed with protein. I’d recommend looking at the recipes in Bosh( they have a website) which has a fabulous chilli recipe , things with mushrooms etc Tofu is better than the processed quorn stuff and can be made crispy with ginger, garlic, soya sauce, rolled in sesame seeds , flour and fried in sesame oil lovely in a stir fry.

I suppose it depends on why you want to reduce red meat consumption. If is is to avoid cancer etc I think the recommendation is to eat no more than 70g a day, which we find very easy to do as we only eat meat on a three day rotation, and then it is often chicken. The other days are fish and veggie.
Processed meat we keep to an absolute minimum, but not cut out entirely as we do love bacon and sausages.

If it is for environmental reasons then cutting out red meat particularly beef entirely is more problematic if you enjoy meat. Personally I am not a fan of anything soya related so if I was going down that road I would try all the lovely vegetarian recipes before resorting to soya in its many forms. Mind you I suppose the fact that soya is so bland should add to its appeal, as you can incorporate it into so many other flavours.

After a stomach cancer scare I overhauled my diet and never eat red meat now. I tried the vegan alternatives but didn't enjoy any of them so I focus on fish and vegetables for main meals now.

I don’t use meat replacements like soya. I cook using lots of veg and add lentils, beans etc. I used to soak beans but now I buy tins as I’m usually cooking for one,

Is it just red meat you want to give up? My first thought was chicken would have gone well in place of quorn. We have restricted red meat to to about once a fortnight. We eat salmon, fried kippers, white fish, coated fish, stir fries and noodles, cauliflower cheese, pasta of different kinds, risottos, omelettes and chicken. Tried substitutions for red meat, together with some plant concoctions. Just about “okay” or “ugh”.

Haven’t tried soya chunks but find that Quorn pieces work well. I also use Quorn mince to make bolognese sauce and found, after advice from GN, that it works best if cooked for much longer than it says on the bag but I keep it at a gentle simmer.

I have never cooked with soya chunks. but I have made bolognese and chilli using quorn mince. The first time, I cooked the quorn for the same time as you would beef mince and that turned out with a rubbery texture. Maybe it is the longer cooking period that makes it so, maybe some other GNetters can advise.