Vegetarian substitutions in cooking?

Question

I am trying to become a vegetarian, and I'm looking for good ideas for substitutions for meat in cooking. I'm especially interested in finding a good subtitute for pork fat when cooking beans. (I come from a Southern background where you throw a hunk of pork in EVERYTHING you cook!)

Answer 1

What you could do is use peanut oil, which is unflavored to act as the "fat" part of the bean recipe. I have cooked southern style vegan black eyed peas and have used 1 tablespoon peanut oil as the pork fat substitute. To add the pork flavor for 3 cups of cooked black eyed peas, I will add 1/4 teaspoon of smoke flavoring and 1 teaspoon of bacon soy bits. Taste this to see if there is enough pork flavoring to suit you. If not, you can add more smoke flavoring and bacon soy bits.

Now when I make New England baked beans...my life mate is from New England, I will fry in 1 tablespoon peanut oil: 1/4 cup chopped onions with 1 teaspoon soy bacon bits. I will add this to 3 cups baked white (Navy) beans. I will add 1/4 teaspoon of the following: garlic powder, turmeric and paprika powder. I then will add 1/2 cup ketchup and 2 tablespoons additional brown sugar. Add 1/2 cup water and mix. Then I will add a dash of black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. I'll drizzle 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses over the bean mixture. All of this will go into an oven bean pot or a medium baking dish. I'll put some aluminum foil over the top (unless the bean pot has a lid). Cook at 350 F for 45 minutes....yummy and so hearty!

Answer 2

I'm southern too. And have found the same problems with trying to follow a plant based diet. In the south everything in the world is cooked in fats.

I've found that if I replace meats with beans in main dishes that helps a little bit.

I no longer cook beans with fats. I use all kinds of spices instead.

I also use olive oil to sautee stuff with instead of fats to fry with.

Hope that helps you a little.

Answer 3

There're plenty of alternatives to meat. Seitan and soy are the best in my opinion, but tofu isn't bad either, and nowadays there're veggie burgers, veggie sausages, and lots of other veggie substitutes for meat. I wouldn't know what to use to replace pork fat (do you mean lard?)... but I wouldn't really want to eat anything that was similar to it anyway! Try some vegetarian sites (I'll paste some links here), they usually have recipes and inform you about all the alternatives to meat and other animal products. Congratulations for your choice to go veg, and good luck with everything.

http://www.goveg.com

http://www.vegcooking.com

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html

Answer 4

There is no good substitute for pork fat. I use cooked crumbled bacon for flavor without so much fat but it's definitely not vegetarian.

Answer 5

By you being a vegetarian it"s kinda of hard to replace the pork flavor i use smoke turkey parts it"s not as fattening i would try Mrs.Dash and butter or margarine.it"s gonna be a hard conversion good luck to you I'm from the south

Answer 6

Good luck with your vegetarian eating however I too am southern and I haven't found anything to replace the flavor you get when you season with meat.

Answer 7

You just omit it. I think that it's Bush's Baked beans that makes a vegetarian recipe..just look on the label or google Vegetarian Baked Bean recipe.

Answer 8

Try Fakon Bacon (in most freezer sections) and olive oil. Good luck.

Answer 9

say goodbye and pick up a vegetarian cookbook
southern cooking and vegetaians arelike water and oil

Answer 10

tofu. It takes on the flavor of what you are cooking and it has the texture of meat.