And while I'm pontificating, I want to say how happy and amazed I am that this thread hasn't turned into a nasty flame war. I get so much flak for being a vegetarian in the "real" world, that I usually don't talk about it. The BOX ROCKS! 
Yeah I keep my mouth shut about it lots. But mostly people are just jealous of the self control it takes to not plow ones face into a dead cow.
I like my dead cow to be fresh and local preferably from my father's neighbor
But as such a lover of all things meat who likes the more primal cuts and even offal (or chickens feet which are a gift from G-d) I still love vegetarian foods.
One thing I would stress with any dietary restriction be it vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal is don't tie yourself to these substitutes. If most of your meals are similar to what you ate before the restriction they can be decent but wont make it to that level of meat which they are trying to attain. Even the most amazing veggie burger which can be delicious in it's own right but leave someone wishing for the old faithful beef burger which tastes great as well in a different way.
Go out and discover all sorts of new recipes for vegetarian foods! There are countless flavors, textures, and combinations that you have yet to try. Do it this way so you are not replacing a favorite food with one that isn't the same and many times is inferior in taste/texture. I would especially look into cultures where meat is a rare and praised ingredient (or not allowed due to dietary restrictions), for vegetarians that opens up Indian, many Asian cultures and even Kosher cooking.
With Kosher cooking there are 2 sections you could look into, 1 is the dairy side since there can not be any meat. The other is called parve which means it does not have any dairy or meat. (There are a few weird things in the rules like fish is considered parve, but just double check the recipe.)
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Topic: the vegetarian/vegan thread (Read 12681 times)