Question for vegetarian cooks about the fake meat products

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a vegetarian. I tend to cook meat crumbles separately because they do not cook like regular meat. Simmering this is just not a good idea. I have moved away from substitute meat products because they are actually unhealthier than real meat. However, I would never use lentils for chili as that would be a culinary crime. The hard thing about being a real vegetarian is accepting that you are not going to be able to enjoy some of the things you did before.

For chili, you can make just a bean chili. I agree with you the fake meat are really unhealthy. My family will eat some but I will not. I try to avoid them.

[Anonymous]

I make chili with kidney beans every single week. People are turned off by the weird culinary contortions people who do not want to be vegetarians make. People have survived on legumes and grains, fruit and veg for centuries. If you eat dairy products, as I do, it's not even that hard.

[Anonymous]

But don't you need the natural juices/fat from meat to simmer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a vegetarian. I tend to cook meat crumbles separately because they do not cook like regular meat. Simmering this is just not a good idea. I have moved away from substitute meat products because they are actually unhealthier than real meat. However, I would never use lentils for chili as that would be a culinary crime. The hard thing about being a real vegetarian is accepting that you are not going to be able to enjoy some of the things you did before.

Thanks. This is exactly the advice I was looking for. I am going to give the crumble a try, but add them at the end. Will skip the beyond meat stuff.