this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Chili does seem like a good vehicle for plant based protein. There's alot of non meat options that I like, but almost none are "meat replacements."

Just let it be it's own thing FFS. What's terrible as a ""burger"" might be delicious in chili.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

100% agree. There is tons of delicious vegetarian/vegan food, but vegetarian/vegan substitutions of traditionally meat based dishes range from terrible to just okay.

Carb replacement dishes have the same problem. Spaghetti Squash is delicious when cooked as a vegetable, but throwing Ragu on it and pretending it is pasta is just sad.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

This is a good take. You can't replace a steak with plant based, but we eat a lot of meat in things where it doesn't matter as filler. Most ground beef recipes can be replaced easily with plant based alternatives with no difference. I know I feel less bloated after eating something with soy crumbles over ground beef.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I just want to take the pepsi challenge on this, if you think your meat-free chilli tastes better PM me that recipe. I'll give it a honest (omnivore) review.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Just replace your ground beef with imitation meat ground, the texture works so much better, while not effecting the flavor, you just dont need to drain it like the normal meat.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'd rather just use more beans than imitation meat because beans are already plenty tasty. That said, I'm not likely to make a meatless chili unless I'm having to feed someone who doesn't eat meat.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

This. Don't build vegan meals with meat replacements. Build vegan meals that never had or wanted meat. Cheaper, better for you, and made with ingredients you can get at the shitty neighborhood grocer. My partner and I started doing meat free Fridays for Lent as we're both recovering Catholics, and we decided it was a fun challenge to keep it up and try to do it with all raw ingredients. I've learned a ton about south Asian and east Asian cooking, eaten a lot of truly excellent veg* food, saved buckets of money and now I have a healthy respect for beans and lentils.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I made the best pulled pork Sandwich last weekend using Chicken-of-the-woods mushroom in place of the pork.

I shredded the mushroom, dry sauteed until the tips began to brown. I added just a splash of oil, cumin, paprika, and oregano. Once the aromatics started smelling great I put in a light amount barbecue sauce for the last couple of moments. Then onto a toasted bun with some fried onions. Delicious!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The government doesn't want you to know this but the food in the woods is free, you can just take it home.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

As long as you know what you're doing lmao

(Or not if you don't care)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Every type of mushroom is edible at least once.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

You made vegetable soup.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Nobody is asking the really important questions here. What brand or what have you of meat crumbles are you using? I've experimented with Beef! Not or whatever but mostly for a cheap bulker for ground beef

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Yeah right and meatball smoothies are better than veggies ones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

If you don't use extra lean ground beef for chili, and then don't drain it well during cooking, the fat and grease will tend to separate the rest of the sauce and give it a weird oily texture. The plant based stuff doesn't have that grease so it's harder to fuck up. If prepared right the real meat still tastes better. You also have to heavily season it during cooking.

Some of the best chili I ever had was actually made using seasoned ground turkey. Because that's naturally a lean meat.

Skill issue.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Its not about the skill lmao, I've cooked shit tons or chili, with turkey, chicken thighs, ground beef from a local farm, ground beef fresh ground at the butcher daily extea lean. Before i went veg i was close to getting a meat grinder for my kitchen aid, but i started using imitation ground cause it was on sale and it blew all the other proteins out of the water. And I decided to cut meat out for a month to challenge my self as a home cook and haven't cooked with it in almost 8 months, just because i dont miss it. and if i do plant based chorizo or a plant based ground scratches that craving. Plant based nuggies are also fire.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Cooking shit tons of chili doesnt mean youre skilled at making chili

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

I am glad it works for your tastes, however, I also still reserve the right to say that everyone's tastes are different and your tastes do not inherently make you superior (as your post seems to feel like). All Im saying is that I have yet to find a "meat replacement" that I actually prefer, and that every bad meat dish I've had has only been a result of crap preparation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've seen videos but never tried myself. But if you use something large and freezing (like a big thing of ice) you can skim the top with it and the grease grabs into the ice.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Mmmh, I can see it. Solidifies the grease right onto the ice. That's smart.

I usually just pull the crumbles out and pat them into a towel to get the excess.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I'm going to eat a burger tonight and think about this post the whole time.

If animals aren't meant to be eaten then why are they made out of food?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Animals are delicious, but so are alot of vegetarian foods too. To try new things i made Saturday vegetarian food day, and ive made some fuckin' tasty veggies. Fuck veggie burgers or shit like that, but like a pizza with a fuck ton of different vegetables is amazing.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

you're made out of food. how would you like it if someone slaughtered you and ate you?

i'm just fuckin' with you, I eat meat. but this brings up another topic, if we eat the rich, is it carbon neutral?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What if I told you you can both enjoy meat alternatives and meat, that they aren't mutually exclusive?

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

You're right, the alternatives are stupid and even dangerous. 390mg of salt in a Beyond burger, compared to about 90 in a real hamburger. And the pretend chicken is even worse.

Come for the fake meat, stay for the hypernatremia.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

You do you, hope it tastes delicious!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Uh oh, you activated the fragile carnivores

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

If only the majority of humans weren't omnivores.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Stop putting fake meat in your food. It's expensive, farming and processing it is environmentally disastrous, and everyone insists it's just as good as or better than real meat but they're always sobbing a little bit when they say it. Either eat meat or don't.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is it though? If you're referring to large scale farming of soybeans - you're correct. But we use soy as a feed for animals. There would be no need to produce that amount if we were to eat it directly.

People switching to plant based nutrition is by far better environmentaly.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Remember that processing soy into textured vegetable protein costs energy and generates waste. Switching to plant based meat subs is better for the environment. Switching to plants is best.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I completely agree! But I think that it's easier for families to use those products since it's an alternative to what they're already cooking. I prefer to cook using unprocessed plants - but don't really see a fault in supplying an alternative to meat.

Damn. Now I'm craving a black bean burger.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think the canned meat chili already is cut with tvp to save money. and everywhere i can find suggests that plant based food is cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Oh yeah, the people who call vegans "soy boys" eat soy all the time and don't know it.