And I’m saying that I don’t like the meat replacers. You have not suggested any recipe that would, by default, fall in to the category of not removing the meat, and my problem is not that you think saying “just make pasta wothout a meat” is a new recipe. My problem is that if I want an option to find something to build a meal around, meat is the best option, because that is available, and easy to make taste good, a vegans answer is “just make whatever you would do, and remove the meat”. Vegetable soup is not a recipe, because soup in of itself is so varied dish, that it’s not just “throw carrot in water and boil”. Vegetable soups fo have names, and you have provided none. I, however, mentioned that I like a sor of vegetable soup: the bean and tomato soup. You can google a recipe, and get quite consistent results that quite consistently have a recognizable common recipe.

I am perfectly willing to find vegetarian meals that nourish me, but I have no interest to become a vegan, partly because culture is hostile. And if you didn’t know, hostility rarely welcomes new people in.

As for vegan “meat-free options flourishing”, they do because some people feel more incentiviced to eat meatless, and perhaps the quality has probably improved. However, for people who loke the taste of meat, and are not willing to compromise that, you need to provide a good curry by a name, because if I search for curry, I get loads of good curry recipes with chicken, pork and meat, instead of the “OG” curry that, allegedly, does not have meat. What is the protein in that curry? Is it lentils? Is it chia beans? Nobody knows, it’s just meatless.

I am ready to try vegan, but by experience I’ve been birned too many times by asking for the foods that are marketed towards carnivores, but are vegan, that I am not willing to eat meat replacements. And every time I ask if there is a recipe, every time I suggest that I’d be willing to try a meal thst is “accidentally vegan”, I am bombarded with “well we have this meat replacer…” or “just make these foods but not with meat”.

Tofu is something I don’t like, because I associate it with meat replacements, even though I am aware that that particular “meat replacer” has been used for long before meat needed to be “replaced”. I just don’t fancy those foods.

Now, for lentils or chickpeas. How the fuck does one spice them? How can you make them taste good? Beans are easy peasy, you can spice them pretty much like meat, but with more herbs than pepper. That is why I want recipes. I want references. I want to add options. And yes, I will still eat meat, because that is readily available, easy to make and tastes good.

Oh, and to add to the mix: my SO can’t consume pasta due to allergies, so there is that. Do you know how hard it is to bake, when wheat flour is the main baking ingredient for anything slightly puff?

And for you to change your mindset, I’m not saying “consume meat, heretic”, I’m saying if you want people to try vegan foods, don’t market them as vegan foods. The vegan market is so fixated on “meat replacements” that they’ve forgotten that traditionally (accidentally) vegan foods can be used as a base to create more interesting culinary options, rather that “compromising the meat”.