I'm a vegetarian, well technically a pescetarian but I think that is a stupid thing to be so I refuse to call myself that. I eat a mostly vegetarian diet with fish or seafood as a supplement on occasion- usually when the only veggie option is risotto. It shows a distinct lack of creativity when nice restaurants opt for risotto. And often there is some sort of brie and cranberry concoction that is great- once.
I haven't missed meat at all. My husband and I mostly follow a Mediterranean diet incorporating whole grains, oil, nuts and a ton of fresh fruit and veg. I have cut out all refined sugar, white enriched flour and heavily processed chemical laden food- pretty much the stuff I was raised on and therefore inevitably crave.
Billy has, over the months, become a vegetarian as well, which stemmed mostly out of his decreased meat intake at home. We've come up with new recipes and we avoid old ones that would involve a meat substitute. I am not a fan of adding something that is suppose to remind you of meat into recipes. Adding Quorn mince into lasagne wasn't going to be an option. Instead we double up on veg and beans. Lots of beans. Which is really good for us but does have some unfortunate side affects.
Tonight I made my chilli for the first time since we stopped eating. I love chilli and Billy loves my chilli, which had a lot of mince involved. I decided to add red and orange peppers, cannelloni beans (I couln't find black beans in the shop) and some red lentils to add the chunky bits. I was going to add some chia seeds to thicken it a little but it didn't need it in the end.
This was really just an experiment but I think it was just as yummy as the original. I don't ever expect a recipe to taste exactly the same but as long as it still tastes good. My next attempt to adapt on old favourite recipe will be with Chicken Katsu Curry. I'm going to use pumpkin instead! It should be interesting :)
