I have some personal news: I went vegan three or four months ago. Considering that I’ve written thousands of words about it how much i love tofu and Black bean burgerThis “news” is hardly shocking, but the meat discourse is reaching furious new heights (or lows?) every day it seemed too relevant not to share.
To be honest, it took a long time. I’ve never been morally or ethically against eating animals – I still am – but capitalism is a different story, and at this point there is no division between the two. I don’t have to tell you that industrial meat production is a huge contributor to global warming (and climate denial) or that meat processing companies are almost caricaturally evil when they exploit an underpaid, often undocumented workforce. The facts are visible to the whole world, which is why more people are likely to eat less meat.
But making the choice is easy; figuring out how to eat less meat is less like that. What do you eat instead, especially if you’ve been eating meat all your life? Whether you are completely vegan or just restricting, these tips will help you find some answers.
Ask yourself the tough questions
OK, I lied a little – there are a few more questions before the answers. Big lifestyle changes should be food for thought, but if the idea of eating less meat is still uncomfortable, you owe it to yourself to ask why.
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What are the downsides? You will eat less meat. That’s pretty much it. Of course, there will still be meat, but most of the time you just eat other things. Is this really a deal breaker for you? If yes why? You can get protein and fat from tons of other foods – do you have to have meat? After a little thought about it, you will find your personal reasons, or you will find that you don’t need meat at all, or at least not all of the time.
Do a little brainstorming
The easiest way to eat less meat is to eat more of everything else. A good first step is to sit down and make a list of the meatless foods that you already love. Don’t be afraid to take this task extremely literally: even a list of 10 vegetables you like is valuable and makes meal planning easier.
Your list shouldn’t include foods that, with the right substitutes, could be meatless. Known quantities are fair game – like your favorite frozen vegetable dumpling or a great vegan burger from a local pub – but don’t expect the wrong meat to save the day, especially if you’ve never eaten it.
Get an air fryer
Oh my god I can’t believe I waited until 2021 to buy an air fryer. It does short work of every roasted vegetable you can think of, as well as a variety of goodies like crispy tofu, extra crispy potatoes, fried bread, frozen gnocchi, leftover fries, crispy shallots, and of course, frozen tater tots– and that’s just a mystery to me. Please don’t be a dummy like me: get yourself an air fryer before you go without meat.
Really get in beans
You probably saw this coming, but beans are a cornerstone of a meatless diet. This will be great news for some and a real downer for others – but if you’re not a big bean guy, try to stay open-minded. The world of beans is wider and more delicious than you might think.
Beans don’t have to come out of a bag or can, and you don’t even have to eat them whole. Tofu and tempeh are wonderful examples of the versatility of the humble soybean. Falafel is just chickpeas and herbs in a convenient, fried pack. You can even make pancakes and donuts entirely from beans: In Indian cuisine, Chilla (or Cheela) are pancakes made from besan (chickpea flour) or soaked legumes that have been pureed into a dough. (If you soak and ferment the legumes with a little rice, You have dosa dough.) Has Korean cuisine nokdujeong (or bindaetteok), a mung bean-based donut filled with kimchi, bean sprouts and spring onions.
Broaden your horizons
Beans are just the beginning. For most of our time on earth, humans have eaten anything but meat – meaning we’ve found roughly a billion ways to make plants taste good.
Every kitchen on the planet has a rich tradition of meatless dishes, and you don’t have to dig very deep to find them. Whether you can get them from Youtube or Cookbooks (my two favorite sources) Homestyle recipes from pretty much every culinary tradition will never get you wrong.
My dinner usually consists of either Mexican home cooking – beans, tortillas, salsa, potatoes, the occasional soyrizo – or literally a recipe from Priya and Ritu Krishna Indian, the best cookbook of the decade. As always, look for recipes created by people who are actually part of the culture they represent. The recipes will get better and you will learn more.
Buy more groceries
My final tip to eat less meat is very obvious, but rarely mentioned: if you are used to a high meat diet, you will need to eat a lot more other things to make up for it. I’m not talking about nutrient macros – I’m talking about sheer volume. A large steak is still a large steak after cooking, but a giant head of cauliflower can shrink to a single serving in a hot oven. Whenever you go shopping, buy larger portions than you are used to, at least until you get a feel for your new normal. Something tells me it won’t be long
