Meals that can go both ways: How to please vegetarians and non-vegetarians

I know there are families out there where everyone sits down to the same meal each evening. Individual tastes are accommodated, but overall there is one meal that everyone eats.

I also know that there are households where multiple meals are created every day, to cover variations in taste, dietary requirements, and, perhaps, views on meat.

As a child, my family was somewhere between the two. For most of my childhood, there was one main meal prepared each evening and that is what we all ate. This is quite remarkable in hindsight, as it's an approach that became less and less tenable as my siblings and I grew older. What's more, my Dad has 'meat and three vegetables' tastes - he's not a big fan of spice, legumes or tofu, and would definitely take mashed potato over rice - whereas my Mum hasn't eaten red meat for some 30 years now, and spent some of her childhood in Jamaica and Africa, gaining a taste for spice and for vegetarian dishes.

Somehow, it worked for a while. If we had a barbecue, there were meat sausages and burgers for my Dad and us children, to go along with chicken and some vegetarian salads or side dishes. My Mum also made us spaghetti bolognaise on occasion, and she never actively restricted our intake of red meat. Most of the time, though, it was chicken, fish or vegetarian options (for the latter, think legume-based soups or stews, vegetarian lasagna, spinach and ricotta filo triangles...). My Mum didn't work outside of home when we were young, and she prepared meals that by and large everyone enjoyed. My Dad bought his work lunch each day, and I guess if he was craving red meat that's when he would have it.

That started to shift when I was about 12. At that time, my brother turned vegetarian. He had always disliked fish (and still does) but at the age of 8 he decided that eating animals was something he wanted nothing to do with. Thus, my Mum gained an ally for her vegetarian dishes, but an extra challenge when considering what to make for dinner. This was complicated by the fact that I was lactose intolerant as a child and teenager, and haven't liked cheese from a young age - many vegetarian dishes, particularly back then, were heavy on cheese.

So, we started having meal variations. If we had chicken, my brother had a vegetarian replacement. If we had vegetarian pasta with cheese, mine was cheeseless.

This general pattern persisted for another 7 years or so. But then I started moving away from chicken - occasionally was fine, but I didn't want it twice a week. My brother swung the other way and started eating meat, including lamb and steak and other dishes he'd barely tried as a child. He is still anti-fish, but these days will eat just about anything else.

In the years before I left home, therefore, it was rare for everyone to eat the same thing in the evening. Usually there were 2 alternate meals (there were 5 of us), and generally the difference was that one was meat-based and one was not, or that one was chicken / fish whilst the other was beef. My Mum and I tended to share the evening meal preparation at that point, with help from my siblings and Dad, so having additional cooks with their additional opinions probably contributed to this too.

When I moved out, there was a period where it was just my own meals, and thus just my own tastes, that required consideration when eating at home. When Mr Bite moved in, there was a shift back to thinking about another person, but that change wasn't too significant (he doesn't really eat red meat and his family is largely vegetarian). However, when I decided to drop chicken completely, I took myself back to preparing different meals some of the time. If I have family or friends over, I'm also mindful that not everyone necessarily wants vegetarian food. There are times when both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options are required.

The good news is, it doesn't have to be hard.

And so, after that very long preamble, here are 5 dinner options that can be easily tweaked to be vegetarian (or even vegan) or meat-based. Please excuse the photos, some are before my new camera and some are just poor shots!

Pizza

There was a reason I picked pizza when I hosted friends for dinner 4 days after we returned from Tasmania.  It is easy, and it is versatile. 

On that occasion, I went with a few varieties of vegetarian pizzas, but it is also easy to add ham or chicken to one pizza (or one half a pizza) whilst leaving the rest vegetarian. Similarly, it's easy to leave off the cheese, or use soy cheese, for those who want a cheese or dairy-free option.

Tomato and basil with cheese (top) and spinach, pumpkin and coriander with  feta and sweet chilli sauce (below)

I've also found that even meat eaters are quite happy to enjoy vegetarian pizzas - perhaps because properly prepared vegetarian pizzas have more toppings and better flavours than a generic ham and pineapple from a local take away chain!

Vegetarian with and without cheese

Burgers

When I make burgers at home, we both have vegetarian ones. However, at barbecues with my family, veggie burgers are an easy way to fit in with the barbecue theme without actually eating meat. 

There are now so many veggie pattie options available that this makes for a very straightforward meal, whether you buy the pre-prepared variety or make your own. I'm not sure I'd like to make meat patties from scratch, but many deli's and butchers now sell them ready to cook, so even if you are accommodating meat eaters it doesn't have to be hard.

Pasta

This is such an obvious option that I'm almost embarrassed to include it in this list. However, it is one of the first adapted meals I had experience with, and it is so versatile that it really does deserve mention.

I am not actually a big fan of pasta - I prefer rice, or potato - but it is one of our 'go to' meals when we are away on holiday and self-catering. This is because it is (i) easy and (ii) can be made using whatever ingredients you're able to find. Our versions are either vegetarian (tomato-based) or a bit like a tuna  bolognaise (Mr Bite's specialty dish), and we have managed to create these across the globe, including in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, when our nearest supermarket had no English speaking staff and we recognised virtually none of the brands.

It still turned out well!

Impromptu Ljubljanian pasta

Now, this isn't a post about meals you can easily make on holiday. However, the fact that one can create an enjoyable pasta dish using ingredients from just about any supermarket, anywhere in the world, highlights that pasta dishes are incredibly versatile, and they can also be tweaked to suit meat or non-meat tastes. 

After my brother and sister started requesting meat, my Mum would routinely make a meat bolognaise for them and my Dad, and a lentil bolognaise for herself and me. It worked well. A simpler version could include a jar of commercial pasta sauce, some meat added to one saucepan, and some canneloni beans added to the other.

Ginger noodles two ways

Stir fry

I find the most time consuming part of stir fries is the chopping of vegetables. Having two pans on the go to cook chicken as well as tofu is no trouble at all, and I probably do this every other week. After browning the chicken and grilling / sauteing the tofu, I toss about half of the chopped vegetables into each pan and add sauce / seasoning to each separately. If you don't like cutting up meat, you can even buy pre-prepared stir fry strips these days (albeit at a price...). 

Although Mr Bite will eat tofu if I give it to him, he is always happier with chicken, and this way I can also tweak the sauce and seasonings to suit each of our tastes. Definitely worth one extra pan to wash up.

Burritos

With lentils...

I imagine that most Mexican food could be adapted to be vegetarian or non-vegetarian, but I've never really been a big fan of nachos or tacos. Burritos and fajitas, though, I very much enjoy.

I like mine with lentils and plenty of vegetables, including grated zucchini. My Mum is similar. The rest of my family and Mr Bite prefer theirs with chicken, optional avocado, and topped with cheese.

When I make them at home, Mr Bite and I have the same tomato-based salsa sauce, the same grated (carrot and zucchini) and cut (capsicum) vegetables, the same burrito bread, and then simply swap lentils and mushrooms (me) for chicken (him) and either do (him) or don't (me) add cheese.

With chicken and cheese...

Of course, tofu fillings are also an option.

The tofu wrap at the Purple Possum Wholefoods & Cafe, Tasmania...

The options with burritos and wraps are almost endless and they make for an easy meal however you choose to prepare them.

What are things like in your house? Are you all vegetarian or non-vegetarian, or do you find yourself making variations on meals? I'd love to hear how others deal with different tastes and food preferences!

Tweet

Pin It