Week 4: ReBar

No recipe this week as I ate out!  Since turning my back on meat there has been one thing that bothers me most, not the lack of meat, the number of things on menus that I can eat!  It's fair to say, without meat things are limited.

So imagine my delight when I discovered a restaurant that had an entirely meatless menu!!

The restaurant is called Rebar and it is located in Victoria BC a mere 2 miles from my home.

After a starter of Roasted Pepita Quesadilla, I decided to go for the Almond Burger.  Both were delicous, the burger came with a generous helping of fries and salad so good stuffing was enjoyed.

Sadly the recipe for the Rebar Almond burger isn't in the public domain, but I did find this recipe to keep with the theme of this blog.  Looking at that recipe, it may be quicker and easier to travel to the Rebar from wherever in the world you are!

Rebar Almond Burger, picture: google!

Rating

Well it was simple and delicious, but exempt from my rating!

Note: Rebar have a recipe book out there, give it a search, it gets good reviews.

Week 3: Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

A curry, without meat???  MADNESS!

Once I was over my initial thoughts, I set about making this curry.  It was relatively simple, but requires oven roasting the cauliflower.  This isn't difficult, but roasted cauliflower smells horrible!

The outcome was a tasty curry, with the chickpeas offering a nice texture (and source of protein).

Rating
Taste - 14/20
Cost - 8/10
Difficulty - 7/10
Prep Time - 6/10 
Overall 70%

Week 2: Vegetable Biryani

In preparation for the changes to my diet, I bought a couple of cook books.  Therefore I am sure during the early stages of this blog you will see many recipes from these books.

The two books were both recommended by non-vegetarians who enjoy a veggie meal.  I like a recommendation as I don't seem to be too good at picking nice cook books.

The books were:

Meatless by Martha Stewart and Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 

So what did I cook?  A Vegetable Biryani, and it was bloody lovely (don't be put off by the photo!).  I was a bit lazy and used curry powder instead of the individual spices listed in the book, but I don't think it cheapened it too much.  Have a look at the recipe here.

One thing to note, the recipe makes a mahoosive Biryani, I took it to work as lunch everyday for a week!

OK, I agree.  My food photography needs work!

Rating
Taste - 16/20
Cost 6/10
Difficulty - 5/10
Prep Time - 3/10
Overall - 60%

Week 1: Curried Lentil Pie

My wife is Scottish and in Scotland it is traditional to eat Steak Pie on New Years Day, it is genuinely one of my favourite meals of the day.....so I felt the pinch on day one!

To counter the steak pie, I decided I needed to make a veggie pie, so armed with a bag or lentils and what was in our cupboards I knocked up a curried lentil pie (I made my own version of this, based on what we had in our cupboards).

One Steak, One Lentil.......can you tell the difference?

It was lovely, but there seems to be a part of my brain that does not register a meal without meat as I was still hungry afterwards!

Rating

Taste - 10/20
Cost - 8/10
Difficulty - 5/10
Prep Time - 4/10 
Overall 54%

So it's on....................

I am a man who likes a challenge and each year I set myself a challenge much like a new years resolution.  Normally my challenges are of a physical nature but in 2014 I have decided to take on a different challenge; to give up meat for a year.  Just to be clear, I will still occasionally eat fish for a source of protein.

"This isn't a challenge" I hear all vegetarians cry?  To me, this is.  I love meat and I love food, I have no moral objections to eating animals (although I do have issues with some modern farming techniques); basically I have no real reason to stop eating meat and denying myself what has been a lifelong staple of my diet for an entire year.  The reason I am doing this is simply because it is a challenge to me.  

No, it is not physically tough like climbing Mt Everest or running a marathon, but it will involve changing the way I think about food and be learning a whole new repituire of recipes (Macroni Cheese is current about the extent of it!)

So the idea of the blog is to record each week a new meal I have made and rate it.  I will also share recipes and news on how I am progressing, simple really.

If you have any suggestions of meals I may enjoy then please pass them on.