Vegetarians, when you eat foods... How do you flavor your food?

I cooked for a very long time in a place that made MANY vegetarian/vegan dishes.

We did NOT flavor them with meat broth granules as all those have actual meat in them. I have never seen fake meat flavoring for sale and believe me if there was such a product, the food service sales guys would have tried to sell it to me.

I used vegetarian soup stock or mushroom soup stock when I needed it but keep in mind, people have been eating far longer than those flavor enhancers have been around.

there are many ways to flavor your food....salt, pepper, spices, herbs, cooking methods all are a part of that.

You can add tons of flavor by simply sauteing vegetables(like onion, celery, peppers, etc) first when making soups, stews, etc. Frying raw pasta in a little oil first before adding liquid to cook it adds another flavor and even adds to the texture of the food.

Its all about cooking techniques too.

You can make a great tasting homemade vegetable stock in the very same way you make meat stock; saute your veggies, add water and seasoning and simmer for a long time to extract every drop of flavor out of the veggies. Strain and store to use in what ever you feel needs the flavor boost.

Ditto mushroom stock. AND both are available in stores, many without MSG too.

Many vegetarain recipes are the same as a meat one with an alternative protein source replacing the meat.

You can make fabulous chili using a grain called kasha in place of ground beef. And it has almost the same mouth feel as cooked ground beef. ANY chili recipe can be used to do this.

Ditto stew...just add a wider variety of veggies.

Or pasta dishes.

Vegetarian spaghetti is almost exactly like regular spaghetti sans the ground beef or italian sausage. A basic pasta sauce is meat free by nature. simple.

Keep in mind that some vegetarians use eggs and dairy.

that means a pasta sauce COULD be a great little fragrant pesto on pasta. No meat needed or even missed in this dish.

Vegans do not.

Most ANY recipe has a vegetarian or vegan equivilant.

I flavor my food the same way anyone does- with herbs and spices. I use a lot of fajita seasoning, Sriracha, Tabasco, smoked paprika, rosemary, sage, basil, garlic, onion, shoyu, mirin, etc.

For bases I use vegetable broth. Vegetarians do not eat food cooked in meat stock.

A large collection of vegetarian recipes: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/

Yes I do as I feel many foods do require a lft for flavour. Salt can make a huge difference to the taste and a little can make a huge difference,

Take a couple of tomato wedges and lightly last one pice then close your eyes and have someone pass you one to eat, then the other and you will taste the difference and it doesn't need to be a lot of salt.

I make vegetable stock.

Some vegetarians are ovo-lacto (eggs, milk) vegetarians.

I also use a lot of curry powder or Mrs. Dash, smoked Paprika, lots of herbs and spices.

Marmite, vegemite.

The best one is miso- fermented soy beans. I LOVE natto- this is just about the most flavourful soup base ever. More than fish sauce! Love natto. It is fermented then, extra fermented whole soybeans. It is sticky and slimy. SOunds lovely right? Fermented foods are very healthy to eat.

I like mustard, kacip manis ( a sweet salty ketchup from indonesia) and Gado Gado sauce which is a kindof peanut sauce.

Plum sauce- umeboshi saice, mirin, sweet vinegar.

A lot of these are single ingredient foods.

One sauce I make is soysauce, a bit of red chili powder and flakes, and peanut butter. It's a commmon peanut sauce from Indonesia, sort of like gado gado.

It's the peanut sauce you get when you buy tofu kebabs in Indonesia. There, it's a very common street food.

Plum sauce is dried stewed umeboshi- you can buy these in asian shops. Simmer and puree, then add sweet chili. SOmetimes you get it with red chili and garlic added.

Sweet vinegar is sold in Japan like ketchup is sold in America, only more so. Japanese LOVE their sweet vinegar. You can buy it in any good asian shop. I don't know how to make it, but vinegar is make from fermented fruit alcohol. I put it on almost everything, from papaya salad, to peas, mushrooms, and even plain rice porridge.

Curry sauce- heat some oil, crushed garlic and diced onion, in a pan. and cook gently. Add ginger, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, garlic powder, red chili, and cook these all gently to make a thick gravy. Cook for ten minutes and that's your curry sauce. Then you can add coconut milk to make a wet gravy. Or simmer down to make a thick sauce.

I use this on a lot of stuff. I love curry.

I don't flavor my food as I am a Fruitarian & believe in simplicity.

To me bland foods are refreshing! Like certain seeds such as sunflower & chia.

Flavoring degrades your health! Sodium based flavor chemically corrodes the body. Spicy flavor irritates the digestive system.

As far as I am aware vegatarians season, I suppose with vegtable stock, herbs, spices and salt.

Vegans on this site claim that food should not be seasoned and we should not eat food for taste and enjoyment so they don't use anything.

(i not being mean)

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learn to talk and come back and maybe i'll ansewer