this mite sound like a personal question but how many ppl reading this board are veggie?

I have been in the past but not now. I like my Sunday Roast!

However I go for days without eating any, preferring to buy good quality when I do.

The great advantage of Indian cooking must be though that it has a very high proportion of veggie recipes compared to other more 'meaty' cuisines!

I'm not, and can't see me changing, but like Winton, some days I have a no meat day, usually those are the Indian food days, as I do not try to find meat substitutes, but I try to get the best from the veg (et al) I have to cook with.

An interesting statistic is to look at the distribution of meat eaters in India; I think it quite revealing. I believe only Jains are strictly not meat eaters of the major religions in India, though many other religious beliefs do not encourage it. And in most of India, it is lack of funds which is the deciding factor for many.

I was a vegetarian for a year when I was 17. Never again! I try to treat cooking for veggie guests as a challenge, and yes, Indian cookery is great for veggie meals (Greek cookery is pretty good, too).

I must admit that, if I have to cook twice a day for a whole week when there's a veggie houseguest, I get utterly fed up with all the extra work.

We had a great idea for feeding my veggie son-in-law recently: Swiss raclette for lunch. The veggie had the cheese, the tatties and the gherkins and we had the lot, including the hams. Preceded by broccoli and blue cheese soup and followed by Poires Belle H?l?ne. Fortunately, the Jewish guest wasn't kosher, which made things easier.

Technically speaking we are all "omnivores" but some choose to eat a vegetarian diet !

Even some animals that you might think only eat fruit and veg will occasionally eat meat (several species of monkey who seem to eat only fruit and leaves, but sometimes attack, kill and eat other species of monkey !)

Personally I like chewing, biting and crunching.. so I eat all food types... (not monkey though..)

Steve

I am vegetarian and for dinner this evening I made urid dal (my own recipe) and I cooked mamta's Cauliflower Greens and Stalks Bhaji (Dry Curry) with Mamta's Cauliflower Curry. For the bhaji I used cauliflower leaves, broccoli stems, and white cabbage.

A few days ago I made a huge batch of onion bhajis, vegetable pakoras, and vegetable samosas (all my own recipes) for a New Year's eve buffet, the ones I didn't serve I bagged and froze...so I had some of those to go with it.

I think vegetarianism is a personal choice and my reasons for doing it are purely because I love all vegetables and fruit. I wouldn't give you thank you for meat, but I realise that others do like meat and I don't have a problem cooking it for others.

Well, I think it's really admirable that you're prepared to cook meat for veggies: wow! However, I understand that other vegetarians just couldn't bring themselves (for various reasons)to do that, and we omnivores have to respect that.

We are, of course, an omnivore species, and Steve's remarks are interesting in that respect.

If I had to choose between meat and veg, I'd go for veg without hesitation, but I thankfully don't have to make that choice!

I was watching "come dine with me" (a rather bizzare cookery related programme) and one of the people on it was talking about when she was trying to go vegetarian but still ate fish and bacon ! ! !

It does really make you wonder what some people think it means when you are a vegetarian...

If you don't eat meat does that mean you only eat fruit, veg and nuts and pulses?

Does it mean you eat everything including jelly and sweets with gelatin in them but you just don't eat meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken)?

Does it mean you eat fish, chicken (because you call it poultry), aligator (as it counts as fish) and eggs, but won't touch a slice of ham because you don't want to harm animals etc ?

It's interesting that you should say that because I knew a guy who classed himself as a vegetarian, yet he ate chicken and fish all the time. I know there are a few variations of vegetarianism, but it doesn't make sense to me that a so-called veggie should eat chicken and fish LOL!

I do eat dairy products (although not that often), but I won't eat foods unless they are labelled vegetarian - I always look for the V symbol before I buy it.

One other thing that amuses me is when someone tried to create a vegetarian version of a meat dish - vegetarian cottage pie, vegetarian sausages, veggie quarter pounders, veggie southern fried chicken?? (I once tried all those and they were horrible, what was Linda McArtney thinking of?) "If you really enjoy eating meat that much then why give it up?" Myself on the other hand, I don't enjoy eating meat - I can't say as I ever did to be truthful - so it really doesn't bother me at all being a vegetarian.

i am veggie.we donot eat meat ,eggs nothing not even my kids.we donot buy any cookies,cakes or any other snack which has egg in it.

Our recent Jewish guest for lunch wasn't kosher, but was a vegetarian who was prepared to eat chicken and seafood.

I have another Jewish American friend who's prepared to eat tiny cubes of bacon (lardons, in French), but not a full-on bit of roast pork (such as filet mignon).

Odd business.

I think there are a lot of people out there who are confused between "being vegetarian" and "not liking meat" !

I know someone who said they were veggie to avoid the meat being served in the house ! They did live on diet of fruit/veg/pulses/rice/pasta etc but in affect would have eaten meat had it been prepared well !

Steve