Vegan

Indian and Indonesian kitchens offer a lot of vegetarian and some vegan options. Dry pressed tofu grilled in an oven van replace chicken in a bunch of dishes too and has all the amino acids.

But yeah becoming vegetarian if you just learn more true vega dishes is pretty easy in 2024 I've found

Mushrooms, lentils, tempeh, tofu, and rarely, things like impossible burger "meat." In general, you can straight sub some fungi and tofu for some meats in dishes. But a lot of western dishes do not play nice with these kinds of substitutes, since they're really dialed in for real meat. To go the distance, you must learn cuisine that makes better use of vegetables. This means learning things like Indian and Southeast asian dishes.

I'm also not vegetarian or vegan, but have transitioned to a much more plant based diet. The secret isn't finding meat replacements, it's just finding recipes that don't use meat. I mess around a lot with Indian, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines. Chickpeas and lentils (most beans and legumes, actually) are my best friends. I've found that even though it's a grain, farro helps me feel full. I'm pretty sure you can make a lot of Mexican/Central American stuff without meat (but probably not without cheese/dairy), but I'm not positive because I'm actually not that big on black beans.

We eat a lot of extra firm tofu. Freeze it, then thaw it, and then press it. If you’re eating a lot of tofu invest in a press, it makes it so much easier than stacking pans or bricks or whatever on a cookie sheet and hoping is pressed evenly.

Then cook how you like. We toss it with some seasoning and cornstarch and stir fry it crispy and then use it instead of chicken.

Personally I almost always make stuff I can eat for more than 1/2 days. So it's soups, stews, curries, etc. Everything pretty much boils down to protein + sauce + veggies anyway.

So it's lentil soup/curry/chilli with a side of whatever you feel like. (Salad, bread, rice, quinoa, couscous, etc) Or chickpeas or some beans or whatever. Other times it's just rice (think paella or risotto) or pasta.

Lemme know if you want specific recipes

I make a ton of vegan chicken, steak, and jerky nearly every week and use it in all my recipes. You can make a ton at once, and obvi it's much cheaper than flesh / secretion-based products.

After getting really good at them, and swapping out milk for oat milk, I've pretty much had to change nothing about what I want to make / eat.

My main go to lately has been beans and rice in the instant pot (any pressure cooker is fine). Throw dry rice and black beans in with some sauteed onions and garlic, broth, a can of tomatoes and season with chili pepper, cumin and a few other common spices. That's been a staple for me for a while. Every batch makes a meal plus a few lunches and its really easy to make. Goes great with some tangy hot sauce. Can also be used to fill a burrito or tacos.

I'd check out !veganhomecooks@lemmy.world from time to time for some inspiration. I have a few posts there and I'm always happy to share recipes!