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Veg Advice: Southern Meat-and-Potatoes Husband

How to satisfy husband's meat & potatoes taste, convert family to vegetarian diet

I am a 22 year old wife and soon to be mother. I am a native "Chicagoan" who is open to just about any type of food.

My husband however is a meat and potatoes North Carolina southern country boy. I would like to convert our family, slowly but surely, to vegetarian diet. I have tried adding "fake" meat to recipes but to no satisfaction of my hubby.

Are there any vegetarian cookbooks that you could recommend to satisfy his southern upbringing? - C. W.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice

Dear C. W.,

I'm familiar with the meat and potatoes crowd: Not an easy vegetarian conversion. I think fake meat is pretty gross myself, so I understand how your husband feels about eating it! See the SV article about fake meat

I like black-eyed peas, cornbread, and collard greens, but otherwise am not well acquainted with Southern cooking. But I looked around online and found a few interesting links for you to check out:

Here's a Southern style vegetarian cookbook Traditional Southern cooking, converted to vegetarian A few Southern recipes from Vegetarian Times

I've attached two Savvy Vegetarian reports, which might be helpful: 10 Tips for Beginning Vegetarians and Vegetarian Nutrition

To convert your family slowly but surely to a vegetarian diet, introduce more vegetable and grains over time to balance out the meat, get your husband to agree to a meatless meal once a week, then twice, then three times, then once a day, and so on, according to his comfort level - and yours!

Go for eating more chicken or fish and gradually eliminating red meat. Experiment with meatless dishes that will appeal to his taste - it may be that you'll have to make veg/grain based dishes and incorporate some meat for him at first, along with the beans or whatever, then gradually leave out the meat.

This conversion process could take years, and be prepared for the possibility that your husband may never completely adopt a vegetarian diet. Don't let it be an issue though - just keep all his many good points in mind!

All the best! Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian