I would try Post Punk Kitchen. They *do* have some with substitutes, but I think they have a decent selection of items without those as well:

http://www.theppk.com

what is wrong with seitan and tofu? they're both packed with protein and you can make them taste as yummy as you want!

that said, i think this gal has some good recipies. hungry hungry hippie. she's not strictly vegan and uses seitan and tofu from time to time, but she has good ideas that you can mold to be your own.

vegan yum yum used to be an active blogger, but she seems to have stopped for now. her cookbook is amazing!

I want to recommend Oh She Glows. She has some recipes with substitutes, but the majority doesn't use them.
http://ohsheglows.com/

This is my absolute favorite recipe ever, Jamaican Jerk Tofu with Coconut Bean Rice and Roasted Sweet Potatoes, and it happens to be vegan! No one will recognize the transformation of tofu!

http://smultronsoul.blogspot.com/2011/02/fiery-heat-with-bright-tang.html

I'd stop thinking of tofu as a meat substitute: it's not--it's a food in its own right, and delicious when prepared well. It's often used in combination with meat in Chinese and Japanese cooking. Ma Po Tofu/Mabodofu is silken tofu and ground pork, for instance. (It's fine if you don't like it! But if you like the taste, it's worth exploring as an ingredient, not a "substitute.")

Have you done much Indian cooking? A lot of things are vegan, or vegan aside from butter, for which you can easily swap a high-heat neutral oil (safflower, grapeseed). Smitten Kitchen's Chana Masala recipe is on regular rotation in my house, and she's got several others, too. As Deb mentions, the spices are an initial investment (but if you're lucky enough to live somewhere with an Indian market or section in a market, they're WAY cheaper in larger quantities and you use them by tablespoons) but the chickpeas/lentils/potatoes/beans you're cooking are way cheap.

Tofu is not a meat substitute in Asian cuisines--it's an ingredient all its own. For example, I LOVE the vegetarian version of mapo tofu, but my husband thinks mapo tofu is just wrong without ground pork. The authentic dish calls for tofu AND meat. Japanese cuisine uses lots of tofu. As tofu. Not as a meat substitute.

Believe me, tofu on purpose tastes a lot better than tofu snuck into things as a sub.

Kenji recently did a stint on Serious Eats where he ate exclusively vegan for a few weeks. He posted lots of great recipes and other tips and tricks.

I think the real question here is why are you working towards eating more like a vegan. If your long term goal is to do away with meat/dairy altogether, you should probably take this "transition period" as an opportunity to experiment with using these substitutes. They are great sources of protein and are extremely versatile, and since you're not dropping meat right now, just think of them as meats themselves - marinating, grilling, etc.

Check out some of Jeanne Lemlin's recipes, my favorite is white bean and sweet potato tian:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-potato-white-bean-and-pepper-tian-recipe/index.html

I've got a copy of her book "Vegetarian classics" and while some do have tofu, etc., many don't. I do eat meat and I find her recipes really approachable.

Happy Herbivore is my absolute favorite!!! There are a few recipes online but most of the recipes are from two (soon-to-be-three) AMAZING cookbooks. There ARE a few tofu/seitan recipes but the majority are "whole food" recipes. The author even offers weekly meal plans for just 5 bucks and they are completely fulfilling. Hope this helps!

Check out Kenji Lopez-Alt's "The Vegan Experience" recipe collection over at Serious Eats. He went vegan for a month, and had a lot of amazing blog posts about it - here are his recipes: http://www.seriouseats.com/tags/recipes/The%20Vegan%20Experience

I absolutely understand why you don't want to go with meat substitutes-a lot of people try to eat closer to vegan because of the increase of vegetables in their daily diets. For health, and to save $$, I feel the same way! Anyway, Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook is a fantastic resource for the type of eating you're looking to do. Most of his dishes are vegetable centric, sometimes with a tiny bit of meat for flavor. I will also second PPK (especially her chard red wine linguine w/cashew cream sauce), and Oh She Glows (love the Green Monster smoothie). Good luck!

I am with Carolyn. I became Vegan last year and I have not interested in meat substitutes, including tofu. Though I recognize tofu is not traditionally a meat substitute, in American preparations, it is used to simulate meat. Things that have been helpful for me - Veggie Tacos, Soups, Chinese and Indian food and reading a lot of blogs.

I would also argue that tofu and seitan are ingredients in their own right and not simply a meat replacement. They *can* be used to replace meat in a dish but the same could be said for beans, mushrooms, lentils, bulghur wheat, etc if you take the approach of "here's my protein, over here's my starch, and over there are are my veggies".

That said, The Post Punk Kitchen has never let me down.

101cookbooks.com isn't completely vegan, but she doesn't often use meat substitutes and has plenty of recipes that are vegan, or that can be modified into vegan recipes. Though I do agree with some of the others that say tofu isn't a meat substitute. That being said, I don't eat much tofu either. I also highly recommend Indian food. As long as you use oil instead of ghee, most of the recipes are vegan!

beans.
chickpeas=chicken or fish, kidney or black beans=beef. you can make basically any recipe vegan this information. veggie stock instead of animal stock, cashews or avocado as a rich "cheese" sub and beans. lots of them. cheap, filling, easy, DELICIOUS.

The bowl. The dish. The container in which the food is photographed.

Provenance please. Have been looking for same for a LONG time.

Can you advise?

Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian is amazing. It's not strictly vegan, but many of the recipes are or can be easily adapted. It's based on an world world vegetarian diet, isn't fussy, has great tips and shortcuts, and most of the meals are cheap to make. This book never makes it back to my bookshelf, it's always on the counter.

Most of the Moosewood cookbooks would be good too. A little less vegan friendly perhaps, but possible to adapt most recipes. Tasty, wholesome, filling.

It's already been suggested but I want to chime in that Oh She Glows is a great resource for vegan recipes.
Here's my favorite recipe of hers. http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/12/lightened-up-protein-power-goddess-bowl/

A couple other random vegan recipes I love:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/roasted-tomatoes-and-cipollini/

http://blog.sigsiv.com/2009/02/chickpeas-and-kale-stir-fry.html

I want to join the pro-tofu chorus - it is a highly traditional Japanese ingredient that can be used in a variety of ways in its own right. I'm not a huge fan of seitan though.

Also, don't think meat substitutes - think high-protein foods like beans, nuts, protein-rich grains like quinoa, etc.

Guys, you don't need to defend tofu and seitan. For one thing, each is based on a common allergen (soy and wheat/gluten, respectively), which is good enough reason to avoid them for some people. They also are both pretty processed, which is another reason. And some people just don't like them. It's okay.

That said, I've found it difficult to find too many whole food vegan recipes. A good rule for winging it is to think about your three main protein groups-- grains, legumes and nuts/seeds-- and try to work at least two, if not all three, of those groups into each meal. (Not strictly necessary, especially if you're still eating meat/eggs/dairy, but a good way to ensure you're getting varied protein). Soy (in the less-processed forms of seitan or soy beans, or a good soy milk made with just soy and water) is a protein source that mimics animal protein pretty closely, and quinoa is also a good source of all the essential amino acids.

Der, I meant soy in the form of tempeh. Seitan is made of wheat gluten, obvs.

Try Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero or two books by Bryant Terry, The Inspired Vegan and Vegan Soul Kitchen. All three have terrific recipes that work.

I got a friend the Everything Vegan Cookbook a bit ago and they seemed happy with a bunch of the recipes -- some swaps, some not. I noticed that the cookbook recipes are now available online for free (see above link), so that's even more helpful.

I like Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian but honestly the easiest way for me to make the transition was to take my favorite dishes, omit the meat, and add in legumes or beans or vegetables or mushrooms to make up the volume. That way I kept all my favorite recipes, with all the flavors that I love, and just made one or two ingredient changes - it made the transition so much easier. The recipe IS fundamentally altered but the flavor profiles aren't so it makes the transition so much easier. As long as you're mindful of your protein & EFA-intake you likely won't even have the sense you're missing anything at all.

My favorite was probably lentils, rice, caramelized onions, bacon & fresh salsa but I was able to make that vegan by omitting the bacon, sometimes replacing it with homemade shiitake mushroom 'bacon' (YouTube has plenty of videos with that recipe), and sautéing the onions in oil-only or vegan butter+oil. Because the essential quality of the dish is the same I don't feel as though I've lost a thing.

A couple of good blogs that are mostly whole food based are:

fatfreevegan.com

happyherbivore.com

I would recommend Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian". He really makes an effort on giving ideas for making it vegan. Even when he doesn't, it is quite easy to use vegan substitutes... non-dairy milks, etc. Plus, it is the most comprehenisve cookbook I have seen in a while. Since he isn't a vegan, he doesn't lean towards suggesting substitutes, with the exception of the occasional tofu mention.

Another suggestion is mushrooms. They often can substitute for the meat like texture without being a processed replacement.

Hope that helps.

No vegetarian.vegan needs "meat substitutes"--we have our own protein, it's called the bean.

Why are so many people criticiing her for wanting a tofu substitute? If you're vegan for ethical reasons, consider this: many vegan foods like soy / tofu, palm oil, corn, cause severe animal suffering through deforestation and pesticides. As for recipes, first track down some good protein sources (some grains like quinona, spelt, etc, beans) and try to work them into recipes you like. I'm allergic to gluten and had to go off my vegetarian diet, but I still peruse Kitchn and it takes time but you will eventually have a list of how to substitute everything you need. Don't forget things like iron, b vitamins and magnesium if you're worried about energy and health. Oh, and read Salted by Mark Bitterman. That book changed how I think about food.

wait... doesn't the recipe that the AT author posted have a cheese substitute?? i'm so confused why that recipe was posted when the question was to find recipes WITHOUT subsitutes...

(but the recipe DOES look pretty tasty though.. i'd just use real cheddar instead of a "vegan cheddar subsitute")

I like checking out the site "Finding Vegan." It's basically a collection of all of the most popular vegan blogs, and while not everything is without vegan meat substitutes, it's updated so often that you're bound to find something.

I second CDNJENNGA's suggestions: Happy Herbivore and Fat Free Vegan.

Nobody's critiquing her for wanting to avoid tofu in principle; I think the thrust of the critique is against tofu being classed as a meat substitute, that's all. No one has suggested that tofu is a cure-all for vegan protein needs, or that it's without complications. (The same can be said for seitan and tempeh; I didn't mention those because I think of them as substitutes, but maybe I need to broaden my horizons!)

While I'm re-chiming in, I'll third (fourth? eighth?) Oh She Glows. She often includes things like protein powders in shakes and bars, but her entrees are delicious and don't feel fake-y.

@Bailey P I agree that is the gist of some comments, but other comments defend tofu and follow that up with tofu recipes she can use. I do think it's a bit confusing that it's not mentioned why she wants to avoid tofu (taste? ethics? cooking challenges?) but whatever the reason is, she made it clear she doesn't want to use it.

I second the suggestions to check out Post Punk Kitchen and Happy Herbivore. There's a really delicious tempeh chili recipe on the PPK website.

I went strictly veg for a couple months last fall, and nearly called it all of after an incident with seitan. Myabe we prepared it wrong, but holy cow.

Good luck!

fatfreevegan!

I think the point is that she is still eating meat, so she doesn't want dishes like Seitan "Burgers," in which the "substitute" actually is a stand-in for meat. But more importantly, I would actually encourage you to look at vegetable side dish recipes. They can often be enlarged and served as mains-- in fact, the kitchn has a lot of recipes that I've adapted. I agree about PPK (their potato-kale enchiladas are a favorite), and I would suggest 101 cookbooks for their option to find recipes by ingredient. The New York Times also has a lot of good vegan recipes (surprising, I know).

i second many of these posts- esp fatfreevegan, & veganomincon; let's add the vegan slow cooker (hester), world vegan feat (grogan) and nava atlas. and i agree re: tofu- it's a food of it's own, never thought of it as a meat substitute. enjoy enjoy enoy!!

I know what you mean about "meat substitutes", but I wouldn't put tofu in that category - it's real food. Same goes for seitan and tempeh. Stuff like TVP, Quorn, and whatever they use to make fake chicken nuggets... weird, and gross. And especially if you're not cutting out meat entirely, then what's the point of using ChickieNobsTM?

I think another reason that Carolyn asked for recipes that don't contain meat substitutes is that sometimes when you're looking online for vegan recipes they can lean heavily on things like "vegan burgers" etc. where it's just a meatless and dairyless version of something familiar. Maybe Carolyn is looking to expand her palate? This is one of my current favorite vegan recipes, though I usually make it with quinoa instead of bulgur. And follow the red wine vinegar suggestion in the comments section, that really helps pull it all together.

Soups pretty much never have plant based meats in them. Veganomicon. Roasted veggies! Burritos, wraps, huge salads, etc etc etc.
The Engine 2 Diet has lots of great stuff too.

Sarah Britton is a nutritionist who writes a FANTASTIC blog at: http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/

She also writes the "Meatless Monday" recipe for Martha Stewart's Whole Living every week. Her site is 100% vegetarian and 90% vegan.

I don't see why everyone is worrying so much about protein. If Carolyn is still eating some meat and dairy, she'll be mostly covered on that front.

I concur with @Cooklyn - Look to the side dishes! Deborah Madison's "The Savory Way" has some wonderful vegetable dishes. And I love looking at vintage cookbooks for "new" ways to cook familiar veggies or ways to cook now-obscure veggies.

Whole grain and/or vegetable salads are wonderful, roasted vegetables (not just root veggies!) are wonderful as meals, all-veggie soups, beans of course (bean tacos with pickled onions and sour cream is like the best thing ever - I like them better than meat-based tacos). We are eat and definitely dairy eaters in my household be we often eat things like bean tacos and meatless pastas.

You could also take recipes where meat plays a supporting role and just remove it from the picture. For instance, one of my favorite pastas is lemon linguine with shallots, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, artichokes, chicken, and some kind of green vegetable like spinach, green beans, zucchini, and/or broccoli. You could just leave out the chicken and still have a wonderful meal. I've even added sliced cooked potatoes before. Lovely.

Or you could make red beans and rice without the ham and andouille. I've found that smoked Spanish paprika is a wonderful substitute for that meaty sausage/ham flavor you often find in southern and TexMex food.

Stir fries are also great without meat - the soy sauce and sesame oil makes it really savory.

But yeah, I agree with you on the tofu and seitan and what not. I still like to eat meat, but I'm trying to eat less of it. And soy of any kind is not my favorite (except some kinds of soy sauce).

I just thought of another place - The Victory Garden Cookbook! It tells you how to cook just about every garden vegetable under the sun and could be a great source of inspiration. Not all the recipes are vegan (some contain butter, cheese, there are a few that include meat), but most could easily be made vegan.

Anyway, good luck on your quest to consume more vegetables!

Excellent question - I'm a vegetarian and still struggle to find recipes that don't rely on things like tofu or seitan. And as much as I've tried (several recipes, marinades, cooking techniques), I just *really* don't like tofu, tempeh or seitan (and as some people said, they're also heavily processed).

I'll second the Vegetarian Times and Veganomicon suggestions. VT is wonderful in that the dishes are delicious and the recipes don't rely on weird ingredients. Big, big fan.
Veganomicon does use tofu or others here and there, but that book is such a bible that it's easy to select another recipe you'll like. I also got Alice Hart's Vegetarian last year, and it's become one of the best cookbooks I've ever read - gorgeous photos, very inspiring and fresh.

Finally, I love Shutterbean's blog (www.shutterbean.com) - she has several vegan/vegetarian recipes that are all delicious and easily put together.

I hate fake food. That is, food that is trying to imitate something else. My husband and I went to a "100% vegetarian" restaurant for lunch yesterday and EVERYTHING had some kind of meat substitute. All the sandwiches had veggie ham. Like ewwww, if I don't like real ham, I definitely don't want something that tastes and feels like real ham and I definitely hate processed food.

I cook vegan (ooh, I hate labels) about 90% of the time. Throw an egg into pancakes or cheese into a quesadilla once a week and that makes up the rest. We've really come to like tofu once in a while and find it really versatile and not resembling meat at all. It takes a long time to get a good collection of recipes that suit your own tastes, but it comes. Thanks for all the great vegan links and book recommendations!

I actually just posted a roundup of several vegan recipes that I wrote over the past couple years (they're all whole food based). I sort of leaned plant-based for a long time, but officially went vegan a few months ago, so my more recent recipes are also vegan--and all those yet to come, obviously. Hopefully these will be helpful!

Avocado Pesto Pasta http://chefchloe.com/entrees/avocado-pesto-pasta.html

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-dads-authentic-ratatoui-106669

Check out this website for easy vegan recipes!