"Some people think the plant-based, whole-foods diet is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery. Some people would call that extreme."-Caldwell Esselstyn
The universe gave me lots of meateaters, so I have learned to cook mushrooms and create rawsomelty plant cheese. Often your carnivore expresses disdain for fake meat. Perhaps it falls into that 'uncanny valley' that is close, but not the real experience. Like the robot that looks a little too human, but is creepily off somehow.
I actually like fake meat products like mock turkey and unchicken for brown bag lunch sandwiches, for example. I use them once in a while, just for fun, or when they are artistically called for. Last time I ate real meat was way way back in the the last millennium. But I was brought up on Texas beef and traditional southern cooking, so I know what these recipes are supposed to taste like.
I'm good at pleasing omnivores when I make food for them. I don't even have to think about it any more since they naturally like the food I make. The trick is to supply all of their needs, but it doesn't hurt to make the food delicious as well.
You can't please meateaters by leaving everything on the plate the same, and just removing the meat. For that matter, you will not make the vegans at your table very happy that way either. Meat is a very complete food. Replacing what is in it is an emerging, veggie-cutting edge art.
It is very cool. Also it's only recently scientifically possible, to do some aspects of it, such as vegetarian B12, EPA oil, and vitamin D from mushrooms. We all need vitamin D in latitudes with several months of sun deprivation. You can get EPA oil from algae, which is where the fish get it, eliminating the fish killing part of getting this essential fatty acid.
Then there is the availability in the industrialized world of a very wide range of foods, which makes complete healthy nutrition easy. You do need to find and eat a variety of things to fill out all of your requirements and avoid any deficiency. Things like seaweeds for minerals, and fermented foods for probiotic balance.
You need to find out how much and in what proportions of protein and fat you like, so you can make transitional dishes. People who are into really heavy protein intake should not depend too much on any one protein source such as tofu or nuts. Rather, they can avoid acquiring food sensitivities by eating a wide variety of beans, grains, nuts, and soy products. And mushrooms. Lots of foods have protein. Goji berries, for example, a mainstay of Chinese food and medicine, will grow anywhere and are as high in protein as beefsteak.
Mushrooms are a great meat substitute, and also have more benefits in the diet than can be listed here. Remember to only eat mushrooms grown on wood. Herbs, another whole topic, are also very useful.
If you stop eating meat for a while, your tastes will change. Things that you were not attracted to before will appeal because they have something you now need. Carefully listening to that leads to well being and yummy food.
Sometimes it's fun to make traditional recipes and substitute. These recipes were kept all this time because they were good, because they worked as combinations of sweet and fat and this and that. They are often easy to convert.
Simply base the menu around whatever veggies and fruits are in season, add proportions of fat and protein foods to balance it out, and frequently throw in the obscure bits, like seaweed and mushrooms, fermented foods and spices. And remember to consider your vitamin D and B 12 availabilities.
"You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car."~ Harvey Diamond
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