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Removing meat from your diet is the best choice for your own health, for the environment and, of course, for the animals. Alternatives to animal meat are also economical, costing only pennies in some cases. A variety of prepared plant-based meat products can be found in health food stores and some grocery stores, like A&P. Here is a little info about three alternatives and recipes for each of them.

Gluten is wheat protein. Seitan is one form of this versatile ingredient. Two-thirds of a cup provides 56 grams of protein, which is more than the RDA. In addition to the nutritional value, gluten can come very close to the look, consistency and taste of many meats. It has been a staple perfected over the centuries in Asia, especially in China. NYC is home to a number of Chinese restaurants where the menu reads like a standard one with duck, pork, seafood and beef, but these are all made, convincingly I might add, with gluten.
Typical cost in NYC: $2.20/pound of powder (approximately 20 servings)

TVP means texturized vegetable protein and it is made from soy flour. It comes in little bits from wee ground ones to big chunks. TVP is fantastic, as it is instant. Long day and too tired to cook? Soak equal parts of broth and TVP to reconstitute it. It only takes a couple of minutes. Add barbecue sauce, scoop it onto buns and you have sloppy joes. Toss it with veggies in a pan and you have a stir fry. You can substitute it for ground beef in all those easy hamburger recipes that were so popular in the 1970s. Always opt for organic TVP, as chemicals are not used in processing.
Typical cost in NYC: $1.85/pound (approximately 10 servings)

Tempeh is fermented soybean. Tempeh is rich in protein (18.3% fresh and 48.7% dry -source: Shurtleff and Aoyagi) It generally comes in fillets. I recommend those made by Lightlife, who make a variety of flavors. Tempeh is much better for you than tofu, as the fermentation deactivates the trypsin inhibitor found in tofu. Tempeh is also one of the few nonanimal sources of B-12 vitamins. It is a staple in Indonesia, New Guinea and Surinam. You can make your own tempeh from a starter kit.
Typical cost in NYC: $3.50/pound (four entree servings)

Let's prepare some dishes! First, I have a recipe for gluten beef. Next is TVP based fried chicken, followed with a tempeh based casserole.

Cowfree Beef With some experience, you can mimic most meats with gluten. This is a good basic recipe for beginners. 0.5 c soy sauce 4 T kitchen bouquet 2 T nutritional yeast 0.5 c minced onion 0.5 t sage powder 2 T canola oil 1 c tomato juice 1 c water 1 c vital gluten powder Mix everything except the gluten together. Draw out 1 cup of the mixture and pour it into a separate bowl. Add the gluten powder and mix them well, without kneading the dough. Pour a little of the liquid mixture into a loaf pan. Next add the gluten and shape it into a little loaf. Pour the remainder of the liquid mixture over the loaf and pop that thing in the oven. Let it cook at 375 for about 1.5 hours or until the top is golden brown. You may need to add water to the loaf, if it all cooks down during this time. Otherwise, it will burn. If the gluten raise up more than a couple inches over the loafpan, cut a whole to allow hot air to escape. If you have time, the flavor will be stronger if you leave the loaf and liquid mixture in the loaf pan for about 30 minutes before cooking. You can further flavor cooked gluten by boiling it in a seasoned broth after slicing or chopping it. Leaving it in the refrigerator overnight also adds to the final flavor. Your end result is a meat sort of like pressed lunchmeat. You can use it in almost any meat recipe. Fry, bake, grill it. I often make a gravy for it and serve it as is out the oven. The dishes I have made with this cooked gluten include pepper steak, goulash, stroganoff, meatloaf, pot pies, stir fry, stew and sandwiches. By altering the broth you cook it in you can change it to pork or chicken alternates. It is amazingly versatile.

Chickenfree Fried Chikin It sounds crazy with cornflakes in it, but you have to try it to believe how great this is. You can make chik cutlets, patties or nuggets. The patties can serve as cutlets. I cover mine in a heavy sauce. They can also serve as sandwich patties. Great with all the fixings. For a snack, try nuggets. 0.5 c boiling water cube of veggy chikin bouillon or the mix in next column 0.5 c TVP 0.5 c instant potato flakes or pancake mix or mashed potatoes 1 c crushed cornflakes seasonings oil optional chikin bouillon mix: T minced onion t salt t poultry seasoning T nutritional yeast dash rubbed sage powder pepper to taste Mix first two ingredients in a mixing bowl. Let the TVP soak in the broth made of the water and the bouillon. Mix enough of the pancake mix/potato to make a clay. Add your seasonings. Form patties or nuggets and press them into the crushed cornflakes, covering well. Fry in heated oil until crispy.