Vegitude GR 1

Problem Statement

Vegans, vegetarians, lactose-intolerant individuals, gluten-sensitive individuals, and other people with dietary restrictions have trouble finding recipes that fit their needs. Most recipes don’t consider providing vegan, vegetarian, etc., alternatives. It is complicated to keep track of appropriate substitutions for meat and dairy products. Additionally, it is difficult for people who have friends with dietary restrictions to cook a meal for their friends since people without dietary restrictions can be inexperienced in altering recipes to fit different dietary needs.

User Classes

People with Dietary Restrictions, new to cooking for themselves

Looking to cook for themselves. Might want recipes specifically designed for vegetarians and vegans, or might want alterations of classic recipes that swap out meat and dairy product for vegetarian/vegan equivalents. Needs significant guidance about substitutions.

People with Dietary Restrictions, experienced at cooking for themselves

Looking to research new substitutions or look at multiple versions of a recipe to create a new version for themselves. Know common substitutions, but might want to learn about less common ones.

People cooking for their friends who have dietary restrictions

Cooking for other people. Likely inexperienced with substitutions or how to evaluate and pick vegan/vegetarian/etc recipes. May only have partial knowledge of the food preferences of the person they’re cooking for.

Interviews

We interviewed a vegan who is experienced at cooking vegan food, a vegetarian who is a relatively novice cook, a person who often cooks for a vegan friend, and a competent lactose-intolerant individual.

The vegan we interviewed reported that, when looking for recipes, he usually selects a classic recipe (e.g. shepherd's pie), and then looks for vegan versions. To do this, he looks up both a vegan version and a normal version online, and then uses the regular recipe, but making the substitutions from the vegan recipe. He reported that the vegan recipes he found usually came from blogs, rather than dedicated recipe collections. He also would sometimes just look up regular versions of recipes and use substitutions he has learned in the past from vegan friends or my inference from vegan recipes. Finally, he knows what types of food (e.g. indian food) are frequently "accidentally vegan," and searches for those items.

The vegetarian said that she usually looks up recipes that she knows already. She has been vegetarian for a long time, so she is used to finding vegetarian options and does not find it arduous to cook for herself. Usually she Googles a recipe and will use one of the top results, especially if it is from a website that she frequents. Sometimes she cooks meals that happen to be vegan. Occasionally, she will cook a meal that is vegan on purpose, but she only does this if the substitution is simple (e.g. soymilk instead of milk). She finds it easy to find vegetarian recipes without having to go to vegetarian-specific sites or blogs. 

The person who often cooks for a vegan friend stated that she figures out what to cook by asking her friends or looking things recipes on the internet, using Google. She will also often just take a recipe she knows and replace certain problematic ingredients with vegan substitutes. When trying to find vegan substitutes, she usually uses the internet or asks her vegan friend what to use and, if brand specific, where to buy it. She finds it occasionally difficult to find variety in things to cook and to figure out exactly what vegan substitutes she should use. She also said that a way to find recipes, vegan or not, by inputting the ingredients she had would be pretty nice to have.

The lactose-intolerant individual noted that, since he has been lactose-intolerant since the age of three, he doesn't find it hard to figure what to eat for any meal. He mostly just cooks standard recipes, but drops the cheese. In some recipes, he compensates for the cheese when it is necessary for the manner of cooking. An example he gave was pizza, where he replaced the cheese with basil leaves to add flavor and keep the sauce from drying out in the oven. Apparently, though, sometimes you don't always get the end results that you'd expect. He personally doesn't use fake cheese himself, not liking soy products. He can eat baked goods that use dairy in their ingredients, but not things like waffles or anything with baked cheese. Although no cheese in a recipe is best, the amount of cheese does matter and, if in very small amounts, is negligible. He says that a manner of finding recipes based on the ingredients he has would be very useful as a lactose-intolerant individual as he finds himself often having a weird surpluses of random ingredients he doesn't know what to do with.

Needs/Goals

• Find multiple versions of a common recipe that fit within a set of dietary restrictions
• Find recipes created specifically for vegans/vegetarians/etc
• Suggest substitutions for problematic ingredients such as meat, dairy, or gluten.
• Find recipes appropriate for a given skill level
• Find recipes based on ingredients a user has on hand
• Find recipes that teach a specific skill and help the user improve their cooking skills