I wouldn’t be surprised if, in this economy, more people become vegetarian. Frankly, meat is expensive, and cutting it from the grocery list will save some hard earned money. Most of my friends are already vegetarian or vegan for a variety of reasons: meat tastes nasty, pro-animal rights, health benefits. Why not add fiscal responsibility to that list?

While some people are ditching manicures, movie tickets and malls, why not cut back on the meat eating? There are several vegetarian websites with quick, healthy recipes that provide an astonishing amount of energy along with the tasty. Throw “Vegetarian recipes” into Google and see what happens. Or, just try the Goya black beans and rice recipe on the back of the can. So good!

Whether you’re curious about becoming vegetarian or just want to go out for a nice, inexpensive meal, there are plenty of fine examples of non-salad, no-meat cuisine in this city. You don’t even need to know where to look anymore, since so many places now cater to vegetarians. Here are some of my favorite places, many of which are easily accessible from the BU campus.

First of all: Grasshopper, at the intersection of Brighton Ave. and Cambridge St. in Allston. It’s vegan, which means they don’t use any animal products. Their monthly $10 all-you-can-eat buffet is always packed and always delicious. Veggie beef and steamed kale provide plenty of protein, along with soups, noodles, vermicelli rolls and No Name. We don’t know what this glazed beef substitute is and we don’t care; when it’s fresh and warm, it tastes crispy and amazing.

A few doors down from Grasshopper is T.J. Scallywaggle’s, maker of fine vegan pizza and sandwiches. While I still maintain that vegan cheese tastes like plastic, their vegetable-stuffed calzones are excellent.

Veggie burgers are hit or miss, but I’ve found that UBurger’s oniony patty is great and adds only 35 cents to your order. Any of local chain B. Good’s burgers can also be made with their house recipe veggie burger for no extra charge. Even if you’re not going Veg, try it sometime. A friend of mine liked my UBurger veggie burger so much after one taste, he went and ordered one.

While I haven’t been there, Veggie Planet in Harvard Square supposedly makes delicious vegetarian pizza and does amazing things with tofu, so I’m eager to go. Border Cafe has a small vegetarian menu and my plate of spicy vegetable jambalaya was big enough for two meals. A friend’s vegetable fajitas seemed tasty, too.

For the adventurous, Grezzo in the North End is quite an experience. I went last summer because a friend of mine works there and, after a big meal of their raw vegan cuisine (nothing is cooked at higher that 112 degrees), we felt strangely lightheaded. Apparently that’s what eating raw organic does to you. My tomato ravioli had no pasta; the raviolis were made of sliced tomato with nut cheese inside. While a little pricey, this place is delightfully bizarre.

On the opposite side of town, Tamarind Bay’s Washington Square (C line) location has a vegetarian/vegan brunch on Saturdays. I went this past weekend for idli cakes, spicy aloo gobi and creamy rice pudding. The $10 buffet also gave me free naan bread with refills, no less!

The list goes on and on: Noodle Street’s vegetable Pad Thai, Espresso Royale’s Sahara bagel sandwich, Herrell’s Cafe’s veggie sausage and vegan french toast. What’s wonderful is that all of these options are really good and represent alternatives to traditional eating out.

I’m not a vegetarian but I put one foot on the boat because I wanted to eat healthy and more cheaply. There’s a scientific consensus that people don’t need nearly as much protein as the Food Pyramid says and it’s important to know where to get natural protein outside of meat and eggs. Speaking of which, I should add Central Square’s Harvest Co-Op to the list of must-visits: the grocery store has the largest selection of meat alternatives I’ve seen in one shop, and it’s just a quick jaunt on the 47 bus if you don’t feel like taking the 20-30 minute walk to Central.

I won’t step on Peta and several animal rights activists’ turf and tell you to go vegetarian, but I will say this: I feel healthier and spend less on groceries when I cut out the meat. I’m still bonkers for bacon, the Lower Depth’s meatloaf sandwich and Sunset Grill’s pulled pork, but I eat these things sparingly.

So, experiment: use black beans on tacos instead of ground beef, put sauteed vegetables on a sandwich instead of ham or turkey, cut out the chicken nuggets because they’re plain old gross. Then, see how you feel (and how much you save). Happy eating!