I think tofu should be allowed as it's not really a 'fake meat'/meat substitute.

Depending on the entree in question, tofu is absolutely used as a meat substitute.

For example: a tofu burger is replacing the beef patty of a burger with a tofu patty instead.

However, you are correct in that there are tofu entrees where tofu isn't a substitute for meat/animal byproducts.

I editted the OP to be more specific.

You said not south Asian and you said vegetarian.  I feel like there are a lot of good fried rices that don't have any meat in them that use egg as the major source of umami.  There are some amazing mushroom soups.  Miso I feel like can add a lot of good umami to soups even if it isn't an asian inspired soup.  Butter any dish with butter in it.  Lots of pastas with mushroom and cream.  

What sort of dish are you looking for anything in particular?

Bean and cheese burritos, bean tacos, pizza, pasta, salad, vegetable soup, pastries, breads (garlic bread), fries, sweet potato fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, guacamole with corn chips

South east asian count? Indonesians have lots of vegetarian recipes 

1. Gado-gado. Remove the eggs if you want

Mushroom satay

For satay you can try 3 recipes. With peanut sauce, taichan (spicy), or just sweet soy sauce. 

3. Orek tempe

4. Sambal tumpang (from tempe)

You eat it with porridge.

5. My all time favorite, Fried mushroom

We don't pretend our vegies recipe as meat. Most of us grew up poor. Hence some of us aren't familiar with eating meat.

Heck we even tweak our rice to have different flavors, that way we don't need to eat meat:

1. Nasi daun jeruk (lime leaf rice). Very savory and refreshing aroma. My boyfriend favorite. 

2. Nasi liwet. There are few traditional recipes for this rice but my favorite are surakarta (with coconut milk) and sundanese (with margarine. Light n so good)

Surakarta:

Sundanese:

3. Nasi hainam (chinese. But replace chicken stock with coconut milk)

4. Nasi bakar (with oncom / fermented soy beans. So so so good).

Ps: I made 3 type of rice for community events. Too bad the judges only know baking n western food. The cooking skill? Not so much a factor lol. 

And ps2: yes I can cook all the food I posted abbove. I can assure you, you will not be disappointed of you cook them

This food looks really good, I wanna try making some.

Thanks for the recommendations!

I'm more interested in dishes that never used animal protein, rather than subbing out the animal protein for something else, but these all look amazing!

Hope my crappy cooking skills are capable of making these things!

I know exactly what you're talking about.  I abhor fake meat (suspended proteins is one of my aversions).

I do agree Asian food in general is more amenable to vegetarian options, not necessarily because of lack of familiarity, but because there were more veg recipes to start... I would say that Western food is catching up, but that would discount a lot of the vegetarian options that DO exist but that are ignored because they're not "main course" dishes.

What even constitutes a main dish??? A lot of the things considered main dishes in other cuisines is just soup or sandwiches by another name - but these are specifically excluded from being considered "main course" dishes in Western culture.  So, change it up. Make soup the main course.  There's no rules.

And now I really want roasted squash for some reason 😒 Wrong season for it tho.

The thing I struggle with (as a midde aged person that lifts, so need plenty of protein but not so many calories anymore) is that it's hard to make dishes without dairy or animal protein that fits my needs. There aren't really any plant sources high in protein that fits this unless you make them highly processed, tofu is really the only one. Anyone got any tips that fits this?

If you aren't vegetarian, eat egg whites. Just remove the yolk from the egg then steam or boil it. It will look like tofu but taste less sour. You can use dozens of recipes with it. And it only has 17 calories per-egg.

If you are vegetarian eat tempe than tofu. It has twice protein than tofu. You can google it. But it has 193 calories tho. 

I recently made this recipe for Chickpea Paprikash for the first time, it was easy and delicious. I'm not vegan so I used real dairy products but it's not necessary. Chickpeas are a good source of fiber and protein! 

https://munchmealsbyjanet.com/2022/08/26/chickpea-paprikash/#recipe

French onion grilled cheese

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020107-french-onion-grilled-cheese

I think a good vegetarian dish could be like pasta with a good tomato and basil sauce along with cooked sliced button mushrooms. The pasta can be made simply with just water and all purpose flour instead of eggs and if you want it to be more protein leaning I thinking finding a chickpea pasta would be good too.

So, in a related topic, when I was in Japan, I gambled on a Sri Lankan vegetarian curry ekibento, and wasn't displeased with it.

My spouse was shocked that I chose to go with a vegetarian ekiben.

Accidentally vegetarian according to people but uses milk. Been fond of making my own mushroom soup lately. Sauteing mushrooms with garlic. Putting in cream. Putting in your stock of choice (I'm usually strapped for time so i go for chicken broth cubes usually but that's not vegan so..). Put in cheese if you want. Put in tofu/spinach. Voila mushroom soup.

I make this delicious sandwich in a toasted pita. The main component is a portabella mushroom (gills and stem removed) marinated in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, then seasoned w/ s&p and roasted until cooked through and tender. In the pita put the mushroom, feta cheese, roasted red pepper, avocado, lettuce, and tomato. Finish with a balsamic drizzle and two other sauces- a cilantro pesto, and a lemony yogurt sauce. Soooo good!

As a strick omnivore, I can't pass up mushrooms. Local farmers marker has chef mix at $22 per lb. Mushroom risotto last week. Making cream of wild mushroom soup today. 

Homous and falafel  pretty easy better if you do some prep tho not expensive .

 All veg and tastes better if you have some pickles or pickled turnips on hand. I usually throw meat on the homous  with it but not really necessary.