That sounds pretty "judgmental" of your vegan "friend". I too feel the need for at least some meat in my diet, though interestingly, our frequent diy pizzas have for some reason helped to reduce that "dependency" to some degree.

However, there's also research out there that even plants may feel pain to some degree. Notwithstanding, while I do look forward to the day that I can eat chicken or burgers grown in a lab, I felt compelled to share this rather comical video with you, "If meat eaters acted like vegans":

Nice job with the Dukkah too btw, perhaps we can try sprinkling some onto one of our pizzas as an additional high-protein "garnish"! :)