The amount of protein you need depends on your lean body mass. In general, you need 0.60 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. For example, if your lean body mass is 100 lbs., you would need 60 grams of complete protein per day. [Protein Power by Drs. Eades shows how to determine lean body mass. Your public library probably has a copy of this book.]
Meat protein is considered 'complete' because it contains all 22 amino acids, including the eight 'essential amino acids'. Except for nuts and some legumes, most vegetables contain fewer than this number of amino acids and are therefore considered 'incomplete' proteins.
It is possible to be vegetarian and have a healthy diet. Unfortunately it is very difficult to combine the appropriate quantities and types of incomplete proteins to obtain sufficient complete protein.
This is a link to a Bio101 lecture on essential amino acids and protein:
[url="http://www.med.unc.edu/medal/olympicgold/aaprotein.htm"]http://www.med.unc.edu/medal/olympicgold/aaprotein.htm[/url]
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