I was in the exact same boat as you, but its pretty much there now. You can set a specific user group (i.e. Default) to have its recipes be public and then redirect index to that page.
Also I recommend upgrading because IIRC there’s a security vuln with that old version of Mealie
Oldest functioning system is my NES. Oldest system overall is a Darth Vader Atari 2600 that I really need to repair