Vegetarian

[tinaja]

If you are vegetarian what is your "go to" food? I make a lot of pasta Primavera. Getting better with this. 7 months.

[shilgia]

Anything Indian, in particular Indian Instant-Pot dishes, because they're easy. If that's of interest, I can send you any number of recipes. Also lentil soups. A yellow split pea soup's cooking right this moment.

[sophie]

No longer a vegetarian but was in the past.. eat vegetarian more often than not. We love a variety of vegetarian soups (usually during winter) for supper: beer lentil soup, vegetarian borscht, Mexican bean soup.. the list goes on. Instant pot is awesome for this.

[sprite]

chili made with quorn or similar meat replacement, use that chili for enchiladas.
lots of legumes.

not vegetarian, but we sort of do the '5-2' thing. Like, last night we had toad in the hole with veggie sausages, but I used rendered lard from Sunday's pork chops as the oil.

[Liiisa]

I'm not a vegetarian either but I do make a lot of vegetarian food. Last night we had lentils, which I usually cook with onion/garlic/ginger, whatever vegetables are around (I think sweet potato and zucchini), a big glob of miso, and whatever spices, seem like a good idea at the time.

I make a lot of tofu, too: usually marinated for a couple hours and then cooked on the stove. The marinade recipe calls for soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and then rice vinegar, mirin, and brown sugar, but I didn't have any of the last three so I used sherry vinegar and maple syrup and it worked just fine. (ETA that it also calls for chili paste)

[sprite]

Apparently, rice and lentils together do some magic on the stomach to make us feel fuller but with less food.

[Liiisa]

sprite is quorn good? It kind of creeps me out for some reason, which doesn't make sense since I happily eat mushrooms, but what can I say.

[mei]

risotto - basically almost any vegetable (and cream/cheese) works in a risotto
oven dishes - we had a kind of veggie shepherd's pie the other day: vegetables in a tin of tomatoes with mashed potatoes on top
wraps filled with vegetables and put in the oven for 20 minutes. I think we eat this almost every week: easy, loads of vegetables and the 10 year old in our house also really likes it

[sprite]

I've tried a few Quorn things, but mostly the fake hamburger meat stuff, which I use in moussaka or chili, or spagghetti sauce.
I mostly avoid meat substitutes except for treats, because they don't seem to be healthier than the meat version, or require a lot of processing/manufacture so the environmental gains are less. I put us on a semi-veg regime mostly for enviromental reasons, so we also eat more mussels and game--both are more enviromentally friendly here.

[shilgia]

Feb 9, 2022 7:53:21 GMT -5 Liiisa said:

sprite is quorn good? It kind of creeps me out for some reason, which doesn't make sense since I happily eat mushrooms, but what can I say.

IMO, Quorn is the best 'fake meat' out there. (Except maybe seitan, but that's not really a supermarket staple.)

[kraken]

A staple of mine is a tomato based sauce / stew with various veg, pulses with various spices and some sort of meat sub such as quorn, veggie mince/meatballs/sausage with lentils/rice/pasta. Very much variations on a theme depending on what I'm in the mood for.

I eat a fair amount of quorn (although I don't like mushrooms) and other "processed meat substitutes", and cook vegetarian versions of what are originally meat dishes.


But then I'm not a major culinarist and as I cook for myself only I can rarely be bothered to make anything that takes a lot of prep time.

[shilgia]

Feb 9, 2022 11:26:40 GMT -5 kraken said:

A staple of mine is a tomato based sauce

I recently discovered the joys of chraimeh - a Libyan spicy tomato-based sauce that's very quick to make and pairs well with pretty much any cooked vegetable (or tofu, Quorn, chickpeas, potatoes, pretty much anything).

[Liiisa]

Ooh shilgia, I just looked that up and it looks tasty.

Also if you're a lacto-ovo vegetarian and not a vegan you can eat what I often have for lunch: salad with either cottage cheese or a hard-boiled egg and two dolmas.

[tucano]

Some good ideas here. You can also make your own veggie burgers quite easily.


Quorn doesn't agree with everyone. I notice in the Netherlands they seem to have a lot more 'meat substitutes' than here in the UK. Some taste better than others, but I don't like the fake chicken.

[tzarine]

not vegetarian but eat vegetarian a lot, sometimes vegan
dal w coconut milk
the famed refrigerator soup: tomato based w what vegetables & leftover rice beans, lentils
sheperdette pie - spicy lentils w mash potatoes on top

tzarevich brings home all sorts of fake meat
but its a hard pass here

moros y cristianos - the dish based on the inquisition
recipe -
micocinavegetariana.com/arroz-moros-y-cristianos/

nabe w napa, tofu, mushrooms, carrots, scallions is a yuzu based vegetarian stock

buen provecho

[tinaja]

I have been doing deconstructed tacos a lot. Black beans, tomatoes and random veggies over crunched up tortilla chips with avocado, cheese and sour cream. Not exactly low cal.

I need to make my own Indian dishes because so far I have found none that appeals to me.

[sprite]

mmm... tacos in a bag.
I like coconut-based Indian sauces, and butter chicken--I often make it with paneer instead of chicken.

[kneazle]

I was also going to say risotto - I've made a vegan mushroom risotto quite a few times that's really good.

[Liiisa]

It's the texture that I can't really deal with in terms of faux meats. I'd rather just eat beans or tofu. Hummus, stuff like that.

[tzarine]

Feb 9, 2022 16:31:21 GMT -5 tinaja said:

I have been doing deconstructed tacos a lot. Black beans, tomatoes and random veggies over crunched up tortilla chips with avocado, cheese and sour cream. Not exactly low cal.

I need to make my own Indian dishes because so far I have found none that appeals to me.

thats nacos!

[tinaja]

Ha ha Tzarine. Deconstructed tacos sound classier. Maybe I am watching too much Chopped.

[tinaja]

I am having quorm stuffed enchiladas tonight. Pray for me lol.

[elliedee]

I'm not vegetarian, but eat vegetarian most of the time. If it's available where you are, I highly recommend 'The Green Roasting Tin' by Rukmini Iyer. The recipes are super easy, and the book really helped me expand my repertoire of veggie recipes. Last night I did one from that book with bulgur wheat, broccoli, ricotta and harissa (plus a few other ingredients) - not things I would have ever thought to put together! She also has a really great dal recipe in there, with cashew nuts and pomegranate seeds sprinkled on top.

Here's an amazon link to the book

[sprite]

There is a chickpea cacio e pepe recipe from.. Otto Lenghi? I keep meaning to try it, but keep forgetting to buy dried chickpeas.

[tucano]

Ah, how did I miss mentioning Middle Eastern food, lots of veggie options there. Falafel wraps are always a good standby.

[sophie]

None of us are strict vegetarians (although my husband had been one) but we cook vegetarian most of the time. Tonight we had vegetarian lasagna and salad. Everyone was very happy with the meal and minimal leftovers!

[tzarine]

just had a falafel bowl from our local vegetarian place w fried cauliflower
thanks, toogoodtogo

[Queen]

I'd call myself vegetarian-ish, I rarely cook meat at home.

My lazy favourite right now is cheesy mashed potato and green veges... but when I'm being a bit more creative I like spicy bean mix and fake burrito type meals, or chili beans with a slice of roast pumpkin. Or spicy lentil stew.

I'm not super keen on meat substitutes, but there are loads available so maybe I should try more of them???

[sprite]

I like meat substitutes for things like tuscan bean and sausage soup, or chili, or toad in the hole. In fact, I now have no interest in wasting good sausages on something like Toad in the Hole. Mind, I usually use pork or beef drippings to make it, so I'm hardly a pure veggie...

[tinaja]

My quorm was not very good because the the sauce was too hot and I put too much on.