Vegetarian quick questions thread

alec_eiffel

snowy134 wrote: »

Something I find easy when cooking for a mixed crowd is jacket potatoes with a range of fillings - say chilli / curry, cheese, coleslaw, beans, ratatouille etc. All straightforward to prepare in advance and everyone can tailor to their own likes / dislikes. Would also have salad with it.

Alternatively - quiches can be done with a range of fillings and again served with salad, garlic bread etc.

I think things like this are a great idea when dealing with a mixture of meat and non-meat eaters. DH and I don't eat meat, but he likes cheese and I don't. People so often plump for something with cheese when they hear you don't eat meat and it makes me feel really fussy/bad when someone makes something like a nice quiche but has loads of cheese on. Having lots of separate bits is easier and loads less stressful as everyone can just have what that like and you don't have to think about it too much.

If we have people coming round I usually make curry, either lentil and spinach or a vegetable curry with some fried tofu - I go easy on the beans as if people aren't used to them it can be tough on the belly! Or I make chestnut and root veg pie - everyone likes it meat eaters and veggies alike. It's just carrots, parsnips, chestnuts (bought vac packed they keep for ages) beer, stock, sage and pastry. Really delicious.

heretolearn_2

one veggie lasagne, one meat lasagne, plus garlic bread and salad?

curries - one meat and one veggie, with rice, nan, veggie side dishes (bombay potato? sag aloo? - even if you buy those at the supermarket)

meatloaf and nutloaf with roast pots + veggies

Penelope_Penguin

artichoke wrote: »

but I have invited 2 couples and kids around next week and one family 2 adults 3 kids under 6 are all vegetarian, and the other family 2 adults one child eat no red meat (but do eat fish and chicken)...

So i am looking for inspiration of what to cook... i don't mind doing 2 different main courses - in the past when these couples have been round separately with other families of meat eaters i have cooked eg 2 thai curry dishes one vegetarian, and one beef and a noodle dish with prawns...

I would use this as a way of increasing your cooking repetoire I'll add this to the Veggie Quick Qs thread, where the first post gives links to lots of threads for inspiration.

Penelope_Penguin

MrsGSR wrote: »

Any suggestions on what I can cook to adapt for him so he doesn't feel like he is missing out?

If your money is tight, I'd explain to the other members of your family that the food bill needs to fall, and suggest some veggie recipes

How about making bolognaise sauce, and bulking out with lentils and seasonal veg - it will stretch the meat much further :T

I'll add this to the Veggie Quick Q thread where the first post has lots of links to veggie recipe threads to help you.

dandy-candy

I would like to eat vegetarian meals more often but don't always have fresh/frozen veg to hand (shocking I know!) Can any vegetarians give me an idea of the sort of basics you keep that are dried or tinned, and what you make with them? You don't have to give the full recipe - I can Google those, just ideas please ty

OrkneyStar

dandy-candy wrote: »

I would like to eat vegetarian meals more often but don't always have fresh/frozen veg to hand (shocking I know!) Can any vegetarians give me an idea of the sort of basics you keep that are dried or tinned, and what you make with them? You don't have to give the full recipe - I can Google those, just ideas please ty

Not a vegetarian (but was one and do eat veggie meals)...the following would be good store-cupboard basics:
Tinned tomatoes
Tinned lentils (green)
Tinned beans (butter, kidney, haricot)
Tinned sweetcorn
Dried lentils (red/green/puy)
Dried beans of all sorts (butter, kidney, haricot etc)
Quinoa
Rice (risotto, long grain)
Pasta
Coconut milk
Spices/Herbs- any you like!
Curry paste
Curry powder
Garlic paste
Tomato puree
Chilli puree
Quorn mince (frozen)
Spinach (frozen)
Cauli florets (frozen)
Eggs

The sort of veggie meals I might make would be:
-Veggie lasagne
(using lentils and or quorn mince along with spinach and perhaps chopped peppers/mushrooms instead of steak/beef mince)
-Veggie curry (using cauliflower and or potatoes and or mushrooms and or peas instead of meat) with rice or naan
- Veggie Moussaka- same meat substitutes as lasagne.
- Veggie quiches- any veggie you like, I often do pepper and mushroom
- Lentil dahl
- Vegetable stew/bake, use potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip, sweet potato squash (I don't like these so don't), courgette, par-boil then roast and either serve with a cheese sauce and breadcrumbs (heat under grill) or with a lovely veggie gravy.
- Mushroom soup, Veggie Soup
- Vegetable risotto

These are some basics, but you could jazz them up by adding different seasonings to them.
I am sure some proper veggies will be along with more detail soon but this is a start .
hth

valentina

You could look through this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1956915
I thought it was very useful

LameWolf

Hi,

I have a freezer drawer filled with Quorn and soya products - sausages, bacon-style rashers, mince etc.

I use Quorn chicken-style pieces in HM quiche.

I always have tins of tomatoes and baked beans in the cupboard; also packets of various types of nuts.

I purchase loads of cheese from the farmers market once a month - they have cheese made with veggie rennet.

Marmite is an absolute must!!

Favourite meals here are:

• Toad-in-the-hole with veggie sausages
• Quiche as mentioned above - I put diced onion and sliced fresh tomato in it, too
• Tag bol (like spag bol but made with tagliatelle:D) using veggie mince
• Shepherd Spy made with veggie mince
• Lasagne likewise
• HM nut loaf (I make it in a loaf tin, slice it and freeze the individual slices)
• Mushroom dishes - risotto or stroganoff
• HM pizza topped with cheese, onion, fresh tomato, chopped bacon-style rashers, sunflower seeds and pineapple chunks
• Good ol' jacket spuds

Tonight's dins is veggie bangers'n'mash with fried toms and Marmite gravy.

HTH:o

ab7

Lentils - green and red to make shepards pie, mince subsitutions plus the lovely cheesy bake thats on here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/33458723#Comment_33458723

Asda do a good range of veggie substituions for sausages, meatballs and meatloaf thats in packets next to the lentils, noodles etc. You just add water to those. So I use these for sausage casserole, meatballs with spaghetti etc. Cheaper than quorn but I'm just careful how much soya I eat. I have pasta, rice, cous cous, buckwheat, chickpeas, and haricot beans in my dried cupboard so that I can make a variety of receipes.

I do keep tinned veg but is my emergency only, as frozen veg is way cheaper. I always keep passata and tinned tomatoes in, tinned spinach, roasted peppers, tinned whole mushrooms, peas, sweetcorn, carrots and asparaghus if its on offer.

So from that and above I could make various risottos esp pea or mushroom, soups, pasta dishes, cowboy stew etc, pizza, bean salads, curries etc.

Does Gingham Ribbons thread help with ideas for what veg you could maybe think about keeping in? Minus the broccoli there's quite a few receipes that could use tinned veg. However I do strongly recommend frozen :money: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/399846

short_bird

Careful, though, you could spend a fortune on substitutes and decide they're horrid... or, once eaten, give you dreadful wind...