Best vegetarian recipes for non-vegetarians?

marmiterulesok

I wouldn't worry to much about Quorn being man-made,I bet there's a lot of foodstuffs we would have second thoughts about if we knew how they were made!

Quorn in itself is healthy and low in fat.You have to watch if you buy them with batter etc,as often they're high in fat.They're a bit bland on their own though.

I make a lovely vegetarian spaghetti sauce with onion,tinned tomatoes,quorn mince or soya mince,grated carrot,chopped celery,red lentils and a handful or two of porridge oats.Guess where I learned that!

As for pasta,there are various pesto or creamy sauces,and you can get some lovely filled pasta.

Have you thought about beans and pulses.They are a good source of protein.

I often make curries and have them with rice,which in itself is very nutritious.

Vegetable soup with onion,potatoes,carrots,leeks,red lentils and pearl barley is a favourite of mine.It's nutritious and filling.

There are various nut butters,peanut,almond etc.A good source of protein,but also high in fat,so a little goes a long way.

Hope this gives you some ideas.Happy cooking!

paulwf

The Linda McCartney site has some recipes:

http://www.lindamccartneyfoods.co.uk/recipes.php

These recipes are also generally easy to make: http://www.veganrecipes.org.uk/

(I know they are vegan but you mentioned you were trying not to have too many cheese based dishes, unfortunately standard veggie cooking can be way too focused on eggs and cheese).

Some dishes we have...

-Sausage casserole
-Roast dinner with Linda McCartney pie or a home made pie using puff pastry, mushrooms, leeks and chestnuts
- Veggie burgers, HM potato wedges and baked beans
- Wraps with hummus, stir fried veg and grated cheese
- Canneloni filled with onions, crumbled tofu and spinach baked with a tomato sauce
- Mushroom & asparagus risotto
- Stir fry veg with "beef" strips (made by Frys, from Holland & Barrett) in a chill & ginger sauce with coconut rice
- Veg & tofu in a satay (peanut) sauce with rice
- Various soups e.g. leek & potato

The list is endless, I have about 10 dishes that are used all the time, another 10 that are used monthly and am always trying new things. Hope it goes well.

PennyGSD

This is the one we use - found a link to it on the Gingham Ribbon thread, but I don't know how (or if I'm allowed yet) to do links

2 tins of beans, rinsed, drained and dried on a teatowel
1 chopped onion
Handful of sweetcorn
2 grated carrots
2 beaten eggs (one if large)
1 very thick slice of bread (or 2 if from a ready sliced loaf.)
clove of crushed garlic
chilli powder to taste
wholemeal flour to coat

If you have a food processor:

Take a chunk of bread (about half an inch thick) and blitz to bread crumbs
Change the blade to a grating one and put through a couple of carrots
Tip into a large mixing bowl
Empty the beans into the processor and blitz briefly. (I've used pinto and black eyed together, or kidney bean so far)
Add to the bowl
Add chopped onion, crushed garlic, some sweetcorn and some chilli powder and stir.
Add a couple of beaten eggs and mix.
Shape into burgers and place on a plate of wholemeal flour to coat.
Put in fridge for as long as you can to firm up a bit
Fry

We usually add a large shake of cajun spice along too, coat them in breadcrumbs and bake them in the oven for about 20 mins - exactly the same time as it takes to make some potato wedges. Despite being confirmed meat-eaters, it is one of our favourite meals and we would quite happily eat it at least once a week - quite useful for adding any bottom of the fridge veggies to as well - if you blitz them before adding the beans, no-one will realise they are there.

verynewmoneysaver

Thanks for the recipe. I'm afraid I've mainly been being buying mine in Asda!

Aril

We are meateaters but try to do a couple of veggie dishes a week. I've found stirfry done with peanuts is a good one, spaghetti bolognese done with veggie mince, poached egg, chips and peas, thai cauliflower curry, mushroom risotto, pasta done with roasted peppers, red onion, rosemary and then with mustard and creme fraiche [or a veggie equivalent] is good, puff pastry with a filling of curry powder, natural yogurt onions and peas and a dash of mango chutney, baked potatoes with veggie chilli and I do a layered dish which is thinly sliced potatoes alternating with layers of thinly cooked red onion and cooking apples with veggie stock and cheese on top also goes down well. OH is not a natural veggie and turns his nose up at lentils and most pulses:D
Aril

cooking-mama

Thanks for the ideas and recipes,brilliant.:T
Well tonights dinner went down a treat,I made my own version of Tuna fish cakes.
2 x 185gm tins of tuna in spring water. drained,(bulk buy thes in Costco,so only around 45p a tin)
aprox 1kg mashed potato(will use less next time,maybe 750)
1/2 a small can of sweetcorn,
couple of broccoloi stalks cut into tiny florettes,
1 veg oxo cube.
All mixed together in a bowl,made into 9 large patties,then dipped in egg,flour and ruskoline breadcrumbs.
sprayed a pan with oil and "fried"
I added chilli n garlic flakes to the flour for the adults fish cakes...will add it straight tinto the mix next time(after removing youngest daughters portion.
these were so huge and filling we didnt need the wedges with them,just a simple salad.
So all in all,"Tuna Tuesday",has been a big success.
next up im gonna try a veggie recipe(Tho ive diced steak defrosting to go in the slow cooker for tomorrows dinner;)

CupOfChai

What are your family like with beans? You could try a number of meals made with these, such as the beanburgers suggested above, bean chilli (either made with vegetarian "mince" or as I do it with just different beans and veg). You can add various beans and/or veg to dishes containing meat to bulk them up so that you can use less meat. They'll still have some meat so can't complain, it's just a smaller portion which is still healthier and easier on your pocket.

Also they should be less likely to miss the meat if you do things like veg curry, vegetarian risottos, veggie lasagne (again either using veggie mince or a red sauce component made with roasted vegetables and no meat substitute). Pasta with veg sauces as well (not just plain tomato). Mushrooms can be a good "meaty-feeling" substitute for actual meat. I'd advise to try and avoid using too much cheese, or too many cheese-based dishes, so many vegetarian recipes seem to be mainly about trying to give you cheese poisoning and that's not healthy either!

It might help if you don't announce "Tonight we are having Vegetarian Food!" and don't even mention to the family that the meal happens to be suitable for vegetarians. I think that with a really good vegetarian dish, you don't even notice there's no meat as it's just a good dish on it's own, and that's speaking as a committed carnivore!

piglet6

It may not be a long term solution, but as an interim idea, you could add chopped bacon or sliced sausages to your tomato pasta sauce. Bacon is tasty enough not to need much to add flavour, and similarly with sliced sausages you will need less sausage per person than you would for a more traditional sausage dish where each person gets "whole" sausages. I find that this allows me to use a "better" sausage (which has a higher meat content and is therefore a healthier choice ) for the same money - I would not use more than 1 sausage per person (and maybe could get away with 3 between four!) but it would still not feel like I was scrimping on the meat because slicing it up makes it go much further - whereas if I served something like sausage and mash, my family would easily eat 2-3 sausages each (and some of them would manage more than that!! :rotfl:).

I would also add in peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc, and gradually use more veg and less meat. Also, herbs and spices can help with this by adding "body" to a dish.

We eat quite a lot of vegetarian meals (unintentionally - its just that we enjoy them and don't particularly miss the meat! ). Another tip would be to use eggs - they are good for protein and very filling for that reason. Somebody has already suggested tortilla/spanish omelette, and I would second that - you can throw practically anything into it (including ham/bacon/sausage to start with if that's what your family like...;)), but over time you can make it more "veggie" and it will still be filling and satisfying for them.

P x

piglet6

As another thought, we st-r-e-t-ch minced beef by adding beans (baked/kidney/haricot/black-eyed/borlotti/any others we have tinned in the cupboard! :rotfl:), grated carrots, mushrooms, chopped peppers, and onions. We also add lentils. Then we use this mixture as a base for bolognese, chilli, lasagne, etc. A small packet of mince goes for miles, and even my Dad (a self-confessed "bean-hater" ) loves our recipes...

Worth a try - healthier and much cheaper!!

P x

Paulie'sGirl

Hi,

I like to have at least one meat-free day each week, and don't eat much meat the rest of the week. Roast beef and bacon butties are the reason I'm not veggie LOL

We often have tuscan bean stew (the recipe in on the boards here if you search), pasta arrabiata (spicy tomato sauce), giant muchrooms roasted with garlic butter in baps (they're like steak!), mushroom and mange tout risotto, veggie chilli (mostly beans), cauli, potato and pea curry. Quiche and tortilla can easily be made both tasty and meat free. Try onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes on the top. Leeks and broccoli both go well in the mix too.

They're just a few off the top of my head. I'll come back later with more if I can think!

PGx