Need Vegetarian meal ideas!

LE3

I need help from the vegetarians on the board please!

I have some friends visiting this weekend & amongst the dietary requirements, I have a vegetarian, & multiple allergies. The allergies I've catered for manytimes, the vegetarian I can cope with, but I'm struggling to put the two together!
Rather than cooking different things every meal, I was wondering if it would be possible for all of us to eat the same thing? Before people start jumping in saying "this is easy ....", in addition to the vegetarian, I can't use:
onions/garlic/leeks, apples, rice, tomatoes, mushrooms, and to top it all, very limited wheat - so no pasta!
I'm not a fan of Quorn mince to be honest, I find it very, very tasteless (yes I've tried it on many occasions!), and have never cooked with Tofu ...

I need 3 main meals so I was wondering about:
Vegetable Stew & Dumplings (using "safe" veg & vegetable suet rather than my usual beef!), done in the slow cooker
Bangers & mash (will offer a choice of meat or veggie - I happen to LOVE Glamorgan sausages and will happily eat those with my vegetarian friend!)
However I'm stuck for what to serve for the 3rd meal ...

Anyone got any bright ideas for given the requirements above?
If not, I'll probably grab a quorn fillet thingy & do that for the vegetarian whilst the meat eaters have pork chops or something ...
My other option is to nip down to the Chinese Sat eve & get everyone what they can eat & do the bangers & Mash Sunday but I'm trying hard to save a few ££ after a bit of an overspend last weekend!!

PudseyDB

why not keep it simple and just shove a load of potatoes in the oven and have baked potatoes with a choice of toppings?

nuatha

I don't envy you that one.
Depending on how "very limited wheat" is. A vegetable gratin, eg broccoli and peas in a cheese sauce with a thin breadcrumb and cheese crust (or skip the breadcrumbs and sprinkle with more cheese to get the crust effect, serve with the usual roast dinner accompaniments (roast and mashed potato, carrots, swede etc)

Avoiding wheat entirely, a millet pilaf with baked aubergines - saute 2 sliced aubergines in olive oil, until just browning and softened, place in the bottom of a casserole dish, Mix 45ml of tahini with the same of warm water and the juice of a lemon (zest it first and keep the zest for the millet) and a teaspoon of light soy sauce. blend until smooth, pour over the aubergines and bake uncovered at 180C for 20 minutes. Fry a teaspoon of ground coriander and the same of cumin in olive oil for 30 seconds, add 200g of millet and stirfry for a further minute. Add the lemon zest, 100g of finely sliced dried apricots and 50g of raisins. Add 250ml of white wine or cider and 500ml of boiling water, bring back to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in a small handful of chopped fresh coriander, check and adjust seasoning, serve hot with the aubergines and sauce over the millet.
(Written from memory, I'll double check details and edit in the morning if need be) butternut squash also works well in millet.

Rice noodles would get around the wheat problem and work as a substitute for spaghetti, unfortunately I can't brink to mind a Chinese or Thai dish that would work without aliums.
http://www.vegrecipes4u.com/no-onion-no-garlic-recipes.html might be worth a look for ideas.

hth

LE3

thanks
Jacket potatoes could be an idea, but it would likely still leave me cooking multiple toppings for different people!

Nuatha, thanks for the idea - I'm thinking I can maybe adapt it and so something along those lines - a few breadcrumbs on the top of a gratin should be fine - I have never used millet so I don't know if everyone would eat that, but I will definitely have a look ...

Unfortunately rice noodles aren't an option - one not able to eat rice ...

The alliums is getting to me too - I have another friend who regularly stays & she doesn't like onions, but we get round that - unfortunately the one coming this weekend is allergic so I can't chop them tiny & hide them or anything!

Josslette

A big pot of nice and thick carrot and coriander soup - served with different breads, cheeses, even some cold meats for the non veggies and a couple of salads.

Could be nice Or you could have it at lunch time instead if soup's too simple for an evening meal?

Josslette

Or how about a pie made from cheese sauce and vegetbles such as cubed potato, carrot, celery, butternut squash, with some nice herbs such as rosemary/thyme/sage

BekahC

I am gluten intolerant but I recently made some spicy bean burgers, wheat free bread crumbs or flour, drain tin of red kidney beans, herbs and spices and onion but could be missed out, blitzed and lightly fried in patties to seal then baked x (i also sometimes add cheese to the mix) x

Josslette

How about a frittata, with potatoes, butternut squash, peas, asparagus, sweetcorn etc

Sambucus_Nigra

Jacket spuds with a selection of fillings and some salad - keep it as simple as possible.

nuatha

LE3 wrote: »

thanks
Jacket potatoes could be an idea, but it would likely still leave me cooking multiple toppings for different people!

Nuatha, thanks for the idea - I'm thinking I can maybe adapt it and so something along those lines - a few breadcrumbs on the top of a gratin should be fine - I have never used millet so I don't know if everyone would eat that, but I will definitely have a look ...

Unfortunately rice noodles aren't an option - I am the one not able to eat rice ...

The alliums is getting to me too - I have another friend who regularly stays & she doesn't like onions, but we get round that - unfortunately the one coming this weekend is allergic so I can't chop them tiny & hide them or anything!

Apologies, I missed rice as an excluded food.
I use a fair variety of grains, buckwheat would work and is gluten free, as would quinoa.
Currently racking my brains for a pearl barley dish that doesn't need onions. Actually it should work in the pilaf recipe above.

Dauphinoise potatoes with a creamy cheese sauce instead of the garlic?
I use aduki beans to make a Red Dragon Pie, basically a vegan shepherds pie, but Im not sure how you'd be able to get the depth of flavours without onions or veg stock (since most stocks would be onion based)

Falafel can be made without onions and garlic, quick method: drain and rinse a tin of chickpeas, finely dice a stick of celery and fry off till softened, add 1 teaspoon each ground coriander and cumin, a half teaspoon each of tumeric and cayenne pepper fry for another minute. Add to the rinsed chickpeas, together with 2 chopped tablespoons each of fresh coriander and parsley and a half teaspoon of baking powder. Mash everything till you have a fine paste with the herbs running evenly through it (pulse in a food processor). Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the flavours to combine, shape into balls (for deepfrying) or flattened patties for roasting in the oven. If the mixture is too sticky to handle roll in a little plain flour (you may want to substitute oatmeal to avoid wheat products). I generally make golfball sized balls because I like the contrast between the crunch of the outside and the smoothness of the inner - small balls mean more outer surface. Quantities will serve 4-5. Serve with a minty/herby yoghurt sauce

Sambucus_Nigra

LE3 wrote: »

thanks
Jacket potatoes could be an idea, but it would likely still leave me cooking multiple toppings for different people!

Nope - veggie cheddar, coleslaw, egg mayo, salad and maybe one hot topping [veggie chilli with none of the norty foods in it?]. Or hot 3 bean salad [just beans cooked with spices, no onions needed].