Are there any vegetarians here?

Grouchy

murrayfan wrote: »

We have burgers - the packet mix ones are cheap and delicious, and can made a bit more healthy by adding salad - and also make veggie pasties the cheats way using jus rol pastry .
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Umm, what packet mix is that? I've yet to find a good mix I like and generally do mine from Q mince. And yes I use store bought pastry too, it is very good and not expensive.

Some excellent ideas on this thread. It reminded me of halloumi which I've never managed to make delicious so will try again as suggested.

I think the meat replacement products can be nice but most I don't much like. So a lot of trial and error. The only sausages I like are the Linda McC ones. Quorn mince is very good and the new improved stuff really is improved! And the pieces are good. I don't use the looks-like-cutlets like stuff, find them quite bland.

I only have a small number of cookbooks. I tend to go in phases, my current fave is a sicilian cookery book which I'm cooking from a lot - I have a caponata addition at the mo. I get a lot of ideas from the internet and really like bbcgoodfood and would recommend it. Lots of my recipes are passed from others - have a really good authentic indian curry base to which you can add whatever you like. Easy and tasty.

And don't forget those simple but great favourites, beans on toast (with fine chopped spring onions in the beans and cheese grated on top), a good cheese and pickle sandwich with fresh crusty rustic bread, fried tomatoes in olive oil and tons of garlic on bruschetta

Cheers

LameWolf

Hi, dandy-candy

For background, I don't touch meat or fish, and get cheese made with vegetarian rennet from the farmers market.:o

The sort of meals I make are: (in no particular order)

• Shepherd Spy made with soya mince
• Toad-in-the-hole with veggie sausages
• Mushroom Risotto
• Pizza - topped with cheese, onion, fresh basil, Quorn bacon style slices cut in bits, slices tomato and pineapple chunks
• Pasta in cheese sauce with added diced onion and tomato
• Quiche with Quorn chicken style pieces, sliced tomato, onion and extra-extra-mature Cheddar
• Quorn fillets in white wine sauce (I make the sauce myself of course)
• Nut loaf - I've adapted a rather-too-fancy Linda McCartney recipe so that I can slice and freeze it
• Omelette - Mr LW does what he calls "omelette with everything" ie chopped Quorn bacon style slices, peas, tomatoes, onion and herbs
• Lasagne made with soya mince
• Moussaka ditto
• Potato & pasta soup
• Tomato soup (good way for using gluts of toms off home-grown plants!)
• Carrot & ginger soup
• Salad - with anything like hard-boiled egg, veggie sausages (they're fine cold and cut up with salad), Quorn slices and of course cheese. Roll on summer - I love salad!:D
• Jacket spuds with baked beans and cut-up veggie hot-dogs

HTH - Happy Eating!:drool:

DreamerV

stiltwalker wrote: »

If you are looking for a whole meal type dinner there are innumerable different pasta dishes that are completely veggie - Truly Italian by Ursula Ferrigno is a good place to start, lots of wonderful (as well as quick and simple) veggie ideas. Think beyond pasta and tomato sauce or macaroni cheese to more authentically Italian fare such as pasta with broccoli and gorgonzola or maybe a rissotto primavera (spring veg).

Just to point out that Gorgonzola is NEVER vegetarian. Neither is Grana Padano or Parmesan. There are alternative cheeses to at least Parmesan although I'm not sure about the other 2. The way these cheeses are made cannot be changed for them to be able to retain their name/status, so they remain non-vegetarian, whilst most cheeses are vegetarian and are labelled as such.

DreamerV

Being of Indian origin, I tend to eat curries most days. Much quicker and less complicated than people think. I tend to just throw everything in a pan and add spices/seasoning. I always find it tastes better than what people seem to think is curry (i.e. all the takeaway rubbish). Curries are also very good for using up whatever vegetables you want to use up. I make Veggie lasagnes and cottage pies are quite hearty too, and soup's pretty easy. I often make spag bol with tival veggie mince too (adding a small amount of spices as it's too bland otherwise).

Butterfly_Brain

DreamerV have you a recipe for Bombay potatoes pleeeeeze

GeorgieFTB

DreamerV wrote: »

Being of Indian origin, I tend to eat curries most days. Much quicker and less complicated than people think. I tend to just throw everything in a pan and add spices/seasoning. I always find it tastes better than what people seem to think is curry (i.e. all the takeaway rubbish). Curries are also very good for using up whatever vegetables you want to use up. I make Veggie lasagnes and cottage pies are quite hearty too, and soup's pretty easy. I often make spag bol with tival veggie mince too (adding a small amount of spices as it's too bland otherwise).

That sounds wonderful, any chance you could elaborate on the 'add spices/seasoning' bit... whats your go to jars... which bits do you put in... please:D

Gx

Butterfly_Brain

DD is vegetarian but the rest of us are not, but we still have two or three vegetarian meals a week.
I personally do not like quorn products, the smell of them cooking turns my stomach, so I cook things like:

• Macaroni cheese with peppers, onions and mushrooms for the veggie version or with slices of pepperoni on top for the meat days, both are cheap filling and tasty.

• Cauliflower cheese with bacon and mushrooms (Lower carb than Mac cheese and my personal favourite, leave out the bacon and use quorn fake bacon for the veggie option)

• Mushroom Risotto
• Cheese and lentil loaf
• Veggie pizza
• gnocchi
• HM ravioli
• quiche
• vegetable curry
• vegetable chilli using the packet soya and a tin of kidney beans
• cheese and vegetable pasties
• egg and mayonnaise tarts
• quessidilas
• vegetable stuffed pancakes with mushroom or cheese sauce

"Meatloaf"
1 packet of savoury soya mince.... soaked in hot water to swell up
1 finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped sticks celery
75g/ 2oz cooked lentils
small box s&o stuffing made up with hot water
s&p
1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 190c/Gas 5

Heat some oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onion and celery until soft.

Put the cooked lentils into a bowl and add the celery and onions, stuffing, mince, seasoning and beaten egg

Mix well with your hands until everything is well combined, then press the mixture into a greased 1kg/2lb loaf tin.
Bake in the oven for 1hr

Egg and Broccoli Mornay.
serves 2-4
1lb to 2lb of Mashed potatoes depending on size of dish
6 broccoli florets (you can use more or less according to taste and size)
2 eggs sliced (4 eggs if you are serving 4)
Cheese sauce home made or from a packet
1 large sliced tomato

Butter a baking dish and line the bottom and sides with the mashed potato, layer one sliced egg and 3 broccoli florets pour a little cheese sauce over
Top with mash then do another layer with the rest of the sliced egg, broccoli and a little cheese sauce then top with more mash and pour the remaining sauce over. bake in the oven 180c gas 4 for 15 minutes then take it out of the oven and top with sliced tomato put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
This is also a good variant as a lasagne, just add mushrooms, sweetcorn, broccoli and egg, lasagne sheets and cheese or white sauce plus a little grated cheese for on top of the lasagne

DreamerV

I'm from a part of India that doesn't tend to make Bombay potatoes but I've found you an online recipe:
Ingredients

• 4 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• 2 pinches of chilli powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 350g/12oz potatoes, boiled and quartered
• salt to taste

Preparation method

1. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat setting.
2. To check that the oil is hot enough, sprinkle in a few mustard seeds, if they pop the oil is ready. Then add the remainder of the mustard seeds.
3. Add the chilli and turmeric powders to the sizzling seeds, and salt to taste.
4. Fry this pungent mixture of oil and spices for 1 minute then add the potatoes. Fry for about 4 minutes until the potatoes are smothered in seeds and appear to have crispy edges. They will look quite yellow in colour. Cover the pan and on a low heat, cook the potatoes for a further 5 minutes.
5. Serve immediately.

If I was to make this however, I'd definitely be adding garlic paste (from mashed up fresh garlic), fennel seeds and garam masala, but then our potato curry is a little different from Bombay potatoes. (Different parts of India have very different cooking styles). Whatever you do, don't overcook the spices! That tends to be the main thing that can go wrong.

My main store cupboard ingredients are mustard seeds, sambaar powder (you can buy it, I have mtr ones, and they're a mix of different spices), asofetida (sp?), fennel seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, garam masala (and ginger/garlic/chilli paste mixed together in the fridge). I do have cloves and bay leaves which I don't use so much, but they do give a nice fragrance! I like the taste tandoori masala gives, but none of my family would ever chuck that in.

I am by no means an expert! I just throw stuff in intuitively and people seem to happily eat it! Which is good luck

As an aside, if you are making curry, rice is quick enough to boil up but there's no need to buy naan if you prefer breads! With rice, it's more money saving to buy a large bag (rice, like many wines, gets better with age so it's ok to take ages to get through it!). Chapattis are much healthier than naan, and I just use flour, water, and some salt and sometimes fennel seeds. Mixing together, rolling out, and putting them on the grill takes hardly any time!

If anyone wants to try Indian food they may never have come across (i.e. wants to try something a bit new), I recommend my favourite food Patrado. It's the first on here http://www.konkanirecipes.com/ and although the leaves are hard to find, big spinach leaves are what we use instead (although we grow the Patrado leaves, we eat them faster than they grow unfortunately). Potato poha on the next page of that site is also particularly nice and not too hard. That site actually has a fair few nice dishes that I would definitely recommend: the tendle oopkuri (can find the greens in Tesco Indian bit of the freezer section, or cabbage oopkuri. The appe. There is also a lovely dish we call rulaam (may be called oopma/upma in other parts of India - it's a hot breakfast dish which is great at the weekend made with veggies, some nuts if wanted, and coarse semolina.

Sorry for the long post!

Butterfly_Brain

Thank you so much DreamerV x

murrayfan_2

Grouchy wrote: »

Umm, what packet mix is that? I've yet to find a good mix I like and generally do mine from Q mince. And yes I use store bought pastry too, it is very good and not expensive.



Cheers

Grouchy the Granose veggie burger packet mixes are nice, but the Asda own make are even nicer . I usually splodge on some Plamil mayo, a little bit of mustard, and some tommy ketchup, some iceburg lettuce over the top and a slice of Tofutti cheese. Squish it all into a sesame seed bun and it's lovely, much nicer than the expensive frozen burgers you can buy (imo).