Easy, cheap Vegetarian recipes?

want2bmortgage3

Rice, Potatoes and Onions
Serves 1

Ingredients
-200g potatoes, diced
-oil for frying
-100g rice
-1 onion sliced
-1 tsp sugar
-soy sauce

method:
fry the potatoes in the oil while cooking the rice (i used brown rice). When the potatoes start to colour, add the onion and continue frying until both are browned. Add the sugar and a dash of soy sauce. (This will make the vegetables slightly sticky as the sugar caramelises.) When the rice is ready arrange on a plate and pour the caramelised vegetables over it.

I found this one very simple but very tasty due to the caramelised onions/potatoes. It says in the book you can add some mango or lime chutney if you like.

gillaman

Just a point about pesto - if you're a strict vegetarian you should look for vegetarian pesto, i.e. the cheese in it is veggie (not made with rennet). Same when buying cheese - look for the green V. It's really difficult to find vegetarian parmesan. Mr A used to sell a version but I can't find it any more in my local store. Anyone else found any?

Good cook books (I think!): Delia's Vegetarian Collection, anything by Rose Elliot especially one called Rose Elliot's Book of Savoury Flans and Pies (might be out of print now but worth tracking down if you can), Cranks Fast Food written by Nadine Abensur - contains a yummy carrot risotto, and sweetcorn fritters. Also, our local Borders bookstore has masses of cut price cook books. I got one called Fat Free Vegetarian and another called The Big Bean Book for about £3 each. Lots of good, easy recipes.

Protein: Meat is supposed to be the highest quality protein food, but I understand that soya beans are better. However, if you combine protein types, e.g. bread (wheat protein) and cheese (milk protein) in one meal you should get enough. Tagliatelle, mushrooms and walnuts in a creamy sauce has 3 protein sources - wheat (tagliatelle), walnuts, and milk protein in the sauce. Curried lentils with toasted almonds - 2 protein sources. Omelette of any sort with a glass of milk - 2 protein sources. If you're looking for cook books, get ones that have this sort of info.

Emily_Hall08

gillaman wrote: »

Just a point about pesto - if you're a strict vegetarian you should look for vegetarian pesto, i.e. the cheese in it is veggie (not made with rennet). Same when buying cheese - look for the green V. It's really difficult to find vegetarian parmesan. Mr A used to sell a version but I can't find it any more in my local store. Anyone else found any?

I've seen a parmasan veggie alternative in a health food shop, it's on the shelf and not the fridge, I've not bought it because it doesn't really appeal to me!

BigMummaF

I've posted elsewhere, but still like as many opinions as possible so hope you don't mind my being 'nosey'
I was reading the fronts of the various packets of dried pulses & beans the other day & noticed PINTO are supposedly a good source of protein. I'm very keen to stretch the meat we do have with a hope of replacing it altogether in some recipes.
What--if any--taste & texture do Pinto produce, or are they on par to red lentils in as much as they magically mimic whatever surrounds them?

I've got several recipes to try out, once I have the house to myself & I'll do my best to report back...

want2bmortgage3

I dont think pinto beans are any better than any other beans, i think they are all similar in terms of nutrition. However, there are differences in the way you cook different beans and pulses, some need soaking / boiling longer than others to remove toxins etc.

Anyway whats happened with this thread! Why isnt there a cooking/recipes section on MSE forums? Anyone recommend any cookbooks I want to learn more about cooking. I dont learn all that much just following recipes. Are there any books which teach you about food and the basics of a cuisine then give you ideas and ways of customising it. for example they could start with a basic risotto and how it came about, then tell you what you can add to it, what not to add. Also i would like more info on why things are done, why an ingredient is in a recipe, what it adds to it, why you cook that ingredient like that and so on. most cook books seem to just list recipes to follow but dont teach you anything about them.

want2bmortgage3

Anyone else here? i dont have a lot of time on my hands at the moment to cook from scratch, eg chopping onions and garlic etc.. and when shopping I notice a lot of jarred sauces such as curry, thai, italian etc.. does anyone know any easy veggie recipes to make using a pre-made sauce or paste? I want to explore different flavours such as thai and indian but dont know any recipes.

savingforoz

gillaman wrote: »

Protein: Meat is supposed to be the highest quality protein food, but I understand that soya beans are better. However, if you combine protein types, e.g. bread (wheat protein) and cheese (milk protein) in one meal you should get enough. Tagliatelle, mushrooms and walnuts in a creamy sauce has 3 protein sources - wheat (tagliatelle), walnuts, and milk protein in the sauce. Curried lentils with toasted almonds - 2 protein sources. Omelette of any sort with a glass of milk - 2 protein sources. If you're looking for cook books, get ones that have this sort of info.

This is now very out of date - I'm a nutritionist and this type of nutritional advice was current back in the 1970s, but has now been recognised to be quite incorrect. Protein is protein and there is no first or second class protein, as was once thought. Most foods except fruit contain some protein. The current advice is that so long as you eat a sufficient quantity of varied foods your protein needs will be automatically met. No need to consciously combine different foods. Hope this helps.

want2bmortgage3

savingforoz would you agree there is no need to eat meat for a healthy diet?

only thing i can see i'm missing in my diet is omega 3 although its probably in several things i wouldnt expect it to be, like fortified cereals/margerines

savingforoz

Agreed -absolutely no need, want2bmortgage3. Ref Omega 3, it can be found in nuts, seeds, lean green leafy vegetables, etc., as well as fortified stuff. Also Columbus eggs (find them in the supermarkets along with the other eggs) - the hens are fed an Omega 3 rich diet so their eggs end up being a good source.

Also - I'm sure I've seen a thread on this forum with vegetarian/vegan recipes on it - no time to look for it now, but hopefully if you use the search function that should bring it up. I think Gingham Ribbon started it. Hope this helps.

vegankris

Re omega 3's I'm sure I get plenty from my diet anyway, plus I buy fortified foods like Pure marge, but I also take vertese's flaxseed oil based omega 3-6-9 supplements as an insurance policy. There are also algae(where those oily fish get theirs from in the first place!) based veggie supplements like v-pure and o-mega-zen available but they're pretty expensive.

The obsession food manufacturers have with fortifying just about everything with omega 3s is pretty frustrating- whoever come up with the idea of putting fish oil in orange juice??:eek::eek::eek: Even if you're an omnivore, isn't the idea of that pretty gross?