To ask for your vegetarian or vegan meal ideas?

[meow1989]

Posting here because there'll likely be more traffic than on the other boards.

I'm planning on trying to eat more/mostly vegetarian meals for January (don't think i could healthily manage the transition from meat eating to veganuary!), and would appreciate some ideas so that I'm not surviving on mac and cheese all month (though on second thoughts...)

I actually really like meat but ethically struggle to feel comfortable with eating it so thought I'd at least give it a go. I'm not a big fan of spicy food (as in fajitas or chilli, I do like a mild curry) and don't enjoy tofu. I've got an 18 month old so need to be able to whip something up for me fairly easily after he goes to bed (he eats at 5 which is way too early for me). I don't have any allergies.

I know google is my friend but I think sometimes the best recipes are less prescriptive and more tried and tested.

Thanks!

Also stuffed peppers! Not vegan but veggie...

Feta cubes & cooked new potato cubes, stirred in pesto and stuffed in peppers then bake for 30 minutes

Anything on

www.livingdeadcakes.co.uk

Easy, non complicated recipes and everything I’ve tried has been perfect, my fussy boys love the cottage pie jacket potatoes (I make loads and freeze them) & all the cookie recipes are FANTASTIC

Mild chilli with lentils

Lentil Bolognese we swapped from meat to lentils gradually increasing the proportion of lentils to beef gradually to get used to the taste.

Bean soups ( various tinned or dried and precooked beans) carrot, onion fried in oil, add water, bean mix, soy sauce, white wine or stock or whatever flavours you like. It is quite quick if using tinned beans. ( Butter, kidney,black or a mixed tin) I add peas and sweetcorn as the kids love those but you can adapt.

Remember to eat whole grain rice/bread/pasta with the veggie meals.

You can do cauliflower cheese with soya milk and vegan cheese. Research which vegan cheese melts best as they vary.

Black bean chilli
Cauliflower curry - roast the cauliflower first
Vegetarian moussaka
Aubergine lasagna
Sweet potato chilli
Sweet potato and chickpea curry
Caramelised onion quiche
Roast vegetable quinoa, hummus and pita

Lentil bake is so delicious and dead easy.
Chop up an onion, mix with red lentils and brown rice: about 3/4 cup onion to 1 cup lentils to 1.5 cups brown rice.
Pour over veg stock.
Bake covered for an hour; stir occasionally, add in extra stock if it's drying out. Should be thick consistency but not dry.
Add grated cheese in a layer, bake uncovered 20 mins to make a crust.
Serve with green salad and dressing.
Dead cheap too.

Jamie Oliver’s cauliflower cheese is really great as there is broccoli in the sauce, it’s a make ahead dish, make small dish for Sunday non roast and a second larger dish to put in the fridge for mid week. I’d probably put vegetable fingers with them

Slimming world have some great mild curry dishes which are packed full of vegetables and lentils, mostly they can be frozen. The carrot and coconut Dahl is my favourite and I’m going to try the lentil Shepard’s pie mentioned up thread

Place marking 🤣

Eldest is veggie so we all eat veggie.

We like Linda maccartney sausages instead of meat ones.

The green heck sausages are lovely with sweet potato mash.

Roast we have without meat

Leek and mushroom tagliatelle (Jamie Oliver recipe but without the bacon)

Spinach and ricotta tortellini with mixed Mediterranean veg

Four cheese pizza with veggie toppings (which I add) with a side salad

Cheese jackets with salad

Egg on toast

Beans on toast

Veggie fajitas (my fave! Especially with May-o)

Veggie bolognese pasta bake (add the veggie mince right at the end of its mush)

Veggie pasta bake (any veg, sauce made from passata and double cream with garlic and herbs)

Veggie curry and rice

Mushroom risotto

Falafel salad

Chickpea spinach and sweet potato curry - not too spicy, enjoyed by family who "hate curry". For 4:

• soften onion, garlic, 2 tablespoons of korma paste
• dice 2 potatos and 2 sweet potatos, parboil until almost cooked
• potatoes into onion pan

-add tin of tomatoes and drained tin of chickpeas -half a veg stockcube made up with some of the potato water added -simmer until potatoes cooked through and looks curry-ish and less liquid -add spinach leaves to wilt

Can also add ground almonds and/ or coconut milk for a more luxurious version

@73kittykat73 I have seen them in sainsbury's and tesco but they seem to be out of stock a lot of the time... must be really popular!

I love these threads; we’re going vegan for January (well, starting now really) and the current meal plan is:

• Aubergine caponata with green veg (probably broccoli)

• Slow-cooker Thai veg curry with chickpeas

• Mexican black beans with sweet potato mash and warm kale salad (the kale kind of melts into a tomato/onion base)

• Beans on toast

• Roast, we just have vegan stuffing instead of meat

• Black daal (seeing how it turns out without the cream)

• Smoked aubergine bean chilli

• Chana masala with naan and chutneys

• Mushroom Bourguignon with mustard mash and greens

And I’ve got a smoothie a day to keep our nutrient intake up. Breakfasts are usually toast or baked oat muffins with banana and dark chocolate.

We always make double dinners for leftovers a couple of nights later when we just bung a plate in the microwave.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/buffet-food/three-onion-tart Don’t have time to make pastry just buy ready rolled. Mine used to live this onion flan and we’d have with bake beans either tinned or homemade & mash

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-vegetarian-collection/broccoli-souffle-with-three-cheeses I just use cheddar as per her original recipe- this is lovely and we have with cauliflower steaks - it’s a weekend meal as takes more time to prepare

Homemade chickpea dip/hummus and toasted soldier is a great lunch with some green salad or soup

Giant mushrooms poached with black kale & served on toast with poached egg or scrambled on the side is another easy lunch

Atlesdtthreedrinks are you making your own bread for toast or can you get vegan bread?

Thought of a few more we have
Large hm spring rolls with 'chicken ' fried rice.
Courgette noodles with pesto, roasted cherry tomatoes amd chickpea fritters.
Tofu scramble wit sweet poatoe wedges, broccoli and sliced avocal.
Sausage casserole with mash and dumplings.
Sweet poatoe and chickpea curry with parsnip chips
Baguettes with 'chicken' sweetcorn mayo, chips and hm coleslaw ( using Linda mac shredded chicken)

We'd also like to eat less meat but none of us like beans (apart from baked!) and struggling to find interesting vege meals that aren't bean based. 2 out of 4 aren't keen on pasta either which doesn't help!

Some of these that have been posted sound lovely!

I'll contribute my one tray veg and mozzarella bake.
Takes a couple of mins to prep and not long to cook.....

In nice big chunks chop mixed peppers, courgette, aubergine, chuck in a baking dish with a good drizzle of oil and a good sprinkle of Italian herbs, add as many whole, unpeeled garlic cloves as you like (I use at least 6!), toss together, then bung in hot oven till veg has started to get towards brown edges.

Add chopped mushrooms and roast a bit more till mushrooms cooked and the veg is browned at the edges.

Squeeze the roast garlic cloves back into dish (be careful not to miss one!) and add chopped tomatoes until veg is thoroughly coated.
Mix together- make sure garlic mixed in.

Back in oven till it's just bubbling.

Bung cheese of choice on top...i use loads of mozzarella so it's really cheesy, and some cheddar to add flavour.

If you really want to be fancy.....bake some white bread in oven until it can be crumbled and add it with the cheese.

Cook till cheese is melted and is bubbling.

Eat with crusty bread

I like cheesy vegetable pasta bake (goes down well with the baby, cheap and filling)

Basically cook your pasta and make a basic white sauce. Put as many leftover vegetables as you can find in a large dish with your pasta (my last one had freezer veg - leeks, brussels, onion, peas, sweetcorn, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach) and pour over white sauce, top with a bit of grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Roasted root veg is another favourite - onions, potatoes, carrot, parsnip, turnip cut into big batons and tossed in olive oil and mixed herbs then in the oven to roast for 40 minutes.

Omlettes

Eggs and beans on toast

Savoury rice (cook rice in veg stock then add some vegetables - peas, carrots, sweetcorn, onion pretty much anything works)

Egg fried rice with lots of veg

Mango korma (sauce only, add a protein)
Lentil bolognese
Pineapple beet'n'sour sauce (again, add a protein)
Various curry or dal
Paprikash
Plain vegetable sauce to turn into anything!
Chili
Beans with thick chunky vegetables
Lasagna (ready to cook, in disposable foil trays with lids)
Vegetarian mince (add bisto to thicken on re-heating)
Unstuffed cabbage casserole

James Wong's 10-a-day is brilliant, not all vegetarian, but lots are adaptable.

@ivykaty44 most bread is vegan, although now I’ll be checking the loaves! Regular bread should be ok, but things like brioche contain animal products.

I thought most wrapped bread had butter & milk powder? I certainly know artisan bread has mostly animal produce. I make my own bread so can vary recipes or make substitutions

No, I wrong many breads don’t have dairy products. They use stuff like rapeseed and palm oil instead - so many vegan

This is lovely. cookingonabootstrap.com/2019/12/02/jack-monroes-advent-recipe-2-best-ever-festive-nut-roast-42p/

I’m trying to avoid palm oil too so I’ll definitely be reading the ingredients list! Thanks for flagging.

When I first went veggie, many years ago, I got a Rose Elliot cookbook. It gave me loads of ideas and lots of the recipes could be easily adapted. It's all probably available on line or in e-book form now (it was a long time ago, like I said)

My friend cooked a slight variation on this dish for me at the weekend it was so so good.

cookieandkate.com/kung-pao-brussels-sprouts-recipe/

My friend actually shredded the fresh uncooked brussels sprouts and spring onions and stir fried altogether. prep veg 10mins cooking time 15mins. Use one large wok/pan. She also added a packet of brown rice to it(microwaveable kind).

Cannot begin to tell you how good this was.