Best easy veggie recipes

[FanGirlFoof]

We are considering going veggie and wondered if people could share their easy veggie recipes with me - looking for inspiration.

We like all vegetables and pulses but would like to avoid too much cheese (a bit is fine but we don't want to just substitute meat for cheese).

Tofu is hard to get right and I wouldn't want op to do it wrong and get put off because it's great. That's why I suggested a takeaway first.
At the very least you need a tofu press, to marinate it and to fry it before baking. Most people don't do that so end up with a slimey mess.

@BelleOfTheProvince

Tofu is hard to get right and I wouldn't want op to do it wrong and get put off because it's great. That's why I suggested a takeaway first. At the very least you need a tofu press, to marinate it and to fry it before baking. Most people don't do that so end up with a slimey mess.

I don't press my tofu and cant say I've ended up with a slimy mess. I just makesure I buy extra firm.

Black bean chilli. Fry some chopped onion, red and green pepper. Add chilli powder to your taste. You could also add paprika/cumin if you like. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a drained tin of black beans and cook for about 25 minutes or so until it's thickened up. You can serve with rice or I usually use tortilla wraps and make burritos or enchiladas.

Tofu recipe op(nothing wrong with tofu, not difficult but does need to be done right)

Buy firm not silken(Aiken is for sauces or making 'vegan scrambled eggs'.
Put in tofu press for 20 minutes minimum. This drains the water and stops it being slimy. I don't know what you could use instead of a tofu press. Maybe stick it between two trays with something heavy on top.
Cut into small squares and lightly poke with a fork. Marinate with whatever you are using.
Put flour(chickpea works well, but normal plain can work too) in a bowl. You can add spices or flavour or salt at this point. Toss lightly.
Fry pieces in a hot pan for five minutes.
Put in oven for 20-25 minutes.
Serve.

Alternatively cauldron premade marinated tofu is much easier.

It's so much nicer when it's been drained pressed correctly.
DH used to hate it before I refined the method, now loves it.

At the very least you need a tofu press, to marinate it and to fry it before baking. Most people don't do that so end up with a slimey mess
I've been using tofu for 25 plus years and have never used a press or had a slimey mess. Have you been using silken tofu. I use that for deserts. I dont fry and bake it either!

No not silken. Firm.
It's less that it's slimey and more that you don't get that lovely crispy on outside tender within without one.
Maybe it's more subtle than I remember and DH is fussier than I thought.

Thai curry paste from Asda is vegan(check the label) if you want to make a tofu curry op.
You can also use the satay sauce I wrote above for pad Thai.

Tofoo smoked tofu is delicious and couldn’t be further from slimy!

I eat stuff like stir fries with tofu or egg, curries with chickpeas/lentils, pasta with homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella or homemade pesto, tagines, black bean burritos, omelettes, and cauliflower cheese instead of meat in my Sunday roasts! Very rarely use meat substitutes like quorn or veggie sausages but they’re handy every now and again. I think you have to think about contrasting textures with veggie cooking, and also using thinks like soy sauce/smoked paprika or whatever to get that umami taste. If you eat a varied diet it’s so, so easy to get enough protein, iron and b12; i run about 50-80k a week and give blood every four months and I’m fine!

Thank you for mentioning tofu. I must admit that I was going to steer clear of tofu as I don't know what to do with it but I may have a bash now.

The Linda McCartney mince has more texture than the Quorn mince and I will use that if I really fancy a bolognese type sauce.

I used a lot of processed meat equivalents to start with, but now rarely use them and tend to use a lot more green lentils, chickpeas, beans so keep the store cupboard well stocked and lots of herbs/spices as well as really good low salt stock cubes (Kallo). A veggie cottage pie made with black eyed peas, mountains of celery pepper onion mushrooms and carrot topped with sweet potato mash....... heaven.

Thanks BrilloPaddy
I will add to my online shop to try

Some ownbrand mince is much, much better than Quorn. I hate the stuff from the fridge section, it's like playdough to me, but others may like it.

A veggie cottage pie made with black eyed peas, mountains of celery pepper onion mushrooms and carrot topped with sweet potato mash....... heaven.

Sounds delicious.

I second Tofoo , never had to press that, and it can be frozen if you don't use it all.

@BelleOfTheProvince

It's so much nicer when it's been drained pressed correctly. DH used to hate it before I refined the method, now loves it.

That’s great he likes it that way but like a pp I only ever press tofu if the dish I’m doing requires it. Otherwise I just make sure it’s well flavoured before I cook it.

OP, Cauldron marinated tofu pieces have approximately the same salt content per 100g as a bag of ready salted crisps so it might be better to buy plain and flavour it yourself if you’d prefer not to have too much salt in your food.

I will keep you updated on my tofu journey. Thanks for the advice.

A recommendation from me is Linda McCartney's "duck" pancakes from the freezer section. They are delicious.

Any recommendations for a nut roast? Or is it fairly easy to make at home? I had one in a restaurant once and really liked it.

Morrisons do a good nut roast. There is also a good Bosh recipe that you can probably find a YouTube clip for it.

Favourites here include Pasta Primavera, Mushroom Stroganoff, Asparagus or Leek Quiche, various risottos.

Also Ratatouille is useful as a sauce with rice or pasta, and there is often vegetable soup on the go, useful for lunches.
I like the Hugh FW book Veg Everyday.

Mushroom Stroganoff is a good idea. We generally have a beef and mushroom one but I can leave the beef out and just put extra mushrooms in.

Sainsbury’s organic tofu is good, firm and easy to press, I just use a tea towel and a chopping board. Tofu is really much more versatile than I thought.
We like it crispy - shake it in cornflour and shallow fry it, it is great with sweet and sour sauce or a hot sauce.
You can marinate it in yoghurt with tikka seasoning, then bake at a high temp for about 20 mins.
It is also lovely in soups but a very different texture.

I marinade tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, Chinese 5 spice and some honey (cut the tofu up to be marinaded) then put it on an baking sheet and bake till crispy. I serve it with sticky rice and bak choy and it tastes a bit like char sui pork.

You might find The Part Time Vegetarian useful as it has recipes you can make either way if you are phasing out meat:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0146E4EW0?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Pulses/whole grains are economical and you can use canned pulses if you find it easier. Sarah Brown's Chilli Bean Casserole is a perennially dish with meat eaters and can use whatever veg is in season:

craigloftus.net/chilli-bean-casserole

(if you ever find the Sarah Brown book second hand buy it - its excellent)

Meal planning will help with costs and variety in the diet.

General budget meals with veggie section:

[www.budgetbytes.com/category/extra-bytes/budget-friendly-meal-prep/vegetarian-meal-prep/

OhMyVeggies has largely gone to Insta but still has a meal planning section with shopping lists:

ohmyveggies.com/category/meal-plans/

VegWeb:

vegweb.com/

BBC Good Food and Allrecipes are also good options - bung in some ingredients and see what the search throws out.

In general I would avoid veggie books by non veggie celeb writers. Most realyl don't "get" vegetarian eating and are cashing in on its resurging popularity. I'd give River Cottage and Rukmini Iyer an honourable exception - they write useful books based around veg and fruit

Rose Elliot, Anna Jones, Bosh all write from a vegetarian perspective. Otherwise I'd look for good classic food writers who simply include a lot of vegetarian food, particularly those write regional books from the Med, Middle East, South Asia

@Plump82

I marinade tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, Chinese 5 spice and some honey (cut the tofu up to be marinaded) then put it on an baking sheet and bake till crispy. I serve it with sticky rice and bak choy and it tastes a bit like char sui pork.

It’s “marinate”.

Your mixture of soy sauce, honey etc is the marinade.

Yes, I know some people might think it’s not important but I would want to know if I was using the wrong word.