Vegetarians - recommend a recipe to convert an enthusiastic carnivore

[Words]

I eat too much meat. I enjoy cooking and love protein.

Some parameters:

No fake meat, fake cheese or tofu
Love umami flavours and strong flavours generally
Do not enjoy Indian curries ( although I admit have never probably eaten authentic high end Indian cuisine)
Love Thai and Japanese food. Favourite cuisine is French.
Something colourful with good texture contrasts would be great. I don't really enjoy ´ sloppy' food

I will eat almost anything except coconut (the milk is fine) and anything with an aniseed flavour.

What would you recommend ?

I couldn't get dried Puy lentils last time I tried. I like them braised in red wine and served with dauphinoise potatoes.

Black pepper tofu ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/black-pepper-tofu

Forgot to add, I'm a meat eater too

OP I've been exactly where you are (and still am) - I like a proper meal, not just 'roast cauli and chickpeas' even though I love those two things. I ask this question and get 'well you can make shepherd's pie with lentils' or 'try this vegan website' when what I want is someone's personal favourite veggie meal that they look forward to and would cook for someone else!

I want to get more into beans and pulses.

There's a bean stew with halloumi recipe on BBC good food, which I like as it's an excuse to eat garlic bread with it.

There's a good aubergine, mozzarella and orzo bake recipe here but it's not the quickest thing to throw together at all https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/09/baked-orzo-with-eggplant-and-mozzarella/

Roasting Tin has a few nice ones, like roasted chickpeas, corn on cob and onions with a yoghurty sauce.

I'll try more mexican bean things I think, as I love savoury spices + cheese + sour cream.

Chickpeas are fab in curries but I do tend to think meat in curries is amazing so I can't say it'd convert anyone.

I have a great satay chickpea recipe but on closer reading it looks like it was largely copied off that Ottolenghi one above, crispy onions and all!

This is nice although I get bored eating soup halfway through - this is one of the few I like https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/curried-lentil-parsnip-apple-soup

Quarter aubergines lengthways, coat in a mixture of miso, soy, honey and oil, and bake for an hour turning every 15 mins (in a roasting tin on parchment). Have that with rice, spring onions, plain yoghurt, bit of chilli and coriander leaves. It's probably similar to the nasu dengaku pp mentioned. The yogurt mixes with everything and sort of makes a creamy fresh sauce. They shrink and shrivel but go really tasty!

Here's another couple of my fave recipes:

amp.theguardian.com/food/2024/mar/31/cheesy-roasties-and-lemony-gratin-anna-jones-springtime-recipes

I recommend Anna Jones, Ottolenghi and Meera Sodha. They all have great veggie recipes. Be open minded about having things that a meat eater would consider a side dish as a main, add a flatbread, an egg, rice, salad, whatever you need to make it a filling meal.

Well OP is just wanting to eat less meat, so 'vegetarian' is a catch all to describe meatless recipes I would say.

Oh and halomi burgers - fry the cheee with your favourite flavours

Or big flat mushrooms stuffed with garlic and cheddar or Stilton and roasted

The BBC double beans & roasted chilli recipe is really good.

Cauliflower and chickpeas is a 'meal', to reference another poster above, you roast the cauiflower and chickpeas in whatever flavours you want, you can add other veg in too and then serve with rice or breads or whatever

Thats a meal!

So you're using "cauliflower and chickpeas" to refer to a dish which contains cauli, chickpeas, a carb, other veg and spices.
Whereas I took it to mean the two ingredients, cauliflower and chickpeas.

Easy to see where we were talking at cross-purposes! Sounds nice, I always want to add something to roast cauli to make it a substantial meal. Think I'd need some sort of wet thing in there perhaps.

Tofu changes texture when you freeze it, not many people seem to know this, it becomes chewy so is more appealing to meat eaters. It also collects whatever flavours you cook it in so use spices.

These people https://justingredients.co.uk/blogs/recipes sell fantastic spices and have 1000 veggie recipes on their website.

Halloumi and aubergine both recreate rich mouth feel. nuts add protein and a rich flavour.

Well I am inclined to use a lot of oil in my roasting, so its always nice and moist. Plus I am a fan of the aubergine but OP said she didnt want anything too sloppy.

Meat and lots of veg is the ideal meal. I wouldn't change a thing.

I don’t eat meat but eat a lot of beans and lentils.
Grilled halloumi with side veg or in a burger is a good shout.

I tried tofu once in wagamama, not touched it again since.

Butternut squash is good too - black bean and butternut squash stew in wraps or with rice and with Mexican dips. You can spice up as much as you like

Green lentils are IMO much nicer than puy lentils.
East End Green Lentils | Ocado

You can eat it raw, so you can cook it however you like really. I don't use it much, but I tend to cook it in a frying pan with a stock or spices/water.

In some recipes it has to be puy!!

Or beluga?

Bbc Good Food mushroom stroganoff, don't skimp the paprika.

Aubergine parmigiana with a large glass of red.

Beetroot, goats cheese and walnut salad.

Simple tapas - patatas bravas, padron peppers (both very easy to do) and slices of manchego. And a large glass of white.

Basically, as an omnivore who rarely eats meat, I do invest in spices, cheese and alcohol.

Three bean chilli
Ingreds:
Tin black beans
Tin kidney beans
Tin borlotti beans
Tin chopped tomatoes
Dessert spoon of tomato purée
One onion chopped
Two garlic cloves chopped
Half teaspoon of paprika
Half teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
One vegetable stock cube
Approx Half teaspoon chilli power (Depending on heat, add less to start and more when you have tasted)
Quarter teaspoon Mexican discovery chipotle paste (optional, but I like the depth it brings, again, add slowly depends on how hot you like it.)
A little oil
A little water
Salt to taste

Method:
Drain kidney and borlotti beans. Don’t drain black beans because adding the liquid to chilli gives it a nice dark colour.
Sauté onion and garlic in pot for about five mins then...
Add all ingreds except beans. Do add black bean liquid but not beans at this point
Cook for about twenty min stirring occasionally
Then add beans, cook for about five mins until all boiling then it’s ready.
I prefer to make it a few hours in advance because the flavours develop and then just reheat it.
Serve with rice first night and cheese
Second night serve in a wrap with chopped lettuce, tomato, avocado and cheese

I must be becoming an evangelist about this recipe as I've mentioned it already this week but this, from the Tesco website, is a completely delicious mushroom stew using supermarket ingredients that is so so good . It uses a packet dumpling mix, so if you don't use packets then sub with a mix of 250g SR flour, rubbed in with 50g butter, salt, pepper, a tablespoon of dried parsley, and 125ml of milk. Pull the dough into 8 dumplings and follow the recipe.

I'm writing down these lovely ideas!

This is delicious- had it last night with crusty bread. The kids put cheese on it but I add extra lemon juice to mine instead.

www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/italian-bean-casserole/amp/

I can't find it quickly but Jack Monroe's bean burger recipe is delicious: use smoked paprika instead of chilli so it isn't hot.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/28/root-mash-braised-shallots-recipe-ottoleghi

You need to invest a bit of time to cook this but it's easy to double up to save leftovers for another day. It is delicious.

Try this mushroom dish
I really love it with mozarella.