easy cold-weather vegetarian dinner ideas!

[FourSeasonsLobelia]

Hello! I am currently visiting family and it's winter and very cold here. Thinking longingly of the UK heatwave though!

I'd be grateful for some easy crowd-pleasing vegetarian ideas. I'm cooking and my family eat alot of veg meals but balk at the idea of 'vegetarian' (when today for example they happily prepared and ate spinach and mushroom creamy pasta bake without thinking of this as 'vegetarian''... I know... it doesn't make sense).

I'd just love some ideas so I can pluck whatever I fancy cooking today. I'm tired of my usual staples which include things like dhal and chickpea curry, various pasta etcs. Plus I love talking about food so love food threads!

TIA!

Look at the Bold Beans website for recipes eg butter beans with ricotta, lemon and courgette. Lots of ideas on there.
We had black beans with mango avocado and prawns last night but you can obviously leave out the prawns.

Peppers or beef tomatoes stuffed with rice and Mediterranean veg topped with grated cheese. I'm not vege but it's delicious.

Veg lasagne.

Veg curry.

Oh peppers would be good. Peppers stuffed with mince and rice was a childhood staple so this isn't outside the comfort zone.

One of my family members is T2 diabetic and he is having brilliant blood results since I started cooking. I have cooked roast chicken for them, but other than that it's all been vegetarian. Obviously it may be a coincidence but I feel encouraged by it!

I have a whole day at home tomorrow so could do a veg lasagne.

Lentil.cottage pie. You could make the mash part a bit more interesting if you wanted to use sweet potato/carrot/swede.

I made a really easy red lentil loaf the other day. We discussed jazzing it up with various gravies or sauces (gochujang was a favourite idea here).

Pot pie is another go to here. Either lots of veg and a creamy sauce, or lentil/bean with a gravy type sauce. Puff pastry lid.

Loving the idea of lentils- big fave of mine. And pot pie... creamy mushroom and onion pot pie sounds good.

Bean chilli.
There’s a Rukmini Iyer recipe (roasting tin books,which are fab) for roast cauliflower with ras el hanout served with pearl barley thats a favourite.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Recipe - Pinch of Yum https://share.google/W6ltOHrSMj5MiGkpq

This is absolutely delicious

This is one of my favourites. The quantities can be increased to suit number of servings / appetites.

Roast aubergine with Imjadra (2-3 servings)

Quarter 2 medium aubergines lengthways and score criss-cross along the cut sides. Place cut sides up in a roasting tin with some red onion wedges.

Crush 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1-2 garlic cloves and 1 tsp black peppercorns. Mix these with ½ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp chilli (mild-med heat), 1 tbsp tomato puree, and 1 tbsp olive oil. Brush this mixture liberally over the aubergines and onions and sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes.

Roast the aubergines at 200C for 20 mins, until slightly charred, then add 300g small tomatoes to the roasting tin - cut a cross in each tomato and brush with oil from the base of the pan. Roast for a further 10 mins, until the aubergines are tender.

Serve with the Imjadra below, and Little Gem lettuce wedges.

Imjadra: Whilst the aubergines are roasting, cook 100g puy or green lentils with 740ml veg stock and 1tbsp tomato puree for about 20 mins. Add 100g bulghar wheat and the grated rind and juice of 1 lemon. Season, cover and simmer for a further 10 mins, adding more water if needed. Stir in 4 tbsp chopped fresh mint just before serving.

The Imjadra is also nice with roast Mediterranean veg (I use whatever I have but usually include aubergines, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, red onions and a few olives and/or capers - plus, of course, garlic and herbs). Make up a quick yogurt and sumac dressing to drizzle over the veg.

I LOVE ratatouille. Delicious.

I would swap you the miserable weather here for a bowl of that. I also like cheese on it sometimes

In fact I have to make some.

Quiches are always good. You could make a veggie breakfast type one if you eat Quorn. If not, just mushroom, onion, tomatoes and maybe some potato?

vegetarian here - for a meat loving crowd I would recommend veggie lasagna (could be ricotta & spinach or squash, roast veg, or TVP/soya mince bolognaise)

Black bean & butternut squash enchiladas also a favourite

What about pancakes with various fillings, rolled and baked with a tomato sauce topped with cheese. I do fillings like garlic mushrooms, roasted veg with nuts, spinach and ricotta etc.
Also a favourite is courgette pinwheels, slice courgettes lengthways microwave for a minute to soften then top with your choice of filling, roll up to a pinwheel and bake.
Potato cakes or bean cakes always go down well.
Nut loaf, celeriac bake.

What about pancakes with various fillings, rolled and baked with a tomato sauce topped with cheese. I do fillings like garlic mushrooms, roasted veg with nuts, spinach and ricotta etc.
Also a favourite is courgette pinwheels, slice courgettes lengthways microwave for a minute to soften then top with your choice of filling, roll up to a pinwheel and bake.
Potato cakes or bean cakes always go down well.
Nut loaf, celeriac bake.

What about pancakes with various fillings, rolled and baked with a tomato sauce topped with cheese. I do fillings like garlic mushrooms, roasted veg with nuts, spinach and ricotta etc.
Also a favourite is courgette pinwheels, slice courgettes lengthways microwave for a minute to soften then top with your choice of filling, roll up to a pinwheel and bake.
Potato cakes or bean cakes always go down well.
Nut loaf, celeriac bake.

What about pancakes with various fillings, rolled and baked with a tomato sauce topped with cheese. I do fillings like garlic mushrooms, roasted veg with nuts, spinach and ricotta etc.
Also a favourite is courgette pinwheels, slice courgettes lengthways microwave for a minute to soften then top with your choice of filling, roll up to a pinwheel and bake.
Potato cakes or bean cakes always go down well.
Nut loaf, celeriac bake.

I ended up doing a bolognese using red lentils and that was pronounced 'delicious'.

I LOVE pancakes with savoury fillings. Great idea!

Today i am doing crispy fried tofu with bbq sauce for the DCs (who are not vegetarian but this is one of their favourites). That may well be a step too far for the non-veg parents who are determined to believe they 'hate tofu' but creamy mushroom pancakes might be just about perfect I think!

Both parents are fond of aubergine so the aubergine mentioned upthread could be a winner too.

I have offered to make meat dishes for them, but they said today that if I'm veg they are happy to go with it for a bit but I'm making a full Chicken roast this week. My mother said after the red lentil bolognese 'I think I could happily eat like this'.