To think bangers and mash implies veg too?

[Crowsaregreat]

My kids love sausage and mash. I always do it with at least one type of veg, preferably two. Peas, carrots, broccoli sort of thing.

We stayed with PIL a while ago and MIL did sausage and mash that was exactly that - sausage, mash, gravy. Then recently my DM did the same.

It won't do DC any harm but I thought it was odd. I don't think I'd ever give DC just meat + potato for dinner unless it was a desperate situation. AIBU to think it's weird to have a dinner with no veg?

In the pub chains where they pile it high and sell it cheap though the veg is definitely an afterthought and often not even heated through properly from frozen, or alternatively microwaved to death. It's all about how much beige food they can pile on the plate and you can barely get a side salad. It's hardly even edible.

McDonalds is a case in point. You've eaten 800-1000 calories of nutrtitionally void food and it feels like a snack, so unsatisfying. Part of the reason why we're in the state we are today.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

People are talking as though eating veg in all or most of your meals is an unattainable, high-falutin' goal that only the pickiest, most health-obsessed eaters could aspire to. And that WC people would never do such a thing.

It's bollocks!

I don't think anyone is saying it's unattainable.

But they're saying that adding a token slice of tomato to a burger or a warm side salad to some pasta doesn't really count as a meal with vegetables.

If I'm going to have veg, I'd rather have them properly cooked and seasoned etc, not just shoved on the side of a plate to make it look pretty.

Haven't RTFT, so apologies if someone's already mentioned this, but when were small my DM did 'wigwams' - mash piled up into a kind of cone shape on the plate, sausages up the sides of the cone (maybe 4 chipolata sized ones?), then beans around the base of the 'wigwam' and some fried onions on top for the 'smoke'.

I've made that for my DSs for years, and they still ask for it even though they're late teens/early 20s! It's not that unhealthy now and again, especially if you use good sausages from the butcher/few additives, and proper homemade mash with proper butter and a drop of double cream (much better than factory made 'substitutions' as long as they're not relied upon)

Now I have 2 veggie DSs, it's also easy to replicate as a veggie version with veggie sausages.

If I wasn't doing 'wigwams' I'd definitely include some green veg and onion gravy though. I do like at least one veg, if not two with a meal

When we were small

McDonalds is a case in point. You've eaten 800-1000 calories of nutrtitionally void food and it feels like a snack, so unsatisfying. Part of the reason why we're in the state we are today.

I always feel full after a McDonalds.

@HarebrightCedarmoon

McDonalds is a case in point. You've eaten 800-1000 calories of nutrtitionally void food and it feels like a snack, so unsatisfying. Part of the reason why we're in the state we are today.

Nope. Doesn’t feel like a snack at all; I always feel full afterwards.

If I'm going to have veg, I'd rather have them properly cooked and seasoned etc, not just shoved on the side of a plate to make it look pretty.

I totally agree with this.

This is why I generally refuse to eat out anywhere that doesn't prepare better food than I can do at home!

Side salad doesn't have to be a shit token effort though. Steak frites with a lovely fresh green salad and minimal dressing is a thing of beauty (I don't eat meat these days, but that's one meal I really miss). The tanginess of the dressing offsets the meat perfectly.

Anywhere serving good food should be able to provide a decent salad or veg accompaniment to a meal. It's just a pity that so many eateries are crap.

@HarebrightCedarmoon

McDonalds is a case in point. You've eaten 800-1000 calories of nutrtitionally void food and it feels like a snack, so unsatisfying. Part of the reason why we're in the state we are today.

It really doesn't!

I'm always stuffed after a McDonald's and my meal of choice there contains absolutely zero veg

And I also don't think "crap pub dinner" is the standard most people aspire to with their cooking. Although maybe I'm wrong!

Well not all WC families in the 80s ate like that

I'm sure they didn't but that was my experience, and my friends were eating similar things. Saturday was probably the only day I had a chance of having my 5 a day as we had salad. But then, it was the most boring salad imaginable. Lettuce, tomato cucumber, a bit of ham, salad cream, white bread and butter. Followed by Mr Kipling cakes or tinned fruit with evaporated milk. Sunday would be a pot roast, meat cooked to leather, boiled potatoes, veg stewed to death. In the week I'd have things like Vesta beef risotto, Findus crispy pancakes, mixed grill or boil in the bag cod. Washed down with cola or Kia-ora. School dinners were better than a lot of meals at home. If I had packed lunch though it was a beef paste sandwich on white bread, crisps, a chocolate bar and a flask of Kia-ora.

Side salad doesn't have to be a shit token effort though. Steak frites with a lovely fresh green salad and minimal dressing is a thing of beauty (I don't eat meat these days, but that's one meal I really miss). The tanginess of the dressing offsets the meat perfectly.

It doesn't have to be, but 99% of the time it is.

I also don't like eating cold meals off hot plates, and restaurants always have hot plates (to keep the hot part of the meal warm) and then put a cold salad on it, so by the time it gets to your table (having sat under heat lamps), you end up with warm, limp and horribly-textured salad.

So I don't eat it because it tastes unpleasant and warm lettuce really makes me gag - it's a texture thing.

But I would eat, say, a pizza topped with loads of colourful veg, or a vegetarian pasta bake, or plenty of other dishes where the veg is cooked nicely and is an important part of the meal.

You've reminded me of fish paste sandwiches. We definitely used to eat that.

This is why I generally refuse to eat out anywhere that doesn't prepare better food than I can do at home!

Definitely.

Broccoli trees were around before my almost 18 year old was even thought of.

I eat plenty of vegetables with most meals. Bangers and mash in this house comes with fried onions. So yes, mine is served with a vegetable.

I still remember the sense of disappointment when DP proudly presented his first efforts at cooking after he moved in - including Bangers and Mash - two chipolatas and a blob of dry (but still wet with water) potatoes bashed about in the pan.

I've always done it with

Sausages
Mashed potato made with butter and milk, sometimes with spring onions and/or cabbage stirred through (add nutmeg or caraway as well)
Peas
Carrots
Gravy made with softened sliced onions and mushrooms - sometimes with some leftover pepper sauce in there as well.

But then again, his Toad in the Hole was also bereft of any vegetables, as was a burger and the less said about his curries, the better I nearly asked where the fuck was the actual food, as three chunks of dry as fuck chicken and a tablespoon of sauce on top did not count as a meal in my opinion

As far as I'm concerned, every main meal should have at least three vegetables and lighter meals should have two minimum (or some fruit) wherever possible. But apparently they don't for everybody.

Newsflash: potatoes are a vegetable!

@Sixsillysausagessizzlinginapan

Newsflash: potatoes are a vegetable!

Technically but they're not really one of your 5 a day! Especially if you eat them in chip form like I do with mayo or mash and butter

Make the mash with the skins still on and they're pretty nutritious.

But that’s not proper mash!

YANBU. would miss a green veg (usually green beans) or at least peas and would not feel it was a proper meal without one.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

You've reminded me of fish paste sandwiches. We definitely used to eat that.

Actually fish paste is very nice, it needs an image revamp! Tin of sardines whizzed up with butter or Greek yog, lemon juice and seasoning - yummo. Give it a go.

Of course it doesn't. Whatever you or anyone else chooses to put with it, Bangers & Mash implies sausage & mashed potato.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

And I also don't think "crap pub dinner" is the standard most people aspire to with their cooking. Although maybe I'm wrong!

Well, seeing as many people pay more for their pub meal and consider going out for food a treat, I think you're wrong for quite a few people.