Vegans and vegetarians

[sugarrosepetal]

This is probably the wrong place to post this but possibly the best place to get the most traffic.

Going off from another aibu post, would I be unreasonable to ask for vegan and vegetarian recipes for weeknight dinners and lunches?

I am an omnivore but the cost of meat is going up in price, plus I'd like to cut down on the amount of meat I eat. This is for a few reasons; dietary, ethics, carbon footprint, etc.

Please help me so I can bring my meat consumption down by at least half.

I'm a good cook but I'm not very inventive when it comes to meat and dairy free dishes.

Thanks.

Pipe down. Who are you the mumsnet police?

I never realised how many of the things I like to eat are vegan. Tonight we're eating a vegetable curry based on butternut squash and chickpeas and creamed coconut with any old vegetables thrown in. It's vegan. When I say any old vegetables it's not crappy horrible things but things you have to hand. I don't understand why some people get up in the air about veganism but they do. We've eaten this thing for 30 years and it was 10 years before I realised it was vegan.

I can’t find the recipe now because I know it by heart but it’s 1 onion, sliced and softened, removed from frying pan. Punnet of mushrooms sliced, fried, in same pan, remove when cooked. 3 cloves of garlic, and half a cup of stock, simmer, add double cream (I use 300ml but cook for 4) and 1/2tsp of crushed chilli, add vege Parmesan and bring to a bubble. Add everything back in with a couple of handfuls of sliced spinach and add cooked pasta in. Sprinkle with more Parmesan. It’s really tasty

Are you?

If this is just about money I wouldn't buy vegan mayo unless it is cheaper than normal mayo.

You can do a lot with eggs, egg and chips is a classic.

Add more veg to foods you are already cooking eg if you are making a shepherds pie and you would normally use mince and onion with a top layer of potatoes then add a middle layer of veg, carrots, peas, sweetcorn work well, this means you can reduce the mince you are using.

Veg curry made with a packet of frozen mixed veg and either a home made sauce or a jar.

Start to use the parts of veg you normally throw away, the stem of a broccoli tastes the same as the florets, if you don't like the look of it chop it up and put into a soup.

'Asian broth' you need

1 cube of frozen garlic or a couple of garlic cloves
1 cube frozen ginger or a 2" piece of fresh
1 veg stop cube
Boiling water

Put in a pan and then add whatever you want, bok choy, sweetcorn, finely sliced carrot even small bits of meat you don't need much.

Add any seasonings you like, a bit of chili and black pepper.

Don't be scared to use tins, a couple of tins of beans (different types) and a pack of passata makes the basis of a bean stew.

Sometimes I prefer a vegetarian dish to one with meat. My Mum used to make some delicious things ( she has a Sarah Brown cookbook, a Rose Eliott & a Cranks). My favs were veggie crumble which had fresh beetroot in it, 3 layer terrine, aubergine & red bean casserole & red lentil curry with pineapple which sounds very odd but it’s delicious!

https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes?refinementList%5BdietaryRequirements.title%5D%5B0%5D=Vegan

All great!!

Agreed.

@limitedperiodonly , yes, dh and I aren’t vegan or even veggie, but quite a few of our meals are vegan.

This is a lovely, warming recipe for colder weather - veggie or vegan, and easy. Any left over goes thick, like dahl, v good with naan bread.

Red lentil and rice soup.

2 chicken or veg stock cubes,
1.75 L boiling water
200g red lentils
100g risotto rice
2 tsp ground coriander, ditto ground cumin (I make them heaped but it’s a matter of taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp oil
2 large onions
1 or 2 lemons

Dissove stock cubes in the water, add lentils, rice, spices, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and stir occasionally until lentils have dissolved and rice is really tender, 35-45 minutes.

Meanwhile finely slice the onions, heat oil in a large frying pan, cover pan and cook gently until onions are v soft. Then increase heat, stirring, until brown and almost burnt. Drain on kitchen paper if necessary.
Stir into the soup - they give a wonderful flavour.
Add the juice of half a lemon, or a whole one if liked, and (optional) serve with lemon quarters.

We do veggie mon-thurs it's a lot cheaper, I do-

Spag bol with courgette onions mushrooms and peppers
Chinese rice wit veggies, soy and rice vinegar
Soups (winter)
Salad (summer) I like giant couscous to bulk it out
Bulgar wheat, veggies, lemon and garlic and natural yoghurt
Coconut curry - onions, mushrooms, peppers, courgette, aubergine, carrot and sweet potato, cauliflower , Indian spices and tomatoes and coconut milk
Courgette pasta bake
Mushroom omelette
Courgette fritters
Mushroom stroganoff
Veggie goulash
Curried rice and veg.
Aubergine lasagne
Veggie paella

I google most on bbc food or use hairy bikers veggie recipe books.

I buy a load of veg from Aldi on a Monday. Chop it all and store it in a Tupperware container then just take out what I need each night.

Oh yes a lot of those have lentils in too 🤦‍♀️

My DH is Vegetarian but also likes some vegan food. I do him this recipe and he loves it.

Aubergine sliced and lightly roasted.
Fresh tomatoes that are ripe squashed down in a saucepan with herbs.
Lasagne sheets
Mozerella pearls cut in half
Layer the aubergine with tomato sauce and add mozerella pearls, then another as lice of lasagne and repeat. Grate a few breadcrumbs on top then add grated parmesan. I make a really large one and DH, DS and I share it for dinner first night then DH and DS have it for lunch the next day.

To save electricity I usually put it in DH oven with another meal, like macaroni cheese.

There are some delicious sounding recipes on here.
Thank you.

I love a simple pasta with pesto dressing and cherry tomatoes

thanks. It's now in my Recipe file. I resisted red lentils for ages because I thought they were cheap. Of course they are, but that doesn't equal nasty. Or joyless, which is what many people think lentils are.

I'm doing a ribollita next week which is just minestrone with extra cabbage. I'm going to put some saved parmesan rind from the freezer in. It dissolves to nothing and gives the nicest flavour.

I never thought I'd be the sort of person who froze cheese but now I regret all the cheese rind I threw away carelessly over the years.

Not veggie and definitely not vegan, but I've got my name down at the deli for the chunk of Parma ham left after they've finished slicing it up. That's going in various things. There is fierce competition for ends of ham and whatnot but I am assured I am at the top of the list.

I'm not the one telling someone to post elsewhere

Delia Smith's vegetarian moussaka is delicious, it does need quite a bit of time to prepare/chop everything but it is really tasty

I’ve just had a butternut squash curry, oil and masala past for 20 secs, add water diced butternut squash (it’s like a gym workout cutting them) cook for 10, add cooked rice, let the water all absorb, stir in chopped coriander and mint leaves. Dried onions sprinkled on top plus naan bread.

*paste

Drain tofu (or by the kind you don't need to drain)
Dust with chickpea flour, garlic, chili and ginger.
Shallow fry five minutes.
Oven bake for twenty.

Base for a variety of Oriental dishes.
Thai curry- add Thai paste (dragon city is vegan) and coconut milk and stir fried veg.
Satay sauce- peanut, coconut milk, sesame oil, soy sauce. Goes well with spring greens and roasted potatoes. Pour over.
Buddha bowl. Add a ready made sauce like sweet chilli, a grain (bulgar wheat, cous cous) a nut (cashews roasted are nice) a crunchy salad veg and voila.

People get really up in the air about friendly threads swapping vegan recipes outside the Recipe zone.

I've also noticed people getting similarly exercised about threads where other people say that in their opinion ULEZ is a good thing.

It can't be good for their blood pressure.

We're Omnivores too but enjoy these easy vegetarian fajitas. You can make them vegan but using vegan mayo instead of the soured cream. I'm not vegan but an Dairy Free so just use Lidl's mayo instead.

Highly recommend Bosh. Their first book is their best (most things on their website though).

I am a meat eater but husband is a veggie, and some of my favourite meals are Bosh! Some are;

Curry house jalfrezi
Nice spice rice
Shepherd's potato
Big bad chilli
Bosh korma
Rogan bosh
Burrito cake
Burrito samosas

Big Green Roasting tin is my book recommendation

Second Bosh. We have their book.