Inspire me with some delicious tried & tested meat free recipes please!!

[sillytart]

I am not vegetarian but would like to eat less meat. We currently eat 1 meat free meal a week and that is usually a vegetable pasta dish with mozzarella or a jacket potato - so neither are very inspiring!!
I have browsed for recipes online but I want some which people can vouch for and say 'yes this is truly delicious'!!
So please come and share with me some delicious recipes!!

MELANZANE ( baked eggpants)

• roast 4 eggplants in the oven 40 minutes
• make a rich tomato sauce (not watery)
• remove from oven, remove stem, chop roughly and mix in sauce
• toss into baking dish and dot with feta cheese
• sprinkle breadcrumbs mixture and pop under grill

BREADCRUM MIX
-dry wholemeal toat + garlic clove +olive oil + flat parsley

RICH TOM SAUCE

• 2 tins tomatoes + paprika + cumin + garlic + sugar + olive oil + seasoning.

warm crushed garlic in oil, add spices, add toms reduce half and add sugar and a bit of oil to carameize. Season

Eat with salad, crusty bead and greek yogurt

Mine's a simple beanburger made with chickpeas. You can also use cooked kidney beans.

Per person (makes 2 or 3 small burgers)
3-4oz cooked (or canned and drained) chickpeas
beaten egg
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds
some grated carrot
a little oil
seasoning
Flavourings.... chilli flakes, fresh chopped parsley, curry spices (to your taste)

• Whizz the chickpeas in a food processor, transfer to a bowl and combine with the other dry ingredients.
• Add a little oil and enough beaten egg for it to start to hold together, and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes
• Using wet hands, form the mixture into balls and flatten slightly into patties
• Fry the patties in a little oil for about 5 mins both sides until crisp, golden and warmed all the way through.

Serve with plenty of salad and some chilli dipping sauce or garlic mayo

i'm not a veggie but eat a mostly veggie diet due to the cost of meat, heres a few of my fav ones, if you fancy any i'll type them out
chickpea, spinach and sweet potato curry
bean chilli
veg lasagna
roasted veg, goats cheese and pasta
homemade goats cheese and rocket pizza
calzone (just like a pizza but folded in half)
courgette, sweet pot and chickpea moroccan dish
have loads more but can't think at the minute. i eat lots of soup too

Pea and paneer curry.
Chop the paneer into bite sized bits, fry in oil until brown. Remove from pan. Fry one chopped onion, then add the paneer back in with a tin of chopped toms, a couple of potatoes chopped quite small and a tablespoon of curry paste. Simmer for about 20 mins, then add frozen peas and simmer for another 5 or so mins. Really, really lovely.

Sweet pot moroccan dish, pass it on

Asparagus risotto (hope risotto wasn't included with pasta embargo) - asparagus in season right now and it's DELICIOUS

Thanks everyone these all sound yum!!

thesmartestgiant would also love the sweet pot moroccan dish and the sweet pot, spinach & chickpea curry please!! What soups do you make?

Anymore anyone?

i don't really follow recipes and if i do i have a look at a few which are slightly different and take different things from them so you may need to try as you cook for the taste you like as i don't measure either!
sweet pot, chickpea and courgette moroccan dish -
for me and my 2 boys i would use 1 onion, couple gloves garlic, a large s.pot, 1 courgette, 1 tin of toms, 1 tin of chickpeas.
fry off some onion, then add your garlic.
add smallish chunks (unless you will cook it for longer) of s.pot and cook for a few mins.
add your spices - i add ground ginger but you can use fresh, cumin, tumeric, paprika and sometimes caynne pepper. add a dash of water. cook for a couple mins then add your courgette.
add some a tin of chopped toms.
let it reduce a bit and add some water.
let it cook down some more then add your chickpeas.
cook for 10ish mins and your ready to go! i serve mine with couc cous, enjoy!
hope that makes sense

spinach, chickpea and sweet pot curry - 1 of my fav recipes, i have this nearly every week but then i am a curry addict!
again for me and the boys i would use 1 tin of chickpeas, biggish sweet pot, 1 onion, few cloves of garlic, sometimes a chunk of fresh ginger, a bunch of corriander, 1 tin or sometimes 1 and a half of toms, spinach - if frozen i defrost first about 5 blobs! or if fresh then about a quater-half bag as it disappears!
fry off your onion, add garlic and ginger.
add your small chunks of s.pot then add spices, depending how hot you like, or what sort of curry you prefer, sometimes i'll just add plain old curry powder othertimes i'll add corriander, ginger if not using fresh, cumin, chilli powder, caynne pepper, turmeric, garam masarla at the end, bit of curry powder, anything really!
then add a dash of water and mix in.
add toms, let reduce then add water to top up.
let it thicken up then add chickpeas.
cook for a bit longer till chickpeas are done and pot soft then add spinach about 3 mins before serving. once off the hob mix in fresh corriander, i like a lot but also use some with low fat plain yog, chopped cucumber and pepper to make a dip for the boys incase its a bit hot. serve with brown rice, lots of popadoms and nan bread. you can add chillis if you like which i do when i make it for myself.

soup -
carrott, corriander and cumin soup
leek & pot
spicy butternut squash soup

My signature dish that I bring to every communal supper, picnic etc is a warm salad of roast butternut squash and chickpeas, with a tahini dressing. Tastes lovely, vegetarian with loads of protein from the beans.

Cube a butternut squash, put in a bowl and sprinkle over olive oil, salt, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and some warm spices - I've had good luck with any or all of cinnamon, cumin, allspice, five spice and coriander. Toss squash with seasonings and spread on a baking sheet and roast about 20 min at gas 7/220c.

While the squash is roasting, chop a red onion finely - a few salad onions work well too, or shallots. Make a quick tahini dressing by whisking a couple of crushed garlic cloves, 3 or 4 big spoons of well-stirred tahini, the juice of a lemon or two, a couple of slugs of olive oil and a good scattering of sea salt. Taste and adjust to taste by adding more of any of the ingredients you think it needs. It should be thick but pourable, the consistency of double cream.

Once the squash is done, let it cool a bit so it's just warm rather than hot. Combine the squash with a tin or two of chickpeas (or 2 or 3 good handfuls of dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked), the chopped onions, a few handfuls of fresh cilantro and/or flat leaf parsley snipped with scissors over the bowl, and dress with a few spoons of the tahini dressing. Taste and keep adding dressing as needed.

This is actually better made in advance and warmed up, the flavours marry overnight and it's really delicious. Makes a brilliant dinner when served with a green salad and some naan bread you've stuck under the grill for a few minutes a side.

If you like spicy food, Madhur Jaffrey's Eastern Vegetarian Cooking is amazing. Some recipes are a bit time-consuming and more of a weekend treat than quick after-work meals, but they are fabulous! Her spinach and paneer is now a regular in our house, also matchstick potatoes (spicy and sour but strangely irresistable).

Made this tonight - v. easy and v. tasty - and not much washing up

2 packs veggie sausages, e.g. Cauldron Foods cumberland sausages
3 medium potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
1 onion, cut into 8 wedges
a few cloves garlic, peeled
a little oil
tin of tomatoes
1/2 veggie stock cube
tomato puree

variations: can add or substitute swede, turnip, a little chilli, bay leaf

1. Chop sausages into 3-4 pieces, brown in a saucepan in the oil on a high heat
2. Meanwhile, prepare vegetables
3. Remove sausages from pan and keep to one side.
4. Put all the veg (but not tomatoes) into the saucepan, with a little more oil if necessary, add a lid and cook on v. low heat for 20-25 minutes until cooked. Stir occasionally.
5. Put sausages back in to reheat, add tomatoes, stock, puree, a little water if necessary.
6. Voila!

Cranks nut roast is yummy and v quick to prepare (google it and recipe comes up.) I just use a bag of ready-chopped mixed nuts. I also add things like chopped carrot to the onion.

Thanks everyone, there are quite a few that I am going to try.
I wonder if they put any of the recipes from Masterchef contestants on the web as there was a lady on the recent series that made some truly delicious meals.... I will see if I can find some and report back.

very healthy Veg Chilli

(this makes a large batch, aprox 10 servings - freezes well in tub with rice for a home made health ready meal, but split quantities if you want less) - serves well with Rice, Tortilla Wraps(forget proper name(with cheese, guacamole in wrap & serve with salad) tortillas ( the crisp corn shells, add cheese, sour cream/guacamole & salad into top of shell) ), Baked Potatoes etc etc

Pack of frozen soy or quorn mince

glug of corn oil

a big handfull of -

green lentils

flax seeds

sunflower seeds

chick peas

frozen sweetcorn

2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 drained tin of kidney beans (lot of faff using dried as need soaking or rinsing etc or can be toxic)

couple of big handfulls of fresh spinach leaves

large, or 2 small/medium onions

garlic - I would use 6 big cloves - but as you like it

good glug of dark soy sauce

handful of chopped fresh coriander

couple of squares of good dark chocolate

Chilli powder- as hot as you like it, so your call - but I would add a good heaped desert spoon

Tomato puree

spoonful or 2 of creme frais.

Throw Mince into bottom of large hot pan or wok - with corn oil & soy sauce - make sure ALL of mince is coated in soy oil - stir round to cook through

Throw in chopped onions - we like big chunks, but cut as you like

Throw in Garlic - stir through for a minute or so

now add Sweetcorn, lentils, seeds, chick peas -

stir through & add tin tomatoes

Add water to bring up to a thickish soup consistency (remember in needs to be thinner than you want it to be, as dried pulses will take up liquid & thicken it)

simmer until pulses start to soften & cook through

Add chocolate & chilli powder

Simmer until pulses fully cooked

Add tomato puree - a good squirt about 3 - 4 inch long - but more if you need it to thicken up more

simmer again for about 10 minutes

Add spinach - stir through & simmer a little more

Taste as you go & add more chilli if you need it (they vary in strength)

Add creme frais - if it end up too hot - add more creme frais to cool chilli heat

Stir through coriander until wilts

Its not an exact science, & treat it as if making any stew or broth, just throw it together & taste as you go

Serve as suggestions above :) -

(this is very healthy, & the seeds & pulses also add texture)

Enjoy :)

Just in time for National Vegetarian Week! (which is this week). Here are some great vegetarian recipes that have been stored on Cookmarkit:
cookmarkit.com/cookmarks/vegetarian

Enjoy!

Personally, I have cooked the following recipes and have really enjoyed them:
cookmarkit.com/urls/orange-vinaigrette-and-warm-quinoa-salad-the-vancouver-observer
cookmarkit.com/urls/couscous-chickpea-and-feta-salad-recipes-good-food-channel

By the way, Cookmarkit is a great new online tool that lets you bookmark recipes that you've found online. Save some of your favourite online recipes and tag them with "vegetarian". They'll automatically come up when people go to: cookmarkit.com/cookmarks/vegetarian

Simple Mushroom Curry......

Serves 2

12oz firm chestnutmushrooms, sliced or quartered
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
small piece of ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
400g passata or chopped tomatoes in juice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspooons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
salt
oil
Plain Yoghurt (not nasty thin low-fat stuff)
Chopped fresh coriander leaves
Pinch of garam masala
Toasted almonds
Rice or naan to serve

• Heat some oil in a saute pan and add the cumin, fenugreek and mustard seeds.
• Once the seeds start to pop and smell toasted, add the onion, chilli, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry for a minute or two
• Add the mushrooms and stir-fry those a little before adding the turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper
• Finally, stir in the tomatoes or passata, bring to a simmer, pop on a lid and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce needs to thicken, remove the lid and allow to reduce slightly.
• When cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute. Then stir in a good dollop of plain yoghurt, plenty of fresh coriander leaves and a pinch or two of garam masala. Don't reheat
• Serve with cooked rice or naan. Sprinkle some toasted almonds and a little extra fresh coriander on top.

For the fastest cheatiest dinner in the west

Heat tin of Baxters spicy tomato with rice soup
adding
1 stick of celery finely sliced
small courgette finely sliced
1/2 pepper diced small
when veg have softened add
1/2 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 packet mussels (only £1 from Tesco fish fridge section, not in shells)

serve as soon as mussels warm through with crusty or garlic bread.
Above quantities feed three of us.

white fish in the oven with parmesan crust
preheat oven to 175ºc
place white filets of fish (skinless), pollock, cod, haddock or other in oven proof dish (depending on size, 1 filet per adult, great to make in big quantities)
mix 2/3 grated parmesan and 1/3 breadcrumbs sprinkle over fish so that it is evenly covered
add a few flakes of butter, black pepper (no salt, as the parmesan is quite salty)
place in the oven and bake for about 15- 20mins, you can grill it for a further 3mins if you like it to be more crusty
serve with new potatoes and green salad
enjoy.

This is delicious and easy and cheap and ALL of my DC's like it!

DCs