Ideas for vegetarian meals for people that like a big dinner?

[nancy75]

we eat way too much meat, I would like to have vegetarian meals about twice a week but don't know what to cook. Dp looks like a tooth pick but eats like a lumberjack and any vege recipes I find would be seen as a side dish, so can you help me with meal ideas that don't have meat but will fill up my dps bottomless pit of a stomach?

[nancy75]

Shr0edinger, that sounds like something he would eat, where can I find a recipe?

[Startail]

homity pie, chees and spud in a pastry case stulidly simple and very filling.

Mushroom nut roast.

kitcheri lentils onions rice and indian spices, but not chilli, my recipe is red lentils I can't find one to post that's quite the same.

basically soak for an hour equal parts red lentils, rice, a fried onion, a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and cloves. Brilliant for making light veggie curry filling.

[Startail]

soak and then boil in the right amount of water it all absorbs, l should have added, sorry it's DHs dish, I'm normally incharge of bean curry to have with it.

[Iteotwawki]

Spinach & 3 cheese cannelloni
Melanzane alla Parmigiana
Spinach, chickpea & kumara curry (& rice / naan)
Garlic bread with pasta dishes
Vege fajitas / burritos / nachos

[happyAvocado]

would your DH not enjoy vegetarian indian meal?

[colditz]

Quorn sausages in toad in the hole with piles of potatoes, veg and gravy

Cheese and onion potato pie with baked beans and grilled tomatoes

Red peppers stuffed with couscous, tomato, garlic and feta cheese

Four egg mushroom omelette with chunky fried potato and baked beans.

This is the sort of stuff I serve quite a lot.

[colditz]

As you are not strictly vegetarian, it's useful to add a beef stock cube to quorn mince.

[nancy75]

Thank you all again, i have found some good curry recipes, mushroom bourginon, mushroom Wellington, and some veggie pasta recipes.
I think to have any chance of success I need to avoid meat substitutes ( I can just imagine hs face at the thought of a veggie sausage!) I think portobello mushrooms might be my way forward.
At first I am going to aim for 1 meat free meal a week, so this should be enough to get going, I'm not planning on turning us vegetarian but it must be better for us to eat less meat ( and looking at the price of mushrooms compared to the price of steak I'll be rich too)

[nancy75]

I am also going to investigate lentils!

[snice]

If you do decide to give veg sausages a go I would try Cauldron Foods brand

[Selks]

Butternut squash and goats cheese lasagna, delish and very filling.

[Selks]

YY to cauldron sausages - lovely. Quorn ones not so.

[someoftheabove]

You don't say if you have DCs - quorn is ok but it's very low in iron so wouldn't be a good thing to give teenage girls on a regular basis. We're veggie and we much prefer soya mince (Sainbury's and Tesco both do their own). Higher in iron and better tasting, IMO. Some people make the mistake of frying veggie mince in the same way you would fry beef mince - don't! Just add it to the sauce and make sure you leave it to simmer for about half an hour. So if it's veggie bolognese, for example, add it after you've added the tomatoes.

TBh, I just wouldn't bother trying to cater for someone who doesn't see vegetarian food as complete or filling. You're fighting a losing battle. Just make it for yourself and give him his steak!

[Emmie412]

I started a similar experiment about 6 weeks ago and here are our most successful ones (you won't miss the meat at all):

Falafels (serve with sweet chilli sauce)
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2589/spicy-falafels

Cheesy baked tortillas
www.netmums.com/family-food/family-recipes/a-z-of-family-recipes/cheesy-baked-tortillas

Spicy lentil soup with fresh out of the oven bread
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4768/spiced-lentil-soup
(used coconut milk for part of the stock and think this would make a fantastic curry sauce with less stock and chickpeas)

Black bean quesadillas with homemade guacamole and salsa
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/02/10-best-bean-recipes
(scroll down for the recipe)

I think the key is to find dishes that are lovely on their own accord rather than just trying to convert meat dishes into veggie dishes with disgusting things like quorn. Lentils and beans make it more substantial and spices help to make it more satisfying.

You could try risottos, pastas, pizza, bean bakes, soups etc.

[Emmie412]

Oh and be certain to add enough spices to your liking. I tend to add more garlic, chilli etc than in the recipes as we like spicy food. :)

[Liskey]

A nice soup from the Hugh f-w book is Curried sweet potato, maybe with nan bread as well - our new favourite!

[Drladybird]

Lots of lovely recipes here. My selection for hungry folks would be:
Lentil lasagne is always a winner with meat-eaters and veggies. Lentils are nutritious and simply brilliant so I hope your family comes to love them!

What about a Moroccan carrot and chickpea stew Easy to make and tasty.

As others suggest, a curry is a great option. What about this Pea, paneer and spinach curry

I would also check out some other veggie blogs. The vegetarian society has a good list here

Happy veggie cooking and eating!

[eatssleepsfeeds]

Selks - thanks for that lovely squash and goats cheese lasagne recipe link posted above. Made it this evening. Added some peppers and mushrooms to filling and nutmeg to the sauce. Served with a lemony rocket salad. Delicious!

Thanks again!

[Selks]

Oh glad it worked well for you