Oh ruddy nora....food apathy...please inspire me

[FrannyandZooey]

I am stuck in a food rut and need some new ideas please. This is perhaps a bit of a challenge because we don't eat any meat or fish, prefer not to eat much cheese or eggs, and I like to bulk cook in one pot and then freeze the leftovers.

I'd like meals based around lentils / beans / wholegrains / etc. Has anyone got anything exciting or even just edible, that they could share with me, please?

Chick pea, spinach and mushroom curry

Pakoras (made from gram flour/chickpea flour) for snacks

Veg stir fry with noodles or rice

Veg soup (add soup pasta when reheating)

Pizza

Glamorgan sausages (these are made with small amount of cheese & egg)) with mash & veg

Tofu Laksa

Do you eat quorn or soya mince?

Also Nut Roast, Red Dragon Pie (don't know if you can freeze it though).

What sort of things do you currently eat?

Yes, I do eat quorn and soya, mercy

Can you freeze Glamorgan sausages?

What is tofu laksa please?

We do soups, pizza etc, unles you can really inspire me with something new I think I am bored of those

Love veg stir fry but expensive with all the fresh veg and can't freeze it

Nut roast and red dragon are real favourites, I will do those again.

We usually have bean stews, veg korma, risotto made with barley, a sort of lentil dhal thing, a sort of baked bulgar wheat loaf, all frozen, and things I make on the day like pizza, pasta, pittas with hummus etc.

Felafel
Veg moussaka (can recommend Delia's recipe!!)
Stir fry
stuffed peppers
???????????

Must be freezable please ladies

I am a very lazy cook and can only be arsed to do it once a week.

Felafel are always so nice ready made I have never really bothered making them

I love moussaka, will look online for Delia's recipe, ta

Ah yes falafel!

Franny, will get back to you. I think the Laksa is made with coconut milk - ok not dairy but not especially healthy either.

I don't mind coconut milk, I use it in korma.

It's good for ds and won't kill me and dp

is this any good?

Oh Rowlers, looks great. Thanks a lot.

How about a nice bit o' gravel? No? Tender nuggets of aggregate on a bed of sauteed sand?

Sling yer hook, Snottsleeves

OK our favourites are
Vege shep pie with kidney beans, capsicum, onion, a garlicy tomatoey sauce and covered in mashed spud

A chickpea and peach curry with coconut cream

Nacho mix with mixed beans, capsicum, sweet chilli, and various other vege in it.

Tarts are big in our house like roast onion tart, roast vege tart etc

A nice novel idea is to hollow out large cob loaf of bread fill with roasted vege and feta and bake until warmed through. I do a mini roll for ds with out the cheese added.

Oh wahey. More info on the huge feta sandwich please, I am not sure exactly how you would do it. It sounds like dp would seriously go for that.

Hi FC

Dh is vegetarian and makes a ot of this sort of stuff ( if he can resist my begging for some cheese please). We also do lots of freezing and have frozen all of these at some time.

Things he makes that are quite nice

Artichole, potato and broadbean stew
Quorn and lentil stew (he usually puts in some dumplings - though I think they are ready mix ones)
He does a lovely veg stew with split peas also with dumplings sometimes

Lentil pie (I think he uses a brown lentil recipe from an indian cookbook and decided to put it in a pie)

Also a couple of incredibly simple but amazingly quite tasty greek type things

Rice and leek stew - Mix together
Two 400g tins of tomatoes,
Brown rice (2 cups and pre-soaked for a few hours if possible)
Olive oil (1/2 a cup - you really do need quite a lot else it tastes awful)
2-3 chopped up leeks
Seasoning and 1 cup of water

Simmer gently until rice is cooked and water is pretty much evaporated (usually 30-40 mins or so)-
We do serve it with feta or other cheese though

Potato and leek stew(variation of above really)

MMM - stews seem to be on the menu a lot

If any appeal I'll try and get recipies

Also a lovely cheese and barley gratin bake but it does have quite a bit of cheese in so may not appeal

Franny, I just had a look at the Tofu Laksa recipe and I don't think it will freeze well as it says serve immediately at the end of the recipe. It's from an old copy of Good Housekeeping mag so I assume they know what they are talking about - sorry.

I've got quite a few vegetarian recipes but tbh I don't think many of them freeze well. I'll have another think and if I see anything will let you know.

Do you like paneer?

As well as all the other suggestions theres:

Stuffed mushrooms

stuffed peppers

couscous dishes

ratatoui (sp)

Veg lasagne

paella (but has prawns in which you prob won't eat if you don't eat fish)

Please could I have the barley gratin and the artichoke stew recipes please lazycow?

I am not sure about paneer.

Thanks all for ideas, they're very helpful

bean burgers? can be made with kidney beans or green lentils.

Tofu & veg kebabs? not freezable but quick to prepare

I don't like bean burgers that much.

We do like tofu and veg kebabs.

my DH makes a fab veggie lasagne. To make the bolognaise sauce, make up a packet of RealEat vegeburger mix, cook as burgers, but then chop them into bits. Fry onion, add burger 'mince', a tin of chopped tomatoes and a dollop of tomato puree, garlic, a spoon full of Vecon with half pint of boiling water. Simmer till reduced and thick and yummy. Make cheese sauce (or white sauce if you dont like cheese). Layer it all up with sheets of lasagne. Bake till brown. It freezes wonderfully and DD takes lumps of it back to uni with her.

For the filled cob loaf...
Take one large round loaf and cut off "lid". Hollow out bread and crumb for other recipes.
Now you can get creative with whatever fillings you like but our favourite is...
Sauted onion wiht herbs and garlic, roasted sweet potato, roasted pumpkin, saute courgette, roasted sweet peppers. Dice veges into chunks. Spread inside of bread case with something yummy like hummous, relish or pesto. Pile in the veges, cube the feta and mix in gently. Can also add normal cheese. Replace lid and bake moderate temp for about 20 minutes or until case is crusty and veges are heated through. We do loads of variations on this theme and often pre make the filling and freeze for a quick 20 minute dinner. Can serve in slices or do smaller individual buns for each member with favourite filings.
Pizza toppings work well
Satay is yummy in it
Even do vege casserole in it at times (needs to be fairly dry casserole though so doesnt make bread soggy)

My new favourite of leek and onion fried rice with a dash of light soya sauce and a 1" piece of fresh ginger per person grated and stirred into it just before serving. With anything marinated in honey and mustard is lovely. Perhaps not tofu though as it is, after all, rank.
(I had it with pork loin last night, but realise that doesn't rock your boat, yet is truly v nice, even for vegans )