Meat free Mondays for meaty man

[TheGreaterGood]

I'd like to cut down the amount of meat and fish I'm eating and have done a decent job for breakfast and lunch as I'm at work and buy my own stuff. At home I do most all of the cooking. During the week we try to eat healthily and tend to have salmon/chicken/pork medallions with steamed or roasted veg. I'd like to introduce a vegetarian night once a week but the thought of a meat free meal doesn't appeal to DH much.

Of course we don't have to have the same thing - easy enough to do something vegetarian for myself and add a piece of meat or fish for him, but I think less meat would benefit him too.

So I'm after your best vegetarian recipes to convince him that he doesn't need meat in a every meal...thanks!

In this house popular veggie dishes are:

Melanzane (Aubergine bake)

Veggie lasagna

Vegetable curry (with caulk, potato, chick pease, peppers, lots of onion, garlic, curry powder etc.)

In general, cheese is your friend

Black bean chilli is always good; the beans have a depth of flavour that makes up for there being no meat

Pulses make a good meat substitute as do certain meaty veg such as Okra, aubergines, chunky celery & some varieties of mushroom. trick is to find the right combination that appeals to his taste buds - what does he like?

Lovely ideas - thanks. I like the idea of a chilli or curry with loads of flavour, and cheese is definitely my new best friend! Think we may have to sacrifice 'low fat' for 'meat free' a bit - doing both might push him over the edge, and cheese makes everything better!

Mondrian - he does like most veg, is partial to a pulse or lentil in a stew (but not 'on it's own' if you know what I mean) doesn't mind spice in a chilli or curry but not so much the North African type spices. He's really not that fussy, I just want some really nice vege food to stop him thinking of it as 'hippy food' and help wean him off the meat habit!

I think the issue is sometimes one of texture - you can end up with something very samey and indistinct. Perhaps something stuffed with a breadcrumb and cheese topping could work?

I like genuine vegetarian food, however I do need to slip it in to our diet for the rest of the family. These aren't maybe the lowest calorie meals but always a winner with DH and DCs.

Pasta dishes either cheese based it a good tomato sauce with loads of vegetables with crusty bread.

Homemade pizza with whatever vegetables are left over with mozzarella or goats cheese and olives.

Hearty vegetable soup with cheese on toast or panini.

Vegetable quiche with homemade wedges and salad.

Vegetable Frittata wedge hot or cold with salad.

I like that tip dancing - stops comparisons I guess...and I know he loves macaroni cheese!

Though a meat-lover, I have found myself turning more and more to vegetarian meals throughout the week, in an effort to be healthier and buy less meat of a better quality rather than more cheap meat.

My French DP is a confirmed carnivore, and was a little peturbed at first when I started doing regular vegetarian dishes, but he knows he's got it good that I do all the cooking anyway, so he doesn't complain (much!)

I agree with the above comment that meals that feel like they should have meat in that you try to adapt to be vegetarian often meet with the most disappointment. The worst was when I made a thai red curry from scratch, my own paste, delicious top-notch coconut cream, but instead of meat I used squash. It was just wrong, and even though the sauce was delicious, all I could think about was how much better it would be with chicken.

These are the dishes that have had the most success with DP (and that I also love):

Curry - Vegetable Makhanwala is the vegetarian curry that DP and I love the most. It's creamy and delicious and the potatoes and variety of other veg means that you don't miss the meat.

Falafel. Little chickpea balls of goodness, that need a delicious yogurt dip and a delicious side salad of your choice, and maybe some pita bread.

I've also had success with really heartysalads especially :

• warm salad of sweet potato, roasted red onion, roasted tomatoes, goat cheese and rocket with balsamic dressing

• Allegra McReady's Integrity salad (chickpeas, brocolli, almonds, watercress, feta, spring onions with avocado-yoghurt-mint dressing)

• Mixed bean salad (eg green beans, kidney beans, white beans, broad beans, chick peas) with feta, red onion and a lemon-mustard dressing. I usually serve with charcuterie, but you could substitute for chunky bread and cheese maybe. This one's great as well as you can make it entirely out of store cupboard things (tinned beans and frozen beans) and it still tastes great.

Hey river - as it happens DH is half french too! He tells me you're not allowed to be vegetarian in France!

Great ideas - thanks. Had ribeye steak last night so my veg intentions need work!

Hallomi cheese roasted with peppers, onions, tomatoes, courgettes, sliced up lemon. I stir Harissa paste into this, but you could try red pesto if that's not his thing. Served with couscous with raisins.

My repertoire at the moment is kind of limited to 'meals that can be cooked with a toddler clinging to your ankles'. Favourite veggie dish is pasta with roast veg (red pepper, onion, courgette in generous olive oil) with pasta, lots of Parmesan and black pepper.

Also, spinach and feta pie is a hit even with carnivorous PILs:
Part cook puff pastry square, fry pine nuts, add garlic, spinach, feta, pile on top, add strips of pastry to make too of pie, cook some more, serve with new potatoes...

Mushroom risotto.

DH is exactly the same.

I've had success with fritatta, giant veggie samosas with asian style slaw, caramelised onion and goats cheese tart and halloumi.

Some great ideas above which I will try out on DH.

DH is the same too. I do gnocchi in a tomato sauce or a chick pea curry. Or a tart with ready rolled pasty and topped with roasted veg.

Veggie curry is a good one for my spookily-similar DP.

I also do a very spicy lentil stew which I got out of the 5:2 diet cook book - the key to that is lots of spice and lots of leeks. I serve DP's with pitta or naan if I'm fasting.

If he likes cheese (mines not keen) halloumi tacos? Grilled slices of halluoumi with soft tacos, peppers, cucumber and salsa on the table and make your own?

For a lunch dish I often make shakshuka - a slow cooked tomato base with whatever veg you have, then you crack eggs into it, cook them for a bit then finish off under the grill. We have this every Saturday, practically, it's lush.

There's also the 'tiny amounts of meat' approach - there's a great Nigella recipe for pasta where you cook pancetta till crisp, then fry mushrooms, then add cooked pasta, cooked broccoli and paramsan, tossing it all together with a little of the pasta water. Obvs that isn't vegetarian, but one of those wee boxes of pancetta between two is nothing like as much meat as in a normal meaty dish so could be a good halfway house?

Lonny I also weaned dh onto veggie food via the use of pancetta.

Eggs are good - we have omelettes/frittata quite a bit. Or poached eggs with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms (the mushrooms are especially good cooked in butter with garlic and thyme) served with toasted sourdough - we have this for brunch at the weekend but it would also make a nice supper.

I do variations on roasted veg + interesting herbs/spices + chickpeas + couscous, sometimes with halloumi or feta. eg

roasted red onion, courgette, tomatoes + chickpeas + parsley & mint + lemon & olive oil dressing + feta + couscous
roasted red pepper & butternut squash + chickpeas + spinach + harissa + garlicky yoghurt + couscous
roasted aubergine & tomatoes, harissa, chickpeas, basil, couscous
this is amazing

We also like curries and chilli - try Nigella's chilli (the one with the cornbread topping, although I have never actually made the topping - easily googled) - by far the nicest veggie chilli I've ever eaten.

Felafel burgers are a big hit here too. I use this recipe