Tasty veg meal suggestions please, for a VERY carnivorous family

[clumsymum]

Right, in an effort to help DH to lose weight (wouldn't hurt me to drop a few pounds either), and save a bit of money, I've decided that I need to commit to us having 2 or even 3 non-meat meals a week.

We are naturally great meat-eaters. DH and I love a rare steak (now a rare treat too), and have lots of casseroles etc in the winter. In the summer we like salad, but usually as an accompanyment to some good ham or something.

I don't want to go down the route of "vegetarian sausages" or some such either (otherwise dh will make comments about 'why can't we just have proper sausages'). Real, tasty vegetarian meals are what we're after.

We do eat just about anything, altho' neither of us like aubergines or cous-cous.

Any suggestions of recipes or books would be very welcomed.

We're mainly meat eaters but I have had some success with the following:

Roast veg lasagne is tasty - roast chunks of peppers, red onions & courgette then mix with a jar of Sacla olive & tomato sauce. Layer with lasagne sheets & cheese sauce then bake.

Jamie Oliver does a nice veggie jalfrezi, google it or I can give you the recipe.

Spanish Omelette - fry chunks of leftover cooked potato with a sliced onion and a few peas in a large pan, pour over about 6 lightly beaten eggs and cook gently. Pop under the grill to set the top. Serve in wedges with chips or garlic bread and salad.

Beany fajitas - fry sliced peppers and onions with a sachet of fajita mix. Add a tin of drained beans and heat through(pinto, red kidney, whatever). Let the family make up their own wraps with the bean mix, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, salsa, guacamole, etc.

Vegetarian soups with some quality rye bread on the side?

I like veg curries - lots of alternatives. I regularly do one with peppers, onion and chickpeas and tomatoe. lightly fried first with a TEENY amount of oil, then add curry powder, cumin, coriander etc and tinned tomatoes and eat 30 minutes later. DH loves this one as he always says that it tastes like it's deliciously unhealthy when really it's not!

Small amounts of meat with salads is fine really - we make chicken salads with small pieces of grilled chicken breast (skinless). I find one 150g fillet is enough for the two of us as you want it thinly sliced anyway. So not vegetarian, but still very healthy and low fat.

Roasted, stuffed butternut can be nice. Ricotta and sage is good, but perhaps a little high fat. A good alternative is stuff them with spinach and a bit of low fat creme fraiche and top with some parmesan.

Just overall - it occurs to me that if you like meat, there are ways to eat meat and fish that is not high fat or unhealthy or expensive if you are careful?

Homemade falafel with pitta breads and yogurt and mint dip.

Mixed veg stir fry with cashew nuts/ hazelnuts, soy sauce, garlic and a spoonful of tahini.

Risotto with Celery and Pinenuts.

Mixed steamed veg with white/cheese sauce.

Pasta made with cherry tomato sauce. Just fry an onion and garlic, throw in a punnet or two of tomatoes (whole) and cook until it's gloopy. Top with basil, pine nuts and parmesan.

I'm a meat eater married to a veggie - and I would second risotto (I use oyster mushrooms and spring onion - and since you're not being purist you can use chicken stock rather than Marigold!)

Also - very quick and easy - gnocchi with spinach and ricotta cheese. Cook gnocchi, steam spinach, combine, add cheese and some parmesan and nutmeg.

Oh - and if you want a really good veggie cookbook for the died-in-the-wool meat eater, would recommend The Accidental Vegetarian by Simon Rimmer. Try the aubergine chilli.

Thanks all so far.

Risotto is one that we already adopted, and I have about 3 different varieties on offer. Similarly, we sometimes do a tomato sauce for pasta.

OhBling "it occurs to me that if you like meat, there are ways to eat meat and fish that is not high fat or unhealthy or expensive if you are careful".
I agree with you, and we are moving in that direction too. but it just seemed to me that as some people eat vegetarian full time, we should try to find some fully vege recipes, cos we might be missing something really good

aubergines are good as they have a "meaty" texture. We make use them in lasagne or diced (cooked) in salads.

my cousin makes a mean pasta with creme fraiche, cashew nuts and spinach (unsalted nuts otherwise it tastes odd!). V simple and delicious.

www.mumsnet.com/Recipes?call=RecipePage&pid=3472

Just one thing on risottos - they're not really ideal for weight loss as they are very carb heavy and often include a lot of cheese and wine and butter. Which is why they're so darn delicious. Damn it.