Like a lot of forummers, I'm a vegetarian.

Thought it would be useful to have a thread dedicated to meat-free recipes! I need some new ideas (I tend to get stuck in a rut, eating similar things week after week.) It's always nice to try new things, and when cooking without meat, it helps if you are brave enough to be a bit inventive!

Help!:D

Great idea LittleMermaid! I'll try to dig out some good recipes & add them shortly.
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I used to cook a lot more veggie dishes than I do now. I still occasionally do some veggie stuff and I really should expand my repertoire.

I never use TVP or any sort of meat substitute, I hate them.

Here's a few suggestions

Mushroom and spinach lasagne
Mousaka with spicy chickpeas
Chickpea and spinach curry
Mixed vegetable lasagne
Cauliflower and broccoli au gratin
Aubergine and potato bake
Mushroom pancakes
Butternut squash tagine with shallots, sultanas and almonds
Baby aubergine tagine with coriander and mint (recipe on baby aubergine thread below)
Veggie chilli
Spinach and cheese pie

These are all ones I've done recently and would recommend

mmmm taxman! they sound delicious! i'm inviting myself to tea next week! ;)

I do a sweet and creamy chickpea curry, with coconut and tomato, which is delicious.

Butternut Squash risotto is one on my favourites, will dig out the recipe if I can find it.

Basically though it is Risotto rice, onion, butternt squash, fresh thyme. vegetable stock, a little olive oil, parmesan cheese and of course water.

it is lovely and creamy whent he squash breaks down a little and the cheese melts into it. Nice served with some roast fennel coated in home made herbed breadcrumbs.

I used to cook a lot more veggie dishes than I do now. I still occasionally do some veggie stuff and I really should expand my repertoire.

I never use TVP or any sort of meat substitute, I hate them.

Here's a few suggestions

Mushroom and spinach lasagne
Mousaka with spicy chickpeas
Chickpea and spinach curry
Mixed vegetable lasagne
Cauliflower and broccoli au gratin
Aubergine and potato bake
Mushroom pancakes
Butternut squash tagine with shallots, sultanas and almonds
Baby aubergine tagine with coriander and mint (recipe on baby aubergine thread below)
Veggie chilli
Spinach and cheese pie

These are all ones I've done recently and would recommend

Mmm all sound yummy, any chance of posting the recipes, even better, any chance of an invite?

Mmm all sound yummy, any chance of posting the recipes, even better, any chance of an invite?

They do don't they? Shall we all descend on taxman to be fed one evening? :hihi:

I am not even veggie and those dishes sound good.

It would be great to get the recipies as my parents are vegetarian so always good to get ideas for when they come over.

Yeah, Taxman, hows about a 'foodies' social at your place - you're at a loose end on Saturday aren't you?!? Put us down for for 2 tickets!:hihi:
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I'll chip in with a recipe! It's vegan, too!

Savoury Shepherd's Pie

1 onion, copped
3 small carrots, chopped
1/2 cup spinach (I like to use more, like about a handful)
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large tomato (I cheat and used canned, it works well!)
1/2 cup cooked or canned green lentils, mashed
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce

Topping:

potatoes for topping (reckon around 3, but make 'em large ones, the mash is the best bit!)
1/4 cup soya milk
1tbsp margarine or olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Boil the potatoes.
Saute the onions, carrots, spinach, celery and tomatoes in olive oil. Once carrots are tender, add the mashed lentils, basil, salt and soy sauce. Stir and simmer without a lid until the liquid cooks off.

Mash the potatoes with milk, marge and salt.

Pour the veggie mixture into a dish and spread the mash on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

The sheffield vegan society produced a booklet, called "Vegan Varieties", with lots of hearty, and delicious recipies in, and not at all your "run of the mill" veggie/ vegan stuff.

you might be able to track it down at the green fairs.

The sheffield vegan society produced a booklet, called "Vegan Varieties", with lots of hearty, and delicious recipies in, and not at all your "run of the mill" veggie/ vegan stuff.

you might be able to track it down at the green fairs.

Oooooh thanks PT, I'll have to keep an eye out for that!

All the recipes so far sound yummy! We made a shepherds pie the other day, but we used quorn mince as well and veg andit was gorgeous, I do love my gravy:love:

Going to have to work my way through them all:D

Oooooh thanks PT, I'll have to keep an eye out for that!

All the recipes so far sound yummy! We made a shepherds pie the other day, but we used quorn mince as well and veg andit was gorgeous, I do love my gravy:love:

Going to have to work my way through them all:D

They do!:)

Great thread LitleMermaid, I'll be keeping my eye on it:thumbsup:

Veggie spag bol is nice: tomato puree and water (or chopped toms, or passata), basil, garlic, chilli if you like it a little hot, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, a splash of hendos, plus onions, quorn and/or whichever veggies take your fancy (carrots, mushrooms, beans, peppers al work well)

A nice spicy and healthy dish is quorn style chicken with veggies (baby corn, onion, peppers, mange tout work best), done with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, lime and coriander leaf (and maybe a little honey if you like).

Another nice dish is lentils with onion, carrot, celery, veggie stock, ginger, garlic, chilli, ground coriander, Hendo's, tomato ketchup, salt and pepper.

Pasta made with mushy avocado, the jouice of a lemon, chilli, garlic and dill is also nice...

Aubergine strips, griddled and wrapped into rolls stuffed with feta, tomato and basil are nice...

I could go on, but as you can see, quantities aren't my speciality: I kind of go off instinct...

I do a really nice and creamy mushroom and broccolli pasta - just lightly steam your broccolli then add to a pan with the mushrooms and a little lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Once cooked, take off the heat, add some cooked pasta and stir through a tub of creme fraiche. Season and scoff! Easy peasy!

Taxman any chance you can put some of those recipes on here please I am always looking for more ideas as often get bored with food.

How about dhal and chapattis.

Veg oil
Red lentils (a few good handfuls)
1 small onion sliced
2 cloves garlic chopped
Piece of ginger (grated)
Chillis (as many as you like or non at all)
Mild curry powder (2 tps)
Tsp fennel seeds
Half Tsp cumin seeds
Half tsp black mustard seeds
Tomato puree (a good squeeze)
Veg stock cube
Half lemon

Cook the lentils in the veg stock. Set aside. Keep some of the stock.
Heat up oil and put in seeds and chillis
Turn heat down and fry onions GENTLY til brown (not burned). I reckon at least 15 mins.
Add garlic and ginger
Add curry powder and cook for a few mins.
Add tomato puree and cook for another few mins
Tip the lentils and stock in and stir
Squeeze the lemon juice in. May as well sling in the lemon. I do.
Add a handful of chopped fresh coriander.
Serve with chapattis.

Chapattis

Brown or wholemeal flour seived. The bran is discarded.
Add water to form a stiff dough. Kneed for 10 mins.
Heat a dry frying pan very hot.
Break off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll out into a thin circle about 6 inches across.
Put in pan. When bubbles start to appear turn over. Turn back over to finish. It should inflate like a balloon. ( if it doesn't, no problem)
Put on plate and cover with foil while you make the others. Keep them covered until served.

A pot of Assam tea goes nicely with this i find.

Just to add to the above post, add a tablespoon of sunflower or veg oil to the flour before kneading and your cooked chappatis will last till the next day.

Really easy tasty paneer kebabs:

3 tbsp Patak's Tikka Masala curry paste - make sure it's the paste
juice of 1 lemon
green chillies (to taste)
1 inch fresh root ginger peeled
3 cloves of garlic
1 packed of paneer (or make your own)
1 red pepper and 1 green cut into 1 inch chunks
Shallots or chunks of onion

To make the marinade:
Food process the chillies, garlic and ginger and in a large bowl mix this with the paste and lemon juice.

Paneer:
Cut the paneer into good size chunks, about an inch wide. Boil water in a large pan. Once boiling, add the paneer and simmer until the paneer floats or up to 3 minutes. Drain and leave to cool for a couple of minutes. Add paneer to the marinade, make sure the paneer is well coated. Cover the bowl in cling film and leave in the fridge for as long as possible, at least an hour. You could probably leave to marinade over night but I have never done this.

To prepare the kebabs, put chunks onto skewers, alternating between pepper and onion. About 4 chunks of paneer per skewer is fine.

Grill or barbeque the kebabs, turning as required.

Serve with pitta bread and/or salad. Yogurt with a little salt, sugar and dried mint is excellent served on the side, especially if you added quite a few chillies.

Spicey, that sounds lovely and i'll be trying it shortly. I'd never had Paneer until recently in an Indian restaurant and i thought it was fantastic. I'm not veggie, but a friend is and i think next time she's round i might try this out on her. Thanks for the tip!

If you can't get paneer and can't be bothered to make your own, Halloumi is a good substitute (even if it's completely unauthentic!). Give it a good rinse first though, as it can be quite salty. :)

I've never tried it with halloumi, the saltyness always puts me off.

I buy my paneer from Tesco's so I guess it is widely available.

These kebabs are really filling, having a couple of skewers with some salad is enough to fill me up for dinner.

Has anyone got any interesting and different ideas for jacket potato toppings?

Also, we recently bought some of the dried TVP mince, which I've never used before, and I've been told you can mix things with it (after it's been soaked obviously). If you mash it up it does LOOK a lot like cheap tuna-any ideas for things to mix it with? I've tried lemon juice and black pepper, which was surprisingly nice actually!

Use the mince in a chilli as a topping?

I'm boring with spuds, am afraid, just cheese or beans...

Chilli is really nice with it, I tried it the other day! We tend to make chilli and stuff a lot, but maybe I'll make it tonight again, I do love it!

I tend to be boring too-cottage cheese is the only topping I ever have. I do love love love it but it'd be nice to try something different:D

mmmm taxman! they sound delicious! i'm inviting myself to tea next week! ;)

I do a sweet and creamy chickpea curry, with coconut and tomato, which is delicious.

PT - I love chickpeas and this sounds lush. Please give the recipe - I want to make it tonight!
Thanks
S

Another vote for chilli on jacket potatoes! I sometimes do chickpea mayonnaise - mashed chickpeas mixed with (vegan) mayonnaise, sweetcorn, cider vinegar, salt and pepper and a bit of oil. The idea was based on tuna mayonnaise, the vinegar and the texure of the mixture make it a bit tuna-like, and if you add linseed oil you get extra Omega 3s too. :D Recipe here: http://www.cookingforvegans.co.uk/cooking/meals/tunaandsweetcorn.html Spicy houmous is also a good topping, never tried making any but I had it once from a jacket potato shop.

I had baked sweet potato with spicy peanut butter for my tea tonight. The original peanut recipe involves plain peanuts roasted with about 15 different spices - tonight's easy version was made with a bag of dry roasted peanuts (the sort already coated in spices but not salted) whizzed up in a food processor, with a bit of cinammon and a couple of whole dried chillies added, mixed with some melted margarine. It is really nice with sweet potatoes but probably wouldn't work so well with normal baking potatoes.

Has anyone got any interesting and different ideas for jacket potato toppings?

Also, we recently bought some of the dried TVP mince, which I've never used before, and I've been told you can mix things with it (after it's been soaked obviously). If you mash it up it does LOOK a lot like cheap tuna-any ideas for things to mix it with? I've tried lemon juice and black pepper, which was surprisingly nice actually!

You can make veggie shepherd's pies using the jackets as a shell.

Make some quorn mince up with carrot, worcester sauce, canned toms and tom puree etc.

Make sure you get crispy jackets for your potatoes - rub with salt and olive oil before you put them in the oven for about 1h30mins. Halve them, scoop out the potato back to the shell and mash it in a bowl with some milk, butter and seasoning. Fill the shells with the mince then top with the potato and scatter cheese on top. Put under the grill. I think this was a good food mag idea.

For a really nice dish, try this link to a Ken Hom dish and substitute the pork for quorn mince. We've never made it with pork even though we eat meat. It's called pork with bean thread noodles but we like to call it Asian Spaghetti Bol! Yum.

http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Bean%20thread%20noodles%20with%20pork

You can make veggie shepherd's pies using the jackets as a shell.

Make some quorn mince up with carrot, worcester sauce, canned toms and tom puree etc.

Make sure you get crispy jackets for your potatoes - rub with salt and olive oil before you put them in the oven for about 1h30mins. Halve them, scoop out the potato back to the shell and mash it in a bowl with some milk, butter and seasoning. Fill the shells with the mince then top with the potato and scatter cheese on top. Put under the grill. I think this was a good food mag idea.

Oooooh that's another one on the "Things I need to try" list, thanks:D


I found something really nice on the vegetarian society website yesterday, and it's easy peasy! I modified it slightly and will be making changes next time, but it's gorgeous!

Lightly fry a packet of quorn sausages, cut into chunks. When brown, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin each of mixed beans and baked beans. We also added garlic and mixed herbs. Next time I shall be adding onions and mushrooms too:thumbsup: Thet website says serve with crusty bread, but we had rice instead (cooked by OH, I am absolutely useless at rice! :? )

I've been a vegetarian for years, and always thought I had a pretty balanced diet (maybe too heavy on carbs, but heyho). However, I noticed on the BBC website that this is what you are recommended to eat every day

What to eat every day
A well-planned vegan diet is appropriate for all life stages, from babies to the elderly. Here's a quick overview of what you should aim to eat every day, from the Vegan Society:

2 to 4 servings of vegetables, plus 2 to 3 servings of vegetables from the 'green leafy' sub-group
6 to 10 servings of bread, pasta, rice and fortified cereals
2 to 3 servings of beans, pulses and protein foods
1 to 2 servings of nuts and seed
2 to 3 teaspoons of oils and fats
1 to 2 servings of fruits, plus 1 to 2 servings from the dried fruits sub-group
3 servings from the fortified non-dairy sub-group (such as soya milk)
8 glasses of water daily (more if very active)

Now, everything looks about right to me, but 6 to 10 servings of carbs?! :o Seems way too high to me. Any thoughts?

Da Daaaah!! (http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html)

Does anyone know where I can buy veggie marshmallows from? Going camping this weekend, and I will be very jealous when my OH and two friends are eating marshmallows and I have none:(

Something we ate the other day when the cupboard really was bare... chickpea crostini.
Gently heat your can of chickpeas.
Fry some chopped onion (I used a left over half of a red one) with some garlic (and maybe chilli? Might try that next time!) in olive oil. Add some white wine vinegar and boil off the excess liquid. I put in some sugar here to take the edge off it. When this has reduced and the onion is soft, add the chickpeas and mush them all up with a good glug of extra virgin olive oil.
Spread on some toast/flatbread/pitta (we only had paper-thin garage wholemeal but it was good!)

I reckon this recipe could be done with most types of bean/pea together with the judicious addition of fresh herbs like thyme or parsley or coriander, and also lemon juice, which were sadly all lacking on our return from holiday.
One can of chickpeas gave a hearty snack for two people.

Made a lovely mushroom stroganoff last night.

Serves 4 , cost about £4

360g tagliatelle
1 small onion, chopped
300g baby mushrooms,sliced
1/2 tsp lazy garlic
2tsp ground paprika
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp dijon mustard
squeeze lemon juice
150ml half-fat creme fraiche

cook tagliatelle according to packet instructions

while pasta cooking heat 1tbsp of olive oil in large frying pan. Add onion and mushroom, saute for 5 mins.
Add garlic and paprika, stir well.
And tomato puree, mustard and lemon juice-cook for 30 secs,
stir in creme fraiche-cook to heat through.
season.
Drain pasta when cooked-pour over mushroom mixture.

sweet potato and spinach curry is lovely!
bag of sweet potatoes (550g roughly),cut into small chunks
1 large chilli, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
250g baby spinach
400ml can coconut milk
dash of salt
teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons of oil
lager... :)

boil the sweet potatoes for around 8-10 minutes. then drain and put to one side
heat your oil in a pan and add the onion garlic and turmeric and fry for 3 minutes. then add the chilli and heat for another 2 minutes. add the coconut milk and simmer for 3 -4 minutes until thickened slightly. add the potatoes and a dash of salt and heat for around 4 minutes, then stir in the spinach and cook and cover for around 3 mintues until spinach wilted.
best served with naan bread but also good with rice too.
really easy and yummy if you like a sweeeeeeet curry :)

and best to use a red chilli :) i sometimes use 2 as i like a bit of heat

says it serves 4 but if your hungry serves bout 3 i reckon