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Your favourite vegetarian recipes

Faith

One of my resolutions for the new year is to try to eat less meat, and eat higher quality meat when I do. However, I rarely if ever cook vegetarian food so it's quite a challenge to move away from my staples.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this position, so please inspire me with your favourite veggie recipes! (I'm personally not a fan of "meat substitutes" like tofu or quorn, so I'd ideally prefer recipes without those, but I'm sure others wouldn't have the same objection

)

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Shenshen

Has to be Black Bean Burritos

You'll need :

1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 - 2 sticks of celery
2 - 3 cloves of garlic

ca 1 cup of black beans (dried)
1 tin of kidney beans

1 tsp Cumin
2 - 3 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
Chili to taste
2 Bay leaves

Vegetable stock

First, roughly chop the onion, pepper, celery and garlic. Put them in a a blender or food processor and blitz until they're almost a paste.
Heat some oil in a large frying pan, and add the paste. Fry it until it goes dry and slightly browned. Now add the spices and warm them through.
If you have a slow cooker, scoop the paste in there, add the black beans and fill with stock until the beans are covered. If you don't have a slow cooker, use a large pot.
Simmer until the beans are soft, adding more water if required.
Once the beans are soft, add the drained can of kidney beans. Season to taste - if the mixture is too runny, you can thicken it with a bit of veg gravy powder.

Serve with boiled rice, sour cream, cheese, salsa, lettuce and anything else you might fancy, wrapped into a tortilla.

Dizzyblonde

I've been trying to have more meat-free days too, and I've been substituting lentils and beans for meat in dishes I'd normally cook, like stews. I'm amazed that they taste every bit as good, and even Mr Dizzy isn't missing the meat.

One of the best recipes I've used is Jamie Oliver's chilli con veggie. In my opinion it's nicer than the meat version. It's a big recipe though so I halve it.

Ingredients:
2 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 diced red pepper
2 carrots, diced
1 long fresh red chilli (or 1-2 teaspoons of hot chilli powder depending on how hot you like it)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato purée
250 g dried green lentils
250 g dried red lentils
2 x 400 g tins of red kidney beans
2 x 400 g tins of black beans - or mixed beans
2 x 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes
1.2 litres vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of sugar

Method:
Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic, then trim and finely dice the carrot and pepper, and chilli, and place into your largest, heavy-based pan over a medium heat with the oil. Fry for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
Add the spices and dried herbs, then fry for 2 minutes and if it's a little dry at this point, simply add a splash of water to help it out. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Stir in the lentils. Drain, rinse and stir in the beans, followed by the chopped tomatoes and the stock. Add the cocoa powder and sugar.
Bring it all to the boil, then reduce to a low heat and let it bubble away for at least 1 hour, or until thickened and reduced, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, then season to how you like it.

Gloomtastic!

We try to have at least one meat-free dinner a week. I try to avoid Quorn as an ingredient because it seems to be so heavily processed.

One of the simplest meals I make is fajitas with strips of courgette instead of chicken and peppers. Kids never notice that one.

‘Meat’balls using kidney beans or Chickpeas always go down well served with a marinara sauce and spaghetti.

Margarita pizza is always good too!

tickingclock

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I've been trying to have more meat-free days too, and I've been substituting lentils and beans for meat in dishes I'd normally cook, like stews. I'm amazed that they taste every bit as good, and even Mr Dizzy isn't missing the meat.

One of the best recipes I've used is Jamie Oliver's chilli con veggie. In my opinion it's nicer than the meat version. It's a big recipe though so I halve it.

Ingredients:
2 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 diced red pepper
2 carrots, diced
1 long fresh red chilli (or 1-2 teaspoons of hot chilli powder depending on how hot you like it)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato purée
250 g dried green lentils
250 g dried red lentils
2 x 400 g tins of red kidney beans
2 x 400 g tins of black beans - or mixed beans
2 x 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes
1.2 litres vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of sugar

Method:
Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic, then trim and finely dice the carrot and pepper, and chilli, and place into your largest, heavy-based pan over a medium heat with the oil. Fry for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
Add the spices and dried herbs, then fry for 2 minutes and if it's a little dry at this point, simply add a splash of water to help it out. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Stir in the lentils. Drain, rinse and stir in the beans, followed by the chopped tomatoes and the stock. Add the cocoa powder and sugar.
Bring it all to the boil, then reduce to a low heat and let it bubble away for at least 1 hour, or until thickened and reduced, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, then season to how you like it.

You beat me too it. It's unbelievable. Even better the next day

Apiarist

Faith wrote: »

... inspire me with your favourite veggie recipes!

This one I call "Fried potatoes". Peel some potatoes, slice them 2 mm thick. Take 1-2 carrots, peel and slice (same thickness). Heat 50 ml of oil on a pan and fry potatoes and carrots, turning every couple of minutes, until they look brown enough. Add a pinch of salt.

Serve with pickled gherkins.

ednwireland

Home made pierogi can't beat them except the time to make them

Cheshire Cat

We are great fans of the Chilli posted above. This recipe comes a close second:

https://kristineskitchenblog.com/mexican-quinoa-sweet-potato-skillet/

Paneer is lovely, too. https://www-bbcgoodfood-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/saag-paneer?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ%3D%3D#aoh=15465452282295&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbcgoodfood.com%2Frecipes%2Fsaag-paneer

Dizzyblonde

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

We try to have at least one meat-free dinner a week. I try to avoid Quorn as an ingredient because it seems to be so heavily processed.

One of the simplest meals I make is fajitas with strips of courgette instead of chicken and peppers. Kids never notice that one.

‘Meat’balls using kidney beans or Chickpeas always go down well served with a marinara sauce and spaghetti.

Margarita pizza is always good too!

I make bean 'meatballs' too, and it's worth buying a tub of nutritional yeast to give them a lovely nutty/cheesy flavour. It's also really nice sprinkled over other meals and provides plenty of vitamin B12, which I need because my level has a tendency to drop.

Shenshen

If you want to go mediterranean and like aubergines, these would be my 2 favourite ways of having them:

Melanzane Parmigiana

Imam Bayildi

Tar.Aldarion

Just made a thread about a Jamie Oliver vegan show that was on tonight, made some class looking food, that lasagne! https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057943179

I also adore this "Holiday soup for the soul", it's so good! https://ohsheglows.com/2010/11/16/holiday-soup-for-the-soul/

I make this peanut butter stew all the time, although don't use a microwave for the potatoes and will add random stuff that In like such as spinach etc:

Tar.Aldarion

Also a big fan of this dish for the winter and feeling nice and warm!

You get a couple handfuls of cashews and soak them for 40-60 mins. You make veg stock and blend the two together to the consistency you want. Add some tumeric for colour, salt for seasoning. Par boil the potatoes and then fry them a bit, turning them. This keeps them harder than normal in the chowder, tastes nicer to have a bit of a chew. Add it all together and throw in spinach and sweetcorn on a low heat. Throw some smoked paprika on top and it's done. You can add in some fishy seasoning if you like that (seaweed flakes).

I use cashew sauce for the base of a lot of things, a common one is blending the soaked cashews with stock and then adding something like truffle oil for a lovely pasta sauce etc. Or adding wine and throwing cooked mushrooms etc in it.

A friend of mine makes a lovely hollandaise sauce and gets really firm tofu and roasts it, served on ciabatta, really nice. Also does a great "tofu scramble".

This dish is lovely too: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PotableIllustriousAlabamamapturtle-mobile.mp4

Another similar style of dish is this general tso which is amazing:

250gr. Firm tofu

FOR THE MARINADE: 1 cup soy sauce + 2 TBS sriracha.
Oil to deep fry.

For The Sauce:
Vegetable oil.
1 mince garlic glove
1 TBS mince ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 sugar
2 TBS rice vinegar
4 TBS water
Cornstarch mix: 2 TBS cornstarch + 2 TBS water.

Cut the tofu, coat them with cornstarch an deep fry them and set apart.

For the sauce, just mix everything but leave the cornstarch mix out, and add it and stir once the sauce star to boil.

Oh also a veg massaman curry just using paste from a shop is delicious, with a can of coconut milk. I better stop now

tickingclock

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/red-lentil-squash-dhal

Big hit in our house. Leftovers great for lunch also

katekuchen

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

You get a couple handfuls of cashews and soak them for 40-60 mins. You make veg stock and blend the two together to the consistency you want. Add some tumeric for colour, salt for seasoning. Par boil the potatoes and then fry them a bit, turning them. This keeps them harder than normal in the chowder, tastes nicer to have a bit of a chew. Add it all together and throw in spinach and sweetcorn on a low heat. Throw some smoked paprika on top and it's done. You can add in some fishy seasoning if you like that (seaweed flakes).

I use cashew sauce for the base of a lot of things, a common one is blending the soaked cashews with stock and then adding something like truffle oil for a lovely pasta sauce etc. Or adding wine and throwing cooked mushrooms etc in it.

This sounds really intriguing. Definitely trying this, thanks.

Tar.Aldarion

Hope you enjoy!

Btw if anybody is interested signing up to veganuary gives you some recipe resources even if you don't go full hog :pac:
https://veganuary.com/register

We'll send you daily emails containing delicious recipes, meal plans and helpful tips, such as where to get your nutrients and how to stock your cupboards. We'll also send you information about the impact of what we eat on our health, animals and the environment. And you'll be the first to hear about appeals, vegan news and exciting offers!

200,000 signups this year so far and there is a good facebook group for it too.

annamcmahon

https://minimalistbaker.com/sweet-potato-black-bean-burger/
These are amazing although I bake them at 180oC for 20 minutes rather than try them. I have them with avocado and sour cream on brioche buns. The recipe makes enough for 4 people

Faith

I tried my hand at a vegetarian katsu curry last night. Made the sauce from scratch, made gorgeous sticky rice, and then to replace the usual breaded chicken or pork, I peeled and sliced a large sweet potato into big chunks, floured and egged them and dipped them in Panko breadcrumbs. I shallow fried them from just a couple of minutes and then I roasted them on a wire rack (to allow some oil to drip out) until cooked through. It was fabulous!

Dizzyblonde

That sounds amazing Faith. I love homemade katsu curry sauce but I've never thought of having it with veg instead of chicken.

Tree

Falafel is good, not time consuming, but you do need to plan ahead to soak the peas.

I make a good bean herders pie too (vegan if you don't add butter to the mash). Aduzki beans and chopped walnuts in a gravy made from onions, pepper, bitta sage, marmite and bisto powder (the box). Layered with mushy peas and then mashed spud.

frag420

Faith wrote: »

I tried my hand at a vegetarian katsu curry last night. Made the sauce from scratch, made gorgeous sticky rice, and then to replace the usual breaded chicken or pork, I peeled and sliced a large sweet potato into big chunks, floured and egged them and dipped them in Panko breadcrumbs. I shallow fried them from just a couple of minutes and then I roasted them on a wire rack (to allow some oil to drip out) until cooked through. It was fabulous!

Love a katsu!! Care to share your sauce recipe?

Dial Hard

Three-bean enchiladas.

Spicy beanburgers.

Mac & cheese.

Penne arabiatta.

Spinach & "ricotta" canneloni/lasagna. (The quotation marks are cause I actually use cottage cheese instead of ricotta.)

Omelettes/frittata.

Turkish eggs.

Nachos.

Faith

frag420 wrote: »

Love a katsu!! Care to share your sauce recipe?

I’ve been using this one: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/29578/chicken-katsu-curry.aspx

It’s a touch runny so might be worth adding some flour or something to thicken it.

Thanks for all of the recipes so far! Suggestions are appreciated, but recipes would be even better

. When you’ve never made a dish before, I find it easiest to follow a tried-and-tested recipe.

kylith

Gotta be Smoky Lentils

Fry a small red onion in a saucepan or wok. Stir in 1 cup of green/brown lentils. Add 1 can of coconut milk, 1.5 cups of water, salt and 4 cloves of garlic. Simmer 30 minutes then add 1 tin tomatoes and a teaspoon of smoked paprika then simmer a further 15 minutes. proper hearty.

Shenshen

Faith wrote: »

I’ve been using this one: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/29578/chicken-katsu-curry.aspx

It’s a touch runny so might be worth adding some flour or something to thicken it.

Thanks for all of the recipes so far! Suggestions are appreciated, but recipes would be even better . When you’ve never made a dish before, I find it easiest to follow a tried-and-tested recipe.

I've one that I love for breakfast on the weekends, it's called Shakshuka (recipe is from the Levant, I believe)

2 peppers, red and yellow, cut into strips
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic (more if you like), chopped
2 tins of tomatoes
4 eggs

2 tsp of Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of sugar
Chopped parsley to taste

Take a wide pan, add some olive oil and fry the onion, peppers and garlic on medium heat until they're soft.
Add the tomatoes and paprika and simmer until the sauce it reduced and thickened. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
Make little dents in the thick sauce and crack the eggs into them. Cover the pan and keep on a low to medium heat for a few minutes, until the eggs are set (you want the yolks still runny).

Sprinkle with parsley and serve with fresh white bread.

Dizzyblonde

My katsu sauce recipe is very similar to Faith's, it's based on Wagamama's one:

For the curry sauce:
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 onions, sliced
5 garlic cloves, chopped (or grated)
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 tablespoons plain flour
3 table spoons curry powder
500ml chicken stock
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon garam masala

Heat the oil in medium non-stick saucepan, add onion and garlic and cook until softened.
Stir in the carrots and cook over low heat until also slightly softened. This should take about 10 to 12 minutes.
Add the flour and curry powder; cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock until fully combined;
Then add honey, soy sauce and the bay leaves. Slowly bring to the boil.
Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so until sauce thickens to a pouring consistency.
Stir in the garam masala.

L1011

If you like Indian food you're sorted vegetarian wise. I basically never eat chicken at home so barring lamb my Indian cooking is effectively all vegeterian (or vegan at times). My partner was also almost vegeterian before I met him so I've broken him with steaks and venison and so on, so need to make amends with part-time vegeterianism myself!

My main go-to would be a matar paneer. I buy paneer in Eurasia, dice it and fry it to get a slight golden colour; there are ways to make it at home.

Most people aren't going to bother roasting and grinding whole spices but it makes a huge difference. You can leave quite a lot of the spices out and it'll still be edible, but not the same taste clearly. This should make 4 portions.

Three normal sized onions, white or red, sliced thinly enough
Decent amount of garlic - five or six heads off a small one
Equivalent volume of root ginger
Pinch of aesofetida
Salt/pepper as you wish, it does need a decent amount of salt
Two tins of tomatoes - plum probably work better but I normally only have chopped
optional - 1/2 a block of creamed coconut (block) or one can of coconut milk or equivalent amount of natural yoghurt
Frozen (NOT TINNED) garden peas - fresh should also work but NOT TINNED
Coriander leaf
Diced fried paneer

Spices - coriander, turmeric, cumin, ground fenugreek, black mustard seeds (leave whole), dried fenugreek leaves. You could just coriander, garam masala and turmeric if you wanted.

Blend the garlic/ginger to a paste or near enough, saute on a medium heat for a minute or two. Add the onions and saute until translucent - this will take longer than the "few minutes" most recipes take, so just do it for as long as it needs.

Add the non-leaf spices at this stage, mix through the onions and stir for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes.

Cook for about ten minutes and add the fenugreek leaves and salt/pepper

Turn off heat and let cool slightly. Blend the mixture down with a stick blender, adding water if required, until it is quite smooth and no obvious lumps of onion are left.

Add the coconut (grate if block) or yoghurt if using. Turn heat back on and stir in until mixed. Let simmer for about 10 minutes

Add about 100g of frozen peas, a handful of roughly chopped coriander leaf and your diced paneer. Let simmer for a minute or two more - or until paneer is soft if it has been frozen.

Serve with rice or bread.

I make this in even bigger batches, freeze it flat in freezer bags; buy about a kilo of paneer in a go, dice/fry and freeze it in smaller freezer bags. Can take the two bags straight from the freezer and by the miracle of a kettle have it ready to re-cook in minutes. Sauce bag in one bowl, paneer out of bag in to another bowl (which also washes off some of the oil left on it).

Captain Red Beard

Any love for a veg risotto? Make your plain risotto base and then cherry tomatoes fried in olive oil and add basil. Or with garlicy mushrooms, or peas in butter with mint or lemon zest, or roast squash and fried sage, or roasted red peppers...

Dave_The_Sheep

Captain Red Beard wrote: »

Any love for a veg risotto? Make your plain risotto base and then cherry tomatoes fried in olive oil and add basil. Or with garlicy mushrooms, or peas in butter with mint or lemon zest, or roast squash and fried sage, or roasted red peppers...

Make the middle three on a occasional-semi-regular basis. Hard to beat it for simplicity to nom ratio.

Corca Baiscinn

Great ideas there, thanks posters! Used to do a lot of veg cooking but have got out of the habit so feeling inspired again! To OP, what you try will depend on two things, what kind of food you like to eat and how much time you have available; ie do you like Indian or Middle Eastern or Italian etc food? Are there any vegetables you cant stand? Will you be cooking in a hurry after work or cooking for the freezer on a Saturday? Are you happy to use eggs or cheese or more interested in vegan options. Vegetarian cooking is often more interesting than a traditional meat dish, start with things you like and gradually build up a supply of spices/pulses etc.

To the poster who posted re having to remember to soak the chick peas for falafel, I'm lazy and use caned tho' of course dried are better value. I use dried lentils of various kinds but canned beans.

Gloomtastic!

Captain Red Beard wrote: »

Any love for a veg risotto? Make your plain risotto base and then cherry tomatoes fried in olive oil and add basil. Or with garlicy mushrooms, or peas in butter with mint or lemon zest, or roast squash and fried sage, or roasted red peppers...

Forgot about butternut squash risotto......

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13012/simple-squash-risotto

Tar.Aldarion

Corca Baiscinn wrote: »

Great ideas there, thanks posters! Used to do a lot of veg cooking but have got out of the habit so feeling inspired again! To OP, what you try will depend on two things, what kind of food you like to eat and how much time you have available; ie do you like Indian or Middle Eastern or Italian etc food? Are there any vegetables you cant stand? Will you be cooking in a hurry after work or cooking for the freezer on a Saturday? Are you happy to use eggs or cheese or more interested in vegan options. Vegetarian cooking is often more interesting than a traditional meat dish, start with things you like and gradually build up a supply of spices/pulses etc.

To the poster who posted re having to remember to soak the chick peas for falafel, I'm lazy and use caned tho' of course dried are better value. I use dried lentils of various kinds but canned beans.

I'm lazy too so do the same or buy a falafel mix but they are much nicer if the soaked chickpeas arent cooked (ones in a can are) , one day again I'll make an effort.