I eat way too much meat. And I love it. But too much is too much, and too much can’t be good for me. I would love to go vegetarian on weeknights. Last night I tried out a pasta with mushroom sauce recipe that was delicious. It was as hearty and meaty as a meat dish, but without the meat. I loved it. I want more recipes like that.
Whatchu got?
Halve a red pepper vertically and remove the seeds and stalk. Fill with halved cherry tomatoes, top with a piece of goat’s cheese and a basil leaf, drizzle a little Balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the top and place in a hot oven for 10 minutes, finish under the grill (broiler?) for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and the vegetables softened.
Make lasagna- substitute mashed kidney beans mixed with diced onions and garlic, black pepper and paprika for the mince. It’s very, very good.
Mushroom risotto- lots of good, authentic recipes about.
In addition to mushrooms, eggplant is another good meaty-tasting ingredient.
Roasted Eggplant and Garlic with Pasta:
Start boiling some chunky pasta (cook & drain according to package directions.)
Slice the top off a head (not a clove, a head) of garlic, wrap it with aluminum foil. Take a whole eggplant (do not skin it) and coat lightly with olive oil. Cook them both under the broiler, turning the eggplant occassionally, until the skin is blackened and charred.
While the eggplant and garlic cool, take a pint of cherry or grape tomatoes and cut each one in half.
As soon as the eggplant is cool enough to handle, cut it in half and scrape out the meat with
a spoon. Squeeze out the gooey goodness of the roasted garlic, also.
Toss the warm pasta, eggplant, garlic and tomatoes with some chopped fresh herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, and chives are all good) and cheese, if you like (fresh mozerella, grated parmesan, or goat cheese). Grind on plenty of black pepper, and drizzle with some extra virigin olive oil.
Some great suggestions so far.
It seems like the best vege dishes have a Mediterranian flare.
If you like mushrooms, try filling and baking some of the large portobellos. Fillings I like are creamed spinach; tomato, olive and feta; or anything (veggie) you would put on a pizza. Bake at 400 until the mushrooms are cooked through.
That sounds pretty good. Of course I could also replace the mushrooms with Boboli pizza crust as well. Spinich, tomato, and asparagus would be good. With some sort of cheese.
Lots of Italian-style suggestions. I wonder if vegetarianism has ever found expression in French or German cuisine.
You could look at the recipes I have posted on my food blog. (You can ignore the restaurant food entries and the personal ramblings.) I eat vegetarian food mostly (the most recent entry notwithstanding). A few of the recent entries:
fesanjan (pomegranate-walnut chicken) using eggplant and fake chicken instead of real chicken, with cranberry rice pilaf
hominy casserole with apples, white beans, tomatoes, sage, topped with breadcrumbs and cheese
chanterelle mushroom risotto
brown butter Brussels sprouts
“upma” (an Indian dish made with cream of wheat, curry leaves, and mustard seeds)
pasta with caramelized green tomatoes
tomato herb cobbler
Take a pita, cut it in half so you have 2 pockets. Open up said pockets a bit.
enjoy.
Good cuisines for vegetarians:
-Various Asian (many strands of Buddhism incorporate vegetarianism, so you can get some old-school dishes that work great without alteration).
-Various Mediterranean (the region excels at growing vegetables).
-Various Middle-Eastern (treats like hummus, baba ghanoush, and falafel are naturally vegetarian)
-Mexican and Mexicali (lard’s a traditional ingredient, but it’s easily removed).
Here’s an earlier thread on the topic with a few recipes. My favorite vegetarian cookbook is *Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone: I’ve made a lot of recipes from it, and they’ve all been delicious. They’re neither freaky-experimental (like too much in The Moosewood Cookbook) nor blandly self-righteous (like too much in Vegetarian Times’s cookbook). There’s just plenty of creative, delicious ideas in there.
Here’s another thread with more recipes; I did a mass cut-and-paste of some family favorites in this one.
Daniel
Oh–also, keep in mind that if you’re doing it for health reasons, you’ll need to do more than go vegetarian some nights. A good mac&cheese is going to be way worse for you than a piece of lean meat. That’s probably obvious, but some folks do forget it; certainly not all vegetarians eat a healthful diet.
Daniel
You should also get yourself some lentils. I like the puy lentils which are the little black ones, though they can be hard to track down and also a bit expensive at times (but no more so than good quality meat, I guess). I gave up meat in May this year and figured I wouldn’t get into lentils but I was wrong about that in a big way.
A couple of good meals I make with puy lentils:
Puy Lentil & Eggplant Salad
In a deep pan or casserole dish, fry a finely chopped red onion in olive oil for a few mins, then toss in about 3/4 of a pound of diced eggplant (pretty finely diced - say, 1/4 inch cubes) and a teaspoon or so of cumin powder. When the eggplant kind of starts to go opaque, remove the mixture to a slada bowl. Then throw 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) into the pan with a little more oil. After a few more mins, Tip in a cup or so of lentils and 2 cups of stock. Simmer this for about 40 mins or until lentils tender but not mushy. If the liquid runs too low too soon, you might have to add a little bit of water but not much cos you don’t want any left at the end of the 40 mins. Tip this into your eggplant/onion. Stir through some finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, a glug of red wine vinegar, some extra virgin olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper to taste and eat while its still warm. This is such a winner. I make it all the time.
Puy Lentil Stew
I confess I just made this up one night but it was good. Fry some chopped onion and garlic in a pan/pot for a few mins until onion starts to go opaque. Add about a teaspoon and a half of fennel powder (optional) and fry for another couple of mins. Then add about a cup and bit of lentils and a litre of stock and simmer. After 15 mins, add diced potatoes and carrots and continue to simmer for another 25-30 mins checking to make sure things don’t get too mushy. Some S & P to taste and you’re done. There’ll be some juice left at the end which should’ve thickened up some. Other optional additions for early in the process - bay leaf, spoonful of vegemite.
Sorry I’m not too precise on the ol’ measurements there.
Indian cookery will also give you lots of wonderful vegetable dishes- but if you want healthy you’ll need to substitute a vegetable oil for the ghee.
At this time of year a nice lentil soup is good.
I make mine with red lentils-just adding them to a pot of fried onions and garlic, add a pinch of cumin and some stock and leave until the right consistency and the lentils are cooked. You can put it through a sieve or blender and add lemon juice, seasoning or cream to taste if you want. It’s especialy good with some diced bacon added to the onions and garlic, but you can leave that out. It keeps nicely too.
This is when you can experiment with herbs and spices…a simple tomato based sauce for pasta or rice with some veggies in it can become something different and special every night if you change the veggies and the herbs in the sauce.
Indian food.
If you really want to delve into it, get a cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey.
I’ve never used this one, but I suspect it’s good.
In the one that I have, she has some okra dishes, and green beans dishes that are superb, and satisfying enough to just serve with Basmati rice for a complete meal.
But, since you’re also a meat eater, you might want to look into some of her more complete cookbooks and focus on the vegetarian dishes when you want.