Anyone got any tasty vegetarian evening meal ideas?

I want to try and be a bit healthier and more frugal but lacking inspiration

The only thing so far that’s been any success is a frittata, but I’m getting reet bored of them

Rissotto, vegetable curry, stuffed/roasted peppers are all pretty easy to make and regulars in my house.

Homemade soups are dead easy to make and you can do loads and feeze portions.

Broccoli and Stilton soup with garlic and chilli is one of my faves, use potatoes in it as the base to give it some starchy body and use a hand blender once it’s simmered down enough.

This evening I made cauliflower and celeriac cheese and ate it with some sautéed mushrooms and cheese.

Par-steamed cauliflower and celeriac (you could add some swede too). Sautéed some onions and garlic. Made cheese sauce. Bake in oven for 20mins. Grill for a couple of mins to brown the top. Meat free. Cheap (it’ll do another night). If you want to add meat, you could possible add some lardons. Or grill some chicken to go with it. Or some pork chops.

Menemen. Turkish tomato/eggs/peppers/chilli/feta cheese.

or aubergine bake, same as lasagne but with grilled aubergine slices in the ragu.

Look up Indian and Chinese cooking, lots of nice dishes. Best if you can find a good supply of flavoured tofu.

On the menu this week …

Spinach and aubergine curry

Broad bean, pea, feta and mint risotto

Caramalised red onion and goats cheese filo tarts with rosemary roasted new potatoes

Damn, now I feel hungry!

Why does veggie food have to be “worthy” or “healthy”.

I am a veggie of 22 odd years, but theres nothing pleases me more than a good, tasty pie and chips.

The best/most rewarding veggie food can be as hi fat as anything a meateater does – cheese binds many otherwise slightly bland but colourful veggies together under a pie crust…..

Today for lunch we ate out, and the pie of choice was butternut squash, roast parsnip and chestnut, in a cheese sauce. I make chestnut mushroom leek and cranberry pies this time of year or a cheese potato leek pie can be good – esp if you pich a decent flavoursome cheese for it.

Dont think veggie food has to make you a candidate for “best friend” status with the Poo Doctor McKeith PHD.

Second goats chease with red onion, and a whole gamut of curries can be made, or a chick pea and apricot tagine? Good hearty stuff… Or even just a decent, basic stew, but ruin it with some veggie sausages or even a veggie toad in the hole.

Or, – stuffing things like big field mushrooms (or peppers for that 1970’s dinner party starter vibe), with whatever cheesy/rice or couscous goodness you have in the cupboard.

soups , pastas , indian food and Stir frys are my main dishes and cous cous and bean salads but i am vegan

Should get a cheap veggie cookbook in a decent charity shop – rose elliot is the bible but has no pics so you may prefer one with pics [ no offence meant I prefer them with pics]
Cranks do poshish veggie recipes iirc.

Big hefty curries, stir fry, chilies, risotto, hot pasta – just look at recipe books or google it. It’s not that hard

Three bean chilli is ace.

Proper Tortilla, only a few cheap ingredients but tasty as ****.

Cheese stuffed roast Portobello mushrooms, chips & salad.

slainte 💡 rob

Mushroom stroganoff is an easy winner.

Fry onion or two, possibly useing butter rather than veg oil. After chopping fairly finely. Add a finely chopped chilli. When they are gettin on a bit, add sliced mushrooms, a decent quantity, typicaly 50% more than you thought – they shrink when heated and release their joices. Probably before now, you could have added a bit of crushed garlic.

Then when its all doing nicely – add a decent glug of brandy – a splash of lemon joice, a spoon of mildish wholegrain mustard, some paprika, and once thats reduced a bit if youwant it runny, add a bit of veg stock, if not dont – I prefer without tbh, then – add some cream. Warm it through and serve with rice, couscous (easy from a packet)

Where to begin?!

As said, Indian food is an easy starting point. A lot of Japanese vegetarian food is also vegan (double healthy) and quite quick to prepare.

Get hold of some good pre-prepped tofu or learn how to cook it. It helps to press the liquid out first; place a couple of sheets of kitchen roll on a wide plate, tofu on top, more sheets on this and another plate with a medium weighted object on top. Give it half an hour and it will cook far better. Marinading in chilli, garlic, tamari and lime juice after pressing goes with a huge range of food.

Burritos are amazing and fairly healthy! Just go easy on the cheese.

Satay veg/tofu/both with noodles or rice is a winner.

Dhal & rice is a frugal, tasty classic. Look up chana dhal, it’s like a yellow split pea (but not split peas, it’s a whole other pulse) version that’s even better. Bit of salad on the side and some pitta/chapati/naan etc is pretty satisfying.

Veg mince can make some good bolegnese, lasagne or cottage pie. Gratin; fun to say and eat.

30 minute meals from teh BBC

There’s too much too list!

I make chestnut mushroom leek and cranberry pies this time of year

idea duly stolen, thank you 🙂

Mexican veggie food feeds the whole family a.few times a week in our house ..enchiladas,fajitas,burrittos, quesadillas and chimichangas are the order of the day

Home

Mexican lasagne – made with tortillas rather than pasta – surprisingly tasty.

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/MEXICAN-LASAGNE-WITH-AVOCADO-SALSA–5315

I’ll share one (slightly adapted from somewhere):

Chop an onion, cube an aubergine (smallish, inch each way?) and floret a cauliflower.
Fry onion until translucent. Add aubergine (and olive oil). Steam cauliflower florets.

When aubergine is getting golden, add spices to the frying pan. I use Ras al Hanout (a moroccan blend), about a dessert spoon, but you could use cayenne and cumin. Add steamed cauliflower and give pan a good shake. Add some tinned chopped tomatos or passata, but only a little, not so it’s sloppy.

Put in baking tray. Sprinkle liberally with chopped feta.

Beat 2 or 3 eggs and add a little flour and greek yogurt to them (I add some dill too). Pour over top of veggies and cheese. Bake til cooked. It’s spicy, salty, sweet and very virtuous.

Middle Eastern / Arab cooking often has some very tasty veg dishes (more subtle than Indian I find). Try the Moro cookbook.

5 chilli mexican wraps. 😉

Lots of good advice here.

Don’t get tangled up in the idea that vegetarian food has to be a paradigm shift. Some work better than others, but most ‘regular’ means can be made vegetarian without too much hassle. Swapping mince for vegemince (TVP / Quorn) is a quick win; that gives you spag bol, chilli, that sort of thing. Quorn chunks can substitute chicken pieces in curries and chinese meals. Bangers and mash, a sunday roast, all straight-forward.

Make my soup!!

My favourite veggy meal is a caramalised red onion and goats cheese tartlet with boiled potatoes and salad. caramalised onion can be substatuted for roasted veg too. Nom nom nom nom nom.

Hugh F-W’s Veg book isn’t cheap but has been brilliant, practically everything has worked. Much of it is online anyway. Really tasty stuff. This is ridiculously quick to make, too: Chickpea Ketcup Curry

Chickpea Ketcup Curry

OH brought home a Slimming World recipe for a curry that uses as a base two tins of mushy peas and a tin of baked beans (and curry powder). It’s bonkers, but works better than it’s got any right to.

+1
for Hugh F-W’s River Cottage Veg Everyday book. Full of inspiring and tasty recipes. It’s half price in WH Smiths at the moment and even less on Amazon.

Quorn chunks can substitute chicken pieces in curries and chinese meals.

Aye true…and to be fair to them, their vajita strips work well too. Quorn mince works very well in Chillis. If you’re a meat eater just cutting down on meat intake, just use some beef stock cubes. If you’re completely veggie, marmite mixed with red wine (try it, honestly) can give a nice flavour to a bollocknaked. Tofu works very well in Thai/Chinese stir fries.

(live with a veggie so eat veggie most of the week. Indulge in meat when eating out.)

marmite mixed with red wine

Have you stolen my gravy recipe? (-:

Have you stolen my gravy recipe? (-:

🙂 No.

It was a chap who was working in our garden who was vegan. It was he that told me about it. It obviously gets around amongst vegans/gies.