Properly tasty vegetarian recipes?

I like French Onion Soup. I’ve experimented with various recipes* with wildly different results. I love making it, it’s really satisfying.

But I have one problem. I have no idea what it’s actually supposed to taste like! I never had it before I was veggie and I can’t eat cheese which seems to be a core component. So I can cook something I like but I don’t have a scooby what I’m supposed to be aiming for beyond that.

(* – my approach to cooking is to take a bunch of recipes, try to distil them into one, then iterate each time until I’m happy.)

and I can’t eat cheese which seems to be a core component. So I can cook something I like but I don’t have a scooby what I’m supposed to be aiming for beyond that.

If you follow a recipe that has pics included you can pretty well discover classic French onion soup. It’s such a simple dish.

Classic French Onion Soup (No-Stock)

(Short version – caramelise 6lbs of onions for four hours, with a splash of wine)

The cheese on toast is optional if/when onion soup is eaten as a main course. But there are other options (see bottom)

The toast is replicable/replaceable for haters of cheese with a nice thin slice of buttery/vegan buttery garlic baguette or sourdough toast.

If OTOH it’s only dairy/lactose that stops you eating cheese then maybe try melty vegan cheese? Something like (bought) MozzaRisella or home-brewed, something like Gaz Oakley’s melting vegan mozzarella recipe used on this pizza (4 mins in):

I always keep a kilner jar of vegan parmesan for sprinkling on things like toast or soups. It’s p-easy to make too. (Extra tip: lightly dry-toast the cashews in frying pan first, remove before they brown)

For extra stank/richness use black salt.

Other options to accompany French soup could be:

– Baked Potato with Sour Cream and Chives.
– Steamed Carrots with Crumbled Bacon.
– Sautéed Mushrooms.
– Broccoli with (vegan) Cheese Sauce.
– Garlic Breadsticks or Fresh Baguette

What to Serve with French Onion Soup – 15 BEST Side Dishes

A Parisian version

david lebovitz’s french onion soup (from ‘my paris kitchen’)

Use a vegan no-chicken bouillon recipe. Or cheat and spend 12 quids on 38 servings of ready made No Chicken Base Better Than Bouillon Although for my money I’d still cook up a batch of Avant Garde Vegan’s Best Gravy (minus the flour) and freeze in roughly 250 ml portions to use whenever

How to Freeze Chicken Broth

or else this general purpose broth

That gravy must be good, because you’re bloody obsessed with it. (-:

If you follow a recipe that has pics included you can pretty well discover classic French onion soup. It’s such a simple dish.

Sure. I just don’t know whether it’s “right.”

If OTOH it’s only dairy/lactose that stops you eating cheese then maybe try melty vegan cheese?

Honestly, I really don’t want to, I’ve long since given up. I’d rather go without cheese that I don’t miss than develop a taste for something I mostly can’t have.

I’m liking the notion of your cashew-based ‘parmesan’ though, that could be fun.

Crap, talking of gravy, I promised you a recipe like a year ago. I’ll endeavour to revisit that at the weekend.

If you follow a recipe that has pics included you can pretty well discover classic French onion soup. It’s such a simple dish.

Sure. I just don’t know whether it’s “right.”

Well that surely goes for every recipe? There is no universal ‘right’, but there can be glaring ‘wrongs’. eg there is no “right” Cornish pastie otherwise Cornish people wouldn’t argue about Pengenna’s vs Ginsters vs Cornish Maids etc etc. I could follow one of dozens of Cornish pasty recipes to the letter and get it ‘right’ but it would taste ‘wrong’ to someone else simply on account of preference for another recipe.

The bigger worry would be to put my own ‘twist’ to it, ie stick some parsnip instead of swede, or add a pinch of this or that herb, or get it wrong ie overcook, whatever. But follow a simple classic recipe to the letter and you’d have to try really hard to go wrong?

I’ve been served various chef’s/cook’s/family’s onion soups in and out of/north and south of France over the years. Every one has been slightly (or sometimes strikingly) different.

At least when following a classic regional recipe to the letter you’ll know that it’s ‘right’ for that particular recipe (and dish).

I was cooking my own (veg or meat) chillies for decades, and they were becoming more ridiculous without me knowing it. Trigger’s broom style. Yet I put my (inordinate) pride aside a few years back and began slavishly following (highly-rated) recipes to the letter and then just maybe tweaking them a slight amount (often not at all). This improved my understanding of cooking massively. My ‘more is more’ approach dissolved to something more reverent, something akin to an obsessive interest of what makes a dish balanced, ‘complete’, satisfying, and authentic.

It’s remarkably like painting or music as in you can over-egg (or under-egg) things so easily. Or even (like I did with chillis) to go so far down ‘my own’ route that I get it utterly wrong and yet stick to my guns in the belief that my (normally top-heavy, throw everything and more in there) chillibombcareless effort was better than a Texan’s best (It wasn’t)

Pleased to report – have been eating much better since keeping it simple and following instructions.

Occasionally I’ll figure that some recipe could be ‘improved’ with a dash of sweet/splash of sour/nudge of savoury, less thyme/more time etc. Minimally.

Moreover, I found that the simple act of using fresh, quality ingredients will usually make the necessary (and more impressive) difference that was previously lacking in my increasingly sprawling, messy iterations.

Recent revelation has been the buying of proper quality tinned toms (ie Marzano, or even pomodori pelati etc) after decades of using watery 30p specials. Still use budget toms + puree method to make homemade cream of tomato soup, but I’ll now always (if possible) use the good stuff for ragu, pizza, chillies, bolognese etc. Same with rice, pasta, potatoes.

I’ve become a veg-lover. Became one of those people who fondle (and ask about veg) in markets. I even know that the cheapest canned chickpeas are darker, more bitter and about half as tasty as the better ones, which are lighter, more plump and fresher-tasting. About 10p more a can-can sometimes make all of the difference in chickpea-based dish.

But I’ll wager most of you know your onions (and how to suck eggs) so I’m off because I’ve bored even myself 🤦🏼‍♂️

@Cougar bring the gravy!
#gravyoff
#battleofthebroths

Well that surely goes for every recipe? There is no universal ‘right’, but there can be glaring ‘wrongs’.

True enough. I can make “things what I like” but whether I’m making French Onion Soup or broth with onions in I have no clue.

I strived for ages to make the perfect tomato soup. I finally knocked it out of the park, a perfect replica of Heinz cream of tomato… then realised I could’ve done the same thing for 80p and got three hours of my life back, and felt like a blithering idiot. Point here though is, I understood what my end goal was, I’ve eaten more tomato soup than most people have taken breaths. Even though ultimately I could’ve just got a can from Tesco I enjoyed the journey, I had confidence that I knew where I was heading. (Though the biggest embuggerance with that little voyage was, I didn’t write the sod down.)

But follow a simple classic recipe to the letter and you’d have to try really hard to go wrong?

Hiya! 😁

That’s exactly the thing though… did I go wrong? Who knows?

That’s exactly the thing though… did I go wrong? Who knows?

The recipe knows. Take the first (classic/no stock) one:

After slicing six pounds of onions and caramelizing them for four hours, I poured six cups of water into the pot and seasoned the broth with a few cracks of pepper.

I gave it a stir and took a taste. I could have stopped right there. I could have served the soup without taking a single taste more, without adding a pinch more of this or a splash more of that. I could have forgone the broiled bread-and-Gruyère topping altogether.

The broth, unadulterated by any chicken or beef flavor, tasted of pure, sweet onions. Because Ruhlman suggests adding a splash of vinegar to temper the sweetness and a little sherry and wine for more depth of flavor, I did, and the broth may have been the best I have ever made.

It’s right! You cannot ‘go wrong’, because if you read that entire recipe and study the photos – it is so simple and yet thoroughly presented that one cannot go wrong (unless either burn it or mistakenly buy pomegranates instead of onions, or use 6 cups of vinegar instead of water etc)

Now if only Heinz had given you their Cream Of Tomato Soup recipe 😉

The secret I found to Heinz-style cream of tomato is a splish of vinegar to replicate that undeniable ‘tinny’ taste (which most cream of tomato soup recipes omit). Luckily there are much tastier cream of tomato soups out there than Heinz tinned. If it’s your favourite then you finally did well to instead buy a tin at that price.

You would be amazed at the amount of wrong I can be with little effort.

(… actually, regular readers probably wouldn’t.)

whether I’m making French Onion Soup

Yes

or broth with onions in

Sort of.

I have no clue.

Yes

The clue is in the recipe’s title and description. French Onion Soup is what you are making. The liquid part is referred to as ‘broth’ or ‘stock’.

Broth, also known bouillon is a savory liquid made of water in which bones, meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, gravies, and sauces. (Wikipedia)

Because the ‘no stock’ recipe uses no bouillon other than that created by the onions and water then it would be technically correct to say that you are making ‘broth with onions’.

Likewise, because you are minutely following a classic recipe for French onion soup then it would also be correct to say that you are making ‘French onion soup.’

This popped up last week. Proper chilli 🌶🌶

Muhahaha.

My original comment was really just to point out that you can’t assume french onion soup is vegetarian.

I really couldn’t give a shit and do make it with veg stock myself as I am part time vegetarian.

Not a recipe as such but more I’ve found that if I don’t try to think about substituting meat and start with focussing on the veg it helps me cook. There’s a load of recipe suggestions up there I’m looking to try.
My favourites: mushroom risotto, cauliflower curry, “Lancashire” hotpot (no meat), pepper and tomato pasta sauce, falafel and salad pita bread, aubergine lasagna.

I’ve recently been “condemned” to a fat free, red meat free diet. My daughter is a veganie/veggie/pescatarian. Partner loves steak. So basically just cook veg some occasional fish and top it up with a bit of steak for the OH and youngest.

This popped up last week. Proper chilli 🌶🌶

That YT channel is great.

I made a bangin’ vegan chilli last night.

Fried an onion to stick and brown, a goodly dose of ancho, chipoty and a homegrown mouth burner chilli,Some smoked paprika and ground cumin. Chucked in the two tins of beans and half a large tin of Tom’s.

Reduced it to half and added some Quorn mince to get rid of it (would normally just use Bulger wheat and or blitzed mushrooms)

Then I got extravagant, home made tortilla wraps, red onion pineapple and tomato salsa ( plus another reciculous chilli and a good dose of lime juice) then I got a bit worried it was all a bit spicy so I dry fried a couple more pineapple rings until a bit caramelised.

Then I undid the veganism by adding grated cheddar…

As an aside I tried the macky ds new veggie burger thing. Not bad would choose again. My main issue with it is I’d like it as an option on any burger rather than a separate package.

My main issue with it is I’d like it as an option on any burger rather than a separate package.

This is standard practice and it really gets on my tits.

Typical menu: 17 different ways of serving beef burgers with various flamboyant toppings and imaginative arrangements, then tucked away at the bottom is the veggie burger with salad and mayo. Because what every vegetarian loves is mayonnaise, damp lettuce and being a begrudged afterthought. I suppose I should be grateful that there’s actually any offering at all, there sometimes isn’t. Chips, then?

Though it is – slowly – getting better. Some places go “step 1: choose your protein” and I do a little happy dance. Because this really shouldn’t be difficult, if some reason I want a vegan patty with cheese, bacon, and gods damned motherloving ketchup on a burger like normal people rather than smothered with the devil’s semen then why the hell can’t I? You do a Tex Mex burger or a Sloppy Joe, and elsewhere on the menu you list a vegetarian chilli so why can’t you… apply a little joined-up thinking here?

Totally justified tit aggravation cougar.

Big Mac or quarter pounder with a vege patty and I probably wouldn’t go meat in McDonald’s at all.

Even on the carnivorous days like you say, a choice would be nice!

Right? Why is that not just a tick box on the menu? Big Mac, sure – is that with beef, chicken, vegetable or Quorn patties?

To be fair, McD’s is probably a poor example. Their USP is fast food so they’re slamming out set meals, customised orders would likely bugger that up. But in regular restaurants, eh, “the” vegetarian option isn’t really a choice now, is it.

OP – google jamie oliver aubergine milanese.

you can thank me later

also google shakshouka. serve eith a wedge of garlic toast. yum!

lots of good ideas on this thread. veggie food is ace

Egg noodles are quick and easy to make at home. Fresh-tasting and more satisfying than store-bought, to be quickly transformed into proper chow-mein

I like to add a few mushrooms, sliced water chestnut and whole cashew nuts