Vegetarian Food

[jojo47]

MiniMat has gone Vegetarian, and I need to feed him for 2 weeks over Christmas, including Christmas dinner.

I've been to the supermarket and have no idea what to feed him, vegetarians please help me!

Comments

[serena_lesley]

If you're doing a huge variety of vegetables etc then you don't actually need to substitute the meat for anything. For instance, the last Xmas meal I cooked had roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, steamed sprouts and beans, mashed potato, stuffing, and yorkshire pud. That's without the meat content (roast turkey, beef, and bacon-wrapped sausages) and is plenty, especially if the veg have plenty of flavour (sprinkle with paprika, rosemary and/or basil before cooking) and are served in something interesting (for instance a large individual yorkshire pud). Just be aware of things like not using the meat fat for the roasted veg or yorkshire pud, and cook some of the stuffing away from the inside of the bird, etc

[serena_lesley]

Sorry, I should say I'm not actually a veggie. And also that the best way to deal with a lack of what we think of as the 'interesting' part of the meal, is to make the non-meat part interesting instead! Once you're in that mindset, it becomes dead easy, and you have so many options - herbs and spices to liven up subtle flavours and make them capable of 'carrying' the rest of the meal (think creamed swede with a hint of chilli added to it), and presentation options to make sure it doesn't look like it's a meal with 'something important missing', which is how many of us think of veggie stuff but it realy doesn't have to be that way! :)

[easternpromise]

Erm. I disagree.

Not eating meat means that it is *vital* to get your protein sources elsewhere. Just leaving out the meat isn't the way to go about doing that.

Jo, meat replacements are really good nowadays. Quorn and soy proteins can replace more or less anything in a 'meat' recipe. Check out the meatfree section of the supermarket (frozen and fresh) for assorted veggie minces, meatfree 'chunks' and 'strips' - you just use these in stews, chillis, stirfries etc as you would meat. Normally you don't need to cook it as long.

In addition, you can sub in things like lentils, beans and other pulses for other protein sources.

I have a load of vegetarian recipes on my LJ under the memories section, and you can also find loads of really good ones on bbcgoodfood.com.

ideas...

[kaz_pixie]

I'm not a veggie but I have quite a few veggie friends so here are some suggestions:

Quiche and salad
Omlettes (provided he's OK with eggs)
Quorn Bolognaise/shepherd's pie/lasagne/chilli
There's a wagamama cha han recipe (essentially fried rice with tofu but it tastes good)
Roasted vegetables with nutroast or something similar
I think you might be able to get veggie sausage rolls, definitely veggie sausages
Brie and Cranberry puff pastries (can do this yourself or buy them)
Jacket potatoes with cheese/coleslaw/beans etc
Mushroom Risotto
Cheese and onion risotto (really any type of risotto)
Gnocchi with roasted tomatoes, onions, basil and philadelphia

Re: ideas...

[serena_lesley]

So much on that list is making my mouth water...

Re: ideas...

[kaz_pixie]

3 years of living in London and having a vegetarian as a close friends broaden's your horizens somewhat :)

[sacha37]

If you're looking at meat substitutes there are plenty. Quorn do sausage and burger substitutes and an oven roast but they're not particularly strongly flavoured, Linda McCartney do sausages, burgers, sausage rolls, pies, etc. Not the healthiest stuff though. Cauldron sausages are good and most supermarkets will have own brand stuff.

As a general rule of thumb, food from large companies and supermarket own brands will be labelled as veggie on the front or near the allergy or nutritional information if it is veggie. Almost nothing will be labelled as not veggie.