Ideas for a good but simple meal? Vegetarian.

David_VI

David_VI

David_VI

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Ideas for a good but simple meal(s)? Vegetarian.

I'm not really a cook. I can make spag bol with a jar, chucking in a few other things.. Put things in the oven.

I've started trying to make more things, one I thought was out of my depth was a pie from scratch (thanks Hairy Bikers), although I did have a little bit of help when things got a bit stressful with loads of stuff being done at once :p.

I've also tried a couple of things from a River Cottage Veg book (My woman recently became vegetarian with the exception of fish for now, she's working on it). Simple stuff like a tart with puff pastry, however one other thing gave me a headache, needing to use multiple saucepans at once. Do they seriously expect people to have more than 4 saucepans? I got stressed here!

TL;DR
To the point.
I want some ideas or recipes of some new things to try.
I myself love meat but my girlfriend is a vegetarian and keeping up with it well, except fish for now.

I'm not a fussy eater so nearly anything could be tried.
My women loves cheese (nearly an addiction) so cheese based meals could be good, although maybe good to broaden our horizons as cheese is nearly daily.
Nothing too hard, I'm not amazing at juggling pans yet.
Maybe some meals that can have meat versions at the same time as having a variation my girl can eat?

Any ideas? Anyone got anything they'd like to share that might fit the bill? I know its quite a wide spec and could be anything but a start would be good!

David
 
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Here's a few dead simple + quick ideas for you.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1632637/sweetcorn-fritters-with-tomatoes-and-halloumi

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3456/minestrone-in-minutes - but with tortellini instead of spaghetti

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandst...ater-classic-recipe-spaghetti-alla-puttanesca

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11220/cheese-and-chilli-melts


Also, although I hate most Quorn products, the mince is really good. You can substitute that for beef mince and open up loads more options, and also gives you a chance to make a meat and a veg version of the same thing. Like tacos or something. I'm a meat eater and I actually like the quorn mince in some things
 
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I can't help with the vegetarian stuff, but a good tip for 'pan juggling' is to write down a timetable for everything. AND READ THE RECIPE FULLY BEFORE STARTING.

Start with the time you're starting cooking, say 16.00 and write down the next time something has to be done. Something like:

16.00, heat pan with oil. Chop garlic + onion.
16.05, add onion, garlic, and fry.
16.15, add tomatoes + measure out herbs and spices.
16.20, add spices.
Blah blah.
1700 - 1745, in the oven.

So on and so on. It's much easier to follow a clock and recipe than just a recipe. It can take a wee bit of time to write it all out but it will make you a better cook and once you get more confident the timings can get less detailed. The best cook that I know did this, and I do it if making a complex meal. It really does help.

Also, if you're going to be using the oven at any point in cooking. Turn it on at the beginning! Nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe (even if you've read it beforehand) and finding out you need to put something in there for x amount of time and the oven hasn't been on.
 
Ahleckz said:
I can't help with the vegetarian stuff, but a good tip for 'pan juggling' is to write down a timetable for everything. AND READ THE RECIPE FULLY BEFORE STARTING.

Start with the time you're starting cooking, say 16.00 and write down the next time something has to be done. Something like:

16.00, heat pan with oil. Chop garlic + onion.
16.05, add onion, garlic, and fry.
16.15, add tomatoes + measure out herbs and spices.
16.20, add spices.
Blah blah.
1700 - 1745, in the oven.

So on and so on. It's much easier to follow a clock and recipe than just a recipe. It can take a wee bit of time to write it all out but it will make you a better cook and once you get more confident the timings can get less detailed. The best cook that I know did this, and I do it if making a complex meal. It really does help.

Also, if you're going to be using the oven at any point in cooking. Turn it on at the beginning! Nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe (even if you've read it beforehand) and finding out you need to put something in there for x amount of time and the oven hasn't been on.
Click to expand...

I do that sometimes, but I start planning with the finish time and work backwards
 
Easiest veg meal I know:

- Chop up any veg you want into smallish pieces. I usually use red onion, red pepper, baby sweetcorn, courgette, black olives and sometimes mushrooms.

- Put in a baking dish with plenty of olive oil over it and stick in the oven at 190C for ten minutes.

- Start boiling up some pasta (2 cups is plenty).

- After the ten minutes are up remove veg and stir. Add more oil if needed. Back in the oven for another ten minutes.

- At the twenty minute mark add the cooked pasta and plenty of grated mozzerella. Stir, then return for a further 5-7 minutes. Done.

I always add chopped salami with the pasta and cheese. Obviously omit this. :)
 
Not a recipe as such but maybe an idea for you...

I was buying some Welsh Wagyu beef (Awesome. Seriously if you like steak you owe it to yourslef to get a bit to try, surprisingsly reasonable too) off a website and I saw this Aternative meats: Vegetarian Box and picked it up aswell. It's a mix pack of 15 big veg sausages for £10, If you're girlfriends a big fan of cheese then she'll go for these in a big way! They're pretty filling and the flavours were fantastic, pleasantly suprised as a meat eater tbh :) Obviously you can just substitute those in instead of the meat in a good range of simple meals.

I used the mushroom and tarragon ones for a vegy sausage and mash which worked well (one grilled sausage cooked up and cut in half, big pile of swede, carrots, parsnips, spuds etc. all mashed up together and some gravy made from the veg water and some onions and mushrooms fried off in butter) if you want the recipe for that broken down lemme know.

Got way more respect for any vegetarian food thats proud to be veg, not like the facon nonsense! :s
 
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The planning is something I never really thought of! Will give it a go next time I do a proper meal, (Currently trying baking thanks to the Jonny69 thread).

The Very Vegetarian box looks interesting, the girlfriend seemed interested :).

Cheers for all the ideas, they should mostly be attempted at some point once I get through the baking phase :)
 
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