Anyone have any good veg entrees?

[Michele]

I recently tried quinoa and LOVE it! I could easily put that over a salad, or as a side with some veggies. I'm not crazy about tofu either. I'm trying to eat more beans, but they've been in the form of soup lately. I have a lasagna recipe...I think you could probably add some tofu crumbles to it for more protein....

Artichoke and Spinach Lasagna

9 x 13 baking dish
1 package oven ready lasagna noodles
olive oil (1-3 tbsp)
1 medium onion – chopped
4 cloves garlic – chopped
14.5 ounce can of vegetable broth
rosemary (tsp dried – tbsp fresh)
salt and pepper to taste
14 ounces of artichoke hearts – chopped
10 ounces chopped spinach
1 cup mushrooms
28 ounce jar of tomato sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella
parsley for garnishing

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease baking dish.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add onions and garlic and cook until tender.
4. Add the vegetable broth and add rosemary to taste.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Stir in artichoke hearts, spinach and mushrooms.
8. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
9. Add pasta sauce and stir.
10. Assemble the lasagna. Start with sauce mixture. Then noodles, then cheese. Repeat 3-4 times depending on number of noodles and amount of sauce. Make sure to finish with a cheese layer.
11. Bake covered for 40 minutes.
12. Remove cover, sprinkle parsley on cheese and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
13. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

[Michele]

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I also signed up for the email newsletters from Vegetarian Times....they send a recipe a week...maybe check out that site.

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

Oh yeah we've done lots. DH was a vegetarian for almost a year during med school. I really liked the Whole Foods cookbook for vegetarian meals. It has little of everything, but the vegetarian meals were good and actually worked. I got the Moosehead recipe book - waiiisssttttt of money. These are complex, and they fail to be good after all the work. I thought it was just me, but found on another site for cooking info that many others had the same experiance.

I like http://www.vegweb.com for ideas and get a subcription to Vegetarian Times - AWESOME info, meals, and cooking tips! I like to cook vegetarian most in the fall/winter cause so much can be made as hearty meals.

If you e-mail your address I'll copy some of our faves, I'm working on getting my own vegetarian cookbook collection together of things that worked and we all liked (well at least DH and I)

But soups are great.

Any pasta dish can be made vegetarian.

Any mexican dishes substitute meat for peppers, squash (yellow and zuchinni), and onions, and always add black beans.

Greek "vegetarian" gyros. I get an absolutely to die for Greek herb mix from Penzeys Spices that I marinate with tomatoes, squash, onions, and roast in the oven. Then stuff in a pita, add feta, and Greek yogurt and YUM!!!

I've made a really good vegetarian chili with bulgur to thicken it instead of meat.

I make a vegetarian pot pie with corn, potatoes, broccoli, sometimes leeks instead of onions, or instead of onions I use shallots for that wild taste, add parmesan and lots of fresh dill and top with walnuts crushed - YUM, even the kids love this.

There are a lot of casserole type dishes you can do as well. But DH isn't a fan of casseroles so I didn't do much of these.

The only thing I refused to do was to go vegan w/no dairy or cheese - hello cheese it the REASON to eat in the first place

Anyway I've done lots, and even found a decent eggless cookie recipe. If you have something in particular in mind just ask and I'll see what I got. But like I said I'll copy them for you if you want and send them to you.

What I found though - is to almost double the veggies even in vegetarian recipes or you get overloaded with the carb used (pasta, rice, whatnot) and don't get a 50% or higher portion of the veggies - which is what we do. And sometimes instead of having an entree, side and so forth you can make two or three things that are like sides and eat them together (to get away eatting a casserole all the time). And we eat fresh fruit with every meal as part of the meal. I liked cooking vegetarian cause it made me try new things and get creative, but it takes a while to get the hang of.

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

AWESOME spices, just awesome!!!

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I haven't made this exact recipe but have done something similar with canned chickpeas. I think you could use 2 15 oz cans and do this on the stove then serve with rice or naan.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/237287

I love this recipe for red beans and rice. I think I have posted it before:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/3184

Also good but I cut the butter way back:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/3184

I've posted some vegetarian recipes. I can look for them and bump them. Recently it was a bread salad and calabacitas but those are more late summer seasonal.

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I've been wanting to try this cookbook and heard good reviews but haven't had the chance to check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Supper ... 0767916271

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I have that cookbook. It is pretty good. I really like the spinach quesadilla recipe.

I have another quick vege meal cookbook that I don't use as often. I'll run upstairs later to get the title and mail it to anyone interested.

[DCJenn]

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I think it's the new Self mag. Maybe shape. I don't know, I'll look when I get home. But there's a recipe for manicotti but using eggplant strips instead of the noodles. I'm an eggplant freak so I'm going to check it out.

I'm about a millisecond away from going veg myself. Heck, my child only eats sausages and organ meats so it shouldn't be too hard on a day to day basis!

Jenn

[ides]

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I've been vegetarian for quite a few years. Color_me_sulky gave some great advice. I always double the vegi's in the vegi recipies I find. Lately I've been doing a lot of burrito's. I'll saute black, beans, red/green peppers, onion, garlic, zucchini and corn. Add some salsa, a little cumin, salt & pepper. I can eat this on it's own with a little cheeze, in a tortilla, with rice or noodles. Quinoa is good too.

I've never had luck with the Moosewood cookbooks either. Total waste.

Some of my favorite currents books are:
The Pea & Lentil Cookbook by the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
Veg Times: Low Fat & Fast - Mexican
Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook- by new gulcose revolution
The whole foods Diabetic Cookbook - by Stevenson, Cook & Bertron

A really great starter book for me was:
Student's Vegetarian Cookbook by Carole Raymond

I also get ideas and recipies from the web. It would be great if we all posted some of our favorites. I'd like to try other's dishes.

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

The book is Quick Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin. If anyone wants it, let me know. It's a good book but I have others I prefer.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Vegetarian- ... 545&sr=8-1

[spotty_dog]

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

EDIT: Crap, serves me right, now I remember why I didn't post these before...these are both "stews" so feel free to disregard.

Vegweb.com is great. I get so many great ideas from there.

One favorite in our house is Jenn's Crockpot Indian Chicken, except we just simmer the ingredients together with a can or two of chickpeas.

Another: here's my Vegetarian California Chicken.

1/2-1 package meatless recipe crumbles (I used Morningstar Farms)
1/4-1/2 package frozen sweet corn (Trader Joe's fire roasted corn, here)
2 largeish Russet potatoes, cooked in some fashion (Last time they were boiled and smashed; this time I'd baked them for unrelated reasons so I just cubed them)
1 recipe I Can't Believe It's Vegan Gravy. Follow the instructions in the comments to make a roux with 1/4 c butter and 1/4 c flour, then add the other ingredients.

Layer crumbles, then corn, then gravy, then potatoes in a casserole dish. If it has a lid, bonus. If not, no biggie.

Bake at around 350 for around 30 minutes until everything is hot and sizzly. It's fun to bake it with the lid on until the last 5-10 minutes, then take the lid off and turn the oven up to 400 to brown the potatoes.

[DCJenn]

Re: Anyone have any good veg entrees?

I just made this tonight and it was FAB!

i cooked an acorn squash (halve, scoop, put place down in a pan, bake w/ a bit of water for about a half an hour.)

Meanwhile, I sauteed a 12 oz bag of TVP(I sauteed it w/ onion powder because I was too lazy to chop an onion, I cooked a bag of boil in the bag brown rice, I chopped two apples. Into the thawed TVP I put the apples, a Tbsp of chopped pecans, about a 1/8 of a cup of raisins and the same amount of craisins, I threw in about a tsp of cinnamon, allspice, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Then I threw in about a tbsp of dried sage.

I packed the stuffing into the acorn squash and poured about a tbsp of melted butter on top of each half and then about a tsp of brown sugar. I put the whole thing back in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the brown sugar carmelized.

I basically combined three recipes for stuffed acorn squash and threw in some additions of my own.

YUMMY!

Jenn

[Ravenclaw]

Going to look at this thread later. We're trying to eat less meat and less pasta but I get stumped for vegetarian recipes! Some I like are falafel (I use this recipe: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...57C0A9619C8B63) and lentil soup. Oooh also palak paneer...I get the paneer from Costco and it's so good.

[diggitydot]

I always recommend the cookbook "More With Less" anytime people ask about vegetarian or vegan recipes. That book has a ton of really great recipes. Not all recipes are vegetarian, but it has a TON of really great recipes for using little or meat.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

We eat vegetarian probably 4-5 nights/week.

Lots of summer salads and right now, a lot of roasted vegetables, veggie stews/soups, and quiches/fritattas.

Lentils and Rice (sooooooo good):
Mujadara (moo-jha-dra)

The key to this dish is the onions: they must be browned well, and with patience. Caramelize them to within an inch of their lives. Heck, burn them a little, even. In cases like this, it’s almost impossible to overcook them. Their intense, deeply toasty flavor is the main player here, so don’t rush it.

As for serving, mujadara is often presented with a green salad. I like mine with a chopped romaine salad, something similar to this one. It would also be nice with some labneh on the side, and flatbread.

¼ cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions (about 1 ½ lb.), finely chopped
1 cup brown or green lentils, picked over for stones and other debris
½ cup basmati rice
Water
1 tsp. salt, plus more for serving

In a large (12-inch) sauté pan or skillet or a Dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are deeply caramelized, a rich shade of amber. If they’re burnt and blackened in spots, even better. This is a fairly slow process. Depending on your pan and your stove, this could take between 30 minutes and 1 hour in total. On my stove, it takes about 50 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, place the lentils in a medium saucepan, add water to cover by an inch, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Drain the lentils, and set them aside.

When the onions are ready, stir in the rice. Then add the cooked lentils, along with 2 cups of water and the salt. Stir to mix well, and bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the pan at a slow simmer, cover, and cook. Depending on the size and shape of your pan, this last stage – cooking the onions, rice, and lentils together – could take from 20 to 40 minutes. Basically, the dish is done when the rice is done. I use a 5-quart sauté pan, which is wide and flat, so the rice cooks pretty quickly, in about 25 minutes. I used to use a Dutch oven, however, which was narrower, and the rice took 30-40 minutes to cook.

After about 20 minutes, remove the lid, and give the pot a gentle stir. If there is still some liquid visible, replace the lid and keep cooking until it is fully absorbed. On the other hand, if there is no obvious liquid, take a taste. If the rice is tender, the mujadara is ready. If the rice is not yet ready, add another splash of water, replace the lid, and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. The mujadara is ready to eat when the rice is tender and there is no liquid left in the pan.

Serve, with additional salt, if needed.

Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese
Adapted from Bon AppetitIf you’d like to toast the seeds, simply clean them off, rinse and pat them dry and toast them in the oven on an oiled baking sheet, sprinkled with salt. But this comes with a warning: they like to pop, seemingly more than regular pumpkin seeds do, or maybe it’s just my bad luck. I suspect if you let them dry out for a day first, they wouldn’t, but who has that kind of patience?Serves 6 as an appetizer, 3 as a main3/4 cup black or green lentils
6 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash or sugar pumpkin (1-inch cubes) (from about a 2-poudn squash)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika*
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 cups baby arugula (I skipped this)
1 cup soft crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves (optional; I used this, but added it after I took a photo)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, plus additional to taste
Roasted seeds (about 1/2 cup) from your butternut squash (optional; see note above)Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash or pumpkin cubes with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika and salt. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Cool.Meanwhile, soak lentils for 10 minutes in a small bowl, then drain. Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.Combine lentils, pumpkin, any oil you can scrape from the baking sheet (I didn’t get enough for this to be worth it) with arugula, if using, half of goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and extra vinegar, if desired (we felt it needed it). Divide among plates and pass with remaining goat cheese to sprinkle.* I swapped half with sweet (not hot) smoked paprika to make sure it didn’t get too spicy for a 13 month-old’s tastes. If you don’t have either on hand, there are ways to approximate this smoky/spiciness with what you have in your pantry, such as mixing some regular paprika with a ground chipotle powder or another smoky spice, and then a pinch of cayenne for extra heat.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup:
For soup:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger
1 tablespoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste



Make soup:
Heat oil with butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat until foam
subsides, then cook squash, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ginger, and
1 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened
and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in curry powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring
frequently, 2 minutes.

Add lentils and water and simmer, covered, until lentils are tender,
25 to 40 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.