Register

first time cooking veggie

Swap ideas and tips or ask advice about being a veggie.
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2016 1:22 pm

first time cooking veggie

Postby GilesMurray » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:44 pm

my daughters boyfriend is joining us for tea tomorrow evening for the first time but hes vegetarian. id rather make us all the same thing than have to make a meal for the family then a separate veggie option, so im just going to make veggie for us all instead:) but i have never cooked any veggie meals before so can anyone recommend any of their favorite delicious veggie options that will go down a treat? thanks

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: first time cooking veggie

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:26 pm

Have you really never cooked anything veggie before?
Beans on toast (with or without an egg)? Mac & Cheese? Asparagus or mushroom quiche?

It's just cooking you know, it's not like learning a completely different set of methods

A good place to start for a family meal might be a pasta bake, I'd go for one of the Simon Rimmer ones
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/search?keywords=pasta+bake&diets%5B%5D=vegetarian&x=20&y=21

Things to look out for
Don't overdo the cheese, veggies get sick of it
Be a bit careful about cheese - some veggies are more strict than others, real parmesan (for example) is not veggie as it made with animal rennet (from a calf), so unless you know the veggie in question is one who does not ask those searching questions, use a cheese with the Vegetarian (green V morphing into a tick) symbol, loads about, vegetarian rennet is cheaper than traditional!

Alternatives (if it's the sort of meal you cook) would be curry, as most Indians eat veggie food

Or the aforementioned quiche

User avatar
Posts: 488
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:17 pm
Location: East Anglia, UK

Re: first time cooking veggie

Postby Suelle » Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:51 pm

You mentioned cooking on a budget on another thread. Vegetarian food is a good way of reducing expenditure - make a chilli from diced root vegetables and kidney beans, or a sauce for pasta, similar to a Bolognese sauce, but use red or green lentils instead of meat.

Obviously, if you are going to eat a lot of vegetarian food you have to be careful to get enough protein, but for the occasional meal it's not so important.

What sort of cooking do you usually do? What do you like to eat? It's sometimes easier to suggest meals based on what you already like than make suggestions that don't fit in with your cooking or eating style.
The blog which does what it says on the tin:

http://mainlybaking.blogspot.co.uk/

Posts: 163
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:44 pm

Re: first time cooking veggie

Postby DEB » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:03 am

I would steer clear of "meat substudes eg veggie sausages etc" There lots of cultures which are normally veggie and these might be a good place to start. Curry, pizza, bean chilli. The link below gives a wide range of veggie dishes to suit all tastes. Happy cooking.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/vegetarian

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: first time cooking veggie

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:15 pm

Hi Giles, how did it go? What did you make?

Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 2:30 pm
Location: Saffron Walden, UK

Re: first time cooking veggie

Postby almadolce » Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:32 pm

Vegetarian dishes are very yummy, healthy and are normally effortless in preparations, as they take less time in cooking.

You should try various vegetarian recipes which are easy to cook are: Vegan Hummus, Mushroom Barley Soup, and various noodles, pasta, macaroni and pizza recipes.

With potatoes also you can make a quick recipe such as it can be baked or boiled and different types of sauces or mayonnaise, or butter can be used as a topping. Mashed potatoes with butter can also be served or the potatoes can be put in the gravy already prepared and frozen. Chips, cookies, nachos can be served with various dips. Dips made from butter, mayonnaise, cheeses can be made in minutes.

Return to Veggie Chat

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests