Vegetarian question

[Joanbunting Profile]

I am posting this here because there doesn't seem much action in the veegie forum, but feel free to move it.

My D-I-L became a vegetarian some months ago. The family are coming next month and I am a bit of a loss as to how to cook for a largish group of devoted omnvores and one veggie. As some of you know France is NOT veggie friendly although many local dishes, by their very nature are vegetarian.

I'm planning ahead and a friend is coming soon who brings me orders from Ocado. I'm going to order some impossible things to get here that I know she likes but any other suggestions, tips and help would be appreciated.

[jeral Profile]

I'll have a think... Veggie cheese (no rennet) which most in UK is anyway but might not be in France.

Veggie people tend to use oil to cook with but not exactly something you'll need from the UK.

In terms of Ocado, they sell branded veggie burgers and some tinned bean/rice soups (vegan) which I find tasty and good. I've no doubt you could make them but are convenient if just for one or two servings.

Spices? Not sure what you can get locally but there are a few (five or so) that tend to be used. Curry paste? Chinese blackbean sauce and Chinese 5-spice, soy sauce; noodles?

Tofu perhaps? I bought some long-dated Clearspring from Ocado last week that's in my fridge with an expiry date of March 2018! 300g pack (about two servings).

Seeds maybe, e.g. flax or sunflower, but I'm really no expert on seeds.

You should be OK though as you have plenty of fresh veg/fruit, bread, nuts so D-I-L won't starve

HTH

[jeral Profile]

There's a long thread somewhere, here or Beeb, about whether a veggie meal at dinner should look like the meat offering.

My view is maybe if a formal dinner where a guest would look the odd one out but if family who I assume respect her decision it shouldn't be an issue. If the others are eating something "posh" it would be nice if the veggie offering was also posh in step, but for normal meals I'd be surprised if D-I-L is worried, as long as hers isn't contaminated by meat (e.g. bbq grill).

[Binky Profile]

Joan, if you did something like this https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/194 ... ith-quinoa the rest of your dinner party could have this as part of their meal (as an accompanying veg dish) and the veggie would treat it as their main dish.

What I find a problem with vegetarian food is that cooks nearly always do a cheese dish for their visitors. Veggies can get a bit jaded with cheese, and omelettes, after a while.

I haven't spotted quinoa in France, so that could be part of your UK delivery?

[jeral Profile]

Binky, quinoa is a good call. Reminded me of having dried red lentils and chickpeas in stock as well since all three are sources of protein that's useful in primarily vegetable dishes.

I agree about cheese - drives yer mad.
Cheese is still useful for sandwich snacks though.

Joanbunting: So are dips/spreads, although I imagine you can rattle up some humous, aubergine, sundried tom, mushroom, olive tapenade (minus anchovies), pesto (using veggie cheese) etc. "To buy" might be Marmite, Peanut butter, honey.

Good to make are nourishing cereal bars and flapjacks. I imagine dried fruit is available in France? (Good for adding to yoghurt too.)

Can you get Vege-gel in France? It's the V replacement gelatine used for setting things like savoury terrines or fruit tartlets, cheesecakes/mousses. There are a few presentation-type veggie terrines around that would grace an omni table so worth a thought.

[jeral Profile]

Another thought, then I'll stop for now. If you make stuffed things for a family table, like Binky's suggested recipe, or bog standard smaller things like peppers, toms, Portabello mushrooms, vine leaves, spring rolls, make extra as they often go quickly as people like to try them being curious to see if different from the proverbial rabbit food expectation.

[Renée Profile]

This vegetarian mushroom pie looks nice and after clicking on the link, there is a mushroom tart at the bottom of the list, which might be quicker to make. You could substitute the mushrooms for tomatoes softened in olive oil with basil and then placed on the puff pastry base, or even short-crust pastry would probably work.

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/642/vege ... m-pie.aspx

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Joan:
First question - has she gone vegetarian or vegan? Important considering the vegetarian cheese suggestion.
Since I cook mostly vegetarian food, I´d go for:
a) Indian
b) An Indonesian Rijsstafel - rice with up to 10 little varied dishes to suit all tastes
c) An Italian spread - aubergines parmigiana, caponata, pasta, antipasti, etc.
d) Lebanese food - again, mix and match: falafel, stuffed vine leaves,sambusak, hummus, babaganush, etc. okra and tomato stews, etc.

With any of these options, you could add meat/chicken/fish recipes with no problem and keep everyone happy.

[Joanbunting Profile]

A one off meal would not bother me at all or even a weekend but every meal for 2 weeks is doing my head in a bit.

Mediterranean food is second nature to me and lebanese no problem either because everything i need is in the market.

She is vegetarian not vegan KK. Indonesian and Indian are a tad different because of lack of ingedients but i have oredered some spices etc already. trouble there is that the teenagers are not wild about Indian and the like and even very flavourful local food can overwhelm them, and a lot of other visitors too.

Binky that stuffing looks good but I'll put it in another vegetable squash not in season yet . I think I ve seen quinoa but M loathes the stuff, so I'd have to substitute rice, spelt or another grain.

Talking of egg dishes though I am planning a local dish called crespeou one night. This is a layered omelette cooked in a terrine with a different coloured vegetable in each layer, usually 5 layers. It is rather time consuming but I think worth the effort. There is a problem even here though, teenager who doesn't eat eggs

[QinNortham Profile]

Joan, try Nigella Lawson's Soft & Sharp Involtini. Also goes well with some chicken, lamb or pork for those that do eat meat. I tend to use rice rather than bulgar wheat and add some sultanas.

Could your DinL suggest some things she likes?

[Joanbunting Profile]

To be brutally truthful Q she really doesn't eat well, has always been faddy and it is all getting a bit fraught. So I am hoping to bring a bit of tranquility and good food for a few days.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I see where you`re coming from, Joan. Sounds just like my nephew
( Example : we were at the beach, and he ordered a pasta dish " 4 cheeses". Fine, we thought, problem solved. When they served it, the comment was - without even tasting it - " I have a feeling I`m not going to like that" )
So here are some classics from home:
Cheese and potato "pie" with cauliflower.
Lentil and pumpkin tart .
Vegetarian chile with Borlotti beans.
Spanakopita.
Ratatouille with cashew nuts, topped with potato slices.
Peppers stuffed with ricotta and sundried tomato (or ricotta and spinach or ricespinachtomato&onion!)
Courgette, basil and slivered almond tart.
Chinese-style rice with mixed vegetables.
Eggplant stir-fried with sweet soy sauce.
Carrot, asparagus and ginger strudel.
Crèpes filled with creamed spinach, or creamed sweetcorn, or leeks & cream cheese.

[Joanbunting Profile]

I'm beginning to think KK, that it must be really hard to turn veggie if you are not a foodie at heart and are wary of trying new things because your choices become so limited.

I often serve ratatouille, which I make regularly, cold the next day as a salad for our lunch. With a fried new laid egg from our hens on top it is heavenly.

[DEB Profile]

If your teenagers etc. like lasagne I have a good recipe which uses lentils rather than mince and in my household it is preferred and we are not veggie. The ragù can be used for spag. bog.

The attached link gives "meatballs" using chick peas

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/116 ... mato-sauce

How about pizza which should go down with teenages.

For the lighter meals soup, bread with cheese, dips, veggie pates.
Mixed salads with options of cold meats or beans salads eg https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/237 ... mato-salad


Here are some more bean salads
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/reci ... vegetarian

If you can give me more ideas as to what type of foods you need to cook I will try to come up with some more ideas.

Good luckhttp://www.carta.co.uk/foodforum/po ... =8&t=3401#

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The problem is, many veggies turn veggie at least partly because they don't like the food they were brought up with; if your mum can't cook the grey tough meat is the worst bit, and people who arena good cooks are often a bit squeamish about handling meat which rubs off on the future veggie. This is certainly true of a number of acquaintances

I have a vegetarian friend who can't really
cook, and happily lives on pre-made stuff, with salads, sandwiches and simple egg dishes at home. She does appreciate a good meal out though!

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Get plenty of ham in Joan! (sorry, French joke n all that).

I would order 2 things of interest from Ocado - coolea cheese & tempeh

With tempeh, you can cook quite a number of veggie dishes, and as it's so delicious, you can be cooking for meat eaters too.
This is one recipe idea - it's in 4 stages: http://gillthepainter.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... empeh.html

Even if you just make the cajun crusted tempeh.

The coolea cheese you can make Denis Cotter's Roasted Aubergine Wraps of Pinenuts, Spinach and Coolea Cheese: http://letters.cookingisfun.ie/2003/09/ ... rk-market/

You could prepare several sauces that can go over vegetables or rice or pasta - puttanesca, caper and tomato
Tzatziki, aioli.

Jolly old puy lentils & peas a la french.

Copping onto KK's Indian theme: Dosas - everyone will like them

http://gillthepainter.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... d-and.html


Make up some salsa verde

But do bear that tempeh in mind, it can be marinated



Other ideas might spring to mind in the meantime .....

[Sakkarin Profile]

My flirtation with tempeh in 2012:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=158&p=4971&hilit=tempeh#p4962

...however I wouldn't recommend trying it on the uninitiated! I'd call it an acquired taste.

EDIT: and of course a few posts down from mine is Sunflower's post where she makes her own tempeh!!!

[Joanbunting Profile]

Thanks for your thoughts all. I have just had a long chat with son. He says the teenagers would be perfectly happy with pizza, pasta and charcuterie especially aif no green vegetables are involved. He doesn't eat fish or tomatoes, I don't , willingly, eat pasta or pizza, I want nutritious, tasty meals which everyone can enjoy without having to make several different options. Most of all I want to enjoy having everyone there and not be tied to the kitchen.

PS he says she hates tofu

[jeral Profile]

Did you ask about milk by any chance? You might want to order some alternative milk, e.g. rice, almond, soya, oat, for cereals, smoothies, custard (soya best), etc. (Some veggies aren't keen on lots of cow's milk.)

What about fake meat, e.g. sausages (Cauldron's aren't bad even for omnis)? Ditto Quorn - either the mince or chicken-style pieces. I don't eat it, but some are happy with fake meat.

Do you already have vegetable stock cubes or bullion; toasted sesame oil; maybe sweet chilli sauce for tempura'd mixed veg.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I have a pack of tempeh, the only thing I have every done is a Madhur Jaffrey' Indonesian dish, the tempeh is cut into fingers, fried, then folded into a hot and sour sauce, something like this
https://lekkerletters.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/sambal-goreng-tempeh-kering/

It's nice but I'd like more SE Asian recipes, when I've asked vegetarians for recipes I've got suggestions for using it as a meat sub in western style recipes. Must look in Charmaine Solomons