So, vegetarians

[mattham]

...what do you eat? Following on from the Hard Times in ED thread, what to cook in the vegetarian style that isn't curry or lasagna?

[MadWorld74]

use lots of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices, pulses, beans, tofu, quorn and become a better cook.

There is nothing that a meat eater eats that can't be recreated for a veggie with the above ingredients.

Pasta and rice are something I eat now and again. I have been a veggie for 21 years and have not had any boring meals.

You need to make friends with your kitchen and go discover.

[mockney piers]

"There is nothing that a meat eater eats that can't be recreated for a veggie with the above ingredients. "

Utter patent nonsense, but your heart's in the right place I guess.

At this time of year I've been using lots of the pumpkins, squashes etc. Dice and roast em up for 45 minutes with cloves of garlic and goose fat good olive oil and they're great accompaniment for many dishes, nice in risottos too.

Ratatouille with nice courgettes, aubergine tomato etc on some good quality rice (rather than the boring long grain stuff), shove a little bit of wild rice in for nuttiness and texture.

Basically, as CrystalClear would say, start with some garlic and chili and go from there.

[Ant]

There is nothing that a meat eater eats that can't be recreated for a veggie with the above ingredients

Bacon.

Not that I'm bashing veggie food, I like it a lot and don't actually eat all that much meat. It's just that I believe there really is no decent substitute to a nice bit of bacon.

EDIT. Mockers, did you forget to close out a strike tag? It's gone all weird.

EDITED AGAIN: I like a lot of the stuff in this book: Cranks Fast Food http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cranks-Fast-Food-Vitality-Health/dp/1841881589/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228141841&sr=8-7

[MadWorld74]

...lets see, I work with 4 other people, I'm the only veggie. What did we all have for lunch?

person 1: a packet of crisps (because they couldn't be arsed to go out)

person 2: a ham and salad sandwich

person 3: a very boring bowl of soup from a tin

person 4: piece of cheese and some bagels

ME...home made, wild rice, baby plum tomatoes, black olives, rocket, feta cheese and smoked tofu salad with a lime, black pepper and olive oil dressing. All made in about 5 minutes. Saves dying a death every day choosing what to eat in yet another sandwich shop.

That's what veggies eat.

Hungry?

[MadWorld74]

sort it out

[MadWorld74]

whats this line business?

[MadWorld74]

as for bacon.....

[mockney piers]

Whoops, my bad!

[Strawbs]

quinoa is a fantastic option, its cheap (about 1.?? a box and that would easily last a person 6 meals) if you roast some veg and then mix is all together or add sesame oil, spriing onions and cashews and its fantastic (cous cous is also an option if you prefer) and as with lentils it is super high in protein it makes you feel fuller for longer, halumi and aubergine curry - 200gms halumi, 1 medium aub and some curry powder - feeds 2, hot and sour soup - veggie stock, tom yam paste, some mushrooms and spring onions, pinch of sugar and a splash of lime juice and bob's your uncle you have a fantastic winter warming soup, a warm salad - lettuce, cherry toms, sweet pepper, green olives then fry up a mung bean mix (get it from the fruit guy on northcross) and add a couple pieces of halumi and vwala you have a fantastically filling, cheap and warm dinner.. Vegetarian spag bol with quorn mince, stuffed aubergine with borlotti beans - this is fantastic!

There are so many healthy, yummy cheap meals you can make being a veggie.. Today for lunch I had a salad made up of rocket, cherry toms and cheese, some lentils (hot) and a piece of rye bread with humous, was scrumptios!

[Ant]

Saves dying a death every day choosing what to eat in yet another sandwich shop.

Which is precisely what made me go back to meat, after a brief period of trying out being veggie. So, so bored of the egg/cheese offerings, and not a fan of slimy roast peppers in a sarnie. There wasn't enough choice.

By choice I mean choice that worked for me: easily accessible and affordable. Yes I probably could have got up earlier and made stuff myself/spent more money/walked further. But in the end I chose to eat meat rather than do that. Meh.

[James]

There is an upside to the lack of choice - it never takes long to decide! Although I have to wonder where you're getting your lunch Ant. Where I work there's a Pret A Manger, Eat, Boots and M&S food nearby - each of which tend to have at least 3 or 4 veggie options. So on the rare occasions I don't have a packed lunch, I never feel limited.

[mockney piers]

lets see, I work with 4 other people, I'm the only veggie. What did we all have for lunch?

...

Saves dying a death every day choosing what to eat in yet another sandwich shop.

In fairness your point boils down to you thinking about what you eat and making the time and effort to prepare good food, an the others being lazy, and hat's off to you!!

But it's not really a veggie vs meat issue is it.

[Cassius]

There are millions of pasta dishes that are veggie, then there are risotto dishes, vegetable curry dishes, vegetable cous cous, vegetable gratins, omelettes, souffles.

Like MW74 I take my own lunches in - not only do I know exactly what ingredients have been used, I don't use any packaging and I save myself money.

[Keef]

bacon

Ha ha, Mrs Keef, after 28 years of being veggie, still Misses the bacon sandwiches her dad used to make her, and still looks at mine with envy when I cook one up on a Saturday morning!

Those weird pretend bacon rashers that look ike insoles are just wrong!

Anyway, back to the original post, I bought Mrs Keef a "veggie bible" which she says is great. I shall check the details and post them here later.

[HonaloochieB]

I had a vegetarian sandwich today.

Well the bloody ham was sliced so thin, it could reasonably have been sold as such.

[mattham]

Well if you could fashion me a roast goose from your list of ingredients MadWorld I'll save a fortune this Christmas. But thanks for the ideas everyone; keep 'em coming.

[Ant]

Mmm... goose. And spuds roasted in goosefat.

That's another thing for which there's no real veggie alternative.

[HonaloochieB]

I find with a lot of veggie stuff, including MW's delicious sounding lunch that it makes a great accompaniement to meat.

Imagine MW's salad with a nice slice or two of gammon.

Perfect.

[MadWorld74]

Goose fat? yikes and Jesus...think of the inside of your arteries. I havent always been a veggie so I so understand what you bang on about when you dribble over that bacon sandwich. Being veggie you have to work a bit harder to get a balanced diet and because of that you tend to be particular about what you eat. Have to be. No point otherwise.

[mockney piers]

As it goes, the South of France, where almost everything is drizzled in goose fat, has the lowest incidence of heart disease in Europe, and apparently it might just be very good for you!!

[????]

Mrs Quids (but thankfully not the Quidlings) is a veggie...imagine the fun she had when we lived in southern Spain for a year...not the place to be a veg as I'm sure our resident Span, Mockney, can vouch

[MadWorld74]

the days of nut roast, lasagne and f-ing risotto are over......there are some seriously good veggie restuarants about. I have in the past fooled Mr MW74 by giving him spag bol made with a mince sustitute (Realeat), and he being an Aussie who has eaten anything that has walked, did not know the difference.(tu)

[mockney piers]

very true quids. You can survive a bit better in the north and south coasts, especially if you stretch to fish, but in central Spain, might as well give up ;-/

[Cassius]

"the days of nut roast, lasagne and f-ing risotto are over." What's wrong with a risotto made with the best arborio rice, good stock and white wine and either asparagus, squash or other suitable vegetable? Still served in the best Italian restaurants and if made properly can knock the socks off most meals.