What are some vegetarian meals or dishes you think people should know about?
I’m pretty guilty of using meat as a crutch in most of my cooking. I’d love to hear about some good meals for inspiration. Ideally things that aren’t made to imitate/replace meat but exist well on their own.
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A good Dahl over some rice is heaven itself. Add on a side of Chana/Aloo chatt and we’re talking some serious food satisfaction.
Lentil curry (daal) is one of my staples. Indian vegetarian food in general is just fantastic.
I’ve long said that if a doctor told me my next bite of meat would kill me, Indian and Thai food would be the only things keeping me alive
Lentil dahl. It’s… perfect.
I’ve got a few delicious veggie dishes that make the rounds on my house, check them out and give one or two a try:
Creamy Cherry Tomato and Squash pasta
French Lasagna (sorry for the FB link)
Pennoni with Caramelized Pear and Cavolo Nero
Grilled Nectarine Caprese Salad (great for summer)
Black Bean and Corn Salad (hella versatile, I like to make this with Dijon vinaigrette)
Sweet and Spicy Stewed Chickpeas
Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
psst, that peanut soup isn’t vegetarian, but it does look good
Ah, should have clarified, you can make it with or without the chicken (which I usually do) and it’ll still be great.
I love a good black bean burger. It has such a nice flavor profile that’s clearly not trying to be a beef substitute. Load it up with lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese, hot sauce, any condiments or toppings you like on a sandwich.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup is always a winner during the colder months.
Can’t go wrong with a big tray of roasted veggies. Chop up some potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, etc. Drizzle of olive oil, lightly salt and pepper, throw it in the oven, bon appétit.
A PB&J or a PB & Banana is a solid go-to.
A basic quiche is mainly eggs, spinach, and cheese.
Ramen and other pasta dishes that don’t require meat. Some pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, and seasonings can go a long way. Fettuccine alfredo is another good one.
Ramen almost always uses fish in the stock.
You can make a good ramen stock with vegetable broth, miso paste, soy sauce, and seaweed. Its takes like 5 mins to make too, just heat and mix.
My go-to are couscous salad with sun-dried tomato and feta because it’s really quick and you can make a lot, and peanut sauce noodle salad.
Summer time, this is one of my faves: bibim guksu (spicy Korean noodles)
Recently I’ve been going hard on the lentils, beans, and pulses. Curry soup with chickpeas and potatoes (I add lentils) Any curry, really. Chickpeas and lentils.
Winter is coming. I love this creamy vegetable soup because it is super low Calories and loaded with veg and no lactose if you prefer not. Still so creamy. It’s great when you need to clear out the dying veg in the fridge.
Don’t think I’ve ever had a cold noodle salad. Will try, thanks!
Chana masala
- Pierogi (and similar dumplings such as pelmeni and varenyky)
- Mapo tofu (without ground meat–Chinese tofu dish)
- Various styles of hot pot (meat products are optional)
- Soondubu (Korean tofu soup)
- Doenjang jigae (meat products again optional–Korean miso stew)
- Wild mushroom risotto
- Wild mushroom cream sauce on (whatever you prefer–pasta, baguette, gnocchi)
- Moroccan red lentil stew
- Butter paneer (Indian curry)
- Baingan bharta (Indian eggplant dish)
- Various Thai noodle dishes (meat is optional)
- Plus a huge variety of Japanese side dishes such as nimono (braised dishes; can include eggplant, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, etc), agedashidoufu (fried tofu with dashi), grilled eggplant, aemono (blanched green vegetables with dressing), ohitashi (blanched vegetables with dashi), onsen tamago (lightly poached egg with dashi, etc)
Garlic Sriracha Noodles with Broccolini is the best thing ever
A good unsweetened peanut butter definitely gets that satisfying fatty savoriness you normally get with meat.
Mutar paneer is one of my favorite dishes.
I usually use this recipe and then add a lot of peas near the end. I make my own paneer, usually every other week.
The recipe can be made vegan by replacing the paneer with extra firm tofu, the cream with coconut milk, and the butter with vegan butter.
recipe
Shahi Paneer
Indian
Ingredients:
400 grams Paneer (Cottage cheese) cut into cubes (see paneer prep note below) 2 tablespoons Oil
2 medium Onions finely chopped
15-20 Almonds
24 oz 5 medium Tomatoes finely chopped
1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
1 tablespoon Coriander powder
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Cream + for garnishing
1 teaspoon Kasoori methi powder
1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon Green cardamom powderDirections: Heat oil in a non stick kadai. Add onions and cashewnuts and sauté lightly. Add tomatoes and cook for 10-12 minutes or tomatoes are pulpy. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and sauté. Transfer this mixture into a mixer jar, cool and grind to a paste with a little water. Transfer the mixture into the same kadai. Add butter, cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add cream and mix well. Add paneer, kasoori methi powder, garam masala powder, green cardamom powder and mix well. Transfer into a serving bowl, garnish with some cream and serve hot.
My family prefers the paneer to be cooked before added to the dish. For that I use this:
paneer prep
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil. Gently, drop in the cubes of paneer and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes if you’re using the homemade kind. Let the cubes marinate while you get the rest of your ingredients together and prepped.
Pan fry the paneer before adding to the final dish. This also works with tofu.
Not sure I can get paneer, but this sounds interesting.
Make it yourself.
Bring a gallon of milk almost to a boil slowly. Add 1/2 or so acid (white vinegar, or lemon juice work well), the milk solids will separate from the whey. Let it sit off heat for 5-10 minutes. Then scoop out the solids into a strainer lined with a piece of cheese cloth.
Carefully wring out as much whey as possible, being careful the solids may still be very hot.
Place the solids while in the cheese cloth between two cutting boards or similar flat objects. Place them in a baking sheet to capture whey run off. Place the pot with the whey in it on top of the top cutting board. You may need to stand there to balance it.
I have been making paneer for almost 15 years now. I starting making it like this and have graduated to various cheese presses. I find mine preferable to store bought now too.
Sounds like something to do this weekend.
I am basic and a lot of people probably already know about it, but I think my absolute favorite is chana masala. I also like things like Thai peanut noodles, and a noodle recipe I don’t know the name of.
That recipe uses wheat noodles, soy sauce, fish sauce, gochujang hot pepper paste, ginger, MSG, sesame oil, and green onion. I forgot the exact amount of everything, so I use whatever feels right for each ingredient, but you fix your noodles and while they’re going, grate your ginger and chop green onions. Then mix everything but the noodles. After the noodles are done, mix them in and enjoy.
I would say tofu stuff, but my diet prevents me from having it often for health reasons. I don’t recommend being on blood thinners if you like tofu.
Edit:
Looks like the fish sauce I use uses anchovy, so you’d need an alternative to Squid Brand.
Not a full meal per se, but my mother would sometimes saute spinach and mushrooms in butter and red wine (plus probably garlic), if I remember correctly. It was pretty fucking good.
That sounds like great late night food.
Couple favorites from my wife and I - paneer curries (especially paneer makhani), bean and cheese enchiladas, tofu tacos (shallow fry small cubes of tofu to get some texture), and a salad topped with fried chickpeas/tomato/avocado along with anything else that sounds yummy. Sometimes just a huge bowl of pasta hits too, with some simple veg added.
A lot of South Asian food is naturally vegetarian or vegan. I make chana masala and lentil dahl a fair amount. Lots of flavour from the spices—there’s no need for meat.
I also like scrambled tofu, which you can season any way you like. I tend to put curry seasoning on it.
Avocado toast too, but that’s infrequent because avocados are expensive.
If you’ve never made creamy harissa butter beans I highly recommend it. One of the nicest vegan recipes I’ve made. If you’re not keen on spice, make sure to get mild harissa, as the spicy harissa gets quite spicy, speaking as someone who enjoys spice.
Generally I like any tofu dish. Tofu is often meant to accompany meats (traditionally at least) but I find that a lot of tofu dishes that traditionally have meat, work very well without the meat. My go-to lazy lunch is boiling some water with stock cubes and chucking in noodles, medium-firm tofu, a vegetable of my choice, and chilli crisp.
Avocado toast? In this economy? I’d like to afford a house some day…
Another with the Dahl. Guess I can’t avoid trying it, then.
Fried shiitake mushrooms with garlic, a splash of soy sauce, and lemon juice. I usually use garlic powder for convenience.
If you’re ok with lacto-ovo vegetarian dishes, it goes good with a fried egg and rice as a quick and tasty meal. Sometimes I’ll have some kimchi with it too if I’m in the mood and have some on hand. (Note: a lot of kimchi is not vegetarian – it often includes fish/seafood ingredients. The store near me sells both a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian version though and despite not being a vegetarian I prefer the taste of the vegetarian one slightly more, so I usually get that if they have it. Check the ingredients/labels if you’re unsure.)
The mushrooms are also a fantastic accompaniment to steak when you’re doing non-vegetarian cooking. Fry them in the same pan after making a steak on the stove and you can get something that can, frankly, eclipse the steak…
Another vegetarian dish I make sometimes (particularly in the summer) is basically just a chickpea salad. I usually use canned chickpeas for that with raw sliced vegetables like tomato, cucumber, red bell pepper, etc. I add salt, lemon juice, and olive oil and eat it with some toasted pita bread. Sometimes I will add avocado, chopped shallots, chunks of cheese, and/or a hard boiled egg if I have them handy and am in the mood – but it’s pretty good even without any of those extras. With canned chickpeas, I’ve found that I don’t like the version with firming agents added (usually calcium chloride, IIRC), so I always check the labels at the store and get ones without it.
A third vegetarian dish I like is a variant on spaghetti puttanesca. While I boil pasta, I prepare a sauce in a pan using canned tomatoes, olive oil, capers, kalamata-style black olives, salt, a pinch of msg, and cayenne pepper. Finish the pasta in the sauce. One of the things I really like about this dish is that all the ingredients are shelf-stable so you can keep them on hand and just make it whenever. (My version notably leaves out the anchovies from more common variants of the dish.)
