18 year vegetarian here. I am not vegan. I try to dairy that comes from well feed, free range cows. We have a local creamery, so that's pretty easy actually. I can go pet the cows (and have).
I'm not a vegetarian but do make efforts to ensure I'm not eating meat all week, every week. So give me vegetarian recipes! Mine nearly always involve pasta or eggs so some variation would make me happy.
Kim, do you like risotto? I love preparing that as a vegetarian meal, and you can top it however you like. I just saute whatever veggies (frozen or fresh) I have on hand. Todd's still a meat eater but he loves it when I make risotto. Cooking Light has a great recipe for a yummy Gouda/Mushroom Risotto, though I'd cut back significantly on the Gouda (it's ridiculously overwhelming) and just use whatever mushrooms you can find. I couldn't be arsed to buy 4 different types of ridiculously expensive mushrooms. Also, be sure to substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
You could also make a massive pot of marinara (Giada's recipe is really delish, I always double it) and freeze it in individual tupperware containers. I did it months ago and still have a good bit left. Sometimes if T is in a meat-eatin' mood, I'll bread a piece of chicken just for him so he can have Chicken Parmesan.
We also do the whole tomato soup/grilled cheese sandwich combination quite a bit. V8 has an awesome, uber-chunky and thick tomato soup that I love (dunno if you can get it across the pond, but I bet you can find something similar).
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I'm really sick of eating a Veggie Sub for lunch every day, but for some reason I can't be arsed to prepare my lunch ahead at home. I'm further burdened by the fact that I abhor eating salads as meals. My mother tortured me with salads as a kid, no lie. I spent every other night at the dinner table 'til 9pm, gagging and slowing chewing my salad. Blech!
Anyway...I will venture away from Subway today. There's a little dive of a taco place downtown called Nacho Mama's, they've got a yummy pinto bean taco thing going on.
I LOVE risotto, JayPea! I make lovely risotto! I do despise mushrooms, mind you, but I've made three cheese risotto and butternut squash risotto and yeah! Yum! But then I end up having it as a side dish to meat. I will have to start yumming it up with salads.
And soup! I make and eat soup every day for lunch. There's a lovely one where you roast up tomatoes and red onions for about two hours, with a whole bulb of garlic whacked in half in it. At the end, you squeeze the puree out the garlic and whizz it all up together with salt, pepper and a dash of balsamic. It is super. I water it down and add red lentils so it goes further.
I'm on a meat-reduction tip at the moment, which I know will sound rather half assed of me (because it is!) but I've got on the "Meat Free Monday" wagon as a way of motivating this so will definitely be lurking around for more ideas and stuff. Good thread!
My husband and I really really (really) like our red meat, but we've both been reading up on The China Study and have decided to go vegetarian/vegan with the occasional meat slip-up on special occasions (restaurants) or when visiting people that are feeding us (no way I can give it up forever anyway). Has anyone else read this book? Fascinating and scary stuff!
We're not even going to bother telling our families about it. John's family especially would scoff and roll their eyes, easier to just avoid it and eat the chicken, especially since I'll want the chicken! Our plan is to go vegetarian 3 days a week, vegan 3 days, and 1 day a week will be fish. Give or take. It's been about a week now. So far going vegetarian has been going well, vegan is way harder. No dairy?! No eggs?! Ugh. I haven't been able to cut the cream out of my coffee. Any non-dairy creamers out there that are creamy (not milky)?
ETA: John changed his mind, he's telling his family LOL he's not one to back down from people making fun of him (they will). He'll turn it into a lecture for sure.
Last edited by Stephanie; 12-10-2010 at 12:11 AM.
Stephanie, I prefer the Silk brand creamers. They are way more creamy than their soy milk and come in a couple of different flavors. I try to avoid non dairy creamers because they are made from corn syrup.
I went vegetarian recently also and I try to find vegan options whenever possible. Hard to stay away from cheese and eggs! The only meat slip-ups I've had have been pork related. It's so very, very yummy.
I'm an on/off vegetarian... I suffer from anemia, and have a lot of difficulty putting on/maintaining weight. I very rarely eat red meat, and only occasionally chicken/fish.
One of my best friends is a vegan, and her cooking is always the most amazing food I've eaten. I asked for some of her recipes, she told me 'buy the book!' as she gets them all from one place...
Hellooooooooooo giftmas present to myself:
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^This, goes on my list. I checked Amazon reviews, everyone seems to love it. Thanks!
What are your fave veggie/vegan recipe sites?
^ 101 Cookbooks has a nice selection of vegan and veggie recipes. Check the left sidebar for direct links. I haven't tried any of them yet, but have been drooling over Heidi Swanson's food photos for months!
I love food gawker because I'm a sucker for (nice) photos of the recipes. You can change the search options at the top, btw.
http://foodgawker.com/post/category/vegan/
Thanks! I know have my afternoon activities :P