# A veggie recipe thread.



## Olly Buckle (Jan 1, 2020)

There are all sorts of reasons for not eating meat, or eating less meat, I am not going there, I assume if you clicked on the thread you have some interest.

I am not a fantastic cook, to tell the truth my partner does most of the cooking because she doesn't always like what I produce, but she works two days a week and it is good to have something ready when she gets home. It can't always be baked potatoes, but that is a good, simple staple, so I will start there and hope some of you bring in some fresh ideas 

Start by choosing potatoes of the appropriate size and amount, I reckon about one and a half big ones or one large one small each. I always wash them. You don't get much off bagged potatoes nowadays, but I like to think that what I eat starts clean, even if I an cooking it and killing all germs.

The next step is to be sure the steam can get out when the potato gets hot. My mum used to stick a fork deep into it in several places, but my partner taught me to make a cut all the way around the diameter, then the potato falls neatly in half when it is done. I have forgotten and had a potato explode in the oven, it makes a horrid mess and you tend to remember after that.

You can simply put them on the oven shelf to cook, but it works better if you stick something metal into them to conduct the heat into the centre. metal barbecue spears go right through and you can space a couple down each one, an all metal knife works, don't even think of one with a plastic handle.

Stick them in about the middle of the oven, if you have lots put the bigger ones on the higher shelf, and put it on at the lower end of medium heat, that is about gas mark four to five. They are going to take about an hour and a half to two hours, but it is not really critical so I usually allow two to be sure to be sure. If they are not done through don't even try eating them, sliced thinly they will go well in the next fry up, but toxins in raw potato can make you ill.

One of the good things about the long and not too critical cooking time is if the missus gets caught up and is a bit late it doesn't matter. The other good thing is it gives time to get something to go with them, this is important, just potato is boring, even with butter on. The traditional quick and easy solution is a warmed up tin of baked beans and some grated cheddar, but it doesn't have to be.

A recent one was a slice of left over nut roast with a salad, most savoury left overs will work, cauliflower cheese is nice.
Salad can be the whole thing, not just a side dish to something else. In that case I try and do something a bit extra, for example chopped celery, apple, and walnut as a base with what I have added, cucumber, green pepper, spring onion, whatever. Experiment, but try with only one or two things first until you get a taste for what goes together. Then I add a good squeeze of salad cream and a dribble of olive oil and season before mixing it all up. The crunch and the floury potato go well, with the salad cream and olive oil providing a lubricant. I'll season with black pepper, and any number of spices, but again, not all at once, and of course you can use all sorts of nuts, I like walnut and celery, but why not almond and finely diced carrot? I also like something sweet , like date, halved grapes or dried apricot, in there, but the other half hates it so I leave it for when I am on my own

It's quite simple really, I just made a meal of it  :

Got to go , dinner is ready.


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## Ma'am (Jan 1, 2020)

Interesting. Also, great thread!

Sometimes we just have potatoes with toppings for dinner these days, or with a salad on the side. I usually just microwave them whole after washing and making a cut lengthwise so you can just split the potato open after it's cooked. My usual toppings are sliced green onions, sliced black olives and diced tomatoes but we've had all sorts of other toppings, just depending on what we have on hand. I also like them with just salt and pepper, especially the yellow/gold potatoes because they look and taste buttery without the butter.


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## escorial (Jan 1, 2020)

Why do vegans eat food that looks like meat..I go the egg Cafe in the city centre an there the best sellers


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## KenTR (Jan 1, 2020)

One of my quick, easy meals is to make Hamburger Helper, but I substitute veggies for the beef. You just have to reduce the amount of water the directions call for.


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## Ma'am (Jan 1, 2020)

escorial said:


> Why do vegans eat food that looks like meat..I go the egg Cafe in the city centre an there the best sellers



Only some of them do, not all. I'm not 100% vegan but if it counts, I don't care for most of the fake meat and fake dairy. It typically contains a lot of fake or processed ingredients that I don't recognize as food. I'm looking for a good veggie or bean burger recipe, though. Not because it looks like meat but because it will stay together on a bun or sandwich.


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## PiP (Jan 1, 2020)

I used to make a delicious red lentil quiche. I've been searching through my recipe books for the last hour  Looks like I'll have to resort to Google

ETA: This one looks interesting
http://www.slimmingeats.com/blog/lentil-cheddar-bake

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJycs3Fj0rQ


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## PiP (Jan 1, 2020)

Ma'am said:


> ... I don't care for most of the fake meat and fake dairy. It typically contains a lot of fake or processed ingredients that I don't recognize as food.



I try to avoid processed foods especially anything which is fat free/reduced fat. I've also started using coconut oil and when I have time make my own oat or almond milk.


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 1, 2020)

escorial said:


> Why do vegans eat food that looks like meat..I go the egg Cafe in the city centre an there the best sellers



I really had to work to get meaning out of that, esc. It was the 'there' for 'they are' said as "they're" that threw me. Sometimes I wonder if you do it on purpose so we read your posts twice 

Seriously though I sort of agree. Sometimes it works, tonight we had a Thai green curry tonight with slivers of quorn in it. On the other hand we have the same curry sometimes with just green beans of various sorts, I think it might have been a Nigel Slater recipe originally, but stuff gets adapted. Tonight's was made with a can of low fat coconut milk and much less veg stock, so the quorn tops up the protein. 

It is a really fiddly recipe with lots of prepping and pre-steaming veg. An occasional, a New Year Day Treat.

To eat the same meals as you would if you were eating meat though seems weird. It is a mind set; meat eaters base everything else around this lump of high value, socially important, protein. I think people eating veg meals tend to be much less social or formal in their eating habits: things like table manners are based on a good natured informal code rather than an instilled formal one.


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## escorial (Jan 1, 2020)

Aldi do I nice bean burgers...their vegan section is small but tasty....

Vegan food is getting cheaper and more varied...if I cud pack in bacon my red meat intake would stop...still eat fish and chicken though....


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## Ma'am (Jan 4, 2020)

Here's one of my favorite quick veggie dinners.

Veggie Soft Tacos 

2 cans black beans, drained 

1/2 or more envelope taco seasoning mix

Package of whole wheat store bought tortillas 

chopped tomato

chopped green onion (aka spring onion)

chopped cilantro (which goes by something different in the UK, I believe? Anyway, the fresh, raw, green stuff)

sliced black olives

corn, not on the cob 

sliced or mashed avocado

Chopped jalapeno pepper

Lime wedges


Directions:

1) Chop everything that needs chopping and put it into individual bowls so everyone can assemble their own.

2) Microwave the beans with the taco seasoning for a minute or so.

3) Microwave the tortillas for 30 secs or so

4) Post a pic here.


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 4, 2020)

That sounds just the sort of thing I could manage well Ma'am. We have just finished a weeks work, but next Thursday or Friday ...

Cilantro is what we call coriander, I am not sure about 'black beans', but looking on line the supermarket lists them as 'black turtle beans'.

Quite excited, I like something new. I'll let you know how it goes.

Edit, now I am torn, the lentil bake looks good, PiP, and it is the sort of thing she could take for lunch next day, Bake thurs Tacos fri. ? That would surprise her


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## Ma'am (Jan 4, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> That sounds just the sort of thing I could manage well Ma'am. We have just finished a weeks work, but next Thursday or Friday ...
> 
> Cilantro is what we call coriander, I am not sure about 'black beans', but looking on line the supermarket lists them as 'black turtle beans'.
> 
> Quite excited, I like something new. I'll let you know how it goes.



You are quite welcome, Olly. Yes, I looked up black turtle beans and it looks the same. Or you could use pinto beans, or any other type, really.


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## Foxee (Jan 4, 2020)

I make *Coconut Lentil Cauliflower Curry* now and again and everyone likes it (even the kids). I was looking for a link to where I got the recipe and found out that there are tons of variations so if you don't like this one, you can try another!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/256040/coconut-red-lentil-curry/

What is a food post without a picture, I ask you?


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## Ma'am (Jan 4, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> That sounds just the sort of thing I could manage well Ma'am. We have just finished a weeks work, but next Thursday or Friday ...
> 
> Cilantro is what we call coriander, I am not sure about 'black beans', but looking on line the supermarket lists them as 'black turtle beans'.
> 
> ...



Oops, I forgot to include lime wedges. Corrected.


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## Dive Bar Casanova (Jan 6, 2020)

Figures I bought a meat smoker and the wifie goes vegetarian on me the sane week.
I've dined at a few good veggie places and a few not so good.

I do all the cooking in the house so I'm learning good veggie dishes and exploring what's out there. Just getting started.

Disneyland has recently offered some really good Vegan and vegetarian dishes and I'm cutting them into our meals here at home. The kids love them.
The Impossible and Beyond fake meats seem to have a foul odor and the crumbles are like pencil erasers so I'm exploring better foods to cook with.

[video=youtube;V2yaGX0xWgA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2yaGX0xWgA&amp;t=114s[/video]


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## Ma'am (Jan 6, 2020)

Dive Bar Casanova said:


> The Impossible and Beyond fake meats seem to have a foul odor and the crumbles are like pencil erasers so I'm exploring better foods to cook with.



We started with mostly whole food, plant-based for health reasons, so the fake meats don't fit well for us. Too many weird ingredients and too processed. I usually just use beans instead, if that helps.


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## PiP (Jan 6, 2020)

Tonight I cooked smoked salmon and courgette tagliatelle. Okay not strictkly veg more pescatarian. Does this count? https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pescatarian-diet


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 6, 2020)

PiP said:


> Tonight I cooked smoked salmon and courgette tagliatelle. Okay not strictkly veg more pescatarian. Does this count? https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pescatarian-diet



Not truly veggie, but I'm not censorious. Really it's the missus that is veggie, I eat meat from time to time if we eat out or she goes on holiday. Actually more the latter, I like to know where my meat comes from. On the other hand She has started eating fish, suddenly felt a need. I don't like fish much, it's okay, but ...


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## Dive Bar Casanova (Jan 6, 2020)

Ma'am said:


> We started with mostly whole food, plant-based for health reasons, so the fake meats don't fit well for us. Too many weird ingredients and too processed. I usually just use beans instead, if that helps.



Yes,,, and mushrooms.


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 17, 2020)

Last night we had soup and baked potatoes, I covered the potatoes in my first post, so here is soup as I make it.

2 sticks of celery
2 carrots
An onion
2 small potatoes
A vegetable stock cube
A good splash of olive oil
Assorted herbs to taste (Or what's green in the garden right now)
A clove of garlic

Take a large saucepan and fry the finely chopped onion and garlic in the oil, while it is frying chop up the carrot, celery and potato and add them to it when the onion is translucent. Continue to let it fry while you make up the stock cube, that is 'not long', you don't want the potato to brown. Make up the stock cube with about one and a half to two times the amount of water it says on the packet, then add it to the vegetables, put the lid on the saucepan, bring to the boil and then turn down so it just simmers gently. Cook long enough that the carrot and potato are soft, then blitz it. Ready.

I make variations, paprika is a good thing to add, as is black pepper. Stock cubes are quite salt heavy so I don't add that. Sweet potato instead of potato makes a creamy variation, and I have used left over mashed potato instead of potato as well.

Simple and surprisingly good, the above makes two big bowls.

Edit, remember to stir it regularly at all stages, you don't want it sticking to the pan. Sometimes I take a bit out before blitzing it, then put it back after for a bit of different texture.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 9, 2020)

I am on my own at the moment and thought I'd best have a proper Sunday dinner, it worked really well, trouble is I didn't exactly follow a recipe. It was a nut roast and went like this.

I chopped a half an onion fine with two large closed cap mushrooms and put them on a really low heat with a splosh of olive oil in the frying pan.

Into a bowl I put about small handful of sunflower seeds, ditto broken walnuts, ditto pine nuts, about a couple of spoons of ground almond, half a dozen cashews and some ground mixed nuts. I was just about to blitz this when the electric went off, so I ground it up with the end of the rolling pin.
At some point during this I added a splash of tamari soy sauce to the onion and mushroom which were getting pretty done.
I crumbled up about a quarter slice of bread into breadcrumbs and added that, the mushroom and onion, a vegetable 'stock pot' and a couple of good spoonfuls of 'multigrain porridge oats'. 
Then I mixed it thoroughly with a fork and then the electric came back on and I heated a kettle and poured in a little boiling water til I had a good stiff mix and popped it in a low oven for two hours with some roast parsnip and a baked potatoe, made gravy and cooked some savoy cabbage just before taking it out. Had seconds and there is a bit for having with salad tomorrow.


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## Neetu (Feb 9, 2020)

There are two kinds of vegans: those who choose vegan diet for health reasons and those who are passionately against animal farming and slaughter. Those who make a conscious decision for health reasons still like the taste of meat but intentionally give it up. To fulfill the craving, they choose foods that have the texture of meat.


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## Ma'am (Feb 9, 2020)

Some vegans also do it for the environment.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 10, 2020)

I am not vegan, or even vegetarian, but I do recognise that most meat farming is pretty destructive so I eat it rarely and I am usually careful about sourcing it. I am not too worried by the lovely cuddly little animals. I have trapped, gutted and eaten a good few rabbits and reckon I could happily cope with larger if the occasion arose. Commercial slaughter changes the game a bit, I have met some unpleasant slaughter-men. I live with a veggie, but as I said in the last post she is away at the moment, and I am certainly not taking the chance to stock up on meat like some people seem to think I would. A little bit of meat once every couple of weeks is a nice change, but mostly I like veggie food. Last night's nut roast was an exception, I tend not to cook one main thing with veg round it like meat meals but things that go together or several small bits during the day.


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## Neetu (Feb 10, 2020)

I am not, either. But one of my children is and it has taught me to see things from her perspective. Like you, I am just a more discerning consumer and eat mostly vegetarian but not strictly. Just eat less meat and more grains and vegetables.


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## Theglasshouse (Feb 10, 2020)

Tapioca with eggs, tapioca with cheese (your choice). Chicken peas with salad.

I eat salad by serving that first and serving the rice on top and beans. (dont know how much rice but enough less than the vegetables)

Lentil with salad.

White beans (kind of dont like red beans) combined with anything vegetarian (vegetables). You don't need a salad dressing. This reduces the salt.

Black beans and so for some permutations of the recipe (for all salads for its taste and nutrition benefits). I dont like adding table salt to salad or olives.

Tuna with oil (excellent to eat with salad) no salad dressing is needed. (or salt)

Parmesan cheese with salad and a low salt dressing if possible.

Eggplant, many recipes, the sky is the limit. It happens to be a favorite of mine. Eggplant parmigiana, there are many varieties.

Red cucumber peppers with cheese melted inside and your choice of filling. (that's my mother's favorite it seems).

There are some strange vegetables always worth exploring in asian markets. If you make a small garden you will have them available.

One such vegetable I tasted was like chocolate!

No sugar was needed.

I wish I knew their names, I'd need to look for the translation.

Oregano tastes good with eggplant as a spice.

The legend of the garlic sprout. If you find these on the market make a recipe out of them. I used to go to a restaurant called Peking gourmet. I would always go on my birthdays. Here is the only recipe of garlic spout we ever tasted. It's very delicious. Obviously I don't know the recipe. If you are adventurous, dare I say you should research it further. But without motivation or sampling of the recipe it is difficult. It wasn't sweet, so definitely worth the effort to learn. If I had a second hobby, it would be gardening Asian vegetables and cooking some recipes that I like.


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## Foxee (Mar 4, 2020)

This is my go-to cold/cough/bronchitis remedy soup.

Dr. Ziment's Medicinal Chicken Soup

ETA: While this is better with the chicken stock I usually make it with vegetable broth because that's quickest to make.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 5, 2020)

Sounds great Foxee, but not exactly a veggie recipe.


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## escorial (Mar 5, 2020)

alot of rain has fallen since I wore this badge with any credibility...


I can still remember my mother who was not supportive whatsoever...asking me.
do I want a bacon butty...after so long it tasted of guilt and joy


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## Darren White (Mar 5, 2020)

I am Egyptian and eat hardly any meat.
I am also a foodie, and I cook:

- hummus
- baba ganoush
- and bake my own pita bread to dip with

Enjoy


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## Foxee (Mar 5, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> Sounds great Foxee, but not exactly a veggie recipe.


Sorry, Olly! I forgot to mention that I've been making this with vegetable broth.


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## hvysmker (Mar 5, 2020)

This is not a fake recipe, but an honest-to-God staple with my family.  You'll find it both edible and inexpensive -- most ingredients found in any kitchen.  If a search of your refrigerator finds any of the fresh veggies missing, canned or dried goods may be substituted.  The prime ingredient, the Soup Stone, may be lying on a shelf in your basement, or even being used as a doorstop.  If not, check in and around local dumpsters.  You'll find stones are available everywhere, and free for the taking.  You can be inventive.  If no broth, substitute half a can of Alpo Canned Puppie Chow.   

 Indian Stone Soup Recipe:

 1 Three pound rock. (From bottom of can or dumpster is good, though you can't beat the flavor of a well-broken in Soup Stone.)  Clean loose soil and dirt off rock.  Then Preboil for six hours, changing water often until it stays clear.

 3 Sticks celery.
 3 lbs. Potatoes,  
 2 lbs. Carrots.
 1 Large Onion.  
 Salt, Black Pepper, 

 Cut vegetables into small pieces and put aside.  Place Preboiled rock in Pot. Add all ingredients. Cook over medium fire until vegetables are tender. Season to taste.  Either use sharp knife to slice rock into quarter-inch slices or store in corner of damp cellar for reuse.  Without stone slices, serves four.  Five, with the stone.

 A good soup rock can last for generations.  I use one my mother purchased off a full-blooded MooHaHa Indian working as a dishwasher at a diner in New Delhi.  It's supposed to have been used on Mediterranean ships for hundreds of years. The soup goes well with homemade butter and Civil War hardtack purchased on E-Bay.

 Charlie


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## ppsage (Mar 5, 2020)

*Tumeric Rice w/ Carrot*

Serves Two

1/2 large carrot in small dice
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 teaspoon ground dried turmeric
olive oil
water

Mix a teaspoon of oil into the rice and set aside.
Lightly soften carrot in a medium-hot skillet with some oil (I use a small enameled casserole.) Let it get a bit of color.
Sprinkle the turmeric onto the carrot and stir. It will stick a bit don't worry.
Dump in the rice and stir vigorously to get even color. It will stick a lot. Still don't worry. Turn down the heat and form the rice into a centered pile.
Pour in a scant 1/2 cup water (or less; too little is way better than too much) into the pile and cover closely. I use a smaller lid which fits inside the pan but is domed enough for the rice to fit.
Turn off the heat and wait ten minutes at least. Stir again before serving. Most of the stickings should easily come up now. It's easy to wash out anyway.

Fresh parsley garnishes well if wanted.​
We sometimes use this as a side dish, but mostly it goes into burritos with beans and cheese and etc.

EDIT: Obviously in a dish like this, wild variations of quantities will still work well. The amounts are my guesstimates mostly just for the purposes of proper recipe etiquette.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 6, 2020)

hvysmoker; not sure about that, the stone won't last for generations if you slice and serve it for a start, and the puppy chow you talk about substituting for broth won't be vegetarian I am guessing, plus you don't actually mention broth in the recipe. Hmmm. On the other hand I guess having a solid heat source might well change the cooking, and when I mentioned it to the Missus before she went off to work she said "I had stone soup in Peru, it was good" (She travels lots). Does it matter what the stone is? Strikes me that flint or granite might work well, chalk or limestone might actually slice.

ppsage; Now that sounds like a useful addition to a lot of dishes. I can imagine it with a potato cake and a bit of vegetable curry for example.

Potato cakes.

Left over potato, or mashed potato
An onion.
An egg.
Mixed herbs.
Tamari soy sauce.
A little flour, sometimes
Left over cooked carrot if you have it
Olive oil
Mustard powder or made mustard
Black pepper

Chop and fry the onion, I always use olive oil, but any good cooking oil will do. While it is frying mash the potato if whole and mash in the carrot. Carrot is not easy to mash, but don't worry, fairly mashed is good enough.
Dump the onion on the potato and mix in thoroughly, if it is enough to warm the potato leave it a minute as the next step is to whoosh the egg round with a fork and put that in and you don't want it starting to turn into scrambled egg. Add the herbs, mustard, pepper, and any other seasoning you fancy, I sometimes put a tiny amount of chilli.
At this point you decide whether or not you need the flour, if the egg has made it runny sprinkle a little in to stiffen it up.
Dump spoonfulls of the mixture in the frying pan and flatten out a bit, fry gently and slowly until brown both sides.
Serve with a few drops of soy sauce on top.

If you do use the flour be careful to cook it for long enough, raw flour does not improve it. When we were still meat eaters I used to put finely chopped bacon in as well, and the kids loved it. They make veggie bacon and I guess you could use that, but I try and steer clear of pretend meat. 
Meat is a different way of eating. Jane Goodall noted that when Chimps hunted meat they would all gather around to eat and communicate, but eating things like ripe fruit they would sit separately in different parts of the tree and keep themselves to themselves.
 I have noticed there is a tendency for everyone to sit down around the table to eat a main course meat dinner, but with veggie they will often take their plates and disperse through the house. Of course social factors come into play as well, but it does seem a general tendency.


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## Neetu (Mar 17, 2020)

Do you ever make scalloped potatoes, Olly? They're pretty easy to make and delicious! I love potatoes.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 18, 2020)

That is new to me, Neetu, but it looks very similar to the Dauphinoise potatoes my partner sometimes makes.


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## REBtexas (Mar 21, 2020)

That is a good question.  I noticed this too when I lived as a full time super-vegetarian monk for 5 years.  Just now an then I'd hear this; even from the leaders.  Personally I believe as one advances spiritually there is a very good chance that one will adopt a vegetarian diet.  But still, you asked a good question. In Chapter 3 of my book, "_Krishna and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance" _you will see that I have included this subject as part of the original purpose of writing it.


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## Ma'am (Mar 28, 2020)

This isn't exactly a recipe but I just put peanut butter on a banana and it is delicious.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 28, 2020)

Peanut butter goes with almost everything!

Last night we had butternut squash with quinoa stuffing from the BBC good food recipe along with sugar snap peas, delicious.

1 medium butternut squash
olive oil
, for roasting
pinch dried oregano
150g ready-to-eat quinoa
 (we used Merchant Gourmet Red and White Quinoa)
100g feta cheese
50g toasted pine nut
1 small carrot
, grated (around 50g)
small bunch chives, snipped
juice half lemon
1 red pepper, chopped
50g pitted black olive
2 spring onions
, chopped
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Halve the butternut squash, scoop out the seeds and score the flesh with a sharp knife.
Arrange the two halves on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, sprinkle with dried oregano and cook for 40 minutes. Take out the oven, add the chopped peppers to the tray alongside the squash and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix the rest of the ingredients. Take the tray out of the oven and carefully transfer the peppers to the stuffing mix. Stir together and spoon the filling onto the butternut squash. Return to the oven for 10 mins. Serve.
Recipe from bbcgoodfood.com, January 2012


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## Ma'am (Mar 28, 2020)

I just mixed up some canned beans and canned corn, and cut up fresh spinach, broccoli and tomatoes, then spooned it into some bell peppers and microwaved it for five minutes. What made it taste good is that the beans are "chili beans" with spices and liquid that serves as a gravy (with no meat or dairy). I don't want to eat that much bell pepper but thought it was cute anyway.


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## Firemajic (Mar 28, 2020)

looks festive and very yummy...


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 13, 2020)

Spinach and feta pie.

We had this for dinner the other night, the missus is working from home and won't let me cook (??) so we have been eating well, I have her recipe book to hand , so here goes.

200g spinach
2-3 roasted red peppers
100 - 150g feta cheese
2eggs, beaten
1/2 250g pack filo pastry

Method
Cook spinach, drain and cool.
Roast red peppers and skin
Crumble feta cheese
Slice red peppers and add to spinach and feta
Mix together with eggs
Brush a sheet of filo with olive oil and drape over 22cm cake tin
Brush another two sheets and arrange to cover base leaving some of sheet overhanging.
Add filling.
Pull sides into middle on top and scrunch loosely.
Brush with a little more oil.
Bake Gas 4 for 30 mins until golden brown.
Remove from tin and bake for a further 10 mins or so to avoid soggy bottom.

No one wants a soggy bottom 

The filo on top makes a crispy decoration, it looks as good as it tastes. We had it with new potatoes, stir fry mushroom, tomato, courgette and garlic and garden herbs, and sweet corn.


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 22, 2020)

Sainsbury's vegetarian selection has falafel pizza. Should those two words even be put together? I can't imagine they sell many.


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## Ma'am (Apr 22, 2020)

Sometimes they try too hard, I think!


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## Ma'am (Apr 22, 2020)

Here's some tasty vegan potato salad. I usually just cook rather than use recipes so this could definitely be changed up according to what you have on hand. I used: a three pound bag of potatoes, microwaved then diced, skins left on; a chopped up bunch of fresh dill; a finely chopped onion; 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped and micro'd for a minute; a few black olives; a couple of squirts of mustard; and salt to taste. Serve hot or cold. I wish I'd have saved some of the red bell pepper I just used up to add some color to it. Some peas from the freezer or shredded carrot would have worked too, come to think of it.


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## Olly Buckle (Apr 23, 2020)

Our microwave sits in the corner doing nothing most of the time, mainly used to re-heat leftovers or make the missus's instant calorie controlled porridge. It is getting old and I am hoping she will demand a replacement soon so I can bag it for sterilising soil for planting seeds in the greenhouse. I tried it once when she was on holiday, works beautifully, but shhh, don't tell.

I agree fully with not peeling the spuds, so much more flavour, so much less work. I have never used dill, I can't say I even know what it tastes like, the recipe books always say it is for fish.


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 20, 2020)

If you plant one courgette plant it will fail, if you plant three to be sure they will all do wonderfully, then you need this recipe, plus is it is really good as well.

Courgette fritters

500g courgette
1/2 tsp salt
40g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
20g polenta
4 spring onions finely chopped
2 eggs
nutmeg
(herbs and feta optional)

Coarsely grate the cougette, toss with the salt and leave for 30mins to 1 hour. Then squeeze out the excess water
Mix flour, polento, nutmeg, and baking powder and stir into courgette with spring onions, eggs and optional extras if desired
Lightly season
Make fritters and shallow fry until golden.

Eat good and hot, yum.


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## Taylor (Jul 20, 2020)

Favourite dinner salad:

blanched asparagus
avocado
boiled egg
fresh dill
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
bacon (optional, can replace with walnuts)

Very tasty and super filling!


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 21, 2020)

Biro said:


> Never liked courgettes Olly.  Are they related to cucumbers?
> 
> Do you remember spam fritters Olly?  All greasy with salt and vinegar



Same family, different genera. Remember the mnemonic 'Kids prefer cheese over fried green spinach' Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species? So fairly distant, but both 'Gourds'.

Mum used to make great spam fritters, thin and tasty, then I saw some advertised in the chip shop a little while ago. Horrible big chunks of spam, all greasy like you say. The seagull had them.

Make those fritters nice and thin and they really are tasty, not at all like courgettes, which I like fried in butter as well 

No bacon here Taylor, it's the veggie thread, but walnuts sounds good.


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## Turnbull (Jul 23, 2020)

I have made vegetarian barbeque sauce before.  It's based with ketchup, soy sauce, and a tad of something sweet.  The "something sweet" is something like orange juice, honey, pineapples, jam, strawberries, anything.  From there I add whatever spices I feel like, mainly garlic salt and anything particularly spicy.  Many times I chop up a tomato to put in there, and last time used one instead of ketchup -- which still tastes good, but isn't as thick.  Vinegar is also important, and sometimes lemon juice goes in.  There are no measurements because it's all by taste.  I just cook it in a skillet until it's done.  If you're not going to put it on meat, sliced cucumbers works really well with it.


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## TripleFade (Jul 28, 2020)

I’m a carb fiend, so most of my recipes are just noodles with sesame oil, chili flakes and soy sauce... but I can recommend chopping up crimini mushrooms and frying them in olive oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Throw them in a pita pocket and it’s good eatin’. 

That said, been vegetarian 30 years, been single for the last seven, so most of my recipes are ‘serves one’.


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 28, 2020)

TripleFade said:


> I’m a carb fiend, so most of my recipes are just noodles with sesame oil, chili flakes and soy sauce... but I can recommend chopping up crimini mushrooms and frying them in olive oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Throw them in a pita pocket and it’s good eatin’.
> 
> That said, been vegetarian 30 years, been single for the last seven, so most of my recipes are ‘serves one’.



Hi there. Welcome to the forum. When I cook it is either for me or for me and the missus, so two max. It is often easier to scale up a meal for one than down a meal for four or six, which is what recepies seem based around generally, look forward to hearing some more of your acquired wisdom.


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## TripleFade (Jul 28, 2020)

Biro said:


> Was it the food?


 lol! No. She was an excellent cook (she was also a perfectionist and we agreed early in our ten years together that we not cook together).


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## TripleFade (Jul 28, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> look forward to hearing some more of your acquired wisdom.



I highly recommend ‘The Joy of Vegan Baking’. My copy is falling apart, I’ve used it so much.


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## TripleFade (Jul 28, 2020)

Biro said:


> Can you bake without eggs?
> 
> You know I have never understood why vegans do not eat eggs.



Vegans don’t anything with animals bits in them. Did that for seven years. It’s not a bad way to live, but it does make it tough to find a place to eat when you’re constantly traveling...

Anyway, most substitutes are a product called Ener G or just use applesauce.


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## TripleFade (Aug 7, 2020)

You should do a quick search on production egg-laying... it's not just pulling them out of nests like back in the old days... it's battery cages, chickens so fat they snap their own legs and them having their beaks sheered off so they can't injure themselves when their conditions drive them insane.

I don't mind snagging an egg or two, but as an industry, it's pretty damn cruel... don't get me started on milk and factory farming. Almost everything we do punishes something or someone else, but to what extent... well, we have a little more control over that.


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## Olly Buckle (Aug 7, 2020)

The missus is very particular about what eggs she buys, it has been a source of some annoyance to her recently. We have been getting deliveries because I am in a high risk group and the supermarket always wants to substitute eggs with a higher profit margin, either bottom of the range battery or top of the range organic. I have become much better educated in the precise conditions various descriptions of eggs are produced under recently, though I always had an idea.


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## Tiamat (Aug 9, 2020)

I was vegetarian for a year and then vegan for a year after that. Now I'm back to my old omnivorous ways sadly, but I am *really* particular about the eggs that I buy. I realize it's perhaps a bit hypocritical to be particular about the treatment of the egg-laying hens whose eggs I buy, while simultaneously eating murdered chickens and other animals. But for me, especially where I live now, a vegan/vegetarian diet just isn't sustainable.  But since this is a recipe thread and we're talking about eggs, a favorite breakfast of mine is this:

Take a potato (I use yukon gold because I like them best) and dice it into bite-sized pieces. You can peel it if you like; I don't. Drizzle with oil and toss with salt and pepper, then put it in the air fryer till lightly browned. That's about 20 minutes for my air fryer. While that's cooking, heat up some baked beans however you prefer to heat those up. Also, fry up an egg. (Sunny side up is my preference, but again, up to you.) I like to season the egg with salt, pepper, and a little Herbs de Provence. To plate it, place your potatoes on a small plate. Top those with a good scoop of baked beans. Then top the whole thing with your egg. Nom nom.


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## Gumby (Aug 9, 2020)

In regards to eggs, let me just say that I have chickens and the eggs they lay taste so much better than store bought. I let them free range every day, so they get a good mixture of bugs and greens, plus any scraps/veggie left overs or garden squash that has grown too big for eating, etc. Their yokes are huge and beautifully orange, rather than yellow. Yummy!


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## TheManx (Aug 10, 2020)

Tiamat said:


> I was vegetarian for a year and then vegan for a year after that.



We did a vegan experiment at my house that lasted about a year. I was generally OK with it, but I did have cravings from time to time. Once when my wife and kids went out of town I bought a steak and grilled it. This was on a Friday. My wife came home SUNDAY night and said, do I smell meat? I was going to fess up at some point anyway. No, really I was...


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## Tiamat (Aug 10, 2020)

Incidentally, eggs more than anything else were what broke me on the vegan thing. So once I started eating eggs again, I thought, "Well cheese..." And then once I started eating cheese again, "Well bacon..." and so it went.


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## TheManx (Aug 10, 2020)

Tiamat said:


> Incidentally, eggs more than anything else were what broke me on the vegan thing. So once I started eating eggs again, I thought, "Well cheese..." And then once I started eating cheese again, "Well bacon..." and so it went.



Yes, eggs are nothing to play around with; what scientists call a "gateway" food.


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## ppsage (Oct 5, 2020)

This is probably too simple to be called a recipe. Slice a jalapeno into rounds. Take out as much of the inside as makes you comfortable. Sizzle a moment in a drop of olive oil in a saucepan. Shake up a can of whole kernel corn and add all of it. Cook medium furiously until the juice is ALMOST gone. Usually serve it with pinto beans and yams but lately with rice and curry.


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## TheManx (Oct 6, 2020)

We have an abundance of grape tomatoes from our garden this year. Someone told me to put a bunch of them in a baking dish, with a good drizzle of olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, a couple of cloves crushed garlic and a little brown sugar, salt and pepper — mix it all up and bake it until the tomatoes are caramelized — 350 for about 45 minutes. Then you mash them a little and use it as a sauce. Served it on pasta and sorry — grilled chicken. It was amazing. Probably wouldn’t be quite as good without the fresh tomatoes...

P.S. — Forgot about the sprinkle of thyme...


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## Olly Buckle (Oct 7, 2020)

Tomatoes did well for us this year too. The missus sliced them in half, sprinkled with olive oil, seasoned and put in the bottom of the oven on a low heat for a long time (About an hour), then she scraped them out of their skins and bagged and froze them. She has been using them in recipes where she would have used a tin of tomatoes. They really are that much better than the tinned ones.


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## TheManx (Oct 7, 2020)

Olly Buckle said:


> Tomatoes did well for us this year too. The missus sliced them in half, sprinkled with olive oil, seasoned and put in the bottom of the oven on a low heat for a long time (About an hour), then she scraped them out of their skins and bagged and froze them. She has been using them in recipes where she would have used a tin of tomatoes. They really are that much better than the tinned ones.



Our regular tomatoes didn’t do very well at all — not many of them, and the ones we left to ripen on the vine got some kind of rot — someone told us it was “blossom rot.” Fortunately, we have more grape tomatoes than we know what to do with.


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 11, 2020)

TheManx said:


> Yes, eggs are nothing to play around with; what scientists call a "gateway" food.



And I thought it was the fragrance of frying bacon...


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