Make a Dish Vegetarian Friendly

[Andy M.]

I was reading the Penzey's catalog last night and saw a recipe that I thought would be great for a Christmas open house.

I would like to modify it so it's meatless for our Indian neighbors.

Here are the ingredients for Fiesta Baskets:

Italian sausage meat
ranch dressing mix
mayo
red bell pepper
black olives
Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses

You cook the meat and veggies and mix them with the seasonings and cheeses and bake them in won ton wrappers in mini muffin tins until the cheese is melted. (simplified instructions just to give you the idea)

I thought of extra firm tofu and sausage seasonings to replace the meat.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks, guys.

[boufa06]

Andy, how about canned tuna to replace the meat?

Edited to add: Oops! Forgot that it's supposed to be vegetarian. I think tofu sounds great. On the other hand, I wonder if mushrooms would go well with the rest of the ingredients

[ironchef]

How about just using meatless sausages?

[Robo410]

eggplant...spices well, nice texture, vegan. (Make sure the Indians eat milk products...many don't)

[Shunka]

Are they vegetarian or vegan? The latter will not eat anything with eggs, dairy, or even fish.

[Yakuta]

There is a product called Nutella (similar to meatless sausages) that have a crumbled ground meat texture. It's made with soybean. I know it's readily available in Indian stores.

Some other ideas would be spinach it would taste really good in the recipe. You can also use portabello mushrooms, celery and carrots (portabello has a pretty meaty texture)

You can even use cooked black beans (aldente) along with corn kernels and some diced red bell peppers as your filling.

[Andy M.]

Mushrooms sound like a really good idea. We're fortunate to have an Indian store across town so I'll also look into the nutella as well.

Thanks, folks!

[mudbug]

I thought Nutella was that chocolate/hazelnut stuff you spread on toast.

[Andy M.]

Yakuta, is the nutella flavored?

[Yakuta]

Sorry I misspelled it's nutrella (with an r).