Favorite Vegetarian Entrees?

[cmarchibald]

Someone else just joined today who is looking for vegetarian recipe ideas and I have been looking for the same. I thought I'd start by asking the seasoned chefs here what their favorite vegetarian entrees are? I'd like to have some ideas for recipes to look up, because if you just look up "vegetarian dish" or "vegetarian entree" you get overwhelmed with results and don't know where to start.

So for those of you who cook vegan or vegetarian regularly, what are your favorites?

The only one I know (that's an entree) is eggplant lasagna.

 

[Zereh]

Here's a quick and simple one I made the other day:

1.5 c red lentils
can of fire roasted tomatoes (or fresh ones roasted in the oven for a bit with olive oil and a little salt until they are slightly charred)
About 2 c vegetable broth / stock
onion
garlic
serrano or jalapeno pepper
juice from a small lemon

I softened the onion, garlic and pepper in about 1T olive oil and 1T butter over medium heat. Then I dumped everything else into the pot and brought it to a boil. I turned the heat down to low so it would simmer for about 45 minutes or so. Check it about mid-way through and add more water / broth if needed. I squeeze the lemon juice in as I take it off the heat. I like to serve it over brown rice and add some of my favorite Sriracha to it.

 

[PattY1]

Someone else just joined today who is looking for vegetarian recipe ideas and I have been looking for the same. I thought I'd start by asking the seasoned chefs here what their favorite vegetarian entrees are? I'd like to have some ideas for recipes to look up, because if you just look up "vegetarian dish" or "vegetarian entree" you get overwhelmed with results and don't know where to start.

So for those of you who cook vegan or vegetarian regularly, what are your favorites?

The only one I know (that's an entree) is eggplant lasagna.

I have a few dishes that I make meatless. My favorite is Red Beans and Rice.

 

[garlicjosh]

One of my all time favorites is super basic

Spaghetti noodles
herbs (off the top of my head I can't recall what I used for the dish)
3 cloves of garlic, steamed broccoli and extra virgin olive oil.
and a large tomato that I put under the broiler until nice,flat and the sugars caramelized. salt, pepper and a small bit of Parmesan cheese (or home made cashew "parm") it's nothing fancy but we loved it.

 

[MSC]

I like doing an ad hoc veggie stir fry occasionally and use whatever is available like mushrooms, bell peppers, green onions, broccoli and have to include snow peas. I also like making it spicy using chili oil etc. so that does tend to cut out a number of diners to share!

 

[Zereh]

ooooh Here's a great one that I think I made at least once a week last summer; I can't remember where I found this recipe at though, on a blog somewhere out there I'm sure:

Tomatoes Filled with Rice

Cut off the tops and scoop the insides out of four large tomatoes, saving all the juice and seeds. Chop the scooped out tomato into small bits.

Dice a small onion, or a quarter of a Vidalia onion, and saute it gently in olive oil.

After it has softened, add 1/3 cup of arborio rice to the pan and stir that around for a few minutes.

Chop the tomato pulp and add all of it, plus 1/3 cup of water, to the onion and rice, fold in a few torn basil or oregano leaves and a good sprinkling of salt, lower the heat and simmer the rice, covered, for 10 minutes.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees, spoon the par-cooked rice into the tomatoes, put them in a small, oiled baking dish, top them a few breadcrumbs and a drizzle of olive oil, and bake for an hour and 15 minutes.

The tomatoes will shrivel a bit and become incredibly fragrant and sweet. Let them cool for a bit before eating. The rice is hot and sludgy and delectable and the tomatoes are sweet and caramelized.

Forgot to add: Although it's perfect alone, it is also spectacular over pasta if you want a more substantial meal.

 

[simonaskitchen]

hi everybody, have u ever tried 'polenta? it's very good and rich of vitamins and carboidrats and u can combine to a lot of sauces. the preparation is easy (u can also find something on my blog, I'm dealing about this in these days).
I write here the main recipe:
500 gr corn maize flour, 1 and 1/3 liter water and salt.You can also add more water, if you like a smoother polenta (in this case use 2 liters water).
Anyway you can add water during cooking, if you notice that it's too sticky, the most importanta thing is to add hot water, not cold!
The preparation of polenta is very, very easy: make water boil, drop the flour mixing well. That's it!
It takes 35-40 minutes to cook, but into supermarkets you'll easily find pre-cooked flour, so it'll take you 15-20 minutes as maximum.
One of the main problems are clots, to avoid them, drop the flour at the beginning of boiling, into the center of the sauce-pan, mixing energically (better if you use a wooed spoon).
Don't make water boil to high.
Polenta is ready when it comes off the hedges of sauce-pan, drop on a big cotton towel and serve with ragù, fonduta cheese, sea food or vegetables.
greetings from Italy! Simona

 

[simonaskitchen]

ho, I use to do this recipe during summer! I also fill with tunefish!

 

[CraigC]

This came out of a BA mag and we really like it.

BLACK BEAN, YELLOW PEPPER, AND CUMIN CHILI

6 tblsp olive oil
1 12-oz onion coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
1 large yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1-1/2 tblsp cumin seeds
4 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies
2-4 garlic cloves (to taste), chopped fine
3 15-oz cans black beans, well drained
2 14-1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
2 cups vegetable broth

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell
pepper, and cumin seeds. Saute until onion is soft and golden,
stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add chipotles and garlic and
stir 30 seconds. Add black beans, diced tomatoes with juices, and
vegetable broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium. Simmer
uncovered until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally,
about 30 minutes. Transfer 2 cups of chili to blender or processor.
Blend to coarse paste, return to pot. Simmer chili to thicken as
desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

We also have a vegetarian Mexican cookbook we bought by mistake. Got to read the fine print.

Craig

 

[BigAL]

What about pho(sp?) soup? Does it have meat? I suppose the broth might be chicken base?

I've wanted to make a lasagna w/mushrooms, but it would also have cheese I guess.

Stuffed green peppers w/mushrooms, rice, and tomato sauce.

French onion soup!

Mushroom risotto

Dang, now I'm hungry!

 

[cmarchibald]

BigAl, cheese is still very much on the menu for me. I'm talking vegetarian, not vegan! I love my meat, too, way too much of a carnivore to give it up for good!

By the way, how you been? You know I moved from Kuwait to the Philippines?

 

[BigAL]

BigAl, cheese is still very much on the menu for me. I'm talking vegetarian, not vegan! I love my meat, too, way too much of a carnivore to give it up for good!

By the way, how you been? You know I moved from Kuwait to the Philippines?

Good, and how you do'n?

Yep, I saw that and thought about the pho. You know people like me think about everything east of the pond is asian.

You guys happy there?

 

[cmarchibald]

Good, and how you do'n?

Yep, I saw that and thought about the pho. You know people like me think about everything east of the pond is asian.

You guys happy there?

At least you didn't say "oriental"... It's funny you say that though because the hardest thing we've had about adjusting to life here is the reality that the Philippines is the "least Asian" country of all the countries in Asia.

Am I happy? Happier than a pig in you know what. Got married on the beach last October, bought a house, adopted a bunch of animals and now we're starting a business and I'm finally finding time to cook again! Which is why I've been such a chatterbox here lately, I forgot so much of what I did know and now I'm figuring out what I never knew to begin with.

So back to these veggie recipes....you guys are all giving me some great ideas, thank you!

 

[garlicjosh]

So back to these veggie recipes....you guys are all giving me some great ideas, thank you!

not a problem
the other big one in my house is a veggie pot pie. I replace the chicken with a little extra potato...plus my partner loves the potato in it so she always demands more of it.
It's one of those dishes that no one ever seems to miss the meat in it.

 

[cmarchibald]

not a problem
the other big one in my house is a veggie pot pie. I replace the chicken with a little extra potato...plus my partner loves the potato in it so she always demands more of it.
It's one of those dishes that no one ever seems to miss the meat in it.

Oohh, that's a good one. I make a pretty mean pot pie but never thought of replacing the chicken with potato. I'll try that next time I make it.

Here's one that I found on All Recipes and modified to make a veggie version:

Vera Cruz Tomatoes Recipe - Allrecipes.com

My veggie version goes like this:

Ingredients

• 6-8 small firm, ripe tomatoes (the ones I used were about the size of a roma tomato)
• 1 very small eggplant, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped green or spring onion
• 5-10 cloves of garlic (depending on taste), minced
• 8 ounces fresh spinach, stems snipped
• 4-5 fresh chilis, diced (we like ours hot!)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup soft tofu*
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 3-5 Tbsp olive oil

*The only sour cream I can buy here is a really liquid consistency, I add soft tofu for firmness, so for regular sour cream you can probably skip the tofu (or keep it for the extra protein!)


Directions

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cut tops from tomatoes; remove seeds and membranes (I keep the membranes and set aside for use in a secondary recipe with the left-overs).
• Place tomatoes in round glass baking dish. A small round dish is best if using small tomatoes so they can be arranged in a circle to hold each other up.
• In a large, deep skillet, heat a few tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat.
• Reduce heat to simmer, then toss the diced eggplant, garlic, spring onion and chilis until coated well. Add the spinach, cook over low heat, stirring frequently to coat, until spinach is wilted.
• Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and soft tofu. Stir to coat mixture well.
• Sprinkle tomato shells with salt (if desired, I usually don't); fill evenly with eggplant and spinach mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven until hot, 20 minutes. Remove, and top evenly with the shredded cheese. Turn oven off, return tomatoes to still heated oven and bake until cheese is melted (3-5 minutes).

I had a lot of leftover stuffing the first time I made this, and converted the remainder (with a few additions) into a really tasty pasta dish. Now whenever I make these tomatoes I make the pasta dish as well. Makes for a nice meal!

I've tried the original AllRecipes version as well, which is made with bacon, but I like my veggie version better.

 

[FrankZ]

Grilled cheese on fresh made bread.

 

[Robo410]

pasta can be served meatless many ways ... a mushroom sauce, garlic oil and cheese, pesto, prima vera. Lasagna is often meatless and many veg can be added to the layers or in the sauce including zucchini, eggplant, spinach, butternut squash, etc.

Various ratatouille recipes can be mains with bread or rice or any number of grains these days.

Chili is easily made veg with different combinations of beans, (I like black pinto and rosales), and using corn and hominy.

roast winter veg with olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper (perhaps a bit of broth and white wine too) (parsnip rutabaga sweet potato turnip celery root beet root) quite tasty

many Indian curries are meatless.

enjoy

 

[Zhizara]

BigAl, cheese is still very much on the menu for me. I'm talking vegetarian, not vegan! I love my meat, too, way too much of a carnivore to give it up for good!

By the way, how you been? You know I moved from Kuwait to the Philippines?

Have you had a chance to try LPBeier's Mushroom Gratin? It's become quite a favorite for many of the DCers and it is especially delicious and easy too.

Here's the link:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/mushrooms-gratin-67778.html#post929850

It is the first post on the thread.

 

[cmarchibald]

Have you had a chance to try LPBeier's Mushroom Gratin? It's become quite a favorite for many of the DCers and it is especially delicious and easy too.

Here's the link:

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/mushrooms-gratin-67778.html#post929850

It is the first post on the thread.

I'll check it out, thanks! One small thing....I can't get fresh mushrooms here. It truly boggles the mind but I cannot. Will this be just as good with canned mushrooms?

 

[Zhizara]

I'll check it out, thanks! One small thing....I can't get fresh mushrooms here. It truly boggles the mind but I cannot. Will this be just as good with canned mushrooms?

Not really. I guess you could try it, drain them well and pat dry, but IMHO canned mushrooms are ugly, gray and practically tasteless rubbery things.

Can't you get dried mushrooms and rehydrate them? Fancy mushrooms make a fancy gratin.

I would think you should be able to find a farmer's market there.