Recipe Help

[trailerparkmedic]

I need a recipe that is vegetarian, does not include dairy or corn, and is either fairly quick to cook (around an hour including prep time; if I can make it the night before and then pop it in the oven the next day, prep time doesn't count) or can be put in a crockpot all day.

MIL is coming to visit on Friday and I have 2 recipes that she can eat. One takes too long for a weeknight dinner and I cooked the other one yesterday (with corn, so we can't even do leftovers).

[r2cagle]

Organic Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

What? It's vegetarian and dairy free.


Okay, okay. Spaghetti squash topped with parmesan cheese, salt & pepper or a meatless red sauce. Roasted veggies on the side, and hummus with bread or pita chips. You can cook the spaghetti squash ahead of time, and then reheat it in the microwave.

[Magpie]

What kinds of legumes do you have sitting around? I don't want to give you any that you can't make. And what you have described is fairly close to how I have to eat anyhow, so I need some hints to narrow it down a bit. Spicy? Mild? Do you have a slow cooker? Or would you want to just use canned beans instead (slow cooker is still useful). Does she object to tofu? And I'm going to clarify as "ovo-vegetarian", just to confirm that she does eat eggs. Also, I would like to confirm that you want vegetarian and not just meatless.

Also, do you have any smoked paprika? I have a vegan split-pea soup that I make, but it requires smoked paprika (a friend said that liquid smoke might do the trick).

What about falafel from a mix? They're a lot easier than they look, just make sure you make them small or they'll fall apart.

Hummus with pitas and veggie sticks is a good easy standby. Even easier if you buy the hummus from the store . It's also a good excuse to make baba ganouj to have at the same time.

Dahl is easy and soooo addictive. I normally don't bother with all the spices, and just salt the lentils. Lately I've been making what turns out as dahl, but is based on an Ethopian lentil stew, really good.

I'm going to stop now until I know what I can and can't suggest...

r2cagle: I know that those are technically vegetarian, but once you remove the cheese from the squash there's no protein, which means she'll be hungry again really soon. (No, vegetarians don't have to work hard to avoid being low on protein, but everyone should try to get some protein because the food lasts longer). And besides, a lot of people can't tolerate spaghetti squash. Yes, I'm one of them.

[trailerparkmedic]

I didn't even think of spaghetti. Maybe because I always make a meat sauce? Man I'm slow today.

I am very tempted to just tell her to make herself a PB&J sandwich, especially since she is coming in at like 9 pm. You want food, make it yourself!

Magpie, I have some black beans and kidney beans hanging out in the freezer and I'm more than happy to run to the store. No smoked paprika on hand but otherwise I've got a lot of spices.
No tofu, since Fiance won't eat it. I have a crockpot. She does eat eggs. I say vegetarian because the only meat she'll eat is veal and I refuse to cook it, so it has to be meatless. I'd like to avoid most animal products, just in case.
Nothing super spicy--about the level of medium salsa, or a bit spicier.
I'm worried hummus with pitas wouldn't be enough to fill up Fiance. He likes hummus and veggies as a snack so it would take quite a bit of convincing to get him to eat it for dinner.
I've never had falafel. What is it?

[Jack]

This is good: http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?p=1746902

Very quick.

[taxguykarl]

So is this one:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...ipe/index.html

Just dispense with the Parmesan cheese.

I ususally cut up the onion, carrot and celery and mash the beans to be mashed ahead of time.

[MaggieTheCat]

I make an African peanut butter and sweet potato soup that is vegetarian and can be made vegan easily.

1/2 to 1 onion, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 bell pepper, minced
1-2 teaspoons ginger, minced or grated
various spices: I use chili powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, ginger powder (if you like it gingery, which we do), yellow curry powder, usually around 1-2 teaspoons of each
1 large can (I think it's 1lb 12oz) sweet potatoes with water
1 small can tomato sauce
1-2 large carrots, chopped
3-4 cups water
1/2 cup peanut butter
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup
Cilantro to garnish, if desired

You can use more or less vegetables if you want (my husband doesn't like a lot of onion or else I would use more of it) and all the spices to taste.

Heat some oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot and sautee the onion, garlic, and bell pepper until tender. Add ginger and spices and sautee for about 2 minutes until everything is fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, and water (use more or less water depending on how thick you like it, and you can always add more later on while the soup is simmering.) Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer until everything is tender, at least half an hour or as long as you need.

At this point I take my hand blender to the whole thing and blend it till it's smooth. Before I had a hand blender, I just used a potato masher and got it as smooth as I could. It was still rather chunky, and it tasted good but I like the smooth texture better. If you don't have a hand blender but want a smooth texture, you could use a blender or food processor.

Once all the veggies are tender and you have the consistency you want, add the peanut butter (again, you can add this to taste...I usually use probably a bit more than 1/2 cup) and stir until smooth. At this point I usually also add a small can of evaporated milk just to give it kind of a creamy consistency, but if your MIL can't handle that, just leave it out. If you like a little sweetness (we do) add some brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup.

I hate cilantro so I never use it, but if you do like cilantro, it supposedly goes very well on top of this.

My husband LOVES this soup, which is a little unusual because he's a big meat eater. It's pretty quick to make once you get everything prepared, or you could make it a day ahead and just reheat it when you're ready to eat.

[draggar]

Organic Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

What? It's vegetarian and dairy free.

FTW. Seriously.

And, it's organic!

[Magpie]

If the only problem with tofu is that he doesn't like it, here's an option for you. Don't give in to your temptations to change the recipe, it's really good as is.

Potato Kugel

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine:
2lb grated potatoes (scrubbed but not peeled)
1 large onion chopped (can add more if desired)
1 cup mashed tofu (the softest you can easily get, it's about 1/2 package of extra firm and 2/3 of medium firm)

Mix:
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 eggs

add to potato mixture

Heat 3 tbsp oil in a 9x13 baking dish in the oven a few minutes. Pour in the rest of the ingredients. Bake 60-70 minutes, until crusty on the top. Serve with sour cream or apple sauce.

Obviously the sour cream doesn't work for her, but you and your Fiance might like having it.

With black beans:

2 cups dried black beans (so about 6 cups cooked?)

soak overnight and cook until tender(with 1 tsp salt and a ham hock, but we either omit this, or use a tablespoon of lard for fat and flavour)

add

2 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp basil
3 tbsp lemon juice
pepper to taste

cook about 30 minutes

Saute in 2 tsp oil:

2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion

add the above to beans, and serve over rice

Yes, I know it's rice and beans, but it's so incredibly good. As long as your MIL isn't easily offended you're fine. We tend to play with the spices for effect. (The recipe we have calls for veggies as well, but my husband grew up with a version without any of those, so we skip them). Oh, and feel free to increase the oil used for the frying if you aren't adding fat to the dish.

Falafel is a Mediterranean deep-fried patty made from ground chickpeas. It's generally served in pita with youghurt sauce (such as tzataki). You can generally find boxes of mix in the grocery stores. (I know that Casbah brand has one).

Let me know if I skimped on any details. I have more recipes if you want, but I'm too lazy to bother typing them out right now. And like we've been saying to Jester - any legume ground up (blender, food processor, meat grinder) makes a great protein filler (for, oh, say, pasta sauce). Just remember to add fat, because legumes don't have a lot on their own.

[trailerparkmedic]

Thanks for all the recipes! I got VERY lucky-- MIL decided to call off her visit because of the hurricane. Despite my protests to Fiance, he'll probably let her come by again, so I'll keep these handy.

Magpie, I'm totally going to try the potato recipe, just to freak out Fiance.

[Magpie]

We've always wondered if it was a recipe that used to have cheese instead of the tofu, because it's such an odd use for tofu. Oh, and don't learn this the hard way: silken tofu mashes up MUCH more easily than any of the pressed (i.e. medium-firm, firm, etc) does. If you do use a firmer tofu, add a bit of water. I forgot those lessons when typing the recipe out, and it's old enough that they never needed to specify originally.