Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[I, Cosh]

I thought Flash Gordon was next weekend 

... Checks Ticket... No, it definitely says 29th November.

It's definitely not this week because I briefly thought I wasn't going to make it as I have to move out of my current apartment on 30/11 (minor impediment) but now I can move into the new one on the 16th (sort of okay.)

[Jim_Campbell]

Anyone here vegetarian?  Can anyone direct me to some non-tomato recipes please?

I can unhesitatingly and enthusiastically recommend the Prashad Cookbook which has loads of really excellent vegetarian recipes utilising all sorts of ingredients. Lots of tomato-less dishes in it.

Cheers

Jim

[Professor Bear]

Most assume that Quorn can only be cooked by frying, but you can do it up in a bit of vegetable stock or bouillon - a real time-saver when cooking for veggies, as you can add all sorts of veg and seasoning to it near the end.  Good with rice.

In news that will in no way whatsoever have vegetarians shouting HA HA HA FUCK YOU at those who insist on going "MMM bacon" at them, it is now official that bacon gives you cancer.

[Hawkmumbler]

Quorn is utterly revolting though.

[Fungus]

Nowt wrong with raw meat and organic veg though...
EDIT: wait, you cook meat for safety. Oh, I give up.

[Professor Bear]

Quorn is utterly revolting though.

Quorn is just compacted fungus and thus has little flavor of its own - hence "vegetable stock or bouillon" - and must be properly cooked.  If you just fry it or put it directly into pies without preparing it properly, you deserve the blandstrosity of a meal that awaits you.
It won't give you cancer, though.  That's one in the plus column.

[Hawkmumbler]

Tried all that, still tastes like shit. Just my two pence mind you.

[Jim_Campbell]

I'd refer back to that Prashad cookbook, which was somewhat revelatory for us. The problem with, say, putting quorn into a curry as a meat substitute, is that you just find yourself thinking "well, yes, but this would be much nicer with chicken". The Prashad book is full of really good recipes that don't rely on a meat substitute so, instead, you find yourself struck by how much the meal doesn't need meat.

Once you start thinking about cooking vegetables well, rather than cooking the food you would as a meat-eater and substituting something for meat, vegetarian cooking gets a lot easier — there's a really nice Slimming World recipe that has chicken and courgette seasoned with ras el hanout, served with spicy couscous that's delicious... except we wondered how it would be without the chicken and extra courgette instead. Turns out, it's delicious. I had the idea of making a mint & yoghurt dressing to accompany instead of garnishing with mint and it's fucking lovely.

Cheers

Jim

[Theblazeuk]

I am about 80% vegetarian these days due to the Mrs and her tiny appetite for carnivorism.

S'alright really, wouldn't go Vegan due to the lack of cheese but s'all good otherwise! Favourites include Goats cheese & mushroom pasta + this beauty: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2394/summer-couscous-salad

You could easily take out the tomatoes in the latter. Peppers would be a good replacement if you chargrilled them.


If she liked Mexican or Indian, I would be all over those too.

[Jim_Campbell]

We've had a lot of value out of Hugh Fearnley-Whatnot's Veg Every Day book, which has a lot of pleasingly unfaffy recipes.

Cheers

Jim

[Hawkmumbler]

I'm dairy free as it is, due to lactose intolerance but it's not like I miss cheese (do occasionally miss milk though).

[shaolin_monkey]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - she despises eggs, mushrooms and Quorn too.  Bloody pain in the arse she is!!  So much so the last meal we shared at my place was various cheeses and grapes on crackers, with homemade humus that I completely fucked up.  *sigh*

Thanks for the Prashad cookbook idea though - will look into that.

[Jim_Campbell]

Thanks for the Prashad cookbook idea though - will look into that.

Cool. This is that couscous recipe I mentioned: LINK

Just leave out the chicken and spice the courgette instead. Leave the tomatoes out of the recipe. If I was doing it without tomatoes, I'd finely slice some onion and fry it with cumin seeds until golden or even darker brown, then stir it through the couscous.

As mentioned, don't garnish with mint, but make a mint dressing: finely chop the mint, mix with fat-free (or not) natural yoghurt. If I was making —say— a mug's worth, which would probably be enough for two, I'd add a tablespoon of lemon juice, half a teaspoon each of salt and sugar, plus a pinch of cayenne pepper. Alternatively, whack a couple of teaspoons of Coleman's mint sauce into the yoghurt if you can't be bothered faffing around with all that. I'd still recommend a pinch of cayenne, though.

Cheers!

Jim

[Tiplodocus]

Recent minor impediment for me - I want to cook for my new lady, who is a vegetarian, but is allergic to tomatoes, so I can't do my signature veg lasagne dish.  Bah! 

Anyone here vegetarian?  Can anyone direct me to some non-tomato recipes please?

Try the Deliciously Ella website - lots of lovely stuff there. Not a bit of processed stuff in site.

[Tiplodocus]

We've had a lot of value out of Hugh Fearnley-Whatnot's Veg Every Day book, which has a lot of pleasingly unfaffy recipes.

Cheers

Jim

Yes - a favourite of ours is his fantastically simple yet tasty Dahl with crispy onions on top. His lemony  guacamole is awesome.

And a really nice new potato, green beans and olives sort of warm salad thing (which OK, I'll admit, I sometimes add Tempeh to)

Cheers for the other link Jim, I shall check that out.