Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and vegetarian

VegetarianFilter: Give me your best veg taco recipes and tips!

pghjezebel — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:31:40 -0800

VegetarianFilter: Give me your best veg taco recipes and tips! I've been a vegetarian for several years now and then one thing I really miss? A good taco.

I've tried meat substitutes (boca crumbles) and find the texture rather gross. They always have a gristle taste/feel to them.

I've seen recipes for lentil style tacos - but my lentils always turn out hard. What about tofu?

What else can I try? Open to any and all recipes, suggestions and tips!

Vegetarian cookbook recommendations sought!

Phire — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:22:19 -0800

Give me your favourite vegetarian cookbook that has illustrations of simple but delicious meals, and offers the nutritional information for each meal. I'm starting to cook by recipe, rather than throwing anything I have in the kitchen into a pot and improvising. At the same time, I'm trying to decrease on the amount of meat I have on my diet. Though there are lots of awesome websites with an abundance of information on cooking veggies, I find the wealth of information makes it hard to find one starting point. So I'm asking for your recommendations for a vegetarian cookbook with the following criteria:

Simple meals: I really like the concept of the Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourment, which restricts each meal to 5 ingredients or less. I'm not terribly fussy about an absolute limitation on number of ingredients, but simple to make would be good - I'm pretty pressed for time. Michael Smith's Best of Chef at Home is a good standard for how simple I'd like the instructions and prep to be.

Nutritional information: Rather than laboriously looking up every ingredient online myself and then calculating the portions, I would prefer if the book listed these for me. This is totally essential.

Illustrations: These are more or less optional, but pretty pictures totally motivate me to cook.

Optional: This is totally nitpicky, but if that book only focused on cooking actual meals rather than desserts/drinks, that'd be great, too. I drink water and eat fruit, and having a book that spends 1/5 of its real estate on smoothies and cakes that I won't be making seems like a bit of a waste.

Does my dream cookbook exist? Thanks in advance for any help!

Hoots mon, I'm awa tae hunt the meatless haggis.

anadem — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:18:54 -0800

I'm planning a haggis-centric party and will make semi-traditional haggis from this recipe. I also need to make a vegetarian version, so what would be a tasty veggie substitute for the meat (preferably using the same recipe)? The meats to replace are "chopped cooked liver and chopped cooked heart (Or stew beef, or filet mignon)" and ground lamb. I'm in California, in case that makes a difference about ingredient availability. Full recipe below, in case Geocities has closed. Here's Lloyd Bogart's West Mosby Volunteers' Haggis. I hope Mr Bogart won't mind me copying it out, but the Geocities web is due to disappear tomorrow.

WEST MOSBY VOLUNTEERS' HAGGIS - Courtesy of Lloyd Bogart .

Haggis "is typically served on Burns Night,January 25, when Scotland celebrates the birth of its greatest poet, Robert Burns, who was born in Ayrshire on that date in 1759. During the celebration, Burns poems are read, and the haggis is addressed by a member of the party, ceremonially, in the form of verses from Burns' poem, 'Address to a Haggis.' A typical meal for Burns Night would include Cock-a-Leekie, Haggis with Tattie-an'-neeps, Roastit Beef, Tipsy Laird, and Dunlop Cheese."

Oh, and did I mention that whisky is also served?

Disclaimer: If you jam 5 dowels into a haggis it kinda resembles a bagpipe, but only if you jam 5 single malts into yourself first. There, that makes this article "bagpipe related".

Here's a tried-and-true recipe for haggis -- entered in the international competition a few years back. It sounds more complex than it is -- it's really no more than equal amounts of meat mixture, oats, onions, and stock, with appropriate spices. Good Eating!

The following recipe is for a traditional sized (3-lb?) haggis. We prepare up to 12 times this amount, in double recipe batches, for our Annual Regimental Mess and Robert Burns Supper. It freezes well, and can be "revived" in a microwave.

1. Advanced preparation.

Find a source of ONLY Steel cut oats OR (if available) Scottish pin oats. Rolled oats will NOT provide the traditional texture, which is something like that of rice. Steel cut oats can be had, or can be ordered, from food stores specializing in organic foods, etc. You'll need 2 Cups of Oats, but if you have to order them, get extra "for next time".

Once you've found proper oats, you're ready to proceed. You'll need:

1 Cup of chopped cooked liver
1 Cup of chopped cooked heart (Or stew beef, or filet mignon)
2-3 Cups stock
Use Lamb if available, otherwise beef will work fine.

Cover the raw meat with salted COLD water, bring to a boil (gently, and covered) for about 1 hour. Drain, (keep the stock) Cool the meat, and remove any gristle, membranes, large vessels, then chop or grind the meat (coarse, as for hash). Refrigerate the stock, and discard any fat later, after it chills.

Mix the ground up heart and liver in equal proportions. You'll need about 2 cups of this meat mixture for each haggis, but it can be prepared in larger quantities, then refrigerated or frozen for later use. For final assembly, the haggis can be completed when convenient.

2. Additional Ingredients:

1 Lb. ground lamb (for "authentic" flavor -- replaces "other stuff")
2 Cups medium to coarse-chopped onions
1 Cup vegetable oil (replaces suet)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Oz. single malt whisky (Balvenie is quite acceptable)
2 tsp. salt or beef bouillon powder
2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. grated nutmeg

Optional: (but recommended for a "special occasion" haggis)
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground mace
2 Tbsp. Parsley Flakes
1/4 Cup currants

Casing: Reynold's Oven Cooking Bag. These are Nylon roasting bags that are available in most any grocery store. The traditional sheep's stomach or a large sausage casing may be used for a "show" haggis, but they are "old-tech". Boiling in oven cooking bags is far more convenient, if you're preparing large quantities, especially, and this process "reassures" your dinner guests.

3. Preparation

Put 2 cups of the thawed meat mixture in the oven cooking bag. Add 2 cups of (coarse) chopped onions, 2 cups of oats, and the other dry ingredients and mix well. Set the mixture aside until it is at room temperature.

In a covered saucepan or skillet, warm 2 Cups or so of the stock (Be sure any fat has been removed. -- If more liquid is needed, here or later, use bouillon or beef stock.)

Break up the ground lamb into the warmed stock; bring to a slow boil (covered) for 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat, allow to cool briefly, and be sure the lamb is in small pieces.

Add the lemon juice and vegetable oil to the lamb & stock mixture. Then combine the lamb/liquid mixture with the other ingredients in the cooking bag, and mix well.

This should produce a moist, soft mixture that will still hold together when pinched. (If it's too dry, add a small amount of stock or bouillon.)

Boil the mixture IN the cooking bag:

Close off the bag using a nylon tie, but allow room below the tie for expansion during boiling. Trim off the bag 3" above the tie, and pierce the top of the bag, below the tie, but well above the mixture, to allow steam to escape.

Use a 4 Qt. (or larger) pot with a rack at the bottom. The water around the haggis should nearly cover the bag of mixture. Periodically adjust the heat to maintain a slow boil for at least 1 1/2 hours. Add HOT water to the pot if needed.

Add 2 Oz. single malt whisky to the cook. (He/She deserves it!)

The cooking bag can be placed on a shallow pan and transferred to a preheated oven

(325 degrees F) for the last half-hour. This doesn't affect the flavor, but does add a bit of color, if desired.

The proof:

This recipe has gotten rave reviews from visiting Scots. Talk about a tough room -- Whew! I hope you'll enjoy it.

The strategy for preparing rather largish amounts is just a bit different; if you need advice on this, please contact me personally. Today I purchased 10 pounds of oats, if you catch my drift....

Cheers
Lloyd Bogart

(If anyone wants the email address which is included on Mr Bogart's web page, please mefi-mail me, though it could be inactive.)

chicken and dumplings...but without the chicken

Epsilon-minus semi moron — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:32:01 -0800

I demand to know your best vegetarian "chicken" and dumpling recipe! My new roommate just mentioned that one of the food she misses most since becoming vegetarian is chicken and dumplings. I would like to make as close an approximation of said dish as possible. I've poked around and found a few recipes...but I'd like to get some tried and true ideas from my favorite source. Difficulty: I've never made dumplings of any sort before, so the easier on that end the better. Thank you!

Mmmm...(fake) deer...

starbaby — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:51:46 -0800

Is it possible to make meat substitute taste like fried venison? I'm from the south, and deer was a winter staple in my childhood. My father would slice it about a 1/4"-1/2" thick, batter it in flour, salt, garlic salt, and pepper, and fry it in a skillet in vegetable oil.

I would like to reproduce this wonderful taste without using meat. Most people recommend that when cooking with tofu (or other meat substitutes), you simply get the fake meat the right consistency and cook it as you normally would meat; it will absorb the flavors of the seasoning and taste similar.

However, I am not looking for the taste of the seasonings; I'm looking for the taste that is inherently missing inside the tofu. Clearly battering tofu in salt, garlic salt, pepper and flour will just make it taste like those things. Someone recommended worcestershire sauce, but I do not have any without anchovies in it.

I am coming up short when I look for recipes. This seems to be an elusive phantom idea among vegetarians.

Do you know how to make fake meat (any kind, I'm not limited to just tofu) taste like venison?

Thanks in advance.

What're your favorite vegan recipes?

GilloD — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:45:54 -0800

Vegans: Your favorite recipes? Entrees and desserts, more inside. I am cooking for 8 regular folks and one vegan tomorrow. Many, many years ago I was a vegetarian myself, but I was also unmarried and young and broke, so the majority of my meat-free catalog is "Veggieburger" or "Meat dish minus meat plus fake meat".

I'd like to be modestly more ambitious than that- A lentil dish I had planned contains a good deal of yogurt and so I am out of ideas. Rather than plumb the depths of vegan eating forums, I figured I'd check in with the Hive mind to see what Vegan or veggie loving MeFites could vouch for.

To that end, I'm looking to conjure an entree and a small dessert, but I'm willing to take a listen on anything. I'm ready to be adventurous, but I'm also short on time. I'm just looking to avoid recipes that are little more than "substitution" recipes. (i.e. Vegan Cake! Take regular cake, minus butter, plus soybutter!)

(I hope this makes sense. My brain is fried. I worked like a 16 hour day yesterday and then got up at 5AM and I am onyl now catching up on my life. Save me!)

What shall I feed the playful masses?

itesser — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:45:32 -0800

I need more ideas for "game night" food! I've done curry and chili in the past, and am tossing around lasagna and gumbo as possibilities in the future, but want more options. Since every cooking question is special, there is Every so often there happens to be a gathering of 5-7 people in the house I'm living in. Not every one shows up at the same time, or eats at the same time, so it's not quite a dinner where I can expect every one to sit down and focus 20 or 30 minutes on "meal time".

Curry and chili were smashing successes because I could spend an hour hanging around the kitchen, adding more ingredients, tasting and spicing. I stuck the bread in the oven (naan and corn, respectively), and when it was done whoever was hungry grabbed a bowl and served themselves.

I experiment and improvise a lot when I cook. The curry was based on several recipes and vague memories of how my husband does it. The chili was based on several recipes and what sounded good.

basic criteria:
- flexible, forgiving, scalable.
- reheats well/makes good leftovers
- doesn't rely on meat* or exotic ingredients (the spice selection is limited)
- doesn't need side dishes (bread/rice/basic pasta are fine)
- don't need food-processor/blender or electric mixer/kitchenaid

* sometimes a vegetarian shows up, sometimes not. I can use TVP in place of ground beef, and chicken when she's not around, but want to avoid recipes where each person gets their own steak/chicken breast/piece of fish

Bonus points:
- doesn't need constant attention
- includes garlic

Bittman & Bittman

Bezuhin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:54:04 -0800

Overlap between Mark Bittman's cookbooks? I have the new version of Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." I recently bought "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" as a supplement, but there seems to be a significant amount of overlap between the two. For example, the section on Vegetables and Fruits appears more or less identical in both books. I'm not a vegetarian, just looking for additional non-meat recipes to mix things up. Should I just return "Vegetarian?"

Store-bought-style baked tofu at home

acridrabbit — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:22:57 -0800

Store-bought-style baked tofu at home: how? I love tofu and cook it frequently, usually in stir-frys. I always freeze my tofu to improve the texture, then press it for long enough to get excess moisture out. I'm pretty happy with my typical methods, but I would love to be able to make baked tofu similar to the store-bought kind. My previous efforts have yielded tasty results, but nothing like the soft, yet very firm texture of a packaged baked tofu (like White Wave or SoyBoy). Those store-bought tofus are pretty expensive - can I mimic that style at home? (Note: I am interested in mimicking the texture, not necessarily the flavor) My googling is turning up nothing.

Cooking with fresh cayenne peppers

shirobara — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:53:40 -0800

"Pepper," to me, means "bell pepper," but my neighbor gave me two cayenne pepper plants, and the peppers are starting to turn red. When should I harvest them, and what should I do with them? Should I pick them once they turn completely red, or should they stay on the plant longer? And as for the cooking part, I know that you seed them carefully and take out the ribs, but then what can you do with the flesh? What kind of flavors generally go well with them? What are some basic recipes I can try out?

I'm a vegetarian, so please no fish/chicken/etc., unless the technique can be applied to tofu or something...

Casseroles hooray!

2or3whiskeysodas — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:42:23 -0800

Casseroles hooray! Give me your favorite recipes! (Important details within.) In my successful quest to pretty much stop eating out ever, I've been experimenting recently with last-us-all-week casseroles. I've made a couple of pretty tasty ones I found over at allrecipes.com, but everyone knows that there's little at that site that's truly amazing.

Here are those important details:

• the healthier the better, and
• I'm not a vegetarian, but she is. So veg recipes are strongly preferred, but meaty recipes are welcome as well.

As are casserole-ish dishes such as lasagnas.

Delicious Vegetarian Sandwiches

exceptinsects — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:54:48 -0800

Ideas for delicious vegetarian sandwiches? I'm going on a picnic with a vegetarian friend, and I want to make some sandwiches that are more exciting than just cheese or PB&J.
I don't mind spending some time preparing them.

*Vegan not necessary but not excluded either.

Tasty turnips?

mediareport — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:17:13 -0800

A crate of homegrown turnips showed up in my life yesterday. I've never cooked with turnips before (hell, I don't recall ever eating them before). Do you have any particularly delicious ways of using turnips? I know I can treat them like mashed potatoes, which sounds good. I checked the small section on turnips (two recipes) in Bittman's How To Cook Everything; it made me hesitate, since he says to only use the ones smaller than two inches in diameter so they aren't "woody." These turnips are all sorts of sizes. Is it really that bad to use the bigger ones? Thanks in advance for helping me not waste this bounty.

I've made a blackened mess of things 3 times now...

mistsandrain — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 07:30:45 -0800

Help- I keep burning my chana dal in the crock pot..... I am new to crock pot cooking. Please share your procedures (the more detailed, the better) for preparing chana dal in a slow cooker! (Including when to use low vs. high setting...)

Any other tried and true recipes/ tips on slow cookers are welcome (and needed) especially for vegetarian cooking/ how to not come home to burnt beans.....

thanks

Should I buy a crockpot?

davar — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:36:01 -0800

Does a crockpot really improve the flavor of the food or make your life easier? I am considering buying a crockpot/slow cooker. One of the things I think I like, is that I can put a lot of stuff in it in the morning and will have dinner ready in the evening. But then again: it seems that vegetarian crockpot recipes are mostly stews/soups/chili's. Couldn't I just make the recipe in a regular pot in the morning and reheat it in the evening? I often hear that the crockpot improves the flavors, but so does leaving food in a normal pot during the day or overnight. Does a crockpot really make a difference in flavor or ease of use? I am vegetarian, so the fact that crockpots make nice soft meats is not relevant for me.

Where I live, a crockpot is hip and new instead of old fashioned, so I cannot just go to a second hand store and buy one on the cheap to see if I like it. I also don't know anybody with a crockpot.

What is a vegan dessert that tastes like real food?

BobbyDigital — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:57:35 -0800

Help me make a vegan friendly desert that doesn't taste like substitute food! Hi, I am hosting a dinner party tonight and unfortunatley one of the guests is a vegan, but he is still my friend so I want to feed him. My spagetti sauce is vegan on its own, so that is not a problem. But, I am stumpted as to what to feed this poor unfortunate for desert. I am aware that there are many websites that offer presumably delicous vegan alternative dessert options, but I personally do not like substitions, and would strongly prefer something that is vergan naturally as opposed to something that has been modified to be vegan.

Also in case any of you have been offended, I am just teasing, I think that fact that I am not just giving him a granola bar shows that I want to be considerate .

Give me your awesome recipes so we can see whose cuisine reigns supreme.

prove: the internet is DELICIOUS

rhoticity — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:08:54 -0800

Good, preferably vegetarian-inclusive or focused, recipe blogs? Alternatively, one really good recipe magazine in the same category. I live in a college dorm for the time being, and don't really cook while school is in session due to lack of kitchen and overabundance of paid-for meal points. However, my dining hall is a fairly cool place in that, if supplied with a reasonable recipe, they'll try making it. Their vegetarian options could definitely use some spunk; and, besides that, I'd like to ideally begin collecting my own little treasury of "gotta-try-that"s.

I already read 101 Cookbooks, and enjoy the content, but it updates so infrequently that I definitely need some filler.

I'd also be willing to possibly subscribe to a single recipe print format magazine if someone really heartily recommends one.

How to make awesome veggie burgers

nebulawindphone — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:12:10 -0800

Help me make an a really good veggie burger. Bonus points for a recipe that's forgiving of substitutions, or a general technique for making them from what's on hand. I'm planning on making big batches and freezing them for members of my (large, vegetarian) house to eat for lunch, and while there's usually lots of veggies, beans and grains in the pantry, I can't always count on a particular ingredient being available.

Vegetarian collard greens

Plutor — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:23:53 -0800

I want to make delicious collard greens, but I want them to be healthy and vegetarian (so, no pork fat). I've tried a couple recipes I found online, but the results have been uninspiring (and the greens didn't strike me as nearly tender enough, even after an hour of boiling). Any advice? Any recipes?

She's choppin' broccoli...

rmless — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:50:12 -0800

I am about to receive a huge crate of broccoli. Please send me your best vegetarian broccoli recipes! (Preferably those that use a lot of broccoli, not like a stir-fry, for example.)

Kitchen slave to carnivore seeks vegetarian-friendly meals

MonkeyToes — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:28:36 -0800

She's a vegetarian, he's a carnivore, and their child doesn't eat food that touches. She does the cooking. What dishes can she make that reduce her prep time? How can she make sure that everybody's belly has (Asking for a friend-filter.) Vegetarian friend ends up spending many extra hours in the kitchen making separate meals for three. She asked me if I had any suggestions on meals they could all agree on, but it's complicated by her husband's penchant for steak (and meat-and-taters cooking) and her 6-y.-o.'s pickiness about food that "touches" (he likes identifiably different meal components).

Ideas? Recipes? Personal experiences? And no, this is not about whether vegetarians and meat lovers can be together (http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/29175), it's about saving my friend's sanity.

All of the delicious without the turkey

schroedinger — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:56:44 -0800

Recommendations for a hearty ovo-lacto vegetarian traditional-themed Thanksgiving entree that will knock the socks off my boyfriend's hardcore Italian, meat-lovin' family? No Tofurkeys or vegetarian lasagnas, please. Details inside. This will be the first time visiting my boyfriend's family. I'm nervous. Tofurkeys will come off as weird to them and I think anything Italian I make would be seen as "Italian without the meat". Also, his mom is the kind of hardcore Italian cook who used to make her own noodles, so I don't even want to try to match up to that.

Other concerns:
Re-heating needs to be OK, since I'll be making the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and re-heating it in their oven. This probably eliminates pastries and the like.

Heartiness and filling-ness a plus (I don't know how many non-meaty sides will be there)

It must be delicious enough to withstand the skepticism of the meat-loving friend who will be accompanying us.

My cooking skills are limited to baking cookies and opening cans of tuna. If the recipe is quick-to-prepare and difficult-to-screw-up that would be awesome.

Thank you!

Hello, dally.

kaseijin — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:45:57 -0800

I need some badass vegetarian Indian cooking tips and recipes. Specifically, I am looking for the following:

Tips for making paneer. I have tried, and I can successfully get the curd, but it always stays too runny and falls apart. I can't seem to get this right.
Tips for making/substituting khoya. I have been told that I can used powdered milk, mixed thick into a paste. Does this really work? How thick of a paste?
I want to make good malai kofta. I have tried this dish, and it turned out OK, but my kofta stuck to the pan when I baked them. I don't have a deep fryer, so frying them is basically out. I am interested in recipes and tips related to this dish.
I want to make karahi paneer. The recipes I have seen online for this didn't seem like the karahi paneer I have eaten before. When I have had it, it has been very spicy, red, and almost oil-based.
Paneer tikka masala.
Palak paneer
Dal. I have tried several recipes for dal. My grandfather was born and raised in Jhansi, India (though ethnically Scottish). He lived there until he was 20, and then returned to live in Pakistan for another 10 or so years later on in life. He could make a *mean* dal curry, but the recipe passed on with him.

As I recall, it was spicy, orange, swimming in ghee. Often, in restaurants, the dal I get is brown, soupy, and much less flavorful. I have tried several recipes, but most of them don't even come close.

I have tried one that was pretty close, though - masoor dal, cooked with turmeric and chiles, spiced with anis, fenugreek, kalunji, ginger, garlic, mustard seed, cumin seed, and dried red peppers. Close, but just a little off from what I remember.

I was wondering if anybody has any good dal tips?

I think that's all I'm specificallylooking for at the moment, but any other Indian cooking tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Simple, easy and delicious vegetarian Japanese recipes

aebaxter — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 13:53:51 -0800

Simple, easy and delicious vegetarian Japanese recipes I can make at home? I have absolutely zero experience cooking Japanese cuisine, but I would like to give it a try. I love sushi, miso soup, spring rolls, tofu, edmame and noodle dishes. (I'm aware these aren't the most uber-authentic selections, but I live in Texas.) I would like your favorite recipes/tips for these, or other recipes/tips for equally delicious Japanese treats.

I am within a reasonable distance of a Central Market and a Whole Foods, both of which carry a small selection of Asian goods. I'm willing to purchase ingredients online. Important things to note:

- Must be at least vegetarian (eggs and dairy okay) but vegan is okay too
- Peanuts are out

Thank you!

Tofu - at what temperature does it cook?

amtho — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 06:44:04 -0800

Tofu - at what temperature does it cook? I eat a lot of tofu. I've started cooking a lot of tofu. It seems to disagree with me if it's not fully cooked. But how much cooking is enough to avoid this unfortunate effect? Is boiling sufficient/necessary? I'm interested in using a meat thermometer to figure out how much heat I need to apply, so I can innovate successfully.

I did some googling but couldn't find the answer. I also found a thread here on tofu cooking (asking about getting the center unwatery) and followed links from that thread, but no joy.