Recipe advice
September 13, 2022 6:43 AM Subscribe
Your favorite vegetarian recipes with no onions or garlic that transport well, please.
Cooking some meals for a fried who is vegetarian, and doesn't eat onions or garlic. Mostly thinking like one-pot lunch/dinner meals that I can bring over in a big Tupperware. I know how to alter a recipe to remove onions but since they often contribute a lot toward flavor, I'm looking for your faves that do not call for alums.
Cooking some meals for a fried who is vegetarian, and doesn't eat onions or garlic. Mostly thinking like one-pot lunch/dinner meals that I can bring over in a big Tupperware. I know how to alter a recipe to remove onions but since they often contribute a lot toward flavor, I'm looking for your faves that do not call for alums.
Kichidi is northern India's go-to one-pot vegetarian meal; it's a mix of mostly rice and split lentils, flavored however you like and with other vegetables added in per your taste.
If you look for Jain kichidi recipes, you will find them without garlic and onion (as Tamanna suggests). Generally in Indian food if you get some asafoetida (a.k.a. hing) you can add it in place of garlic and onion and get a similar flavor profile. This works much better in highly spiced foods where you just need the sulfur-compound base note than in milder foods where the garlic/onion flavor is a more major component. A little goes a long way! You will also want to store it sealed in your cupboard since it can be stinky.
Also, don't overthink it, there are a lot of pastas that will do great. You can do like an orecchiette with spinach, chickpeas, parmesan, pepper, and lemon juice, you won't miss the garlic and onion.
posted by goingonit at 7:18 AM on September 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
If you look for Jain kichidi recipes, you will find them without garlic and onion (as Tamanna suggests). Generally in Indian food if you get some asafoetida (a.k.a. hing) you can add it in place of garlic and onion and get a similar flavor profile. This works much better in highly spiced foods where you just need the sulfur-compound base note than in milder foods where the garlic/onion flavor is a more major component. A little goes a long way! You will also want to store it sealed in your cupboard since it can be stinky.
Also, don't overthink it, there are a lot of pastas that will do great. You can do like an orecchiette with spinach, chickpeas, parmesan, pepper, and lemon juice, you won't miss the garlic and onion.
posted by goingonit at 7:18 AM on September 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Saucy Roasted Eggplant Pie is my go-to in this situation. Super easy to prep, so delicious, works for practically any diet.
posted by veery at 7:19 AM on September 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by veery at 7:19 AM on September 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I finally got around to making hummus from scratch, and it's amazing (no onions and just leave out the garlic or try other variations to add more flavor - like roasted red peppers). I consider it lunch as a sandwich on good bread with raw cucumbers and red peppers (I'm kind of copying Panera's Mediterranean veggie sandwich, though I'm vegan so I leave out the feta). Ingredients can be in separate containers or baggies in one large Tupperware. Sides could be something like chips or cut up carrots or fruit.
Alternatively, hummus with pita and cut up vegetables for dipping.
I love a sandwich made with good bread, and if that option is appealing, there are many, many possibilities that would be easy to transport and work for several meals.
posted by FencingGal at 7:35 AM on September 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
Alternatively, hummus with pita and cut up vegetables for dipping.
I love a sandwich made with good bread, and if that option is appealing, there are many, many possibilities that would be easy to transport and work for several meals.
posted by FencingGal at 7:35 AM on September 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I also don't like onions (or cooking). Here is the one recipe I've invented that fits my exact specifications, so it may also work for your friend. It freezes well and reheats well.
Cook a cup of farro (the kind you don't have to soak).
Roast like... a normal amount of butternut squash. The amount of butternut squash you want to have. I cut it pretty small. 425.
Those cook for about the same amount of time. Drain the farro and put half of it and the squash in a bowl, then several big handfuls of spinach, then the rest of the hot stuff. Stir it all around so the spinach wilts.
Add dried cranberries for your husband to pick out, and an 8-oz thing of crumbled goat cheese. Stir some more.
I have also left the alliums out of this bean salad and this broccoli grain bowl (calls for garlic powder) without incident.
posted by babelfish at 9:04 AM on September 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Cook a cup of farro (the kind you don't have to soak).
Roast like... a normal amount of butternut squash. The amount of butternut squash you want to have. I cut it pretty small. 425.
Those cook for about the same amount of time. Drain the farro and put half of it and the squash in a bowl, then several big handfuls of spinach, then the rest of the hot stuff. Stir it all around so the spinach wilts.
Add dried cranberries for your husband to pick out, and an 8-oz thing of crumbled goat cheese. Stir some more.
I have also left the alliums out of this bean salad and this broccoli grain bowl (calls for garlic powder) without incident.
posted by babelfish at 9:04 AM on September 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
.Spiral pasta salad with red peppers, broccoli, black olives, cauliflower, tofu, Italian dressing. Add Parmesan if cheese is okay.
.I make scalloped potatoes with gram (chickpea) flour & water instead of milk and they're really good, as well as having protein. I do add onion, but you could slice broccoli, red peppers, or another veg and layer them in for the same flavor boost. Cheese is a nice addition for people who eat dairy.
.I've been roasting carrots in miso glaze and they are really delicious. Miso + about 1/4 in. water, peeled and sliced lengthwise carrots, salt, olive oil. Roast at 410 until the liquid is gone and the carrots are browned. Turn a few times. Dark bits are tasty, don't under-roast, blackened is not good, of course. Many carrot recipes add sugar, but carrots have been hybridized to be quite sweet, and I thinks it's unnecessary.
.Dry-fried green beans with an Asian sauce of soy sauce, ginger, toasted sesame oil, a little corn starch. I learned about dry fried green beans on ask.me, and they are so good.
posted by theora55 at 9:25 AM on September 13, 2022
.I make scalloped potatoes with gram (chickpea) flour & water instead of milk and they're really good, as well as having protein. I do add onion, but you could slice broccoli, red peppers, or another veg and layer them in for the same flavor boost. Cheese is a nice addition for people who eat dairy.
.I've been roasting carrots in miso glaze and they are really delicious. Miso + about 1/4 in. water, peeled and sliced lengthwise carrots, salt, olive oil. Roast at 410 until the liquid is gone and the carrots are browned. Turn a few times. Dark bits are tasty, don't under-roast, blackened is not good, of course. Many carrot recipes add sugar, but carrots have been hybridized to be quite sweet, and I thinks it's unnecessary.
.Dry-fried green beans with an Asian sauce of soy sauce, ginger, toasted sesame oil, a little corn starch. I learned about dry fried green beans on ask.me, and they are so good.
posted by theora55 at 9:25 AM on September 13, 2022
Not just Jain, you're looking for proper Buddhist & Hindu vegetarian meals too. I'm partial to South Indian cuisine within the Hindu vege ones as it's not regionally heavy on dairy in the dishes themselves. As for Buddhist ones, you'll probably find the popular ones to be more East Asian. In any case, there's a religious restriction against alums so you definitely won't find any.
The more South Asian ones will likely to be spicier; the East Asian ones less so. Cooking time vary of course but I find the East Asian ones simpler to prep, make, and go. In terms of ingredients, south Indian ones developed a use for asafoetida as an alum replacement (just to flag for you). All of them are meant to be eaten with rice/bread though, or a plain carb.
posted by cendawanita at 11:42 AM on September 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The more South Asian ones will likely to be spicier; the East Asian ones less so. Cooking time vary of course but I find the East Asian ones simpler to prep, make, and go. In terms of ingredients, south Indian ones developed a use for asafoetida as an alum replacement (just to flag for you). All of them are meant to be eaten with rice/bread though, or a plain carb.
posted by cendawanita at 11:42 AM on September 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
If they eat cheese and eggs, spanakopita works very well without the alliums, and I have done it very often. Use frozen whole spinach instead of the fresh baby spinach in this recipe, and thaw it and squeeze out as much water as possible before mixing with the other ingredients. The frozen spinach has a lot more taste and texture, and that compensates for the lack of alliums. I like to add a tsp of sumak to the filling, too.
Crespelle are also filled with spinach and cheese in this recipe, but they are more colorful. There is garlic in the recipe, but it is no problem at all to omit it.
(It's not that I didn't read your question, but these are recipes that I often use for meals where someone is allergic to or just hates alliums, and I find them tasty and simple without).
If the person eats dairy products, a lot of the French "au gratin" vegetable dishes are without alliums, for instance cauliflower au gratin. My mother made vegetable gratins of everything, and we had them for vegetarian day. They are popular with my kids too, and they are good as cold leftovers.
A la florentine is another popular method, here with mushrooms.. This is not difficult to veganize, using aquafaba for eggs and oat milk and vegan butter for the dairy products. I just skip the cheese, but there are lots of replacements.
At a restaurant, I once had a glorious pasta sauce that was made of finely diced carrots, bell peppers and zucchini. It was seasoned with salt, pepper, chili flakes and a hint of lemon, and evidently the pasta and a bit of the pasta water had been finished in the sauce because it was deliciously creamy. I don't have an accurate recipe, so I just try stuff as I go. I've learnt that the fine dicing is essential (5x5 mm) and the vegetables were cooked to soft. A very ripe skinned tomato can go in, but it is not a tomato sauce. It works well with a stalk of celery, too. It's delicious made with butter, but I'm certain the original was with a good olive oil as the base, and that will work better for reheating, too.
posted by mumimor at 9:35 AM on September 14, 2022
Crespelle are also filled with spinach and cheese in this recipe, but they are more colorful. There is garlic in the recipe, but it is no problem at all to omit it.
(It's not that I didn't read your question, but these are recipes that I often use for meals where someone is allergic to or just hates alliums, and I find them tasty and simple without).
If the person eats dairy products, a lot of the French "au gratin" vegetable dishes are without alliums, for instance cauliflower au gratin. My mother made vegetable gratins of everything, and we had them for vegetarian day. They are popular with my kids too, and they are good as cold leftovers.
A la florentine is another popular method, here with mushrooms.. This is not difficult to veganize, using aquafaba for eggs and oat milk and vegan butter for the dairy products. I just skip the cheese, but there are lots of replacements.
At a restaurant, I once had a glorious pasta sauce that was made of finely diced carrots, bell peppers and zucchini. It was seasoned with salt, pepper, chili flakes and a hint of lemon, and evidently the pasta and a bit of the pasta water had been finished in the sauce because it was deliciously creamy. I don't have an accurate recipe, so I just try stuff as I go. I've learnt that the fine dicing is essential (5x5 mm) and the vegetables were cooked to soft. A very ripe skinned tomato can go in, but it is not a tomato sauce. It works well with a stalk of celery, too. It's delicious made with butter, but I'm certain the original was with a good olive oil as the base, and that will work better for reheating, too.
posted by mumimor at 9:35 AM on September 14, 2022
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posted by Tamanna at 6:50 AM on September 13, 2022 [2 favorites]