Vegetarian Meals: Tasty & Affordable for Vegans

[hypatia]

Hummus is ground chick peas mixed with tahini{sesame oil} garlic and lemon juice.

 

[Evo]

Edit:
Okay, I was curious to see what passed as vegan desserts aside from fruit salad, so I went looking. This is what they are calling French silk pie!
The ingredients list:


Why do they even bother calling it French silk pie? It's not even close! Who do they think they're fooling? That's baby food with chocolate added! Mashed apples and bananas with chocolate. If you like stuff like that, fine, but give it a new name, because it's just NOT French silk pie. French silk pie does not have apples and bananas in it! It has cream and eggs to make a chocolate custard.

I like this comment they have: Quote: Naturally you can taste the difference...

Do you think?

Well, for those of you looking for a vegetarian/vegan recipe, there you go, enjoy!

That's fruit and chocolate, what besides nothing does that have to do with French Silk Pie?? I guess their adaptation of "chocolate milk" would be to blend chocolate into a glass of apple juice? But like they say "Naturally you can taste the difference".

 

[Tsu]

Hummus is ground chick peas mixed with tahini{sesame oil} garlic and lemon juice.

Have you ever thrown a little mint leaf into the mix? VERY tasty!

 

[Moonbear]

That's fruit and chocolate, what besides nothing does that have to do with French Silk Pie?? I guess their adaptation of "chocolate milk" would be to blend chocolate into a glass of apple juice? But like they say "Naturally you can taste the difference".

It seems that at least the people who wrote those recipes have some "issues" with veganism. I see it a lot, just trying to substitute meat or eggs or milk with other things. It's like their diet is still meat-centric and they're in denial about it if they have to try to pretend the food is still the same stuff they've always eaten. It just makes for some nasty foods. I'm also trying to figure out why they need to add so much sugar if it already has sweet fruits in it...applesauce and bananas should be pretty sweet already!

Maybe Monique needs to write a vegetarian cookbook. At least her recipes sound tasty and are not just meat-based recipes without the meat.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, that apple-banana-chocolate pie thing might taste delicious; I wouldn't know without tasting it, but my argument is just that it ISN'T French silk pie, so don't call it that and pretend that it is as if you aren't missing out on indulgences that include dairy and eggs. Obviously, if someone is going through the trouble to call it French silk pie, they are missing and craving French silk pie, or else they'd call it apple-banana-chocolate pie.

 

[wolram]

I made myself a cheese and onion pie with a tomato sauce today, it was absolutly Horrible

 

[Moonbear]

I made myself a cheese and onion pie with a tomato sauce today, it was absolutly Horrible

That sounds like pizza, but I like pizza. What type of cheese did you use? Or maybe it was too much onion? Or the wrong crust?

Oh, and thanks everyone for getting me craving hummus! I love hummus, and can only get the packaged stuff in the supermarket here, which is not very good. I've never tried making my own. It sounds like it should be easy, so maybe I should. Is tahini really just regular sesame oil? I have sesame oil, but I thought tahini was something a little different.

And if anyone is going to suggest any other tasty ethnic recipes, hurry up and do so while I still live within a half hour of an international supermarket and can pick up some ingredients! I don't think there's a very big international community in the middle of West Virginia to have much of a selection of ingredients. Otherwise I'll have to wait until I can make periodic visits to cities.

 

[wolram]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

 

[Evo]

Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. I also have a craving for freshly made hummus, I think I'm going to make some tonight. The ready made stuff they sell here is just awful. It tastes more like wallpaper paste.

 

[Moonbear]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

Sounds more like a quiche than a pie. Maybe you should have left out the blue cheese. That doesn't sound like it would go well with eggs. Otherwise, the rest sounds like a breakfast omelet in a pie crust.

 

[Evo]

I used cheddar and danish blue, three eggs a small choped onion and some
herbs and spices.

The tomato sauce must have been the killer. I can't imagine blue cheese and tomato sauce. Sounds like you had a nice quiche there.

 

[Evo]

Yes, Moonbear and I were separated at birth.

 

[Moonbear]

Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. I also have a craving for freshly made hummus, I think I'm going to make some tonight. The ready made stuff they sell here is just awful. It tastes more like wallpaper paste.

When you make it homemade, can you use chickpeas out of a can, or do you need to use the dried ones to make it taste good? If you use them out of the can, I assume you must drain the liquid and rinse, right?

 

[arildno]

Yes, Moonbear and I were separated at birth.

Is Evo vying for the most-cryptic-reply award?

 

[Evo]

When you make it homemade, can you use chickpeas out of a can, or do you need to use the dried ones to make it taste good? If you use them out of the can, I assume you must drain the liquid and rinse, right?

I've read many recipes calling for canned chickpeas, so they seem acceptable. Yes, drain them, but you can reserve a bit of the liquid to use to thin it if necessary.

This recipe sounds good.

4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
two 1-pound 3-ounce cans chick-peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup well stirred tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted lightly

The comments at the bottom were to reduce the amount of tahini, increase the lemon and omit the parsley.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101577

 

[Moonbear]

Is Evo vying for the most-cryptic-reply award?

We both suggested Wolram made quiche and that there was some conflict with the blue-cheese in the recipe (though Evo thought it could be resolved by removing the tomatoes and I thought it should involve removing the blue cheese).

 

[Evo]

Is Evo vying for the most-cryptic-reply award?

Read the two posts (mine and Moonbear's) both posted at the same time preceeding that post.

 

[Moonbear]

I've read many recipes calling for canned chickpeas, so they seem acceptable. Yes, drain them, but you can reserve a bit of the liquid to use to thin it if necessary.

This recipe sounds good.

4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
two 1-pound 3-ounce cans chick-peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup well stirred tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted lightly

The comments at the bottom were to reduce the amount of tahini, increase the lemon and omit the parsley.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/101577

Oooh, goody! I think I'm off to the store then!

 

[arildno]

Read the two posts (mine and Moonbear's) both posted at the same time preceeding that post.

Ok, you are rejected as a potential candidate.

 

[Evo]

One of my favorite vegetable dishes where it can be a main course and you don't miss the meat is Ratatouille. I got the recipe from my mother and it is simple. Sautee one diced onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic in olive oil, add one chopped eggplant, 1-2 zucchini (sliced or chopped), 1 bell pepper (chopped), add a 15oz can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh chopped), stir, add a drizel of olive oil, salt to taste, and cook until done, stirring occasionally (vegetables should be soft). This is heavenly stuff eaten hot or cold. Some people add herbs, but to me herbs overpower this dish, trust me, it doesn't need them.

Ok, I'm making ratatouille and hummus tonight.

 

[Moonbear]

One of my favorite vegetable dishes where it can be a main course and you don't miss the meat is Ratatouille. I got the recipe from my mother and it is simple. Sautee one diced onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic in olive oil, add one chopped eggplant, 1-2 zucchini (sliced or chopped), 1 bell pepper (chopped), add a 15oz can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh chopped), stir, add a drizel of olive oil, salt to taste, and cook until done, stirring occasionally (vegetables should be soft). This is heavenly stuff eaten hot or cold. Some people add herbs, but to me herbs overpower this dish, trust me, it doesn't need them.

Ok, I'm making ratatouille and hummus tonight.

Oh, yes, that's a good recipe. The funny thing is, I thought I "invented" it on my own...I never knew what ratatouille was, but wound up with that combination of ingredients (except it was fresh tomato rather than canned) in one of my typical one-pot grad school meals. Sometimes I added some chicken to it though (it was a good way of stretching one chicken breast to cut it into small pieces, brown it, and add it to all the veggies and get a few meals out of it).

Actually, you can make many variations on a theme if you start out with some tomatoes, peppers (now that I can afford more expensive vegetables, I prefer sweeter peppers than the green ones...red, orange or yellow, with my preference being the orange or yellow ones; I don't taste much difference between the two of those and they add more color to the dish), garlic and olive oil. You can add pretty much any other vegetables to that and have a good meal to serve over pasta, rice, or as a side dish.

Last night I started with that base (oh, no, I left out tomatoes), and added zucchini, portabello mushrooms and sweet potato (sliced very thinly so it would cook at the same time as the other vegetables) and a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar and just a sprinkle of salt and black pepper. That one I baked because of the sweet potato, but often I sautee.

Let's see, I've used that base with spinach or other bitter leafy vegetables and added pine nuts to serve over penne pasta. Sometimes I just add mushrooms or eggplant or zucchini. I've cooked it with chicken and topped it with provolone cheese (almost like a chicken parmesan, but better). Pretty much any vegetable you have will go with it (I can't think of anything you couldn't cook with it). And, of course, don't be shy with that garlic! Everything tastes good if you add enough garlic.

 

[Moonbear]

Got hummus! Evo, thanks for the recipe! I'm munching on my freshly made hummus right now! I only used 1/2 cup of tahini because once I gave it a little taste, I realized that's the stuff that can get too strong too and give hummus a "burnt" taste, then I used the juice of a whole, large lemon (over 1/4 c, but less than 1/3 c), doubled the garlic (I'm convinced my garlic cloves are always small compared to the ones they use for recipes ...I just love garlic), and only used about 1/4 c of water (I decided to add slowly rather than just put in the 1/2 c all at once since I know I like hummus thick...and good thing I did).

Oh, but this is just so divine now! And so easy too.

 

[wolram]

The tomato sauce must have been the killer. I can't imagine blue cheese and tomato sauce. Sounds like you had a nice quiche there.

I guess i shouldn't have poured the sauce all over first, now if i can just
get rid of this belly ache.

 

[Evo]

I guess i shouldn't have poured the sauce all over first, now if i can just
get rid of this belly ache.

I'll come over and rub your belly with my mother's cure for bellyaches.

 

[JamesU]

I am afraid to ask: what would that be?

 

[Monique]

Maybe Monique needs to write a vegetarian cookbook. At least her recipes sound tasty and are not just meat-based recipes without the meat.

That's sweet, I don't know how the general public would like my recipes though

Since we are talking about vegetables, yesterday night (at 1 am ) I made my first ever artichoke.. it was like a journey into another world eating that vegetable!

I just boiled it into salty water and then started pulling the leaves off and eating the flesh that was stuck to it, at first I was planning to count the leaves but then underneath there were another 100s or so smaller leaves there seemed to be coming no end to it and when I pulled away the last final few leaves (they have nastly little stingers on the top of their leaves) there was this jungle of fibres underneath! so after wondering what to do I cut those away and got to the artichoke heart soo tasty! it should be fun to eat it while watching a movie, I was chewing on it like you would do chicken legs for like half an hour.. next time I will have to make a sauce to dip the leaves into.

 

[Pengwuino]

I'll come over and rub your belly with my mother's cure for bellyaches.

I have a tummyache evo

 

[Monique]

When you make it homemade, can you use chickpeas out of a can, or do you need to use the dried ones to make it taste good? If you use them out of the can, I assume you must drain the liquid and rinse, right?

I don't like the dried chickpeas at all. I soak them for 24 hours, then boil them for ~3 hours and they still are a bit starchy and undercooked. I use the dried ones to mash into a paste, the ones in pots for cooking (give a good rinse). I once found a grasshoppers head in my dried lentils, always make sure you check for stones/insects.

Having a stock of pulses/beans is a good idea for a vegetarian. I've got some varieties of lentils (red ones, yellow ones), chickpeas, black eyed peas, mung beans etc. 4.4 lbs (2 kg) only costs €3.

I sometimes also use boiled hazlenuts into my dishes, when they are on sale, or peanuts/walnuts (put them in in the beginning so that they can soften).

 

[Moonbear]

Since we are talking about vegetables, yesterday night (at 1 am ) I made my first ever artichoke.. it was like a journey into another world eating that vegetable!

I just boiled it into salty water and then started pulling the leaves off and eating the flesh that was stuck to it, at first I was planning to count the leaves but then underneath there were another 100s or so smaller leaves there seemed to be coming no end to it and when I pulled away the last final few leaves (they have nastly little stingers on the top of their leaves) there was this jungle of fibres underneath! so after wondering what to do I cut those away and got to the artichoke heart soo tasty! it should be fun to eat it while watching a movie, I was chewing on it like you would do chicken legs for like half an hour.. next time I will have to make a sauce to dip the leaves into.

I usually order artichokes in restaurants as appetizers rather than cook them because they just seem to be more trouble than they're worth to prepare them; I've only made them a few times. To make it, you're supposed to cut off something like the top 1/3 (the part that's nothing but tough tips of leaves), and then use scissors to snip off the points from any other leaves you can get at. Then, if you cut the top right, it exposes the "choke" part (the fibrous stuff inside) and you scoop that out to get rid of it. Then you're just left with the more tender part of the leaves to suck the flesh off of and the heart.

I'd love suggestions of a good sauce for dipping the leaves. I've had good sauces in restaurants, but don't know how to make any of them. Usually I just resort to ranch dressing or something equally unexciting.

I do NOT like the ones that come in jars or cans. They just don't taste right when they've been preserved like that.

 

[Evo]

I usually order artichokes in restaurants as appetizers rather than cook them because they just seem to be more trouble than they're worth to prepare them; I've only made them a few times. To make it, you're supposed to cut off something like the top 1/3 (the part that's nothing but tough tips of leaves), and then use scissors to snip off the points from any other leaves you can get at. Then, if you cut the top right, it exposes the "choke" part (the fibrous stuff inside) and you scoop that out to get rid of it. Then you're just left with the more tender part of the leaves to suck the flesh off of and the heart.

Artichokes are the easiest thing in the world to cook! Forget everything you read about cooking them. Just cut the stem off flush to make a flat bottom, rinse them under running water and put them, stem side down, into a large pot, all must be sitting side by side stem side down so that they will cook uniformly (usually you can get 3-4 average artichokes in). Cover with water and add 1-2 teaspoons of salt. (with time you'll figure out how much salt for your taste) Boil, preferably covered (to trap steam) for 35-45 minutes, or until a leaf falls off easily when the artichoke is touched with a fork.

I use a couple of deep slotted spoons to remove the artichokes to a collander to drain. Put them upside down to get all the trapped water out. But be careful it doesn't fall apart.

My favorite sauce is just melted butter with lemon and garlic. My girls and I have get togethers just to make and eat artichokes. YUM!

 

[Evo]

I am afraid to ask: what would that be?

She would warm some oil that was lightly camphorated and rub your belly with it. It definitely soothed and relaxed an aching belly.