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Ok, so I like meat. A lot. I very, very rarely cook anything without meat in. This is cool, except I've just started dating a veggie girl, and I want to cook for her. And I don't have the faintest idea where to begin. Basically: - She is a full veggie. This means no fish. Weirdly she doesn't mind stuff like oyster sauce, though. - Pasta is really cliche as a date meal, so I'd rather avoid it unless it's really special. - Stir-fries always kind of seemed like a cop-out too, unless the above also applies here. - I'm a student living in a slightly crappy apartment. I have no microwave. I have no food processor. I have an oven, 2 stove rings, a toaster and a coffee maker. PLus knives and stuff, of course. So if I have to properly blend something, I'm out of luck unless I can borrow a friend's blender. - I'd like to enjoy it too. I know it won't be my usual, and that's cool, but I don't want to be repulsed by it, obviously. So either something that can be made both with an without meat simultaneously, or uses tofu or something perhaps. Or some beans. Might also be worth mentioning that I live in Iceland right now, and the choice of ingredients here kinda sucks. Fresh vegetables can be had, but nothing super-exotic. Same goes for anything else. Most stuff is imported from the USA (lots of Hunts tinned pasta sauces...). Also, I'm not a bad cook, so don't hold back if something is kinda tricky. So, there you have it. I know I don't have much to play with here, but hopefully someone will be able to suggest something suitable to help a fellow Goon have success with an actual live woman.  PS - I had a look through the GWS Wiki and honestly there wasn't anything there that made me think "Oh holy poo poo, I must make this!". Most of them sounded like snacks or starters. So, yeah.
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| # ? Nov 02, 2009 22:03 |
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| # ? Nov 22, 2009 10:50 |
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Fifteen bean soup. http://www.hurstbeans.com/ this is the company that puts it together. I personally like the original so I can season it myself, but I have found nothing wrong with any of thier flavored versions either. You can make this very thick like a stew, and then you just need to come up with a good bread recipie. You might give Dal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal) or falafel a shot as well. Pretty sure there is a good falafel recipie on the gws wiki. If you can steal a food processor, make hummus.
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| # ? Nov 02, 2009 22:18 |
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"Quick! Help me surprise my girlfriend with a delicious & vegetarian dinner" http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3215137 "Need some Veg meals for a Meat and Potatoes type person" http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3217443 "Vegetarian and Carnivorous Cooking" http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3210405 "Veghumatiranism - becomming a 30 day hippy" http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3195461 "Am I doing this right? GWS For beginners! Q&A and recipe requests go here." http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3091261 That Girl fucked around with this message at Nov 02, 2009 around 22:30 |
| # ? Nov 02, 2009 22:27 |
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Thanks. I caught a couple of those, and missed a couple too. Seems like a hell of a lot of the suggestions are for pasta or stir-fries, though. Chilli is a good one. I love chilli. Definitely something for me to consider - the wiki has at least one good bean chilli recipe if I remember correctly. Fajitas are a good idea too. Stuff you can share to, you know, be social. I love them and all I'd have to do is fry up some chicken or beef seperately with some spices and dish them up seperately for myself. Is there anything equivalent to chicken or beef (i.e. some sort of 'bulk') that I could do for her (or even both of us)? I can't imagine tofu in fajitas, say. Mr. Wiggles' Brazilian stew also sounds like an awesome idea, if I can find a mango here. I'm not even convinced I'll be able to find it tinned.  Also as someone who admits to throwing hot sauce on everything, I think I can get away with spicy food. Makes a change from my ex, ugh. jadias fucked around with this message at Nov 02, 2009 around 23:17 |
| # ? Nov 02, 2009 23:15 |
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I'm thinking either vegetable lasagna or eggplant parmesan. Both are hearty enough to not really feel vegetarian.
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| # ? Nov 02, 2009 23:32 |
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Eggplant parmesan sounds intriguing. Not sure I can find eggplant here, but I will try - I've not looked as it's not something I normally eat, but I don't have that seemingly usual male aversion to it. I know I keep saying "I'm not sure if I can find X", but literally, the choice of food here is shocking (or the price is). Lasagna... maybe. It's still pasta, and I wanted to get away from pasta, but at least it's not a bowl of spaghetti with some half-hearted sauce. It's a good reserve choice. Heck, the more recipes the better - hopefully I'll end up cooking for her more than just the once!
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| # ? Nov 02, 2009 23:39 |
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You seem very concerned with lack of ingredients....what kind of stuff are you unlikely to have access to? One of my quick vegetarian meals that is always a hit is BBQ Tofu Pitas, sweet potato fries, and greens. No time now for a step-by-step but: BBQ Tofu Pitas: Bake tofu on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil, or simmer in a saucepot, with your favorite BBQ sauce until firm and the sauce has been absorbed/caramelized. Cut pitas in half and lightly warm, put diced tofu and some extra sauce inside. Sweet potato fries: chop sweet potatoes into spears (skin on or off), wash but do not dry. Toss with peanut oil, salt, paprika, cayenne, and cumin. proportions are to your taste, I like 'em spicier. Bake in a single layer at 450 until done and crispy. half a potatoe per person or so. Greens: chop an onion into thin slices, smash three cloves of garlic. Wash about 1 pound or so of kale, turnip, or collard greens. Heat peanut oil in a heavy iron skillet or iron dutch over, add onions and garlic, fry for a minute. Add greens, fry for a few minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water, half a veggie stock cube, a dash of liquid smoke, and some red pepper flakes to taste. Allow to cook/steam with stirring every few minutes to assure even distribution of flavors. Also, lighly fry some plantains and drizzle a little bit of salt on them sometime. This would go well with Wiggles' feijoida and goes nicely with anything Carribean. Heavenly.
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| # ? Nov 02, 2009 23:56 |
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BrotherAdso posted:Greens: chop an onion into thin slices, smash three cloves of garlic. Wash about 1 pound or so of kale, turnip, or collard greens. Heat peanut oil in a heavy iron skillet or iron dutch over, add onions and garlic, fry for a minute. Add greens, fry for a few minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water, half a veggie stock cube, a dash of liquid smoke, and some red pepper flakes to taste. Allow to cook/steam with stirring every few minutes to assure even distribution of flavors. I do something similar. Onions and garlic in, then add the kale. After it just starts to wilt a little add in another 2 cloves of garlic and a good glug of red wine. Kale is pretty forgiving as long as you don't cook it to hell. And no, the garlic won't be a big deal if you decide to play kissy face.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:00 |
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Goddamn, that sounds really good and mostly doable. The greens might need some tweaking for what I can get, but I can manage. Basically, since everything here in imported, there are only one or two brands of anything, and lots of exotic things I can easily find in supermarkets back in the UK are totally unavailable here. Like I said, mangos, eggplants... who knows. I need to do a better scout around, but the vegetable racks here are pretty tiny compared to what I'm used to. Also, prices are absurd - lettuce is just... And I'm not worried about garlic breath. It's ok if you both eat it. Besides, we went for Thai tonight, and played kissy face before I dropped her off, so yeah. jadias fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 00:12 |
| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:04 |
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Can you get French lentils? They are green and pretty hardy. What I do with them is boil them in my rice cooker until they are cooked, but making sure they are not mush. Drain them and then put them in a pan and then make tacos out of them. If you make any kind of taco with ground meat, or even shredded meat, you can substitute these lentils. I like the French ones because they are not mushy like the brown. I am going to be trying some red ones this week though because I'm out of the French (green). The make up some vegetarian refried beans, and all the toppings. http://www.foodsubs.com/Lentils.html
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:11 |
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Lord of Space posted:I do something similar. Onions and garlic in, then add the kale. After it just starts to wilt a little add in another 2 cloves of garlic and a good glug of red wine. Kale is pretty forgiving as long as you don't cook it to hell. Oh poo poo, I forgot to mention its 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup or so of apple cider vinegar, to your taste as far as bite goes. Geez. Way for me to gently caress that up. Edit: I usually cook it open for at least half the time to let the liquid concentrate and help steam the kale. Kale should be a little crunchy but not much when it's done. Alternatively, you can go full southern if you use collards and let them cook until they're nice and totally wilted down. BrotherAdso fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 00:17 |
| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:15 |
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jadias posted:
Fajitas are really all about the meat, there's a plenty large variety of Mexican or quasi-Mexican food you can work with that's either intended to be bean or corn based or works much better without meat than fajitas would. If she's lacto-vegetarian (cheese is okay) there's even more options.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:23 |
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I've made "fajitas" with grilled portobellos and that worked really well.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:29 |
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Primeous posted:Fajitas are really all about the meat, there's a plenty large variety of Mexican or quasi-Mexican food you can work with that's either intended to be bean or corn based or works much better without meat than fajitas would. If she's lacto-vegetarian (cheese is okay) there's even more options. After a couple years being vegetarian, tofu fajitas are a nice change of pace. They crisp up pretty nicely. You're right though; there are definitely a lot of options to explore in hispanic sort of food... Might be tough to get ingredients though since the OP lives on the moon or something. I know you're anti pasta, but a nice big veggie lasagne with a salad of some sort is sufficiently impressive and delicious. An eggplant parm (or zucchini, or hell even mushroom) would achieve the same effect.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:49 |
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Primeous posted:If she's lacto-vegetarian (cheese is okay) there's even more options. mich posted:I've made "fajitas" with grilled portobellos and that worked really well. exactduckwoman posted:After a couple years being vegetarian, tofu fajitas are a nice change of pace. They crisp up pretty nicely. You're right though; there are definitely a lot of options to explore in hispanic sort of food... Might be tough to get ingredients though since the OP lives on the moon or something. I'm not anti-pasta (I love it, personally, and I know she eats it too), but pasta always seems like a cop-out somehow. Cook pasta, throw on sauce - any idiot can do it. Lasagna is kind of different, though, I guess. I'll have a scan for some good recipes. I guess it's also nice that it's something you can sort of let cook and actually chat, rather than having to stand over it for an hour. jadias fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 01:00 |
| # ? Nov 03, 2009 00:54 |
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Make Chicken Tikka Masla or Butter Chicken with paneer instead of chicken. Probably won't have any of those ingredients though in Iceland. Make some fresh pizza.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 02:06 |
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jadias posted:I'm not huge on mushrooms but I certainly don't mind them as long as they're not too slimy or super-earty tasting. A friend told me about a mushroom that could literally be used as a straight replacement for beef (even in flavour) - portobellos, perhaps? I wouldn't say it's a straight replacement but yes, portobellos are very commonly used as a meaty sort of stand-in for beef. I marinate them in 6-8 Tb olive oil, 3-4 Tb lemon juice, plenty of minced garlic, and 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt for an hour. For fajitas you could use lime juice instead. I wrap them in foil and grill gill side up until tender, then take it out of the foil to grill a minute or so more. Chicken tikka masala with paneer is a great suggestion and if you can't get paneer, tofu works great.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 03:49 |
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I made red beans and rice yesterday, it turned out pretty well. I kind of winged it after looking over a few recipes. Recipes I saw called for smoked sausage, which I put in, less than the recipe called for, though. I found it added a good flavor, but wasn't so necessary as far as substance goes. If you can find artificial ham flavoring (I know you can get it here in the US, it's made by Goya, a company that makes a lot of Hispanic foods) that might suit you well. Also, some other things I may consider are quesadillas and pierogies.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 04:02 |
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A nice home made pizza? Pumpkin, Pine Nuts, Feta and baby spinach makes a really nice vegetarian pizza that also doesn't seem like it is a normal pizza minus the meat.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 05:33 |
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mich posted:I wouldn't say it's a straight replacement but yes, portobellos are very commonly used as a meaty sort of stand-in for beef. I marinate them in 6-8 Tb olive oil, 3-4 Tb lemon juice, plenty of minced garlic, and 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt for an hour. For fajitas you could use lime juice instead. I wrap them in foil and grill gill side up until tender, then take it out of the foil to grill a minute or so more. When I said earlier that a friend 'told me about a mushroom', I mean a specific mushroom. He said it literally tasted like beef, but couldn't remember the name. I'm not familiar with mushrooms, really, but looking up portobellos I see they're basically what I consider to be 'normal mushrooms', which I know don't taste like beef. Any idea what my friend was on about? Senor Tron posted:A nice home made pizza? Pumpkin, Pine Nuts, Feta and baby spinach makes a really nice vegetarian pizza that also doesn't seem like it is a normal pizza minus the meat. My oven is kinda small and not that deep, and I've had problems fitting store-bought pizzas in it in the past. I guess if I just made a rectangular one, though, I could easily solve that problem.
jadias fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 05:38 |
| # ? Nov 03, 2009 05:35 |
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jadias posted:Brilliant, sounds like a plan. A good pizza requires good cheese and quality sauce -- hard to get in Iceland? And a very hot oven indeed -- how reliable is yours? On the mushroom thing -- your friend might have been talking about Quorn, a UK-based mushroom derivative that people have flavored as a vegetarian meat substitute. It's not bad, but meat substitutes are a silly idea when there are so many delicious non-meat foods out there anyway. I would go with either a lasgane -- chatting time is good, like you said, or, if you can't get good cheese, my BBQ tofu suggestion. Remember that there are two ways to go with vegetarian cooking: simple, delicate preparations that let the flavors of vegetables themselves shine through, or bold and heavily flavored/altered ones that make the actual ingredients in the dish less the point than the flavor.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 05:51 |
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I was going to suggest the eggplant parm, or a homemade veggie pizza. The pizza is fun because you guys can make it together. 
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 07:07 |
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Shame you can't get eggplants, because the eggplant parmesan idea would be awesome. Even my sister's "rrrgh this steak isn't still twitching" carnivorous ex-boyfriend liked it.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 08:29 |
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BrotherAdso posted:A good pizza requires good cheese and quality sauce -- hard to get in Iceland? And a very hot oven indeed -- how reliable is yours? Can you recommend a good veggie lasagna recipe? GWS doesn't actually seem to have one, unless I missed it last night. Shouting Melon posted:Shame you can't get eggplants, because the eggplant parmesan idea would be awesome. Even my sister's "rrrgh this steak isn't still twitching" carnivorous ex-boyfriend liked it.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 09:21 |
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jadias posted:Can you recommend a good veggie lasagna recipe? GWS doesn't actually seem to have one, unless I missed it last night. This is pretty much what I do. Unfortunately I don't measure  but I'll do my best to give you an idea. This is a very simple recipe but it seems to impress nonetheless, maybe just because people don't expect veggie lasagne to be very good!Lasagne noodles (for a 9x13 pan, you will need about 12, but you can do all right with 9 if necessary) Jar of tomato sauce, or make your own (make sure it doesn't have rennet or meat in it.) 16oz ricotta 1 egg Ground black pepper 1/2lb mozzarella, shredded maybe 2 cups grated parmesan or romano 10oz spinach 1 head of broccoli, chopped small 2 tbsp olive oil Several cloves of garlic, minced or crushed You'll probably use less cheese than that but it's hard to say. Extra mozz is never bad. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. The following steps can be done pretty much at the same time and indeed ought to be. 1. Set a big pan of water to boil, with salt in it. 2. Sautee garlic in oil in a large, deep skillet. When it's translucent, add the broccoli and cook, stirring every once in a while, until bright green. This won't take more than a few minutes. Toss the cooked broccoli into a bowl, and cook down the spinach. You will need to add a couple tablespoons or a cup of water to wilt the spinach. When the spinach is done, put it in a strainer and try to squeeze as much of the water out as possible. 3. Cook your lasagne noodles in the boiling salted water, but take them out a little before al dente. They shouldn't still be crunchy, just a little tough and flexible. 4. Mix up the egg with the ricotta. Add salt and pepper, and if you like, herbs (e.g. oregano, thyme, rosemary) & garlic powder to taste. 5. Spread a little tomato sauce on the bottom of your 9x13 pan, enough to coat it. Put down a layer of four noodles, then a layer of half the spinach, then half the broccoli, then sauce, then half the ricotta, then mozzarella & parm. Each of these things shouldn't really totally cover the thing below it. Rather, there should be blobs here and there, enough for you to say "This bite will have x ingredient in it." Smush them around a little with a spoon for more coverage. Things will spread out and mix while cooking, so you don't need to overdo it. I like to overdo the cheese though. The most important thing is not to put too much sauce in, so it's not a watery lasagne. Add another layer of noodles, then the ingredients in the same order. Then a third layer of noodles, on top of which you should put sauce, mozzarella and parm. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, or until heated through and the top is all bubbly and a bit browned. Serve with a fancy salad (if you can get fresh mozzarella, caprese is great), or a nice minestrone if it's cold. And garlic bread.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 13:55 |
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How about a cheese fondue and some nice wine? When I was dating that was my Go-to fun with a guy thing to do. Put on a fun movie, set the pot on the coffee table then sit around it and eat and chat and drink. Good times.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 14:17 |
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Seattle's got a lot of vegetarian/vegan restaurants, at least one of which has done a really great cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Cafe-Flora-Co...r/dp/1557884714
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 15:57 |
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exactduckwoman posted:This is pretty much what I do. Unfortunately I don't measure And yeah, it is kinda cold here in ICEland right now.  Soup is a cool idea. I have a killer family recipe for chorizo and bean soup that I need to start making this winter anyway. Heck, maybe I can find a way of vegetarianising it.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:How about a cheese fondue and some nice wine? When I was dating that was my Go-to fun with a guy thing to do. Put on a fun movie, set the pot on the coffee table then sit around it and eat and chat and drink. Good times. dimwitf posted:Seattle's got a lot of vegetarian/vegan restaurants, at least one of which has done a really great cookbook: ). I seem to be attracted to veggies despite my carniverous ways. Ah well.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 16:33 |
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jadias posted:Sounds pretty drat good, thanks. One question - are you baking it with foil over it, or not? Most recipes for lasagna tell you to bake it covered, then uncover it for the last 15 mins or so to brown the top. I don't cover it. It doesn't need to cook very long since the noodles are very nearly done, and everything else is fully cooked. The goal is just to melt the cheeses, heat it through, and brown the top. If it loses a little liquid while it cooks, it's all to the good, since it holds together better that way.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 18:14 |
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exactduckwoman posted:This is pretty much what I do. Unfortunately I don't measure Spinach lasagna was one of the first meals my husband cooked for me long before he was my husband. Any vegetarian Indian food is pretty easy and looks like a lot more work than it is, but you might have trouble getting the spices. Seitan fajitas, instead of tofu, I think are a bit better, and you might like it for the meaty texture. You might have to make the seitan from scratch though, but that's not that hard.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 19:12 |
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Bubble Babble posted:Spinach lasagna was one of the first meals my husband cooked for me long before he was my husband. I love making spinach lasagna, too. Good, filling, super easy. Can be a little expensive to buy all of the ingredients but it makes so loving much and freezes well.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 19:21 |
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If you want to start making varied and decent vegetarian food I would recommend picking up some basic Asian and Indian subcontinent cookbooks. I'm sure you can locate some at your nearest mega-bookstore. The reason I mention cookbooks is that traditions like Indian and Chinese cooking are as varied and complex as anything French cooking can offer, and it would be difficult to communicate even the basic information required to become familiar with these traditions within the confines of a post. Whatever you do don't assume that Asian food is the same thing you pick up at restaurants. That kind of restaurant food is popular in America but has given Asian cooking a very narrow stereotype that some people tend to avoid. As a result of this I don't tell some of my veg friends where the things I'm cooking for them originated as "they don't like Asian food". The truth is Asian cooking has had a focus on vegetarian dishes for a long time now, either as the result of overpopulation or cultural preference, so it's fair to say that they know what they are talking about. The general lessons you will learn from their cooking will provide you with a better understanding of a vegetarian cooking system and will help you to throw together vegetarian dishes on the fly. It has helped me immensely. As for a recipe: This is my wifes Cholay recipe. It was one of her first vegetarian dishes. She had some help designing it from a Brahmin girl she worked with at the university. INGREDIENTS: 2 Cups water 1 Black tea bag 1 bay leaf 2 cans chickpeas veg oil 1 onion thinly sliced 1 28 oz. can + 1 14 oz. can diced tomato 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp. fresh ginger root 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 onion chopped ground cayenne to taste salt and pepper to taste Place the teabag, the water and the bay leaf in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir the beans into the water, reserving 1/2 cup of beans. Once the teabag has clearly steeped, and the beans are hot discard the teabag and the bay leaf. Drain the water into a separate container and reserve. Move the cooked bean to a separate container. Get a saute pan and add enough oil to cover the bottom. Heat over medium and saute the sliced onion. Once it's nice and caramelizedremove it from the heat and combine it with the reserved beans, the smaller can of tomato and half the cilantro. set this aside. In to original pot add enough oil to cover the bottom of the vessel. Add the coriander, cumin, ginger, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned. Stir in the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the large can of tomato and a few spoonfuls of the reserved water. Season with salt and cayenne. Bring this to a boil and cook for five minutes. Stir in the cooked beans, onion mixture, and enough reserved water to make it a bit saucy. Simmer for around 15 minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with remaining cilantro. Here's mine. I'll make it short. It's called Sharbat Gulab and is a rose flavored drink popular in parts of India. A nice little addition to a meal. Sharbat Gulab INGREDIENTS: 3 cups white sugar 2 cups water 1 teaspoon tulsi seeds 20 drops rose essence 1 teaspoon of some red food coloring agent (like food coloring) iced water and crushed ice for serving. Add sugar and water to a saucepan and cook slowly ove low heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow this to cool. Once the liquid has cooled add the rose flavoring and the red coloring. Soak the tulsi seeds in cold water wait until the develop a thick jelly coating. Don't worry about soaking for too long, as you can soak the little things for a few days in the fridge. To serve pour two tablespoon of the syrup into a stemmed glass and fill with iced water and some ice. The syrup can be increased or decreased to taste. Add a spoonful of the soaked tulsi seeds at the end. PrinceofNessus fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 21:02 |
| # ? Nov 03, 2009 20:56 |
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You can buy her those jack in the box tacos, they aren't meat... "textured soy" ugggh... Anyways Im going to say you will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't enjoy fried stuff so regardless of what you decide on for an entree. I highly suggest sliced and fried polenta/ tofu/ potatos. Seriously, if she doesn't like that kind of fried goodness, DTB NOW. Do her a favor and fry it in lard. Then tell her the delicious food shes eating was fried from fat extracted from a cute and furry animal.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 22:30 |
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madkapitolist posted:Do her a favor and fry it in lard. Then tell her the delicious food shes eating was fried from fat extracted from a cute and furry animal. Yes, hilarious, no one has ever thought of something like this whenever vegetarian questions come up, ugh.
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| # ? Nov 03, 2009 23:02 |
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You can always try making some curry. Indian food is good in general because many Indians cannot eat meat because of religious restrictions. The spices you need for the masala include cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cumin, black pepper, coriander, cloves, dried chile peppers and tumeric. It's best to use whole dried spices here and toast them until aromatic in a skillet, and then grind them (using mortar and pestle if you're a glutton for punishment, or a spice grinder. Even a coffee grinder will do, but it may impart a coffee flavor to it if it isn't washed well). You can use pre-ground spices also, but the flavor is never quite as good. From here on out, it's basically making a stew. Heat a skillet up with a little oil (or butter, or if you can find it (or make it) ghee), and toss on some finely chopped onions (and curry leaves, Murraya koenigii, if you can find it). Cook until browned, and add the masala: the spices, some finely chopper ginger and garlic (in equal measure) and (assuming you don't have access to a food processor) some mashed canned chickpeas, or natural (no salt or sugar added) nut butters, like cashew butter, almond butter or peanut butter. Add the cooking liquid. The best choice is coconut milk, but you could also use vegetable stock. Lastly add the vegetables. Some good choices are carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, raisins, but you can get creative and use any vegetable (or fruit) that you think will hold its shape when stewed. Cook until the sauce is thick like gravy, and add salt and lime juice (or tamarind if you can find it) to taste. This is even better paired with cucumber raita. Get some fresh, crisp cucumber, and chop it up. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over it and let it sit for a half an hour. Rinse all the salt off and press all the water out. Stir cucumbers into yogurt, and add chopped onions. Let sit in yogurt for half an hour. Add a little shredded fresh mint leaves. It's nice, fresh and cooling, especially if you use very fiery peppers in the curry.
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| # ? Nov 04, 2009 03:11 |
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How about eggplant parmigiana? Tender, succulent slices of eggplant swimming in a feisty, aromatic tomato sauce, bombed with parmesan and mozzarella cheese? You'll honestly not miss meat a second in this dish, the coldcuts on the side here are mostly for the sake of gluttony. The secret is to have a tiny little whiff of cinnamon in the sauce
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| # ? Nov 04, 2009 14:35 |
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^ food porn. serve with lots of good bread for mopping up.
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| # ? Nov 04, 2009 15:50 |
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I think I'll probably be doing this next Monday. Time to see if I can find eggplant, I think, because that dish looks loving delicious! And cinnamon, you say? Just a tiny bit? I actually have some yeast here (last people in my apartment left a sachet, weirdly) so I might have a crack at making some fresh bread. Anyone have a link to the thread about the bread you can keep in the fridge and just stick in the oven in batches? As for all the suggestions of curry... it's the one foreign food I really don't like. No idea why. It's not that it's spicy (I love spicy food), but I just don't like the actual spices used, I guess. Weird I know, and everyone gives me poo poo for it, but I've had some really, really good curries made by a Sri Lankan family friend and honestly I still don't care for them.
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| # ? Nov 04, 2009 23:40 |
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Veggie dumplings? This is what I'm going to be shooting for when I invite a veggie friend over. Tofu, napa cabbage, scallions, ginger -- sauteed up and stuffed into dumpling skins from scratch
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| # ? Nov 05, 2009 03:16 |
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jadias posted:I think I'll probably be doing this next Monday. Time to see if I can find eggplant, I think, because that dish looks loving delicious! Very, very little. Barely a knife tip for two pounds of tomatoes. It really does something to marinara sauce. Make sure to add a good handful of chopped parsley, too. Apart from that it's your standard marinara sauce. The trick to melanzane alla parmigiana is to fry the eggplant slices properly beforehand. High heat and a little canola oil until they're nicely browned on each side and really soft. This is probably easiest to do beforehand. Sauce, eggplant, parmigiana and mozzarella in that order in three layers. Bake like lasagne and make sure to let it rest a little before it's served, it's scorching hot and there'll be no making out if your tongues are too sore.
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| # ? Nov 05, 2009 12:13 |
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