[The Moderating Team]

Please post all your vegetable/vegan recipes here!

[mushroom]

Doing lentils this way makes a rather 'meaty' dish without any meat! I cook this as a side dish to have with rice with curry.

a large helping for 2 people

Ingredients:
A couple of handfuls of red split lentils
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
One onion, chopped into bits both ways, or 2 large shallots, chopped
some vegatable oil, not flavoured
some turmeric, for colour and farting prevention.
Salt. This dish really likes salt.
fresh peeled ginger root.

Put the dry lentils in a medium pan. Rinse twice with water. Leave in enough water to go twice the depth of lentils. Get on the boil and set to simmer.

Add the onions, crush the garlic, grate the ginger root and add to the pan.
Add a teaspoon of groud turmeric. Cover, allowing to simmer gently. You'll see the lentils swell up, add some more water. You might like to add a teaspoon of veg oil. Don't stir. You want the lentils to swell up as much as possible before they break. This takes about 20 or 30 minutes on the stove.

Smash the lentils with a fork, this should be really easy. i just whisk the fork round and round in the pan - the lentils should liquefy. If it's still in bits, give it another 10 mins.

Now, salt to taste. Use a sea salt, it's more bitter. As i said, this dish really likes salt, it is the sombination of salt, ginger and the mouth-feel of the lentils that makes it, in my opinion. You might like to squeeze a lemon on it once served.

[gobs]

Are eggs and dairy allowed?

[Sadgit]

Are eggs and dairy allowed?

I would say yes.. as tis veggie and vegan

[mushroom]

yeah why not?  

[mushroom]

It's really only worthwhile to make this if you're going to make a lot of it, then freeze some. you'll need a proper soup pot. Mine holds about a gallon and a half. This makes just over a gallon of soup.

Ingredients
About 10 lbs medium english onions, chopped roughly
12 heads of garlic (that's heads, not cloves)
groundnut oil
slotted spoon
vegetarian stock cubes
black peper
onion seeds
1 bottle of dry sherry

Method

1. Fry, in batches, the onions in a small amount of oil, in a non-stick frying pan. You want to caremelize the onions. This is where a lot of the flavour and all the colour comes from. But don't burn them. Transfer the cooked onions to the soup pot.

2. Peel the garlic into cloves and mash in a garlic squeezer. Add this in batches to the frying pan, like you did with the onions. You want to fry it so that the garlic taste and smell is liberated into the oil, BUT YOU DO NOT WANT TO BROWN OR BURN IT OR IT WILL TASTE AWFUL.

3. Add water to make up to your desired quantity. bring to the boil, then set to simmer. Add black pepper and a handful of onion seeds. Add a teaspoon of turmeric.

4. Add 5 or 6 veg. stock cubes. You may require more.

5. After it has been simmering for an hour, add about half the bottle of sherry.

6. Drink the other half.

7. Allow to simmer for a further 30 minutes

8. Allow to stand for a bit, and mash the onions with a potato masher.

9. Taste and adjust for salt.

10. Serve, maybe with bread and cheese croutons.

If you're going to freeze any of it, strain it first. If you keep it chilled and covered in the fridge for a couple of days, the taste improves further still.

[mushroom]

Is this a salad? I'm not sure. This goes well with a cold meal or fish in the summer. The salt 'cooks' and tenderizes the onion

Ingredients
A quantity of tomatoes
The same quantity of onions
lots of regular cooking salt
a very small colander or large sieve
coarse ground black pepper
a pinch or 3 of fresh finely chopped coriander leaf
lemon juice from a freshly squeezed lemon

Method
1. Slice finely into half-rings the onion, put into sieve.

2. Coat the sliced onions thickly all over with salt. Put the sieve over
a bowl to catch the juices as they escape. About an hour is needed for this to happen. The result is dehydrated onions.

3. Slice and de-seed tomatoes into 1cm pieces, put in a bowl.

4. Rinse all the salt off the (now limp) onions, pat dry, add to tomatoes.

5. Stir in, with a fork, the ground pepper and the coriander leaf. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve cold.

[gobs]

This is a nice salad. Not much measures, sorry, it's thereabouts. :roll:

1/4 of red cabbage(smallish) and 1 carrot, grated
1 red pepper, 1 big tomato, chopped
some parsley leaves and your favorite nut, finely chopped
a couple of handfuls of young spinach leaves(or beetroot leaves or some lettuce or chard leaves, of this one use less) chopped

salt, olive oil, stir well

[Guest]

(serves 6-8 )


900ml (2pints) veggie stock - HOT
1 large onion
50g (2 oz) butter
3 garlic cloves, crushed
350g (12 oz) arborio rice
120ml (4fl oz) white wine - i use rose
fresh herbs - basil chives etc
2 big eggs
225g (8oz) mozzarella

finely chop onion and fry in a big pan with butter and garlic for 10 mins
add rice and stir well, add wine
add stock slowly and keep stirring - this bit takes ages - til the rice absorbs all the liquid.

stir in herbs and cool slightly
stir in the eggs

put 1/2 mixture into large frying pan (with enough oil to stop it sticking!)
place mozzarella on top
cover with remaining 1/2 rice mixture

cook on the hob for approx 20 mins on a low heat
place under a grill for approx 10 mins


you can have this hot or cold; it is YUMMY

[Guest]

450g (1lb) carrots
veggie stock
butter
parsley
soya sauce

for the topping -

25g (1oz) butter
25g flour
150ml (1/4pint) milk
3 eggs
125 g (50z) cheddar

grate carrots, simmer with 1/4pt (150ml) stock (with lid on) for 15 mins
add other ingredients and blend til smooth
season to taste
spread mixture in ovenproof dish

make topping -
melt butter add flour and cook for 1 min
stir in milk and make a sauce
off heat mix in eggs and cheese
season
pour over carrot mixture
bake for 45 mins (til set) at 180C/350F/gas mark 4

this is quite an unusual dish - but is tasty!

[mashauk]

I don't measure anything, so you really have to judge this for yourself! If it's too thin add more spuds or lentils, if it's too thick add more stock.

A packet Quorn sausages
Red lentils
An onion
Mixed veg, such as potatoes, carrots, pretty much any bits and bobs you have lying around
Stock (I use Osem fake chicken but any strongish veg stock will do)
A good handful of dried or fresh dill (this is the essential bit, that makes it taste creamy and yummy, if you don't like dill I wouldn't make this recipe!)

Fry the sausages til brown (if you're vegan you can use vegan sausages or even leave them out completely, but it's more of a main meal with them), then slice them up.  You can put them straight in the pan if you don't like frying them but I prefer them browned.

Cook the lentils in the stock, add the sausages and veg and dill and cook on the hob until it's ready (yes I know it's supposed to be a recipe but basically you can cook it for about 25 minutes so that everything is cooked properly and have it like a soup, or leave it to thicken up more and have it as a stew, I like both ways!)
The next day you will probably need to add more water.

If you don't like lentils you can leave them out and put in extra spuds to thicken it up, or any beans/pulses that you fancy.

Goes well with either a nice hunk of crusty bread, or dumplings made with veggie suet.  I sometimes put 1/2 a teaspoon of chilli flakes in too in the winter.

Aah, comfort food!

[mushroom]

Great ideas folks, keep em coming!!!

[agapanthus]

This is fantastic!!!! Keep 'em coming    

[mashauk]

Roast a selection of your favourite veg (including tomatoes, garlic and onions), I use pepper, mushroom, sometimes root veg if I have any. I add some rosemary and thyme while it's roasting, and some garlic sauce and a spoonful of sweet (not hot) chilli sauce.

Then towards the end I cut a slab of halloumi into strips and put it in the roasting tin and cook until it starts to crisp up.

I make up some couscous in stock (or buy one of the ready-seasoned ones)

Then I put the couscous on a serving dish with the roast veg in the sauce round the sides and the Halloumi on top.

I also use the same mixture (i.e. garlic sauce, sweet chilli sauce, rosemary & thyme) as a marinade for Halloumi which I barbeque with some veg as kebabs, it always goes down well even with the meat eaters.

AND I use the same mixture and have it in a pitta as a snack.

I just love my Halloumi!!

[mushroom]

This is how I use my leftover rice. American long grain (it looks brownish in the bag) is the best for this, because the grains will still be seperate. it's not really 'fried rice' like you'd get as a take-away, at least I don't think it is, but it flavours up leftovers that otherwise might not be used. In truth, one day I was totally skint and this is all I had in the fridge. They say necessity is the mother of invention.

Ingredients
Some rice, preferably day-old rice that has been left in the fridge
red and green bell peppers
one onion
sun-dried tomatoes in oil
some herbal savoury or thyme, a few pinches of this
black pepper
hazlenut oil for frying, and sesame oil for flavouring.

Method
Chop up the onions into small pieces. Chop the pepper into fork-sized bits. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to a large frying pan or wok. Throw in the onions and pepper, cook until tender. Meanwhile, rip up some sun-dried tomatoes into bits. Throw into the pan, allow to sizzle for about half a minute.

Warm up the rice in a microwave - you may have to add a little bit of water. Get it so it has begun to steam.

Now throw in the rice to the frying pan. Add a teaspon or two of sesame oil, or to taste. Add the savoury/thyme and grind some black pepper over it. Give it a really good stir, then put the lid on the pan with the heat turned to minimum for a few mins. Stir again, put the lid back on the pan. keep doing this until it is all mixed in and smelling really nice, and serve as you would normal rice.

You can use a remarkable amount of thyme in this. I don't know why it goes, it just does. Oregano goes well too You don't have to have the sun-dried tomato. Or sesame. But I like sesame.