Holiday Main Courses

[Josephine]

Does anyone have any tried and true recipes? I'm the only veggie in my family and family gatherings are coming up for the holidays. I've tried many of the recipes in The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas, which I love. Some of the relatives were amenable to the Polenta Torta with Roasted Squash, Gratin of Baked Yams with Pineapple, Pumpkin Cheesecake, etc. I need something transportable and definitely something a little more unique than a standard salad. Main dishes that are not too "nouveau cuisine."

[loves2travel]

Welcome To The Forums!!!!!!

[Josephine]

Ha! I've been here FOREVER, I just don't have time to post here much. I've been around, having known Teresa for a few years (about 5)?

Thanks for the welcome. I'd still like recipes if you have any!

[loves2travel]

Sorry. im not a total vegetarian yet. (*YET*) you might want to try talking to mncavylover, who has recently become a very strict vegetarian. she knows all kind of good stuff!

[Josephine]

I'm lacto-ovo, but if anyone has any vegan recipes, that would be appreciated as well.

[CavySpirit]

Hey Lady! Nice to see you here. Thanks again for your help last weekend at the Pet Expo. Wish it had been more fruitful. Oh well. I'm looking forward to any good recipes, too!

[Treen]

My vegetarian moussaka always goes down really well, even with hardened meat eaters. It'd be much like a lasagne to transport and stays hot for quite a while after coming out of the oven (so you can stick it in the car and run!), or can be reheated.

The quantities might seem a bit vague, but I never really measure anything. I usually make one this size to serve four people and serve it with garlic bread and salad.

Tomato sauce
1 onion
3 peppers (different colours make it look nicer!)
small punnet mushrooms
Carton of passata or a tin of tomatoes
1 chilli, deseeded
Herbs, pepper, fresh garlic etc to taste

1 1/2 pints of Bechamel sauce (butter, flour, milk - and I add some chopped parsley at the end)
1 good sized aubergine
3-4 medium sized potatoes
Cheese for grating over the top



-Fry the veggies in olive oil for 5-10 mins, then add the passata and seasonings - bring to the heat and simmer until the sauce is gets nice and thick - usually about 25 mins.
Meanwhile....
-Peel the spuds, slice them (about 1cm thick) and parboil them
-Slice the aubergine (I do them about 1/2cm thick) and grill them on both sides on a medium heat until slightly browned
-Make up the Bechamel sauce


When all these things are ready I get a large lasagne type dish and pour about 1/3 of the Bechamel sauce over the bottom. Add a layer of potatoes to cover the bottom of the dish and then pour over the tomato sauce - there should be a good layer covering the potatoes, but not so much it might get sloppy. Next add the aubergines to cover the tomato sauce, pour over the remaining Bechamel sauce and cover with grated cheese.

Cook in the middle of the oven on Gas Mark 4 for 1 1/4 hours until the top is golden brown.



I used to make it in a smaller but deeper dish with two layers each of potatoes and aubergines. But the cripsy cheese topping is very popular so I started doing it in a larger shallow dish and that goes down even better with people! It's also lovely if you add some cooked lentils to the tomato sauce.

[Treen]

Sorry, I just realised you probably wanted something with traditional ingredients like sweet potatoes or pumpkin in - not being American, I'm a bit slow on the Thanksgiving uptake!

[Furkidsmommy]

I was looking for some new recipes for the holiday season fast approaching and found a wealth of information on the vegetarian society website. http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/christmas.html
the roast vegetable and smoked tofu plait looks good http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/xmas2001.html
In fact the whole website is really interesting full of information http://www.vegsoc.org/index.html

[Furkidsmommy]

All vegetarians should read this. it lists the stumbling blocks http://www.vegsoc.org/info/stumbling.html

[mncavylover]

Wow, thanks for the list, furkidsmommy. I didn't know half that stuff! Thanks again.

I am not yet a "strict" vegetarian per se. I just switched, and as I am a runner, going 5 miles a day on average, I need to be careful about making the switch. I need to find a source of vegetarian food near me that can supply me with all the protein I need. Until then, I can't even really call myself a vegetarian, as I am still eating fish. I detest eating the creatures, and it tastes dead to me already, as previously explained. I will switch off of fish as soon as I possibly can!

And, as such, I regret to say that I can offer no recipes as of yet. The only site I know is great is www.vegcooking.com, which I hope may help you. Thanks for joining us (well, posting at least!) and I hope that someone else may be of help to you!

[Josephine]

People who eat fish but no other meat sources are called pescatarians.

[mncavylover]

Really? Wow, thanks! I would never have guessed.