The Subsim Vegetarian Thread

[CCIP]

Oh, I'm all in favour of delicious vegetables. And I may well have to try that spaghetti sauce

I'm not really a vegetarian, but on a day-to-day basis I eat so little meat that I might as well be. Meat as such is almost never on my grocery list, although that doesn't prevent me from enjoying a burger or steak every now and then. It's purely gone to "special occasion food" for me though. I just can't stand it as a constant or primary part of my diet - give me my veggies any day.

[FIREWALL]

I like vegs too. But I eat a balanced diet.

[tater]

I'm gonna make those first two for sure (I'm not a huge eggplant fan).

I have some nice side dishes with no meat, it's the entrees that are hard.

ObRecipe (sorry, it's a side, but I love it):

Carrot Salad with Cumin and Garlic (moroccan dish from Arabesque by Claudia Roden). This cookbook is great (lots of meatless stuff, too, actually, least for salads, etc). Buy it.

Serves 4-6

5 large carrots (~1.25 lbs)
4 T EVOO
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 t ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1.2 lemon

Peel, wash, or scrape the carrots, and trim off the tops and tails. Cut them into quarters lengthwise, the cut those in half to make sticks. Boil in slated water for 10-15 minutes, until tender but not too soft, then drain.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and put in carrots, garlic, cumin, and some salt and pepper. Sauté on a medium high heat, stirring and turning the carrots over, until the garlic just begins to color.

Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve cold.

I make this a lot when I do moroccan dinners. Everyone likes it.

[STEED]

America is the land of the carnivore, big beef eaters.

Veggies in America...WOW!

Hey I don't mind trying something different from the usual run of the mill.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by STEED

America is the land of the carnivore, big beef eaters.

Veggies in America...WOW!

See Kanada

[tater]

My veggie friends won't be offended by meat on the table, but I want something nice for them to eat too.

BTW, neon, when you do eggplant and squash do you salt it and let it sit for a while then rinse and dry it before cooking? I tried that and it made a HUGE difference in texture. Squash was crispy, not squishy.

PS—on the egg[plant spaghetti, 1 large JAR of capers? my daughter loves capers, and my large jar is maybe 16 ounces

Or do you mean a tiny jar of the large capers?

PPS—read the damn OP. Whine about meat elsewhere. Ask a question, or post a recipe. Back before I was married, every 3d chick or so was a veggie, knowing how to cook them a tasty meal can't hurt your chances. Besides, when you have people over, it's only polite to have something they can eat on the table. That said I won't go as far as vegan crap. You get too persnickety and you're on your own, but a "I don't eat meat" guest deserves to enjoy dinner. (I do most cooking at our house, and I have a few buddies who used to be prep or line cooks. My friend scott can look you in the eye while talking to you making tiny dices for pico de gallo (FAST) and still have all his fingers. Blows my mind.

[Skybird]

CHINESE FRIED SPINACH

Many people do not like spinach. But chances are that they will like it if prepared this way (telling by experience). It's one of my favourite recipes - since 25 years. Occassionaly I kill for it.

Prepare a hugh quantity if it should be the full meal, smaller quantity if it is just part of something bigger. Serve on unsalted Basmati rice.

Use froozen spinach, it is easier to handle than fresh one, and does not make a difference.

Use a Wok or an iron pan (uncoated), heat it up to the maximum you stove can handle. KEEP IT there during all cooking.


400 gr froozen spinach (full leaves, non-cut!), thawed out
2 onions, cut up
2 cloves of garlic, thin sliced and small cut, or smashed
3-4 slices of fresh ginger, or 1/2 - 1 teaspoons of ginger powder
4-6 table spoons of oil
2 table spoons of Chinese dark soya sauce (no Japanese or Indonesian!)
4-6 table spoons chicken broth
1-2 table spoons Sherry, medium dry

Put oil into the heated pan or Wok. Add ginger, garlic and onions. Constantly stir, else...! Once onions start to show brown edges after 2 minutes, add spinach. CONSTANTLY STIR!!! 2 Minutes (precise timing!). Add soya sauce, chicken broth, stir another 1 - 1.5 minutes. Add Sherry, stir 30 seconds, immediately serve/eat with rice. When taking it out of the pan, there should not be much loose liquid left (else you took too much sauce or too little spinach, or the pan was not hot enough).

The process is quick, like often is the case with Chinese cuisine, but it is important to keep the heat up and to constantly stir, else the mass burns into the iron immediately. The spinach should not become dry and black, but covered with oil and the green should have become of a clearly darker colour. Take the time precisely, do not do it longer, else it becomes greasy. In case of doubt or the spinach turning dark earlier, skip the rest of the time, but not much. From the moment you put the onions into the pan, the whole cooking process until you serve it should not last longer than 4.5-5 minutes maximum. Beside that, it is very easy and quick to prepare.

Watch out for the soya sauce. Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian are all very different in taste. For dedicated recipes demanding it, Chinese is best (but only if hesating it up very much, cold I do not like it), for all other purposes, I prefer Indonesian, which I consume in large quantities. For Japanese soya sauce - well, I do not like it neither hot nor cold. And no, I also do not like Sushi.

[nikimcbee]

Something is wrong, there is no bacon in this thread.

Okay Martha Stewart, I'll leave the thread now. I smell bacon in the other thread.