Kitchen

[MaggieOla]

I'm a vegetarian and have been since I was 17 years old. Honestly, you can make virtually any dish vegetarian, mostly. There are many soy options to substitute for meat. Vegetables can also be used in place of meat. You can make veggie spaghetti, lasagna, chili, omelettes, pizza, sandwiches, soup, and even a good old salad and baked potato!! For example....veggie chili can be made with soy protein crumbles (ground beef replacement) or kidney and black beans with extra tomatoes....seasoning stays exactly the same, just replace the beef with beans or soy. Oh...and pineapple with jalapenos on pizza is delicious! I'm glad she's not picky...that makes it easier for you. And it's nice that you want her to be comfortable. Many times I've visited my husband's family for dinners, only to have to pick up dinner for myself afterwards....meat with bacon in the side dishes.....not very accommodating at all. You sound like you'll be a great and thoughtful hostess. Good luck!!

[poppinfresh]

costco vegetatarian lasagna

[Kitlynn]

I have a vegetarian cousin and when she comes to visit I have a lot of the things you have listed along with different kinds of pasta. You can have yours with meat and she can have hers with veggies. They sell Alfredo sauce in a jar that you just heat up and it is delicious. Easy way to make any kind of pasta delicious with or without meat. You have a great selection so you will be covered and she will have plenty of choices. Enjoy and have a great time.

[peachesncream]

Hummus is nice to have on hand. You can make it, but the store bought varieties are very good. Pita chips or crackers to go with it.

Nuts are also nice for snacking - cashews, almonds (flavored or plain) or peanuts.

[Midnight11]

I love veggie fajitas, use refried beans, grilled onions and peppers, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese on top of a tortilla. Also, love homemade guacamole.

[Campion]

This may not be so helpful for a "non-cook" but I'll include my (recently late) mom's recipe for Manicotti, which I've never had this way from anyone else. It was my favorite comfort food she made, and if I showed up kind of stressed to visit, Mom would make this.

You make crepes. So a really good nonstick pan (slope sided 8 or 9" skillet) is a must, and some nonstick spray like Pam.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tbs melted butter

2 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

pinch of salt

Whisk flour and eggs and salt, slowly add rest of ingredients to make a heavy cream consistency batter. Let it sit a half an hour (it rests and "blooms".) Make crepes in that skillet--pour a ladle of batter and slope it around until it covers bottom, let it cook until edges just brown, dump out on a cutting board to cool, repeat. You don't need to cook but one side. Some people stack the crepes by layering with waxed paper. I would lay them out on a clean tea towel.

Filling:

1 8oz container ricotta

1 small bag of grated mozzarella or grate a small ball

handful of grated parmesan

1 egg

some nutmeg (optional)

chopped parsley

Mix together

Topping

Jar of good marinara (ie, not Prego--too sweet. Classico or Barilla is good.)

some more grated mozzarella and parmesan for the top.

Preparation:

Spray a rectangular baking dish (like Temp-tations...bwahahah or Pyrex baker)

Take each crepe and fill with Tbs of the filling, roll up. Lay in the pan, seam side down. Keep doing this until all crepes are used. If you have too much filling, refrigerate it and make more crepes later.

Pour marinara on top and then sprinkle on your cheese. Bake 350 deg for about 35 min until cheese is very melted and sauce is bubbling. Serve 2 manicotti per person. But they are light--so if you have big eaters, you need double that amount.

These are more delicate than pasta manicotti shells and actually easier, as you don't have to pipe filling into a tube. You can make the crepes out of non-wheat flour if you have a gluten free crepe mix. I've also used spelt flour.

[HonnyBrown]

On 10/22/2014 debc said:

On 10/22/2014 HonnyBrown said:

All of these responses are going to encourage me to do a vegetarian dinner once a month. They sound so good!

My suggestion is a variety of fresh vegetables, chopped and roasted with olive oil and balsamic.

Quinoa with some kale mixed in and a homemade salad dressing.

I'm a meat eater, but I have a lot of vegan/vegetarian cookbooks. Some are pretty amazing. You can always use them for sides.

debc, I have an awesome vegetarian cookbook that I still refer to after 10 years! Side dishes, soups, grains, dips, you name it. Even the main dishes I can make and add meat to them.

[Madisson]

Cinder63, My husband and I are semi-vegetarian. One of the dishes that we love most (and is literally no work) is a combination I just tossed together one day. We normally try not to eat processed food, but occasionally do when in a hurry.

All these ingredients, I picked up at Walmart:

One bag of Caribbean Black Bean (Bean Essentials brand) (in the frozen food section)

At least two packages of Green Giant Rosemary Vegetable Steamers (frozen food)

Cook these in the microwave, mix together, and serve over rice (We use the microwavable rice when in a hurry.)

This is an absolutely delicious combination! I served it recently when I had guests who I had to serve vegetarian to. Two of them asked for the "recipe." Another thing that we eat often (even in the morning) are Morning Star Spicy Black Bean burgers. Delicious!

[BooBoo2]

As far as another good melting cheese other than mozzarella would be fontina. Stay away from Colby, Cheddar, or any hard cheese (except maybe the obvious parmesan, maybe freshly grated on top after it is done!) Smoked Provolone is good too.

I think you already have some great ideas. There are some really good jarred pasta sauces out there vs what we used to have back in the day. Also, there are great fresh pastas available other than just boiling hard spaghetti. You can get raviolis and tortellini that have cheeses and mushrooms in them.

You can buy a package of fresh ravioli, good jarred Alfredo and Marinara sauces and make a ravioli bake. Make individual bakes if you have the small casserole dishes. Place some marinara on the bottom, place single layer of ravioli on top, some mozzarella or provolone (I would use shredded and sprinkle on top) and another layer of marinara then bake. Heat the Alfredo and drizzle it on top of the baked pasta..It adds a luscious little something to the marinara. Just make sure the pasta is covered prior to baking or it will dry. AND if you get cheese filled ravioli, you can thickly cut some portabellas and nestle around the pasta prior to baking!

Good luck and enjoy your company!!

[glmama]

What about stopping at Whole Foods and getting some prepared items? They usually have GREAT vegetarian options in their deli/prepped area. Including salads, etc.