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Feeding the Crew, Vegetarian Style
TL DR
Not at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered User regular
Not at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered User regular
Hey hey, H/A!
So lately I've sort of become the chef for my group of friends. I'm a vegetarian, and our current go-to dish is black bean quesadillas. Basically, you cook a can of black beans, toss a tortilla in a frying pan with cheese, add beans, salsa, and maybe guacamole, close it and flip once before serving. This recipe is filling, tasty, has a decent amount of protein, and can feed a group of 4-5 for under $10.
What I'm looking for is a comparable recipe that we can rotate in for some variety. Ideally, it will be cheap, scalable (easy to cook more or less as the group size dictates), nutritious (protein and other requirements after a night of partying), and of course tasty.
As it stands I'll cycle out the black beans for eggs or Sriracha-fried tofu, but getting drunk omnivores to eat spicy tofu can be tricky.
Hoping for a lot of responses here, since too many of the vegetarian recipes I seem to find online seem to be designed for anorexic rabbits with hypochondria (start with a sliver of eggplant, steam it with gluten-free etc etc...)
Thanks!
So lately I've sort of become the chef for my group of friends. I'm a vegetarian, and our current go-to dish is black bean quesadillas. Basically, you cook a can of black beans, toss a tortilla in a frying pan with cheese, add beans, salsa, and maybe guacamole, close it and flip once before serving. This recipe is filling, tasty, has a decent amount of protein, and can feed a group of 4-5 for under $10.
What I'm looking for is a comparable recipe that we can rotate in for some variety. Ideally, it will be cheap, scalable (easy to cook more or less as the group size dictates), nutritious (protein and other requirements after a night of partying), and of course tasty.
As it stands I'll cycle out the black beans for eggs or Sriracha-fried tofu, but getting drunk omnivores to eat spicy tofu can be tricky.
Hoping for a lot of responses here, since too many of the vegetarian recipes I seem to find online seem to be designed for anorexic rabbits with hypochondria (start with a sliver of eggplant, steam it with gluten-free etc etc...)
Thanks!
TL DR on
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Unless you just don't touch it for religious/moral reasons, then I can see.
At any rate. There is always the tried and true beans and rice. As well as vegetarian chili. Either one has enough variation and "to taste" recopies involved that you can do whatever you want with it.
Another fave of mine is basically a bean and rice dip. I use ground beef in mine, but it's easy enough to do without. Essentially it's refried beans + black beans, spice it to your taste (I use graound black pepper, white pepper, a bit of basil, some garlic, and cayenne+chipotle pepper), and add a little water if needed. Cook the beans until it's completely soft and put it to the side (on simmer if need be).
Then cook up some rice of your choice, I use a cup of rice in my rice cooker, you can adjust all of this based on how many people you have and what ratio of rice/beans you want.
Layer the dish with the beans on bottom, rice on top. I put the ground beef on top of this, but you can either substitute something else, or leave it as it.
Next you put on a layer of salsa, and then some cheese. Put it all in the oven for a little bit and bam... you have a spicy bean and rice dish. You can use it as a dip like I do with tortilla chips, or simply eat it as is... it works either way.
It's very heavy, and my cup of rice, 1 can of black beans, and 1 can of refried beans lasts me most of a week if I only have it for 1 meal a day.
You could make burritos with cheese and vegetarian refried beans. Or have you tried Quorn products? That stuff is fucking delicious (if maybe a bit outside your stated price range).
Speaking as a vegetarian man, it's easy for me to make stir-fry with stuff like this . Whenever I eat such a dinner, I can't last an hour before I'm conked out for the night. It's like... a nutritious tranquilizer.
If you're not allergic to peanuts, use this for the stir-fry (it'll become your new best friend):
Also, This website is pretty informational, if you're looking for that kind of thing. Check out the "Vegetarian Information Resource List" link at the bottom of the page.
black beans, cilantro, tomato, green onion, red chili flakes, olive oil
roasted red peppers, red onions, white beans, feta, black olives, tomatoes, greek dressing
Can be done hot or cold and with couscous it only takes a few minutes.
Spoilered cause I hate seeing walls of text.
Medium/Hot tomatillo salsa* (24 oz.)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Medium white onion (diced)
1.5 tsp cumin (ground)
4-6 cloves garlic (chopped)
All purpose flour (1/4 cup)
Vegetable broth (2 cups)
Tortillas (I like corn, but flour seems to hold up better during assembly)
Asadero cheese (shred 12-16oz.)
Queso fresco (crumble 12-16oz.)
Cilantro leaves (handful)
Sour cream
Filling - here you can do what you like but for vegetarians I'd start with a medley of sauteed vegetables (like bell peppers, squash/zucchini, and sweet onions cut into sticks). Spinach and mushrooms is also nice.
Cook up your filling and set aside.
Saute the onions in 3 turns of EVOO for 6-7 minutes til they are soft and carmelized. Add the garlic and cumin and saute another minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir cooking for another 2 minutes so the flour cooks. Stir in the vegetable stock 1/2 cup at a time, the flour should thicken the stock into a sauce. Stir in 2/3rds of the tomatillo salsa to the sauce and salt to taste. Stir in half of the cilantro. Add the filling to the sauce, stir and adjust seasoning; turn off heat.
Pre-heat oven to 350. Soften the tortillas either by nuking them individually for 10 seconds or briefly flaming them on the cooktop (cold tortillas tear easily). Spread the remaining salsa on the bottom of a baking dish. Place a tortilla in the dish, flip to coat each side with salsa. Spoon a ladleful of filling onto the tortilla, and a generous pinch or 2 of each of the asadero and queso fresco on top. Roll into a cigar and tuck seamside down to one side of dish. Repeat until dish is full of enchiladas. If any filling remains spread that on top. Then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes. If you want it crusty on top, after the bake crank up the broiler and let it broil for 3-5 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. You'll want to use a wide spatula for serving. Garnish with the remaining cilantro and serve with sour cream.
*Making your own roasted tomatillo salsa tastes better then storebought, but storebought is a timesaver. I can provide a recipe if you want.
The dairy is the only source of protein here, so you may want to serve with some beans and rice.
I don't use the spinach this recipe calls for myself, its really the only perishable in the meal. And this is DIRT cheap to make if you already have olive oil, garlic and the spices. Requires 1 can of diced tomatoes and 3 cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas). I get the beans for about $.70 a can and the tomatoes for $.79.
Output wise this lasts us for two meals and lunch one day for me. So thats five huge bowls. You can even make it go a bit farther by making some plain white rice and adding it to the bottom of the bowl then spooning the stew on top.
I will note, my more manly half is a meat eater, and he even really enjoys just this stew as a main course.
its basically red onions, green (and maybe red) peppers, stock, and a small jar of garlic salsa. then throw in some tortellinis and serve with parmesean cheese and crusty bread
its delicious and freezes well
Lentil soup is also good.
I'm not sure where you live, but you can probably buy some Uttapam mix at your local Indian grocery. They're like glorious pancakes, and aren't too difficult to make. The hard part will be finding the mix if your town doesn't have a decent Indian population. You may want to go to a restaurant and order some in person first to see what they're like.
Because I'm the one cooking, and I'd rather not have to make separate things. I have had people microwave some chicken or something to add to the otherwise-veg dish I was making, so it's not a hardline moral or religious thing.
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!
I used to rely pretty heavily on the processed vegetarian meat substitutes, but the stuff is prohibitively expensive.
Cheap and feeds a lot.
but they're listening to every word I say
And some lovelly curries are so simple once you have the spices.
Makes about 4 servings.
Ingredients:
-chopped bell peppers x2 (more if they're small)
-pine nuts, about 1/4 cup
-cherry tomatoes, halved, about 2 or 3 per person
-cherry peppers - these might be kinda hard to find but they are like candy. If you eat one, you'll probably finish off your whole supply.
-garlic, 1 large clove finely chopped
-crushed black pepper, 1-2 tsp
-bow tie pasta
-feta or goat cheese, parmesan cheese if you prefer
-fresh basil leaves, usually I go for 2 per person being served
-sea salt, balsamic vinegar, etc to taste
Boil the bow tie pasta to al dente firmness and plate it up. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped bell peppers and garlic, making sure that the oil coats them all. Cook briefly, you're really only heating them up just to the point where the edges of the peppers are soft but they aren't cooked through. Only about 3 minutes are needed, think of it like stir frying over medium heat. During the last minute, add the pine nuts, basil leaves, cherry tomatoes and peppers, and cracked black pepper. Top the pasta with the fried mix. Add your preferred cheese, sea salt, etc to taste. Eat and enjoy.
If you want to accommodate carnivorous friends get some spicy Italian sausage and take the meat out of the skin. Scramble the meat in a frying pan over medium heat and let them add it to their plate. Other meat options are pretty easy to work in, I tried scallops once and aside from the fishy smell in my kitchen it was a great success.
EDIT: Forgot a few things, <smacks forehead>
i was going to say - you're crying out for some curry and dahl recipies
curries are the best for vege food. get some paneer in there, or lots of spinach, and you can't fail