Tasty failproof veggie dishes?

If I want to liven things up I often add preserved lemons. They are Greek and you can often buy them but they're easy to make, just unwaxed lemons, salt and brine and a few weeks to mature. They lift many dishes out of the ordinary.

Otherwise good quality olive oil and garlic. In our local market you can buy sauces like garlic and chilli. Jamie Oliver's books are worth having also the book Bosh! is very trendy for the latest recipes.

Ah, now I tried preserved lemons, found them a bit odd.

I absolutely love chickpea and spinach curry with rice and naan bread. Today we had roasted veg with jacket spuds and 'Pulled Oumph (soya, but like barbeque pulled pork, vegan, from Asda).

Yesterday, a 'roast' dinner with meat-free sausage rolls instead of meat. I often make chilli veg stew in the slow cooker. Then there's sliced onions and potatoes, (sometimes tomatoes and cougettes too) fried then baked in eggs and seasoning with cheese on top - yummy!

I ordered a lot of vegan dishes from Cook when my daughter stayed. I had a fridge full of salad, fruit and veg. My (carnivore) sister, who was collecting it all for me said 'Do you want me to get vegetables?'.

If you like spices, try Harissa or Ras el Hanout spice mixes. Guaranteed to add flavour and interest. Another good one is celery salt.

A bolognese sauce made from Quorn mince and lentils is very good. Add the usual tomatoes, tomato puree and Italian herbs.

As for recipes, I rarely follow them really - with veggie food I tend to make it up as I go along.

You could try a vegetable pie - use any veg to hand, steam or roast in olive oil, then stir into a cheesy sauce seasoned with a little ground nutmeg, or with tarragon and fennel seeds. Top with wholemeal pastry, made with a half tsp of English mustard powder. This always goes down a treat in our house.

Great ideas, thanks

Mushroom flan. Lightly cook the mushrooms in oil with onions and ginger (powder is fine, the amount depends on how spicy you want the result!). Mix with natural yoghurt (original recipe says cream) and an egg (or two, depending on how big the flan is). Put this mixture into a pastry base and cook until golden.

I like your vegetable pie recipe, Bathsheba. I do a similar recipe, but top it with a crumble, usually wholemeal or granary breadcrumbs with cheddar cheese and sesame seeds. Crisped up in the oven 180 for around 20 minutes.

I learned this over 50 years ago, when I used to keep a tin of peppers by me so I could make it easily, as they couldn't always be found in the shops! The variations are endless.
For 2:
chop an onion and pepper, fry gently in a little oil (garlic optional). When soft, add a tin of tomatoes (chopped )and boil until mot of the liquid has evaporated.
At this point, you can take some out for vegans.
Otherwise, take some eggs, you can whisk them up, turn off the heat, and scramble them in the hot veg. Or you can turn the heat down, make some dents with a spoon, break an egg in each, and allow them to poach.
Serve as it is with crusty bread.
Sprinkle on some chilli, and call it 'huevos rancheros'
Use extra egg, let it set, and it's Spanish Omelette.
Classically it is served with a few scraps of bacon or sausage, so you can do that for the meat eaters.
I have served this most weeks, in all its variations for most of my adult life. It was also useful, during those teenage years, when some stayed late at school, some had to go to sports training, and some of us were on shifts. I would make a batch of the basic veg, get plenty of bread, and a portion could easily be heated up and the egg added when needed.

I'm working my way through Hairy Bikers' Go Veggie Book.

Mushroom, leek and chestnut pie with potato pastry is definitely one I'll do again.
Pasties too with the potato pastry.

NannaRose

Your recipe sounds lovely, and easy!
I don't like cooking at all, but I might have a go at that.

I find vegetarian food easy (been veggie for 50 years) vegan a bit more challenging, and allergy free very difficult. I have to double-check all ingredients as a grandchild has milk protein and soya allergies. It's amazing how many foods are off limits! Of course, it isn't fair to serve things some can't have so family dinners tend to be vegan, milk and soya free.

Our favourite veggie recipe is the BBC’s vegetable biryani recipe - serve with homemade raita and naan or poppadoms www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1397/spiced-vegetable-biryani

That looks lovely too.

It really is - If I’m in a hurry I’ll cook the veg separately and then stir in 2 or 3 these pouches of basmati with the liquid

I'd like to have a go, but the terrible problem I have is my sheer laziness.

I love mushroom fettuccine.
Prepare mixed mushrooms (slice large ones, leave tiny ones whole), fry them gently in olive oil along with a couple of cloves of minced garlic.
At the same time boil a pan of lightly salted water and cook your fettuccine until it's the way you like it.
Drain pasta, add everything from the frying pan, drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese shavings.
Absolutely delicious.

Some vegan ideas - Puy lentils- you can buy them ready cooked- in a tomato herby sauce with sweet potato topping makes a good alternative to shepherds pie. Courgettes and aubergines and tomato as a pasta sauce add a bit of chilli for a bit of a spicy kick. Butternut squash with chick pea tagine with couscous. Cashew nut curry with coconut milk, potato and spinach curry and a lentil dahl. Crispy fried tofu with a sesame and soy marinade with a stir fry and noodles. Bean burgers with sweet potato wedges and salad. Anything in the Bosh book or Bosh online.

Get a couple of Veggie cookbooks out of library. I was Veggie for 25 years & taught the subject at night school. There are so many gorgeous things to try.
DH no. 2 refused point blank to eat veggie food & sons then decided to follow suit. Eventually I started eating meat again but I still have Veggie food myself quite often if DH away.

I had a roasted cauliflower for Sunday lunch; surrounded in the roasting pan by chopped onion and left over celery and cherry tomatoes which I made a veggie gravy from. With a potato, cabbage and swede mash. Loved it and had seconds last night.

Try "Chilli Eggs" from part 1 of Delia's cookery course. Basically it's eggs topped with cheese cooked in a thick sauce made with onions, peppers, tomatoes chilli powder and herbs. The sauce freezes well and makes a lovely quick meal served with crusty bread.

I like a vegetarian Lasagne or vegetable paella. Both can be made so tasty especially the paella with paprika and cayenne pepper added.

For a very quick and easy (lazy) lunch I have made cheesy bean mash. I use frozen mash , which incidentally is very nice, microwave the mash, stir in grated cheese and I also add raw chopped onion, put small tin of baked beans into a dish, spoon the mash over the beans, put more grated cheese on the top and put in the oven for about 20 mins. makes a very easy, quick and filling lunch

I saw a wee bit of Jamie Oliverlast night , he was making an onion tarte tartin thingy . I missed what herbs he sizzled up first - I'm off to have a bash at that today ! Did anyone else see it ?