# Vegetarian main dish that's actually tasty?



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Anybody got any good recipes?

There's a decent chance Christmas dinner will be at my house and I plan to get a beef roast. But there's at least one relative who's vegetarian so I'd like to have something for her as well so she's not just stuck eating many side dishes.  I'd ideally like something that the other non-vegetarians won't turn their noses up as well, and I'd prefer if it wasn't too 'out-there'. I'm not going to have time to go searching for unusual ingredients. 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Are they strict "vegan", or are dairy products allowed? If the latter, pizza with mushrooms and peppers.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Are they strict "vegan", or are dairy products allowed? If the latter, pizza with mushrooms and peppers.


Not strict vegan, no . . . in that I think eggs and milk and all are o.k.

and, yeah . . . . there are lots of dishes that I could make -- though I'm not sure pizza is exactly right for Christmas dinner  -- but I'm sort of looking for something that would be a kind of substitute for the roast beef the rest of us will be eating.


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## ThomasDiehl (Aug 23, 2014)

How about a nut roast? Nuts fit Christmas dinner well and it's the closest thing vegetarian kitchen has to roast beef without resorting to exotic stuff like tofu or jackfruit.

There's a lot of recipes. The ones I tried are not in English but there are a lot of those online, too.
This one sounds nice: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/nut-loaf


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks Thomas! That doesn't look too bad!


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Eggplant parmesan is a good offering.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Eggplant parmesan is a good offering.


Thanks . . . I had thought of a meatless lasagne or cheese stuffed shells -- that's another option in a similar vein.


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## archaeoroutes (Oct 12, 2014)

Feta and spinach filo http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/spinach-and-feta-filo-pie/


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## passerby (Oct 18, 2015)

One of my favorite vegetarian main dishes is tofu spinach lasagna. It doesn't sound too appetizing, but it actually tastes great!
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/healthy/a18033/vegan-tofu-spinach-lasagna/


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## Van Argan (Nov 10, 2017)

Hi Ann, I hope this is helpful.  From a vegetarian's perspective -- I have been vegetarian for decades -- I think you can switch the focus from one main dish to offering a good variety of side dishes.  This is easier and more helpful anyway.  Mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, a deluxe salad, veggie soup (or tomato soup), etc.  Maybe this approach will take the pressure off finding a difficult and untested recipe.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Van Argan said:


> Hi Ann, I hope this is helpful. From a vegetarian's perspective -- I have been vegetarian for decades -- I think you can switch the focus from one main dish to offering a good variety of side dishes. This is easier and more helpful anyway. Mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, a deluxe salad, veggie soup (or tomato soup), etc. Maybe this approach will take the pressure off finding a difficult and untested recipe.


thanks . . . that's definitely my back up plan!


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## MichelleB675 (May 27, 2012)

I'm not vegetarian or vegan but I do like to try all sorts of recipes. The salad or pasta one would work with a holiday meal, but the soup may have competing flavors.

If cheese is ok, a nice roasted beet salad. I like to use red and golden beets, baby spinach, goat cheese, purple onion and some pecans or walnuts would be yummy too. A homemade vinaigrette makes it even better, I usually mix some oj, mustard, honey, olive oil and vinegar. It's super yummy and colorful. I saw some fig and balsamic goat cheese at Sam's Club today and was so tempted to buy it but we just had the salad a few days ago. But that cheese would work so well with it.

Penne with Roasted Beet Sauce is fabulous. You should double it. http://bevcooks.com/2012/04/penne-pasta-in-a-roasted-beet-sauce/

I tried an African peanut lentil soup that was great too. You can use pretty much any veggies in it. It's spicy but so good. https://www.veganricha.com/2015/12/african-peanut-lentil-soup.html


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds pretty good to me:
https://avirtualvegan.com/portobello-pot-roast/


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Out of four siblings, two of us are vegetarians (I've been one for about 50 years), and we do just fine with all the side dishes at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Once in a while I'll bring along something I've whipped up, but that's the exception.


Mike


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## cheapdate (May 17, 2016)

I always have one of these so that I can join in having the same meal http://www.vbitesfoods.com/product/meat-free-celebration-roast-445g/


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks to all y'all for suggestions . . . . . looks like dinner will NOT be at my house, but I think I'll still go for some interesting side dish to take with me!


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Spaghetti squash in tomato sauce is a good side dish, as is grated zucchini cooked in olive oil or butter, with some red pepper flakes served with pasta.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

This is more of a side dish but still very tasty:
Sauteed Green Beans w/ Garlic
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 pound fresh green beans (ends trimmed and cut in half)
1/2 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, chopped and drained
1 teaspoon ham soup base (or 1 ham bouillon cube)
Steps
Heat oil in a medium sized pan and add garlic. Sauté to sweat out flavor about 3 - 4 minutes - you don't want to fry the garlic.
Increase heat to medium high. Add the green beans and sauté, turning often until tender crisp - maybe 3 - 4 minutes.
Add tomatoes (chop them up a bit) and ham base then heat to boiling. Simmer about 5 minutes to blend flavors and soften beans.
(I often cover and put into oven at about 300°F for 20 minutes after simmering to soften them more.)
Serve.


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## MichelleB675 (May 27, 2012)

That reminds me of one of my favorites. roasted green beans.

I like to use French green beans. I clean them and leave them whole. Sometimes i add sliced mushrooms, sometimes I use sundried tomatoes. Toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever other seasoning you want. Spread out on a sheet pan lined with foil in a single layer, don't crowd it. Roast at 375 until they are your desired doneness. Depending on the pan, the oven, personal preferrence and how packed they are in the pan it can be anywhere from 12-25 minutes, or longer if you want them well done.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

And I take exception to the underlying assumption of the title that vegetarian dishes aren't generally tasty.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I saw something on a Facebook recipe a couple of weeks back which might resemble what Ceg posted.... looked pretty good.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

I was wanting to do the Portobello Pot Roast in the Instant Pot & didn't know how much time to cook it. Found another recipe that has specific instructions for the IP HERE
Going to try it this weekend.


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## Max X (Feb 2, 2018)

I do not agree to the new 2018 TOS


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

I am not strict vegetarian but 99% of time my food is what we call Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian (ie Milk and eggs included).

Eggplant in any form from Parmesan to dip is good. So is veges pizza. But if you like spicy taste most of the Indian foods are worth trying and so are Thai. I love Thai food...


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## A.G. Richards (Sep 28, 2014)

Vegetarian moussaka takes a little while to prepare, but like all Greek food is genuinely tasty.


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## WDR (Jan 8, 2014)

As a common meal, I will take a zucchini, a small yellow squash, and a large onion and saute them. It is really easy to prep and requires no skill. But it is a bit labor intensive because you have to regularly turn over the veggies as they cook so they don't stick to the pan, and it takes about 20 minutes to cook the whole mess.

I prepare the squashes and the onion by cutting them into chunks. (sometimes I add sliced mushrooms to the mix here, too.)

I set the stove burner to medium heat.

I drop a chunk of butter in the pan and wait for it to mostly melt. Then I'll drop in the onion chunks and let them cook until they just start to turn caramelize. If I have mushrooms, I'll drop them in when the onions look about halfway there. Then I'll dump in the zucchini and yellow squash chunks and start cooking those, too. I often add the yellow squash after the zucchini because the zucchini seems to take longer to cook. 

If things start getting a little too dry and sticky, I might add another chunk of butter or a bit of canola oil.

When the squashes look about halfway done, I'll salt and pepper the hell out of them and stir it in.

It takes about 20 minutes to actually cook all this, as there is a lot of vegetable mass to heat and cook. The aroma is heavenly! You'll will be ravenous by the time it is all done. It has an incredibly savory flavor.


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## skyblue (Dec 23, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Anybody got any good recipes?
> 
> There's a decent chance Christmas dinner will be at my house and I plan to get a beef roast. But there's at least one relative who's vegetarian so I'd like to have something for her as well so she's not just stuck eating many side dishes.  I'd ideally like something that the other non-vegetarians won't turn their noses up as well, and I'd prefer if it wasn't too 'out-there'. I'm not going to have time to go searching for unusual ingredients.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions!


My favorite is roasted vegetables with Polenta. I love a combination of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, but you can use any veggies you like. I roast them with a bit of olive oil, fresh garlic and salt and pepper. Make the Polenta while the veggies are roasting. Toast Panko bread crumbs with a bit of garlic and butter in a sauté pan. Add lemon zest. Serve Polenta topped with roasted veggies, panko crumbs and toasted pine nuts. Yum!&#128523;


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

skyblue said:


> My favorite is roasted vegetables with Polenta. I love a combination of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, but you can use any veggies you like. I roast them with a bit of olive oil, fresh garlic and salt and pepper. Make the Polenta while the veggies are roasting. Toast Panko bread crumbs with a bit of garlic and butter in a sauté pan. Add lemon zest. Serve Polenta topped with roasted veggies, panko crumbs and toasted pine nuts. Yum!&#128523;


That sounds pretty yummy!


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## RebeccaM (Apr 12, 2018)

I've only just found this site and joined today, so I know I'm late to this thread but this may help for next year.

It's totally scrumptious and I even get requests for it throughout the year but in my house, it's strictly for a special feast!


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