Cooking for a vegetarian... but that's not the hard part?

Question

She's vegetarian and i cook man's food (Spag bol, Stir Fry etc..)
i want to suprise her and cook something really nice but i get bored after about 45 minutes of cooking....

Any suggestions of books or recepies would be greatly appreciated - preferably on-line suggestions as the chances of me buying the book are SLIM... lol

PS i don't like Brocilli or Cauliflower.....

She does dairy and eats fish......

Stir Fry is man's food because it takes no thought, just a shopping basket and a walk past the chilled section of a supermarket.

Answer 1

Buy a packet of cous-cous and cook according to instructions (normally just involves pouring on boiling water and leaving for a few minutes - like a pot noodle but better!) You can buy them with flavours and herbs and stuff already in it.

Get a pepper each, cut in half and scoop out the mingy white stuff and seeds from the inside. Leave the green stalks on because they look nice. Fill with cous-cous. Top with cheese and bake in the oven for a bit.

Also to be done in the oven:

Take a piece of Cod each (better skinless and boneless - it comes like this so no fuss!). Put it on a bit of tin foil and put a penny sized bit of butter on it and a slice of lemon (must be cut thinly else it will taste a bit much) wrap it in the foil and bake for about 15 mins. Serve!

This should take about 20 minutes but looks and tastes good.

For added brownie points, light candles and put some flowers on the table and she will be well chuffed! Get some white wine like pinot grigio or something too. Or, stick a bottle of Asti Spumante in a jug with the juice of 4 limes and slices of 1 extra lime. This looks like you have gone to loads of effort but is really easy!!!!

Hope it works for you!!

Answer 2

If you go here you can use vegetarian as a search option.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/advanced_search.shtml

or try http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/selections/vegetarian-main-courses-who-needs-meat,178,RS.html

veg stir fry is great - pick a sauce with a good flavour though like sweet and sour and remember to check the sauce for being veg, friendly too.

Ask her if she likes quorn - that comes in mince (for spag bol, chilli etc), chunks (for curry etc) and fillets (for casserole etc).

Personally i'd be delighted you'd made the effort to cook and not buy a flippin pizza, so i think you'll be fine. How about buying a pack of chinese veg appetisers from the supermarket (spring rolls etc) and serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce, then cook a stir fry (mush, peppers, pak choi, beanspouts etc) with s&s sauce & some rice. You could buy a nice pud (check for the veg tick) at the supermarket. Depending on how veggie she is you might like to try to find vegetarian wine too....

Answer 3

is she totally vegan or does she do dairy? if so this is what I make my friends who don't eat meat but will do dairy. my fav site for any dish is http://www.foodnetwork.com but http://www.epicurious.com has some really good ones also. very free and printer friendly.

Zucchini casserole

2 pounds zucchini or yellow squash, coarsely grated
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 to 3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped pecans
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Hot sauce
Topping
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4-cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a wide, 2-quart baking dish, or spray it with nonstick spray.
Put the zucchini in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes or wrap it in a clean tea towel and gently squeeze it to remove the excess liquid. Put the zucchini in a large mixing bowl.
Heat a large skillet with olive oil and add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Combine onions with the zucchini.
Stir in the cream, the 1-cup breadcrumbs, the eggs, the 2 to 3 cups cheese, and 2 cups pecans. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. The casserole may be refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
For the topping, combine the butter, the 3/4-cup breadcrumbs, and the 3/4-cup pecans. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Bake, uncovered, until hot through, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the 1/2-cup cheese and return to the oven just until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Answer 4

This is not "really nice" as in fancy, but it's really good and really fun. And with a good bottle of wine and a salad it would be a nice dinner. Different. At the end I put a super easy, nicer meal.

If you want to prepare a whole meal like dinner or lunch you could do something really cool like a "make your own pizza" bar.

A lot of mom & pop pizza places will sell you unbaked dough. One thing of dough costs anywhere from $1 to $4 (cheap!).

If the dough is frozen, ask them how you should thaw it. If not, just be sure to put it in the fridge asap. Ask them what temp to put the oven on and if they have any tips for cooking it at home.

Buy some pizza sauce in a jar/can/squeeze bottle. Also buy some "three cheese" pizza cheese or some mozerella.

If you go to a decent grocery store they should have a pretty good salad bar there. When we do pizza at home, since everyone likes different toppings, I will get a big container at the salad bar and I put scoops of all the different things everyone likes.

You can do a "man" box for you with peppers and pepperoni, mushrooms, crumbled sausage...anything YOU like.

Then you can do a veggie box for her with onion, mushrooms, peppers, feta cheese, pineapple....maybe even some different things like olives or roasted garlic. Anything she likes.

The best part is that when you get these items at the salad bar you only have to buy as much as you want to use. So it's super low cost and you get exactly what you want. You pay by weight and you don't have tons of left overs.

***BONUS...if you do have left overs of the toppings, the next morning you can make omlets with all of your pizza toppings. It's another meat-free meal. I assume she's not vegan!

Then just before she comes over for the dinner, get everything out and display the toppings either on a cutting board or in individual little matching cups..(those short, clear plastic cups that people use for mixed drinks at parties work good--like a rocks glass)

Put the cheese/s in bowls, put the sauce out with a spoon so you can both spread it around.

Get a cookie sheet ready for each of you--with foil on it.

When she gets there, all you have to do is take her in the kitchen, cut the dough in half, roll it out, add the sauce, add the cheese, add the toppings and bake it!

It's really fun and kind of sexy for a guy to do that for a woman.

If pizza isn't enough for dinner, buy a bagged caesar salad kit...it comes with dressing and croutons and it's really good.

I know this post is long, but if you do all of that, you will not be in the kitchen more than 20 minutes to prep everything and 20 minutes to make the pizzas.

Have fun!


**************For a really nice meal, you can do a very simple pasta---any noodle you like, though don't use regular spaghetti or any giant looking noodle. Maybe angel hair pasta (DO NOT over cook it) or the bow-tie pasta.

In a pan toss in a gob of butter, saute an onion and some thin strips of red pepper, add a jar of marinated, drained (chop them a little) artichoke hearts, add a handful of black olives and some baby spinach--you can season it up with some fresh basil, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Toss that all with the pasta. Get the bagged salad I mentioned above and make some of that Texas Toast garlic bread. If you have candles and wine and a big smile, I can guarantee she'll love it!

For recipes, go to epicurious.com They have tons of stuff.

Answer 5

get a nice stir-fry sauce in a jar, a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies and a couple of Uncle Ben's microwave rice. Its dead easy and will take about 15Min's. You can always grill or fry up some meat separately for yourself if you cant live without it. Just make sure you hide all the packaging!!!

Answer 6

If she's happy to eat fish and shellfish, go for the fish!

For dates I prefer stuff I can whack in the oven and ignore while pouring drinks, flirting wildly and looking casually fabulous. Try Jamie Oliver's Bass In A Bag...

1 x 1.8kg/4lb sea bass or 2 x 900g/2lb sea bass, scaled and gutted
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 bulb of fennel, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 dessertspoon fennel seeds
4 handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (parsley, basil, fennel, dill, tarragon, marjoram, bay)
3 lemons
6 good lugs of extra virgin olive oil

This is a great way to cook fish, letting it retain all its natural juices and moisture and rewarding you with the most fantastic tasty sauce. I think the fish is best served in its bag in the middle of the table - it's real theatre. When the bag is broken open the fragrant smells waft all around the table, leaving everyone salivating for it.

Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Tear off a piece of kitchen foil 5 times as long as your fish, then fold this in half to give you double thickness. In the middle of one half of the foil sprinkle the red onion, fennel and garlic. Place your fish snugly on top of the veg. Season the inside and outside of the fish with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and the fennel seeds, then stuff with all your herbs - use just one herb or a mixture of your favourites. Squeeze over the juice of 2 of the lemons, slice the third lemon and tuck around the fish, and pour over the olive oil.

Fold the foil over the fish and seal the three edges neatly and tightly, being careful not to pierce the foil as this will let the juices escape. Cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes per 455g/1lb. If using a 1.8kg/4lb fish, then obviously give it 40 minutes, if using 2 two-pounders (900g) then you only need to cook them for 20 minutes. Once removed from the oven, allow the fish to rest for 5 minutes before serving at the table. Nice with simple boiled potatoes and a crisp salad.

Answer 7

How vegetarian is she? If she eats eggs and dairy it is a lot easier, you could make a quiche or something else cheese/egg-based. Otherwise, consider serving just a couple of different salads with some nice bread. You don't have to do anything complicated! She will appreciate your effort if you provide something simple and good that fulfills her dietary requirements.

Answer 8

i think that you should make a nice salad for starters and use thousand island.
then make a vegetable lasagne with crougietts and other vegetables of your choice.
then make a tart or maybe some homemade ice cream (vanilla)
and drissel with honey and some flakes of almonds!!!!
By the way you can just by the ice cream!

OR~

make a sheperds pie for main corse and serve with salad and also make some light but filling tofu (fresh) cook in oil until golden and then turn (be careful as very fragile) then add sauces like soya worchestershire ect.
thats shou;ld be good and maybe for desert you can make roubard and cream ice cream just cook chunks of rubarb and then mash into some double cream and sugar then mix and serve in tall thin glasses!!!

Answer 9

Do a stir-fry without meat. Stir fry is very quick and would not take 45 mins. Why is stir fry a man's food???????

Answer 10

How about macoroni cheese. simple and everybody even meat lovers like it.
cook macoroni, make a simple cheese sauce, fry a few mushroom, or green peppers add them aswell for a bit of added flavour.
Or how about a fish kedgeree if she eats fish?

Answer 11

You can substitute the bolognaise mince meat with Quorn - available in any supermarket - its tastes the same once you add the sauce and herbs etc.