Meatless recipes??

[twodoxiemom]

During the Lenten season, we do not eat meat on Fridays, so I usually make the usual tired tuna casserole, meatless spaghetti, soups etc. But I would love to surprise my family with some NEW dishes. Does anyone have any easy meatless recipes they would like to share??? Thanks!!!

[juliette]

Well, since fish is absolutely on the menu for Fridays, here's two good ones I love:

Rainbow Trout with Herbs

1/2 fillet of rainbow trout per person
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon - juiced
1 cloves garlic - chopped finely
chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, thyme, sage, etc.
chopped fresh chili (to taste)
chopped spring onions (greens only)
salt
pepper


Lay fish on a baking sheet (i usually line with aluminium foil), salt and pepper to taste. Using a morter and pestal, crush the chopped herbs with the chopped chili (this is optional, I like the extra kick) and then add the garlic, olive oil, sping onions and lemon juice. Spread herb mixture over fish and let marinate for a 1/2 hour in the fridge.

Heat broiler (or BBQ) on high, and grill fish until it just starts to flake (trout should be moist and pink in the center). I serve with lemon marinated asparagus and a huge salad.


Another fish recipe I am in love with is this (it's a shameless deconstruction of a dish I had at Pearl Restaurant here in Melbourne)

Braised snapper in Japanese Broth

1 fillet of snapper per person (skin on)
1 tbs Olive oil
2-3 Packet Japanese clear broth or Miso soup (make as per package directions and strain out any tofu or seaweed)
1 large bunch of aspargus spears
Finely sliced red peppers (capsicums here in Australia)
Parsley for garnish

Heat olive oil in a fry pan until just below smoking point and add snapper filets, skin side down. Fry for 1-2 minutes until skin crisp and remove filets from pan. Make Japanese broth or Miso, and put in a high sided skillet so that broth is approximately 3/4 " deep. Heat to almost at a boil - add snapper fillets skin side down. Cover and turn off heat immediately. Braise fish for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until fish is flaking.

Break asparagus in half and steam for 2-3 minutes until hot but al dente. Slice peppers and parsley and set aside

In a deep presentation plate, lay asparagus in the centre of the plate. Lay snapper fillet on top of asapargus spears. Spoon broth/miso over top of snapper until it is appoximately 1/2 inch deep. Top snapper with sliced peppers and parsely for garnish.

I serve this with a light salad of mixed greens with sesame dressing.

Another option is the bean hot pot recipe I posted recently http://www.dachsie.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=28035

[twodoxiemom]

Juliette, thank you for these recipes. They sound wonderful, cant wait to try them!!

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I make a lot of salmon and I just rinse the fillet, put lemon juice on it, cover with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic salt and then I use fresh rosemary (I grow it) put a few sprigs on it ad cover for a few hrs,--sometimes over night then I put it on my outdoor gril, sometimes I use my Foreman grill. With that i usually make potatoes and what I do is buy 2-3 real large baking potatoes, clean real good, slice them thin, rinse them once you got them all sliced, pat try a little, put them in foil and put butter, salt, peppper, garlic salt, fresh sliced onion and bellpepper, cover and put in oven on 350 for about 45 minutes they are yummy. Your cooking temp may vary. I also make them a quick way by putting them in a baking dish and cover them with saran wrap and then put them in the microwave.

[Daley]

vegetarian, so I cook meatless dishes all the time! My fav is pasta primavera which is SO easy, just throw a bunch of chopped veggies or frozen veggies in a pan with some garlic and olive oil/white wine. Boil pasta seperately and toss it together! You could do the same thing with seafood, frozen crabmeant and shrimp, scallops or clams. I made that for a few girlfriends of mine and they loved it. Add a little diced red peppers for color. Or...My boyfriend LOVES clam sauce that I buy right in the can! I've also made him linguini and clam sauce with fresh clams, just boil them in a large pot with olive oil and garlic and serve over pasta.

Another really easy dish is stir-fried veggies with grated cheese in a pita. You can do that with tomato sauce, cheese, spices, whatever you like. Another absolute favorite of mine and my boyfriends (who is NOT vegetarian) is spanish rice - great to eat with tostito chips. In a saucepan combine chopped green peppers and onions, black olives if you like, a can or two of diced tomatoes, some hot peppers or spicey salsa, and cheddar cheese. Make rice seperately and add it to the pan. you can make it as spicey as you like or not, you can eat with chips, or plain.

Hope this helped!

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Daley you just made me hungry--I love pasta-with or without meat.

[Daley]

Glad it sounded good! :jacks: I am a pasta NUT myself :party0021:

[jaded2nite]

I've added a link that I use this time of year...has wonderful recipes, and most are very easy.

http://www.catholicmom.com/lent_recipes.htm


Enjoy My family loves the Chile Relleno casserole and Spinach Calzones

[SirOliversMom]

You can also do vegetarian pizzas. I do those all of the time. I use pitas, add canned pizza sauce and garnish as desired and bake at 350 on a cookie sheet. They're great with a lovely side of Ceasar salad.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Well you guys, after reading all this, my girlfriend and i will go out for lunch. LOL

[Janna]

Lots of great suggestions!

Something my DH and I like to do this time of year that's easy is just boil about 3/4 lbs of shrimp (for the 2 of us) and do peel-and-eat shrimp. We usually have it with fries, but I think it would be good like a picnic too...corn on the cob, cole slaw, etc.

Also good is grilled shrimp...skewer peeled/deveined shrimp and put them in a ziploc baggie...cover with Italian dressing (the oiler kind, not the creamy kind), marinate overnight and grill.

We like salmon prepared as described by LUVMYGUNNER too. Super easy. We're both usually so worn out on Friday nights that we gravitate towards quick and easy.

It's kinda bad, we like seafood so much that not eating meat on Fridays during Lent doesn't really feel like a big sacrifice for us :sorry:

[Kari]

Seafood is kind of meat though...isn't it? I'm not familiar with the customs of lent as we never really celebrated it in any of the churches I've gone to throughout my life.

Anyway though, I have two really good vegetarian cookbooks back at my apartment in Ohio, and I'd be happy to look for things for you if there are certain things you are looking for (casseroles, soups, stir frys, pizza ideas, etc.) or I could maybe post a list of the table of contents sometime and then the recipes you're interested in after you've looked at that. One is a "5-ingredient gourmet" cookbook where all of the recipes have 5 items or less in them (not counting water or salt and pepper), and the other is a student cookbook with very short prep times, though some of the recipes seem a little ingredient heavy. I've used the 5-ingredient one more, and I've found some nice recipes in it that even I can handle...haha.

So if you guys are interested in that, just let me know. :)

[Doxie Duo Mom]

Tuscan Veggie Wraps

(easy and good from my Ragu book)

1 Large Onion (thinly sliced)
2 of each red and green bell peppers (thinly sliced)
10 oz of sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 C. pasta sauce
1/8 t. black pepper
1 package flour tortillas (warm) I use the larger size not the taco size ones.

shredded cheese and parmesan cheese to your taste

Mix the onion peppers, mushrooms, sauce, and peppers cook over med heat until peppers are to you desire texture (slightly crunchy is best)

Spoon mixture into warm shells sprinkle with cheese and roll served with seam side down top with remaining mixture.

* I play with this some and add orange and gold peppers as well and well not for lent but I think it would be great with some chicken added. This is a favorite lite meal in our home*

[twodoxiemom]

Thank you everyone soooooo much for these awesome recipes and Jaded2nite thanks for letting me know about the website! I know I will be using alot of these recipes year around!!! :thanx:

[HawaiiDoxieLover]

Gotta help out my fellow vegetarians!!!:party6: :cheer:

I found this one in one of my books: "open faced dried tomato melt"

1/4 c. pesto
2 tablespoons chopped nuts
4- 1 inch thick slices sourdough French bread, toasted
1/4 c. dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)

In a small bowl stir together pesto and nuts. Spread pesto mixture over French Bread slices. Top with dried tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Place on baking sheet. Broil about 4 inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes or till cheese melts. Makes 2 servings.

[Lexi]

I'm a vegetarian too and vegweb.com has some AWESOME recipes. I'm also a big fan of tofu and Morningstar fake meat. :)