Whether your just dipping you toes into going meat free for one to two meals a week, or getting bored of cooking the same dishes and want to try out some new quick and easy, tasty vegetarian recipes
Vegetarian Bake Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Dried or fresh pasta
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp fresh or dried oregano
- 1/2 lemon, zected
- Salt
- Grounded pepper
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 packet of spinach
- Fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 2 cups grated mozzarella
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, boil the pasta in salted water for 25 minutes or until very al dente. Once the pasta is cooked, drain.
- Add chopped onions into a large saucepan over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft. {Remember to stir often whilst they are cooking.} Stir in the chopped garlic, tomatoe paster and oregano – cook for a futher 2 minutes or until slightly darkened. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper. Simmer over a reduced heat, stir occasionally and cook until liquid slightly reduces and flavours have melded, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and then stir in chopped basil.
- Whilst the sauce is reducing, combine the ricotta, spinach, lemon zect and crushed pepper flakes into a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the sauce and pasta. Then fold in the ricotta mixture, leaving large clumps and spread about hald of the pasta mixture into the bottom of a large casserole dish. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and parmesan over the pasta.
- Top the rest of the pasta mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheeses. Cover over with foil and bake until the cheese is bubbling, for about 20-25 mintues or until golden brown. Granish with the rest of the bail before serving.
Spicy Fried “Chicken” Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- Tofu blocks
- 1/4 cup pickles, sliced (optional)
- 2 tbsp hot sauce (optional)
- 2 tbsp apple vinegar
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 tbsp cornstrach
- 1/2 cup cornmeal, finely grounded
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Vegetable oil
- 4 soft hamburger buns
- Lettuce
For Garlic Mayo
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp salt, more if needed
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo
- Ground black pepper
Directions
- Place a single layer of the tofu block on the bottom of a large pyrex dish and cover over with plastic or a lid. Pop in the freezer for at least 5 hours. {It can be frozen upto 1 month in advance} Once it’s soilded, remove it from the freezer and let it defost completely – it could take upto 4 hours or overnight in the refridgerator. Drain away any excess water.
- Arrange the deforsted tofu in a single layer around the rim of a baking tray, that has been lined with several sheets of paper towel. Repeat the process for another layer. Weigh down the baking sheet with a few cooking books or cans of beans. Allow to drain and change the papper towels when they become saturated with water – it could upto 1hr or overnight in the refridgerator. Once the tofu has finished draining, make a sandwich.
- Whisk together dijon mustard, pickle brine, hot sauce and vinegar in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, whish together flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, baking powder, garilc powder and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Cut each piece of tofu crosswise into 2 planks = 4 planks in total. Coat one piece of tofu with dry mixture then, dip it in the wet mixtue and return to the dry mixture. Place the coated tofu onto a plate and continue to repeat the process for the remaining tofu pieces.
- Pour oil into a large cast-iron skillet until it comes 1/2 inch up the side of skillet. Place over the medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot enough – just starting to shimmer- reduce the heat to medium. Fry the tofu, turning once, until golden on both sides, around 5 mins per side. Transfer onto a papper towel-lined plate to drain.
Make Garlic Mayo
- Crush and chop the garlic clove, sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and continue mashing until the garlic turns into a paste. Put the garlic paste into a small bowl and stir in lemon juice and mayo. Add in more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Spread the garlic mayo over the bottom halves of each buns. Top with lettuce, fried tofu and pickle. Sandwich with the top bun and serve.
Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 baking soda
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- vegetable oil
For Topping
- 12oz grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 small red onion, sliced
- 2 tsp freshly chopped oregano
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8oz mozzarella, sliced
- Balsamic glaze
- 2 cup argula
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add in the yougurt and oill, mix until there are no longer any remaining dry spots.
- Lightly dust your surface with flour, then transfer dough to the surface and knead until smooth, approx 3-4 minutes – If the dough becomes sticky then add more flour.
- Divide the dough into 3 pieces, then roll each piece into 1/4″thick circles.
- Heat up a large skillet or griddle over a medium heat, then add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook the flatbread for around 2 minutes each side or until golden brown. Repeat the cooking the flatebreads for the remaining dough – add more vegetable oil as and when it’s needed.
- Put together the tomatoes, oil, red onion, oregano and season well with salt and pepper. On top of each flatbread sprinkle with cheese, tomatoe-onion mixture and bake until cheese is melted – this should take around 15 minutes. Just be serving, drizzle balsamic glaze and top with arugula.
Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finel chopped
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
- 1 lb button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
- salt
- Grounded black pepper
- 1/2 cups white wine
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 3/4 peas, thawed
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Directions
- Pour the broth into a medium saucepan and bring it to the boil over a medium heat and then reduce the heat to low.
- Add some oil into a large pot and heat up, before then add in the onions and cook, whilst stirring occassionally until translucent – this should take around 5 minutes. Add in 1 tbsp butter, garlic, mushroom, bay leaf, thyme and season well. Continue to cook until the mushrooms have soften or are golden – this should take around 4 minutes, then remove mixture from the pot.
- Melt the rest of the butter in a pot and add in the arboria rice, stirring quickly and continue to cook until all the grains are well-coated and smell slightly toasted – this should take aroun 2 minutes. Then add in the wine and cook until the wine has mostly absorbed.
- Using a laddle, add about 1 cup of hot broth, stir often and cook until the rice has mostly absobed the liquid. Add in the remaining broth 1 cup at a time, continue to allow the rice to asborb each addition of broth before adding in more. Cook until the risotto is al dente {creamy not mushy} and stir often. {Also you might hae leftover broth, so don’t worry!}
- Add the mixture back into the rice and then stir in the parmesan, peas and granish with parsely.
- Serve warm.
Chili Garlic Fried Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
- 1 cup ice water
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Salt
- Vegetable oil
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstrach and baking powder. Then add in ice water, egg and 1 tsp salt, stir to combine – the batter should be thin.
- In a large skillet, heat up the vegetable oil until is becomes shimmery. Toss in the cauliflower in batter until fully coated. Work in batches, add in the cauliflower and cook until golden on all side – 4 minutes per side. Drain excess on a papper towels and season well with salt.
- Whisk together garlic-chili sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger in a medium bowl. Toss fried cauliflower in sauce and sprinkle sesame and green onions and serve.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE MEAT-FREE MEALS? SHARE SOME RECIPES IN THE COMMENT BELOW!
