Back - Vegetarian Cooking for Meat-eaters

Copyright 2013 by Helen Back
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in anymanner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America.First Printing, 2013 Table of Contents

Maybe you have made a commitment to yourself and or your family to eat less
meat? Maybe you want a few nights a week where your meat-eating family have somevegetable options.Whatever youre reasoning forreading this book, you will find many options in here.

Have you ever heard that eating too many vegetables is bad for you?No I havent either. I haveheard it said many times about the amount of meatwe consume and that we eat too much of it.

Twenty years ago when you told people you werehaving a vegetarian meal for dinner you weretaken for being a hippy or looked at strangely. If you told people you were vegetarian when invited to dinner the look of horror on their faces was sad and a bit funny as they had no idea what they weregoing to serve you and probably wished theyhadnt invited you!

We have come a long way as a nation and embraced the vegetarian diet. We also have manymore choices available to us today so vegetarian meals do not need to boring. There is a wide variety of fresh produce, pulses, legumes, wholegrains, polenta, pasta, rice and soy products available.

I do eat meat but sometimes I just want to sit down to a light meal of vegetables so this is wherethis book originated from.

This may cause a stir but I dont buy in to the whole organic marketing ploy. I believe in wholesome good food served to friends and family for them to enjoy. I have served these meals to vegetarians and meat eaters alike and all have been delighted with the meals placed in front of
them. The meat eaters have sometimes had a hard time believing that there was no meat in theirmeal. So slowly I am educating them to eating more vegetables with their meat and serving less meat on their plates.

I sincerely hope that you get a great deal of enjoyment serving these recipes to your family and friends. Enjoy!

Soups are a great option for part of avegetarian diet. With the wide variety of vegetables, beans and grains available they make agood one pot meal.

You can make your soups go even further by serving an interesting bread or some raw vegetables onthe side.

When serving a soup as the main part of a meal it should be quite substantial.

Roast the peppers over a gas hob until they haveblackened, then place them in a bowl covered with glad wrap. This allows them to sweat and to continue cooking. When they have cooled using your hands rub the blackened skin off. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Chop up ready to add to the leeks.

Heat oil in a pan and saut the leeks. Add the peppers and tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the stock, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Puree roughly in a food processor or with a stick blender. Return to pan and reheat to boiling point. Serve topped with sour cream and a sprinkling of chives.

Place onions in a pan and saut in small amount of oil with curry powder until the onions are clear.

Add carrot and rice, coating the grains. Stir in stock. Cook until rice is cooked and carrots aresoft.

Stir in bok choy, stand for 3 minutes covers then serve.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place tomatoes, on agreased baking dish, cut side up. Add garlic and sprinkle tomatoes with sugar. Drizzle with oil and roast for 15 minutes or until tender and slightlycollapsed and shrivelled. Remove from oven.

Saut onion in remaining oil. Remove garlic fromtheir skins and add to onion, along with the tomatoes and any juices from roasting them. Stir in thestock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Blend soup in food processor or with stick blender.

Make Feta Bites:

Spread feta over bread and cut into 3 cm thick strips. Place on baking tray feta side up and bakeat 200C for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.

Serve with soup.

A lot of the time salads are often an afterthought and no thought has gone in them barthrowing a few lettuce leaves on a plate to offset the meat on your plate.

Considering meat less meals, salads take on a new lease of life.They can be full of flavor, have different tastes and textures with each mouthful being a new experience.

Put noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling waterand soak for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain noodles, add asparagus, carrots, onions, and coriander. Mix well.
Whisk ingredients for dressing in a jug. Drizzle dressing over noodle mixture, toss well. Top with egg and peanuts. Serve.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Saut onions in butter until soft. Add flour, currypowder, salt and sugar. Fry off for 1 - 2 minutes. Add liquid slowly stirring all the time to avoid lumps. Mix in carrot and corn to the sauce.

Pour into baking dish. Melt remaining butter, tossin bread cubes and cook until crunchy.Bake for 30 - 45 minutes until hot and cooked through. Serve. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20 cm baking tin with foil.

Bring stock to the boil and add polenta. Reduceheat to low and stir constantly for 5 minutes or until very thick. Mix parmesan cheese through thoroughly and pour into prepared baking tin. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

Place tomatoes cut side up on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until tender and allow to cool. Mix oil, basil and vinegar together in ascrew top jar and shake well.