Everyone needs a good full menu idea for a very vegetarian Christmas so we thought it would be a good idea to do this, and as anyone can say that their food is tasty, we invited a couple of avid meat eaters to sample our offerings and give their verdicts - aren't we brave! This video was filmed in December 2016 and the video was rather grainy so we cleaned it up as much as we could so it is a little easier to watch. This is the best we could do!
Obviously we started off with a small drink of sherry....then
For the starters we decided on melon balls or fresh fruit in orange juice.
For the soups we chose the Fresh Tomato soup or the Winter Warmer soup.
For main we chose Roast Stuffed Peppers with a fresh salad or Red Pepper and Mushroom Rogan Josh with basmati rice and Chapattis
For the sweet we chose Old School Chocolate Pudding with Mint Custard, or shop bought Panettone. If you haven't tried Panettone please do it's very good!
To finish we ended up with an Irish Coffee.
You can of course choose any soup that you want and do a traditional roast dinner with the Quorn or other slices. We did try the Quorn roast which we cooked in the oven first and (this was nice) and used onion gravy to cover.
The girls Sharon and Reena were lovely, and they gave their honest verdicts, and it does sound like they were very pleasantly surprised!
Who doesn't like garlic mushrooms? If you haven't made these yet they are quite easy and tasty. Make sure that the garlic cloves are a good size in here! Use the closed cup or button mushrooms, and only fresh and white ones. Use the curly parsley in here too, not the flat leaf, as the curly parsley has a far superior taste! I like this with the Lurpak or Kerrygold butter, but again use your favourite butter. We usually have this with maybe a fresh salad, and garlic bread can be good here too, to mop up the juices. Though you can also have these with potato wedges and green beans which is good. Or just make small potions and serve as a starter!! Garlic has numerous health benefits too, including boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure and reducing cholesterol to name but a few. So why not give them a go!
Chosing what to have for lunches is always a dilemma in our house. I tend to do my grocery shopping online ( at Tesco - because i find the quality of the food is really good, and there is none of that 3 unavailable and 10 substitutes business, like one particular popular supermarket.)
So most times it's a case of what's on offer that week!
Sometimes its the Richmond Meatfree back bacon that is on offer. Great tasting veggie bacon this is - 2 mins either side, shallow fried in a bit of sunflower oil, in the frying pan. Dry off the oil with kitchen roll. Then grab a brown bun or some wholemeal bread, butter it, add a layer of butterhead lettuce or whatever lettuce you have available, thinly slice up some tomatoes and off you go! This bacon is by far the best on the market. You can smell it upstairs when it is cooking so they tell me so you can never just have a sneaky one - be warned... yum!
Sometimes it's the hummous that is on offer. There are quite a selection of hummous's believe it or not - original, red pepper, sweet chilli, carmelised onion, jalepeno, morrocan inspired to name but a few. Grab the wholemeal bread, thinly spread on your chosen hummous, then, add a slice of lettuce, sliced red onion, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber. Done. Got to be red onion though, better taste.
Sometimes it's feta salad sandwiches made the same way as above - but, with the feta that was left over from the previous night's spicy pasta so there is no waste.
Sometimes it's Ploughmans sandwiches made with sandwich pickle. The shop bought ones involve just pickle, lettuce,tomato, slice of cheese and a tiny bit of mayo with the butter.
Our Ploughman's sandwich involves a thin layer of pickle (usually Branston Small Chunk), spread on the wholemeal bread, then lettuce, cucumber, tomato and red onion as above then some sliced cheese. Usually this is made with Cheddar, but if we have Red Leicester in or Double Gloucester then on it goes instead. Lia my daughter tried the Double Gloucester cheese for the first time the other day - you guessed it - it was on offer - and she said "This is 'banging' it's better than Cheddar." Surely not? but it does certainly give Cheddar a run for it's money! If you have never tried Double Gloucester cheese by the way do put it on your bucket list! Our own crumbly Lancashire cheese is good too, though i always prefer this on toast with halved cherry tomatoes.
We have a large pot of chives growing in the garden, (chives are so easy to grow with no effort involved whatsoever). You can trim a few of them and also add them to a sandwich or salad dish. Feta salad in a cereal bowl makes a nice lunch too, with shredded lettuce, chopped cherry or plum tomatoes, chopped cucumber, chopped red onion, a few olives a few pieces of feta or salad cheese, a little fresh ginger chopped fine, a drizzling of olive oil and perhaps a splash of cider vinegar on top too to finish - well tasty.. Eat this with a slice of wholemeal bread or wholemeal bun, and if you have some radish or watercress or rocket throw that in the dish too.
Chilli cheese on toast is always a lunchtime favourite too. Involving toasting one side of your bread, then adding butter or margarine, then adding cheese, some tiny sliced green chilli bits and some cherry tomatoes and then back under the grill again until golden.
I also like shop bought falafels on wholemeal pitta bread, with shredded lettuce, some cherry or plum tomatoes halved -usually 3 of these, some cucumber cut into small chunks, and a little chopped red onion. Then put the falafels under the grill for 2 mins or so to warm them, the pitta bread goes under grill too (but only for a minute or two to warm them otherwise they go hard). Then add a little smear of Tzatziki dip on the top. These are really good. The best pitta bread was the wholemeal warburtons I thought but the basic wholemeal ones are ok too.
Then there is always toasties - remember the Breville where the hot tomato pieces burnt your lip if you weren't careful! We found a microwave toastie online and tried it out. We were pleasantly suprised. Easy clean with a cloth in the sink too as the 4 pieces of it come apart. Microwave 2 mins one side, turn it over, then just one minute on the other side - Done!
There is also Quorn and Richmond varieties of chicken/ham/turkey etc style slices that you can make a sandwich with as above. Primula, and other in a tube spreads, like Tartex mushroom, herb, original or spicy are also available for sandwiches too.
Then there is always the cupboard staples like beans on toast, spaghetti on toast, jacket potato. Chip teacake with salt, vinegar and a squirt of tomato ketchup (classic student lunch this - and always a treat for a change!) Sometimes we have chips and curry sauce. (Mayflower curry sauce mix we use here which is powder in a plastic tub - really good tasting, just add water and simmer for a few minutes!)
Lastly my daughter lia likes to have new potatoes, done in the pressure cooker with lashings of butter on, for her lunch sometimes....
Hoping we have given you some great lunch ideas.
Here is our video trying out the Microwave toastie maker for ourselves, if you haven't seen it . Enjoy your lunch...! And if you want to try the microwave toastie maker yourself you can get it from Amazon here
This recipe was one that I tested out from a book. I then added more spinach, messed about with the ingredients and got a much nicer taste. I usually put them in small separate dishes, and if you use the full 7 slices of Edam instead of 6 and a half you will end up with a little creamier bakes. We sometimes have this with just a salad, or you can have it with new potatoes and veg of your choice, or even potato wedges and veg, or chips! This dish is normally cooked in my wok - but the handle fell off and I am currently sourcing a new one, so for now, I did this in a large frying pan instead. Spinach is packed full of nitrates too which help the blood flow more easily around the body - potentially improving cardiovascular health.
Having never made bread before I decided to try out a few recipes. Some recipes had olive oil in - that was a disaster! So I decided to just stick to the basics of white strong bread flour, water, yeast and salt. The water has to be lukewarm here, as too hot will kill the yeast, and too cold won't activate it.... I divided the dough up equally so that the rolls all cook evenly and then set them off in the oven. The secret to knowing when these are cooked is to tap them on the bottom of the roll and if they sound hollow it is cooked all the way through. If it doesn't sound hollow then put them back in for another 5 minutes or so and repeat!! You can then check one by tearing into it. These are really good - so good that my daughter, when she was setting off for school, went into the bag of them and took one out each morning and ate it on the way to school!! Simple recipe...
This is a great way to use up any left over Feta cheese from the Spicy pasta recipe as well. This cheese goes so well with the red onion, cherry tomato, butterhead lettuce and sliced cucumber. It has got to be red onion here. Then you could also make the wrap with lettuce, sliced cucumber, chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion, black olives and the Feta cheese. Because wraps are dry, unlike the sandwich which contains butter, you could add a dash of olive oil here too, or, add some yogurt and cucumber dressing like Raita to it which tastes delicious too. How healthy is that! You can also put this in wholemeal pitta bread in the same way....
Who doesn't enjoy a Greek salad in Summer. It has got to contain Feta or Greek salad cheese, red onion and black olives though! Also in this recipe we have added mixed salad leaf, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and crusty bread rolls to serve. Drizzle on the olive oil and voila! You can serve it has a main, or as a side salad in a large clear bowl with a big spoon, for guests to take as much as they want. There is always someone who will take more than their fare share of the black olives though!! Feta cheese is not as processed I don't think because it is made with sheep, or sheep and goat's milk instead of cow's milk. With all the mixed salad ingredients in this, coupled with the crusty, ideally wholemeal bread rolls, this makes for a very healthy yet very tasty meal!
This is one of the simplest recipes you can make. Just egg, courgette, onion, and plain flour, and teamed with a sweet chilli dip these are delicious. I am not a courgette fan but made like this these are really tasty. You can make fritters out of anything, but you need a dip to go with them. You could try potato and onion, or apple and onion. Courgettes can grow up to a metre in length but are harvested while young. Packed with vitamin A and C and many other nutrients, although courgette is classed as a vegetable botanically it is a fruit, and this vegetable is also known as Zucchini, in other parts of the world.
Spinach and feta pie is a traditional Greek style dish. The feta cheese being made with sheep's milk or sheep and goat's milk combined. This is a simple pie containing just spinach, feta, sun dried tomatoes in oil, eggs and filo pastry - which is wafer thin sheets of pastry that break up easily when baked. Spinach is full of nitrates which make the blood flow easier. Its also contains Vitamin A, minerals and anti-oxidants. Sun dried tomatoes contain amongst other things lycopene, which is another powerful anti-oxidant good for eyes, heart health, sunburn, cell damage - you name it! We usually serve a portion of this on a salad, or with mash, new potatoes or chips and any other veg. If you have never tried filo pastry before, it literally melts in the mouth.
Parsnips on their own are quite a sweet flavoured vegetable when cooked. They aren't my favourite root vegetable but mum likes them! Here we added celery, carrot, potato, onion and Oxo vegetable stock to balance out the flavours. If you like parsnips this recipe is for you. If you have lots left over from Christmas dinner this is for you. Parsnips are packed with Vitamin C, and folic acid, which is a B vitamin and is mainly responsible for human growth and development, so its good for mums to be too. Parsnips are in season over winter so are at their best flavours and prices too. Serve with crusty bread as per!!
To make the best roast vegetables you need plenty of garlic to balance out the flavours, and a good addition of ground black pepper. Here we have used five good sized cloves of garlic crushed. Always use red onion for the sweeter taste, aubergine which is traditionally bitter to taste, roasts really well with the olive oil too and makes it taste delicious. Courgette tastes good this way, and so do all the coloured bell peppers. Topped with the torn Basil leaves at the end tastes just divine. I would stick with this veg combination, don't use sweet potato or anything else here. We usually serve this with either pasta or mash, chips, new potatoes, or even just on its own as a larger portion. There is never any left over!! Healthwise garlic is anti-bacterial, anti-septic, anti-viral, a blood thinner and good for skin complaints, phew. Coupled with the other vegetables makes for a really tasty and super healthy meal.
Here is a simple red lentil soup with lemon and this is a really tasty soup! Easy to make too - with just red lentils, celery, onion, oxo vegetable stock, carrots and half a lemon. This is another thick Winter soup perfect to serve in a cup too. Red lentils are high in protein and fibre to keep you regular! Carrots are good for the eyes with it's Vitamin A, and Celery is anti-inflammatory for arthritic conditions, and also flushes out toxins, and is good for digestion. Thick soups like this keep you feeling fuller for longer too. Grab the crusty rolls...
Broths - really great in Winter, warming comfort food. This one is made with Kale. Kale boasts three times as much Vitamin C than Spinach. It is also chock full of anti-oxidants. That teamed with the fresh thyme which is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and antiseptic should keep the winter colds away. Also containing celery, carrot, leek, swede and Oxo vegetable stock, this is a one pot powerhouse of nutrients. Serve it in a dish, serve it with mash, or fry up a portion with some mash and a little squirt of brown sauce - or ketchup depending on which you like best, for a day after meal. You can if you want, stick in some veg suet dumplings, the recipe for which is on the Vegetable Broth recipe further on this channel!
You know it is coming Christmas when the Stilton comes out, and any left over sits well on cream crackers afterwards - for me anyway! You have got to use the freshest breakfast (large) mushrooms for this recipe. You can make your own breadcrumbs or you can buy them, up to you. This is a very simple yet delicious recipe, using just stilton, mushrooms, butter, garlic, onion and wholemeal bread and a little red wine. If you find stilton cheese a little strong you could probably use blue cheese instead. You can serve these with a side salad as a main meal, or with chips and carrots say, or you can serve one as a starter with a small side salad. Mushrooms are fat free and low calorie too, for the health conscious out there!!
This is another quite simple recipe on how to make butternut squash edible as our cameraman says! Butternut squash does need a spice added to it, as on it's own it can be quite bland. Here we have added ground coriander, onion, lentils, celery, and oxo vegetable stock. This makes for a really thick winter soup as you can see on the image. Butternut squash comes into season late in the year. It's also packed with vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. The high beta carotene content, because of it's orange colour, makes it good for your eyes too. Because it is a very firm vegetable it is full of potassium which also makes it good for healthy hearts. This would be good served in a cup too in winter, with a chunk of crusty buttered bread to dip in.
Another simple recipe this, just leeks, mature or extra mature cheddar, butter, ready made pastry and ground black pepper. I know though that leeks can be a bit fiddly to cut up and remove all the grit. You can cheat though if you wish and buy the same weight in ready prepared ones, but always buy them on the day and use as quickly as possible for the best taste! Leeks are part of the onion family and therefore have the same benefits health wise. They are low in calories but high in vitamins and minerals. Serve this with mash and beans or veg, or in summer serve a portion with a side salad!
This is the sort of main Christmas meal we eat very year. We usually do our brussels sprouts and carrots in the pressure cooker - marvellous device which doesn't steam up your kitchen and cooks quickly. The roast potatoes we usually buy and cook in the oven. You have got to have sage and onion stuffing with it of course. For the gravy, we have used Bisto onion gravy in the glass jar, but we have also recently used red onion gravy granules in a clear jar from either Sainsburys or Asda. These are just as tasty and also come in a lot cheaper than Bisto's one! We have varied our slices of either, beef style, chicken style, turkey and stuffing style. The Quorn roast which comes in a block turned out to be very tasty too, and you can slice off as much as you want, and then if there is any left, use for sandwiches later. Quorn do both vegan and vegetarian slices now which both taste just as good. You don't need to wait until Christmas to eat this meal either as the slices are available all year round. Brussels sprouts contain more vitamin c than oranges by the way too - who would have thought it!
Who doesn't like Macaroni cheese? apart from our cameraman! With this recipe it's always good to crisp up some cheese in the oven first as featured, and mix it in, this gives it an extra crunch. You can use penne pasta or macaroni pasta instead it's up to you. My daughter likes the penne one. Worcester sauce can contain anchovies, so always check the labels for the vegetarian ones. Simple comfort food. Serve it with beans, or a portion in a dish with a side salad. The Worcester sauce also features in the Shepherds pie by the way as the bottle once opened is only good for a month.
This is such a simple soup to make with just leeks, water, Oxo vegetable stock, cornflour or plain flour, black pepper and butter or sunflower oil for vegan version. They both taste as good either way though. Leeks are not only full of vitamin A but of Zeaxanthin too which means they are good for your eyes and help prevent cataracts too. These guys are part of the onion family, so no need for onion here. Crusty rolls at the ready...
I first saw a version of this recipe in a cookbook. I changed the peas to petit pois which have a much nicer flavour, added curry powder and a few more spices and ended up with this. This curry tastes even better the day after! The carrots, potato, peas and onion marry together wonderfully with the spices making a really good tasting curry. Not too hot, but spicy enough. I like this with garlic and coriander naan bread and a side salad. It is also good with chapattis. It is so healthy too with all fresh ingredients and spices - no additives! You could also have it with the onion bhajis featured further on this channel for a true curry night...
