8 replies to this topic

[capi]

Help, vegetarians or anyone with some good veggie recipes.  

A friend of mine is ill and I need to make some veggie meals to take to her.  She needs foods that are fairly soft and easy to chew and swallow, highly nutritious, not very spicy but still tasty!

I don't cook purely vegetarian too often so I'm asking for a few of your tried and true favourites that might fit the bill.  Especially things that freeze and reheat well.

Also, a question, do dishes containing tofu freeze well?

Thanks.

[DericksHam]

why the heck would you want to freeze a cooked meal?!?! tofu should be able to keep for a few days in a fridge with cling(sp?) wrap or an air-tight container. don't leave them out even if the room temperature is chilled. they might ferment.

otherwise, i can't really think of any tasty veggie-type dishes which aren't based on gluten.

[capi]

DericksHam, on 04 October 2010 - 10:07 PM, said:

why the heck would you want to freeze a cooked meal?!?!

WTF?  
It's really not such a strange concept.  People do it all the time.  In this case, when someone is too weak/tired/sick to regularly prepare decent meals, it's really helpful to have something healthy and ready in the freezer to reheat.

[Avalon]

If it were me I'd be heading over to Whole Foods and hitting up the frozen food section. Lots of veg options and its easy. To me it would be worth the price.  

[DericksHam]

reheating sounds like a bad idea already, if you going for "healthy and nutritious". freezing might be worse. thawing/reheating with anything other than oven temperatures of over 300 celsius(sp?) could mean encouraging bacteria growth. freezing can be as bad as frying for killing vitamins in fresh produce.

it's best that your friend consulted a nuritionist if she's that fragile, and you don't have time to serve the meals right off the stove.

or try supplements. vegetarians usually lack proteins, complex B vitamins and calcium in their diet. protein drinks and pills sound pretty expensive and are known to give some people the runs. if she's REALLY in a bad way, she might want to start thinking of eggs or fish as a kind of vegetable. fish and eggs aren't suppose to any nerve endings that can transmit pain. *shrug*

[Kelly A]

DericksHam, on 05 October 2010 - 11:00 AM, said:

reheating sounds like a bad idea already, if you going for "healthy and nutritious". freezing might be worse. thawing/reheating with anything other than oven temperatures of over 300 celsius(sp?) could mean encouraging bacteria growth. freezing can be as bad as frying for killing vitamins in fresh produce.

it's best that your friend consulted a nuritionist if she's that fragile, and you don't have time to serve the meals right off the stove.

or try supplements. vegetarians usually lack proteins, complex B vitamins and calcium in their diet. protein drinks and pills sound pretty expensive and are known to give some people the runs. if she's REALLY in a bad way, she might want to start thinking of eggs or fish as a kind of vegetable. fish and eggs aren't suppose to any nerve endings that can transmit pain. *shrug*

I disagree. Supplements are not better than actual food, and freezing things is not worse than refrigeration for bacterial growth. Being able to throw something in the microwave is much better than malnutrition when you're sick.

Anyway, I'm only a vegetarian-in-law, but there are resources on the internet such as allrecipies.com and others. I'll ask Donna to look at this thread too.

[Internet Legend]

It's actually pretty easy to get enough protein in a good vegetarian diet, and as long as you're eating whole grains, you'll get B vitamins, too. Also, I don't care how you try to rationalize killing them, fish are still animals with nervous systems and all.

Anyway, if your friend eats eggs and cheese, you could make a nice vegetable lasagna as long as you don't spice it too heavily. Depending on your friend's background, macaroni and cheese might be a comfort food, and if you make it with whole-grain pasta and spike it with nutritional yeast (with which you can make a "cheese" sauce if you're so inclined), it can be nutritious. Mild enchiladas might also be an option for you, and they're easy to make.

If you're looking for vegan (no animal products) dishes, your ingredients list may be a little more esoteric, but there are still good options. How about a soup with vegetables and white beans and/or barley? There are also a number of lentil dishes that freeze and reheat quite well. I've frozen tofu dishes before, but mainly ones in which the tofu is mashed rather than in chunks. It can get a little spongy when frozen and thawed, since there's a whole lot of water in it, but as long as it's mixed into the other things, it'll be fine. I've made lasagna with tofu in place of some of the ricotta cheese, and it freezes and reheats quite well.

I like to make a bean soup that begins with chopped onions and garlic (go easy on these if you think they might be tough on her digestion) sweated in a few tablespoons of olive oil (if you have it, mix in a tablespoon of nutritional yeast once the veggies are soft and stir it into a paste). Add water and pre-soaked navy or small white beans. Simmer for half an hour, then add diced potatoes and carrots, chopped celery, and barley. Simmer for another hour until all are soft. You can add peas if you like, and any other chopped vegetables she's fond of (turnips, cauliflower, broccoli?). Just be sure to add the vegetables according to their cooking times.

As long as she likes it, split pea soup is a great choice. I make mine much the same way as the bean soup, except that I dice the potatoes and carrots smaller and it doesn't have to be cooked as long (you don't have to pre-soak split peas either). You can also blend this soup for a smoother texture. Lentils take about 45 minutes to cook, and you can make a similar hearty vegetable stew with those if the beans seem too ambitious for her to digest. Quinoa is a high-protein little grain that cooks in about 30 minutes, and it adds a nice, kind of nutty flavor to soups and stews.

You can cook steel-cut oatmeal with soy milk, cinnamon, and whatever dried fruits she likes. You can chill cooked oatmeal and store it for up to a week, then reheat it in the microwave with some applesauce and water or soy milk. It's really filling and very good for you (quinoa can be added to this as well, and it boosts the protein content).

My favorite vegetarian cookbooks are the "Veganomicon" by Isaaaa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero and "Vegetarian Planet" by Didi Emmons. Let me know if you'd like me to look for more specific recipes/ingredients.

[capi]

Thanks Donna (and Kelly) for the good ideas and info.  I've been avoiding pastas, mostly because of my own dislike of the more nutritious whole wheat ones but, of course, my friend  might not mind them.  The veggie dishes I cook tend to be either spicy or cheesy so, not great choices. Hence, my request for other people's favourite recipes.

Fortunately, my friend is still ok with beans, lentils, grains, most vegies and eggs.  Dairy, not so much.  Hearty soups and stews are good.  It's nice to hear how tofu responds to freezing. I've never used nutritional yeast and I've never cooked with quinoa so any good recipes would be welcome.

Thanks also for the cookbook recommendations.  I'll take a look.

Avalon, I'm tempted by your suggestion but so far, still trying to manage the more personal approach.

[capi]

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're trying to be helpful and not just argumentative but,

DericksHam, on 05 October 2010 - 11:00 AM, said:

reheating sounds like a bad idea already, if you going for "healthy and nutritious". freezing might be worse. thawing/reheating with anything other than oven temperatures of over 300 celsius(sp?) could mean encouraging bacteria growth. freezing can be as bad as frying for killing vitamins in fresh produce.

you're mostly misinformed about the effects of freezing and reheating,

Quote

it's best that your friend consulted a nuritionist if she's that fragile, and you don't have time to serve the meals right off the stove.

or try supplements. vegetarians usually lack proteins, complex B vitamins and calcium in their diet. protein drinks and pills sound pretty expensive and are known to give some people the runs. if she's REALLY in a bad way, she might want to start thinking of eggs or fish as a kind of vegetable. fish and eggs aren't suppose to any nerve endings that can transmit pain. *shrug*

and you've mostly missed the point here.   All I'm trying to do is provide some easy, tasty, nutritious FOOD that she can enjoy.



So, got any good recipes?