While I don't want to become a vegetarian, I realise that eating meat every single day is a bit too much. For this reason, I'd like to try to at least have one vegetarian meal per week. Can you suggest some recipes? Please remember though that my boyfriend and I are meat-addicts, so recipes need to provide the same or a similar effect of fullness that meat does, and they have to, of course, we somewhat man-friendly. Because pasta bloats me and then leaves me hungry again after 30 minutes, I'm not really keen on it unless it has meat chunks which make me feel full, so I can't really see how to integrate pasta in this..

Thanks

Denise

I see no dietary issue in eating meat every day, as long as it's part of a balanced diet.

We use a lot of Quorn, and it is sold in Migros and Coop. You can buy for instance the pieces that look like diced chicken. I make casseroles and fajitas and to be honest with decent flavouring it tastes like meat.

If you do you Quorn, make sure that you do not give it to anyone who is allergic to mushrooms.

I'm also a meat addict but this is one of my favourite non-meat dishes: get a normal sort of sized lump of gorgonzola and 8-10 sun-dried tomatoes, chop it all up and mix with about 3/4 small pot of double cream and a couple of eggs, add a handful of basil and some pepper. Lay out a sheet of pre-made puff pastry and pour the mixture onto one half of it. Fold the pastry in half and pinch it together all around the edge so the cheesy mixture can't get out and put it in a 200 degree Centigrade oven for about 40 minutes.

If gorgonzola's not your thing, it also works really well with a feta/mozzerella mix. Could also try adding ricotta.

We try and have a meat free night as well - for healthy bodies and bank accounts!! We love this recipe - you can use vegetable stock instead of beef for vegetarian version.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/mushroom-bourguignon/

In the cooler weather we would have a soup and grilled cheese night and in the warmer weather lots of salads with beans, potatoes, whole grains -bulgar, quinoa to bulk it out along with cheese and bread - our favorite meals!!! Also check out:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/

I, along with many others, posted some great veggie recipes on this thread in May. Happy feasting!

Sichuan Mapo Tofu
fry chopped onions and sichuan pepper corns. when almost brown, add ginger and garlic. stir around a bit. add cubed hard tofu. cook til hot. add sauce (sherry or wine, soy sauce, bit of sugar, chili bean sauce - or any type of hot chili sauce, corn starch, ground pepper, water). cook a bit more. serve with brown rice (i think brown will leave you feeling full longer.)

i find veggie meals very filling. especially if i eat LOTS of it

Portabello mushrooms have a great "meaty" taste and can be served up either with a pepper sauce or with some garlicky butter, along with a variety of other vegetables.

Fried cheese. It won't cut down calories, since it is fried, but it is tasty. Take flat, thicker slice of cheese (low fat stays firmer, high fat melts fast) and drench it in batter (fluffed eggs with a few spoons of flour and a bit of milk, salt). Then wrap in bread crumbs (you can make your own from old, air dried baguette, or buy it all ready) with some seasonings you like (provensal, pasta, or smoked paprika). Then fry in oil, on high heat, so the cheese fries nicely but has no time to leak out of the breading. It works well with light (German style) potato salad, or simple green salad.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Yum! Used to do that with goats' cheese served on tomato salad

Try Indian food or go to India or read Indian recipes:

They really know how to make easily 100 dishes tasting completely different and only using vegetables!

yum.

Look Paneer Tika Massala for example.

It's not a dietary issue, but an environmental one.

Tastes like wood or eating cardboard well used to, has it improved any?

Thanks all for the wonderful tips!