Please post any vegetarian (i.e. no meat but not necessarily vegan) recipies you all know first-hand tastes good. The simpler to make, the better! Preferably dishes that non-vegetarians would like as well.

I would like to have some options to make, particularly for a get-together I'm having this weekend, to accomodate a vegetarian friend. I am incredibly stupid when it comes to cooking though, so please keep that in mind. Thanks for any help you all can give, Massassi!

Salad.

chili con quesa.

peel, seed and dice 6 chili peppers. dice half of a white onion. mince 4 cloves of garlic.
saute peppers, onions and garlic in 2 tbsp butter until onion is transparent.
slowly add 2 tbsp white flour and fully incorporate. heat on medium until the raw flour smell goes away.
slowly add 1 c room temperature milk, stirring constantly. keep stirring until the bechamel thickens.
add 1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro, 1 medium can diced tomatoes
slowly add 6 loose cups shredded cheese and melt on low. slowly! like, a couple of pinches at a time. don't add more until it's totally melted and smooth, or else it'll all get lumpy and greasy and stringy. I use preshredded cheddar-jack, but any cheese that melts well will work.
turn off heat. add 1/2 c sour cream.

pour the finished chili con quesa on top of 2 lbs of cooked regular ground beef. force feed to meat hating savages.

Woa. Jowncy the food connoisseur.

Oh, you can also make a vegetarian miso in about 3 minutes if you have the stock. It's pretty much the only way I can stand eating tofu. Tofu sucks.

Connoisseur? That's a pretty straight forward queso dish man.

edit for content: My sister in law makes a really tasty alfredo sauce pizza, with spinach, artichoke hearts and mushrooms. I don't have a recipe on hand, but I'm sure it's not very difficult and plenty variations exist online.

Cook up a bunch of rice.

Throw a few cans refried beans into a large pot. Add a large can of enchilada sauce. As it heats up, add the rice. Add some frozen vegetables, I use a southern blend which has corn, chiles, onions, and black beans. Continue cooking until entire mix is hot. I don't turn the burner above low for the entire process. Turn it down/off if things are sticking to the bottom. Serve over corn chips in a bowl with salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

warning: refried beans often contain lard.

They usually have vegetarian ones.

I don't care though. Black bean refried beans are too delicious to care.

Enchilada casserole:

bunch of corn tortillas.
a few cans of black beans.
several chopped onions.
a few big cans of enchilada sauce.
a crapton of cheese.

lightly fry tortillas in vegetable oil.

pour some sauce into 13x9 pan. line the pan with tortillas. make a layer of beans and onion. layer that with cheese. pour more sauce on top. repeat. final layer of tortillas, pour sauce over it then coat with cheese.

bake at 350 until it looks done.

delicious.

My cooking/preparing abilities are rather limited.

I like macaroni, the Kraft stuff.

dude.

Make a white roux (1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour) then slowly add a half cup of milk, stir until it thickens, melt in a cup of shredded sharp cheddar, add a splash of worcestershire, a dash of mustard powder and a dash of white pepper.

If you just like the flavor of kd you can buy a cake of velveeta. Melt it, add about 1 tbsp of milk per 1/2 c of velveeta. A million times better.

It's an extra two minutes either way. There's no excuse.

I've been making black bean burgers for almost three years now, and they are the greatest damn things on earth. You can prepare and cook them in under a half an hour and they're also REALLY cheap to make. There are a few different versions of these burgers that you can make. The basic takes around 15 - 20 minutes to make four patties, the others are closer to 30 - 40 minutes.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IT GOOD

1 Can of Black Beans
1 Egg
1 Handfull of breadcrumbs
1/2 a Pepper
1/2 an Onion
Spices to taste

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IT AMAZING

2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 a Jalapeño
A spoonful of Cumin
A spoonful of Chili Powder
A spoonful of Cajun Spice (or Red Pepper)

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE YOURSELF CUM

A lot of Bleu Cheese
Some Avocado
Hot-sauce

HOW DO?!

1. Cut up the pepper and onion as fine as you can...but not too fine.
2. Drain any water from the can of black beans and rinse them.
3. Put the black beans, pepper, onion, one egg, and the handful of breadcrumbs into a bowl.
4. Add spices to taste (for a spicy burger, use chili powder and cajun spices, for a teriyaki burger, add soy sauce, etc...)
5. Smash all the ingredients together in a bowl. The end product should be about as thick as pizza dough and look like lumpy diarrhea.
6. Clump the diarr- err, black bean mixture into four evenly shaped balls.
7. Lightly butter a frying pan and cook each patty until cooked.
8. Go back to step 3, now back to step 8, now back to step 3. It isn't step 8, but it could be proceeded by step 8 instead of step 4. Now look at 3, down to 9.
9. Before you cook your burgers remember to add in two cloves of finely chopped garlic. For a more realistic burger taste, add some cumin as well.
10. For a more spicy burger add in some Jalapeño, Chili Powder, and Cajun spices.
11. After your finished cooking your burger, toast the bun for added pleasure.
12. Then, cut a few slices of fresh avocado and place them on top of the burger.
13. Top THAT off with some freshly crumbled bleu cheese.
14. Top THAT off with way too much Cholula hot-sauce.
15. You just came.

What in the hell kind of color coding is this supposed to be, SAJN?

Green - mandatory.
Yellow - optional, tired meme reference.
Red - extra-optional.

Oh, I understand now.

warning: if you double sajn's recipe you should still only use 1 egg. Or make two separate batches.

i used to be really into cooking, now not so much. i think the last real meal i made was chicken cacciatore which was a while ago

This recipe is also quite tasty, easy to make, and vegan!

WHAT YOU NEED

A bundle of swiss chard.
Some Balsamic Vinegar
Some Raisins
Some Pinenuts

HOW DO?

1. Cook the swiss chard on medium heat in a frying pan. Don't skimp on the ammount you use either- a leaf of chard the size of your frying pan will cook and sizzle down to a leaf the size of a dollar bill. Once the chard starts to look droopy, go down to step 2.
2. Mix in an appropriate amount of balsamic vinegar. What's appropriate? It's all to preference. Usually a dash or two is enough.
3. Add in a handful of raisins and pinenuts, and let those cook for a few minutes as well.
4. nom nom nom

I really don't think I could deliberately exclude meat from a dish. I don't have anything wrong with a meat free dish... but I mean... to me it should always be an option. I can't really see many types of food I enjoy being better without meat.

Sorry, one more. This recipe is even simpler to make than the black bean burgers, it's vegan (if you choose to make it that way) but it might take a bit more time.

WHAT YOU NEED

A Portobello Mushroom cap (per person)
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

WHAT YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY

Garlic
Cheese
Other Spices

HOW DO?

1. Marinate the portobello mushroom caps in the balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes minimum-- overnight if you have time.
2. Place the mushrooms on a grill (or on a frying pan set to low heat with a cover, so the mushroom becomes tender all around)
3. Cook until tender.
4. Remove the mushroom from heat and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place on a bun and enjoy.
6. If you're going to marinate your mushroom overnight, you might also want to add in some different spices. This usually works best with red pepper, as it will give your mushroom some heat without taking away from the balsamic flavor. Adding some crushed garlic is also a way to give your mushroom some extra flavor.
7. Since this is essentially a burger with a mushroom in place of a patty, feel free to add cheese. If you want to keep the 'italian' flavors going, use Mozzarella cheese and basil to top it off.


_________________

Aside from those three recipes, a good ol' tub of Hummus with pita bread is usually the perfect dish that attracts both vegetarians and meat-eaters. The best kind of hummus that isn't homemade is Sabra, most other brands suck, but unless you eat a lot of hummus, I doubt you'd be bothered by it.

1990 called they want their portobellos with balsamic back

No, it's definitely different. I had plenty of really good macaroni and cheese as a kid but I occasionally like it from the box because it's something I made when I was really young and I grew used to it.

1lb ground beef
2-3 whole jalapenos
1 whole habanero
chili powder
tobasco sauce
minced onion

place beef into a bowl, chop up peppers, place peppers in bowl with beef, add chili powder, tobasco, and onion, mix together in bowl

press mixed awesomeness into patties

cook thoroughly

top with pepperjack cheese, sliced jalapenos, and chipotle sauce

Minus the tobasco sauce (I hate the stuff, ew), that sounds awesome, actually

It's Tabasco, dammit.

I've never had boxed macaroni, but I'm fairly sure that cheese isn't meant to be neon orange.

VegWeb. Enough said.

You guys.

Nice recipes, but he needs something simple that he can make in large quantities without the possibility of messing up.

Make a pasta salad. It's basically more a pasta dish than a salad, only it's served cold.

All you need:

1. pasta
2. tomatoes/cherry tomatoes
3. paprikas (peppers)
4. mozzarella
5. pine kernel(s?)
6. fresh basil (dried basil will not work!)
7. olive oil

(You can add cucumber and onion if you are so inclined - but good dishes usually taste better with less ingredients!)

1. Cook a good amount of pasta (the same amount you would use for making a macaroni dish for example)
2. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, or if you're using regular tomatoes, slice them in wedges
3. Dice the paprikas (not too small), of course remove the seeds and the white parts inside
4. Slice or dice the mozzarella
5. Heat up a pan on moderate fire and fry the pine kernel(s?) in a dry frying pan, so don't add oil or butter. Keep stirring them all the time, or they'll burn quickly. Within one or two minutes they'll have a nice golden brown colour and they'll be ready. Empty the pan in a bowl so they can cool down.
6. Take a good amount of basil leaf and cut the leaves to ribbons (not too small)
7. Rinse the cooked pasta with cold water to cool it down.
(8. If you want to add these - you really don't need to - add the sliced or diced cucumber and finely cut raw onions - not too much onion!!!)
9. Mix the lot in a bowl without the basil and pine kernel(s?), and serve on plates. Add the basil and pine kernel(s?) on top.
10. Serve with olive oil to add as a dressing.

You can also make a dressing of olive oil mixed with a bit of balsamico vinegar, but the dish doesn't really need it.

steak.

I just don't like meat, really. I don't have any moral objections to eating it and I'm not out to feel righteous toward anyone—if someone serves it to me, I'll eat it. But I just don't like it. Nor do I enjoy cooking it. It's been something that has annoyed me for some time—but I never seem to know what to prepare without meat. The only meat I like is fish.. fresh fish.. as in fish that was caught a few hours ago and is roasted up over the campfire sort of thing. Now that is some tasty stuff. I don't mind canned sardines, but I don't know how anyone eats that frozen crap they sell in stores.

My dad used to catch more than we could eat. I guess I'm going to have to take up fishing. Also, I've gotten to the point to where I just can't stand any dairy. It makes me feel like absolute **** every time I eat it. I don't know if there's a definitive way you can tell if you're lactose intolerant or whatever, but I think I must be. Anyone have any tips on how to incorporate more calcium into my diet without dairy? I'm tired of feeling like ****.

Vitamins?

Hm, turns out orange juice, sardines, and broccoli are really high in calcium. I should be okay there.

SAJN, bleu cheese tastes like turd. Well, if I ever tasted a turd, I would expect it to taste like blue cheese. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, here's an easy, idiot-proof, and delicious recipe that I've used nearly every week for the last few weeks:

Roasted Veggies:

ingredients
2 small zucchini (or one large)
2 small yellow squash (or one large)
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper (Wal-Mart has been selling packages that have one of each color - very handy)
1 red/purple onion
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper


Heat the oven to 450°F. Chop all veggies into bite size chunks. Spray a roasting pan or large baking dish with non-stick olive oil spray (the bigger the pan the faster it will cook). Toss chopped veggies with the oil, salt, and pepper to mix and coat (I toss 'em right in the pan). Spread evenly in the pan and roast in oven for about 30 minutes until veggies are lightly browned and tender. I stir them about every 10 minutes or so. And if the onions get blackened a bit, that's a bonus.


Chop all into bite

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys! Mayhaps I'll be able to make use of one this Sunday.

Also, I lol'd at Jon`C's first post. Nice!

Strange. I've never hear someone say that before.

I mean, I'll give someone **** if they say they are not eating meat for this or that reason. They'll admit it tastes good, they just don't do it. I think their ideas are stupid, but to each his own. I'm weird enough that many people don't understand me.


But you don't LIKE meat?

That goes against human nature!

No he isn't, that isn't a Béchamel.

It is, I just sautee the vegetables in the same butter I use for the roux. You can take them out if you want