[shawnarhode]

If anyone has any good ideas for a Vegetarian that can not eat pasta, as he is just coming off a fresh and raw diet. I'm serving Asparagus, Orange and Endive Salad and Butternut Squash and Apple Side. Any Ideas for a main????

[geese4u]

Marinate and grill some portabella caps, and stuff with a brown rice pilaf.

[teamfat]

There used to be this restaurant here in Salt Lake that had eggplant in a spicy sesame-garlic sauce that I really liked. Too bad I never got the recipe. I bet a web search for something like 'spicy garlic eggplant' might turn up a few hits.

mjb.

[siduri]

Cooking for a vegetarian requires you to do some thinking about how to get full useable protein. Besides the ready-made animal proteins that are not made of dead animal (eggs, milk, cheese) you can combine ingredients to make full protein. If this person has been eating raw food only, he may be already deprived of protein.
You need to combine
legumes and grains
(lentil soup with toasted bread for instance, lentil soup with rice, risotto with peas, beans and rice (such as in lots of mexican dishes),
legumes and seeds
(hummus, felafel)
plus countless other combinations that it's too early in the morning to remember - i believe certain vegetables have a reasonable amount of protein if combined with a bit of full animal protein (broccoli with a little cheese gives much more protein than that same amount of cheese, or of broccoli) and potatoes with cheese, egg, seeds, grains, legumes

The trick is to find the dishes that combine these elements, because the protein strands of vegetables are not complete for humans to use, but if combined in the same dish with other incomplete strands, are combined in digestion and come out whole.

I recommend looking at the information in books like Laurel's Kitchen (she researched thoroughly the science behind the protein business) - not crazy about most of the recipes but the principles are important to know,

[greyeaglem]

Quinoa is high in protein. Use as you would rice. It usually needs to be put through a rinsing process but some places that specialize in organics have quinoa that is ready to use.

[BombayBen]

I am personal chef to a lactose free, gluten free, vegan family!! - their favorite main course dish is:

One butternut squash - halved and seeds removed, submerge both halves in orange juice and then bake off in the oven till soft but not squishy!

Heat a tiny amount of olive oil in a pan and add mushrooms (a mix or just one kind - most common mushrooms work well with this recipe) and saute briefly, add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a tsp of paprika. Add one sachet/half a block of creamed coconut and water to thin it out - but not too much.

Spoon mushroom sauce into squash shells and serve with steamed broccoli drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.

Garnish the dish with chopped parsley or corriander

Hope this helps - it looks great on a plain white plate and all my clients do rave about it and I get a lot of return requests for this dish

[AllanMcPherson]

Way back when I was nearly vegetarian (boring story for another time). I really learned to love my grains and pulses. One of the reasons so many vegetarian menus feature eggplant and mushroom caps is that they can fulfill the desire to have a main course that can be cut and chewed like a piece of meat. I used to do a vegetarian sausage that was pretty tastey. I generally used kasha, puy lentils, brunoise of sweet veg (carrots, celeriac, parsnip, and so on), shallot held together with a thick puree of adzuki and/or turtle beans. For "casings" I used rice paper.

I actually still make this sort of thing, only now with duck fat in the mix. Go figure.

--Al

[Vera Bradley]

Black bean croquettes.

[tessa]

Originally Posted by siduri

Cooking for a vegetarian requires you to do some thinking about how to get full useable protein. Besides the ready-made animal proteins that are not made of dead animal (eggs, milk, cheese) you can combine ingredients to make full protein. If this person has been eating raw food only, he may be already deprived of protein.
You need to combine
legumes and grains
(lentil soup with toasted bread for instance, lentil soup with rice, risotto with peas, beans and rice (such as in lots of mexican dishes),
legumes and seeds
(hummus, felafel)
plus countless other combinations that it's too early in the morning to remember - i believe certain vegetables have a reasonable amount of protein if combined with a bit of full animal protein (broccoli with a little cheese gives much more protein than that same amount of cheese, or of broccoli) and potatoes with cheese, egg, seeds, grains, legumes

The trick is to find the dishes that combine these elements, because the protein strands of vegetables are not complete for humans to use, but if combined in the same dish with other incomplete strands, are combined in digestion and come out whole.

I recommend looking at the information in books like Laurel's Kitchen (she researched thoroughly the science behind the protein business) - not crazy about most of the recipes but the principles are important to know,

not trying to be picky here but eggs, milk, cheese dont come from dead animals

saying that what about a tofu stirfry , or a bombay aloo with lentil patties

[DC Sunshine]

Tessa, wow that was bright and bold lol.

Think Siduri meant "for example, eggs, milk and cheese which do not come from dead animals".

Just a matter of interpretation.

What's a bombay aloo?

[tessa]

i clicked the wrong number on the sizing and couldnt be bothered going back to change it lol

bombay aloo is a potato and pea curry which is just wonderful

[Vera Bradley]

Originally Posted by shawnarhode

If anyone has any good ideas for a Vegetarian that can not eat pasta ... I'm serving Asparagus, Orange and Endive Salad and Butternut Squash and Apple Side. Any Ideas for a main????

No pasta...

I just thought of something else for you! My employer has an infrequent guest who does not tolerate gluten at all, so I use spaghetti squash in place of capellini.

I've also served Cooking Light's Spaghetti Squash Gratin. It is very good. It includes cheese, of course, but works well for a main course if your guest is lacto-vegetarian.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Take a look in a local Whole Foods store prepared foods section it will give you ideas. Like 3 mushroom strogonoff

[shel]

Originally Posted by Vera Bradley

No pasta...

I just thought of something else for you! My employer has an infrequent guest who does not tolerate gluten at all, so I use spaghetti squash in place of capellini.

Excellent idea! Here's a recipe for using spaghetti squash that's been a favorite of mine for more than twenty years:

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH ZUCCHINI CORRIANDER SAUCE

1 spaghetti squash (abt 3-lbs)
Zucchini-Corriander Sauce
1 Tbs unsalted butter
pinch salt
pinch fresh ground pepper
1 cup grated Gruyer cheese
½ cup fresh grated Parmesan

Cook squash.
While squash is cooking, prepare Zucchini-Corriander sauce through step 2
Cut squash lengthwise in half, remove and discard seeds, remove flesh of squash by scraping lengthwise with fork, creating spaghetti-like strands.
Melt butter in large skillet or sauté pan, add squash, season with salt and pepper, cook, tossing with two forks, until squash is coated with butter and warmed through.
Complete Zucchini-Corriander sauce.
Transfer squash to large platter, top with sauce, sprinkle with Gruyere cheese. Toss at table to mix. Pass parmesan separately

Zucchini-Corriander Sauce
2 large ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup high-quality extra virgin olive oil
1 cup grated, trimmed zucchini (grated in food processor so zucchini looks like spaghetti strands)
1 - 2 Tbs chopped fresh flavorful cilantro (corriander)
2 cloves garlic crushed into paste
½ - 1-Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for one minute, rinse under cold water, peel and core tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half crosswise, remove seeds, purée in blender or food processor until smooth.

Heat oil in skillet or sauté pan over med-high heat until rippling, add zucchini, corriander, and garlic. Stir-fry until zucchin is wilted, add tomato purée, reduce heat to low, simmer, uncoverd, for about 3 minutes, remove from heat.

Just before serving, reheat sauce to simmer, stir in lemon juice to taste, season.