What are some good vegetarian/vegan meals that will wow my meat-eating family and friends?

Question

I'm looking for some good comforting vegetarian or vegan meals. I'm entertaining for my boyfriend's birthday and I really want to impress everyone.

Answer 1

Vegetaring- you should make this baked Eggplant parmessian and in the side saute some onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms. create your own sauce for the vegies.

Im not sure about the vegan part.

Answer 2

Go here:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search?q=Vegeta...

Answer 3

I made this for a chili "cookoff" type party and everyone, meat eaters included, LOVED it. I did make a few adjustments, and you can totally tweak this to your own liking as well...

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Ve...

I added red, yellow and orange bell peppers because I like colorful chili. When its appealing to the eye, it seems to be a bigger pleaser. Read some of the comments, because it helps you gauge what you might like to add or take out of it. And this recipe makes a TON. Unless you are feeding a whole army, I would half the recipe. Some added vegan sour cream/cheese makes it even better. I might just have to make this myself this week. =)

Edit::

Also, I have been having a field day going through the recipes on http://www.vegweb.com

I'm making this one tonight: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=4917.0

Answer 4

You can get some ground soy "meat" and soy cheese and make a great lasagna -- follow the recipe for any lasagna, just substitute with the vegetarian products.

You could also use the ground soy "meat" and make a spicy chili with beans and other veggies.

Or how about some vegetarian "chicken" strips or "beef" strips?  Throw them on a pizza crust, sprinkle with other veggies and some soy mozzarella and voila -- pizza!  Yum!!

Or....heat up some onions, peppers, etc. in a wok, toss in some of the veggie "beef" strips, pair it with steamed rice, and hunker down for some Chinese food.

Answer 5

Great meal ideas that pleases both the vegan and non vegan are:

Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1/2c flour

    1/2c nutritional yeast

    1 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon garlic powder

    2 cup water

    1 teaspoon mustard

    4 tablespoon margarine

    10 tortillas

    2 small cans enchilada sauce

    3 cans beans (white kidney, pinto, black), drained

    2 medium onions, chopped

    1 can olives, chopped

    1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup salsa (optional)

Directions:

In medium-large saucepan, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder.  Add water and mix thoroughly.  Heat on medium heat until bubbling and thick.  Remove from heat and add mustard and margarine.  Set aside 1/2 cup of cheese sauce in separate container.  Add onion, beans, olives, cilantro and salsa to sauce. Mix it up.

Pour a 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Place a tortilla in pan and cover in enchilada sauce.  Spoon in filling.  Roll and push to one end of pan.  Continue until all tortillas filled.  Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top and then spread reserved cheese sauce on as last step.  Bake at 350 until brown, 30-45 minutes.

Serves: 6, Preparation time: 45 m

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5980.0

Barbecued Seitan Ribz with mashed potatoes or potato salad, ratatouille, mac and cheese, and biscuits. - http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/bar...

Veggie Pot Pie

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 frozen pie shell, or fresh dough if you have time

    2-3 cups veggie broth

    1-2 potatoes

    3 medium carrots

    a variety of veggies such as green beans, zuchinni, mushrooms, or just about anything.

    1 package frozen spinach

    vegan grated or sliced cheddar to cover pan in two layers

    lots of good spices: garlic,

    cumin, tarragon makes it savory, whatever you like.

Directions:

Thaw pie she'll and try real hard to take one 1/2 out of the tin w/o it breaking into a million pieces. If you manage, you are a god(dess).  Meanwhile, cook chopped veggies (NOT spinach, just keep it till later).  Cook in micro or oven till about 3/4 cooked.  To make sauce, heat broth in large kettle, add spices, and lower heat.  Add slowly either cornstarch or flour (I use flour), till slightly thickened.  You can add dairy free milk and use veggie buillon cubes.  Add to this cooked veggies and coat them w/sauce.

Meanwhile, layer 1/2 cheese on bottom of lower crust.  Spoon in veggies and sauce, then add spinach on top.  add rest of cheese on top of that, and close it up as best as you can w/ the torn top shell. at least mine always tears. bake at 400 for about 45 min, till crust is brown and delicious cheese and juice oozes out.

Serves: 3-4, Preparation time: Less than 1 hour

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6863.0

The Un-Meat Loaf

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 cup cooked brown rice

    1 cup wheat germ

    1 cup instant oats or oat bran (uncooked)

    1/2 cup walnuts, chopped fine

    1 cup mushrooms, chopped fine

    1 medium onion, chopped fine

    1/2 bell pepper, chopped fine

    1 medium carrot, shredded fine

    1 teaspoon dried thyme, marjoram or sage

    2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely minced

    2 tablespoons soy sauce

    2 tablespoons prepared mustard

    ketchup

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix for 2 minutes with a wooden spoon.  Pack in to a 4 x 8 loaf pan sprayed with Pam and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until lightly browned.  You may wish to top the loaf with ketchup after about 40 minutes, then continue baking the final 20 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

NOTE:  The vegetables should be chopped as finely as possible.  If you have a food processor this would be a great time to use it.  Put each vegetable and the nuts in one at a time, pulse until finely ground. Then dump in to a big bowl with all other ingredients for final mixing.

This recipe freezes well too!  Just wrap in foil and then in a freezer bag.  To reheat either slice and warm in the microwave or reheat covered in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

Serves: 8, Preparation time: 1:10

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7614.0

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    about 1 pound of seitan, (I use Beef Minit Meat) prepared & cut into strips

    1 large onion, diced

    6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

    2 cups of Imagine Brand Cream of Mushroom Soup

    2 tablespoon Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream

    2 cups of sliced white mushrooms

    1 teaspoon sea salt

    1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

    black pepper to taste

    cooked pasta of your liking

Directions:

This stroganoff tastes exactly like the dish my dad used to make when I was a kid.  Since becoming vegan, I never thought I would have it again.  Delicious!!

Prepare your Seitan and cut into strips.  In a large frying pan heat up your olive oil on medium heat.  The heat is very important, because you want to brown the onions.  You don’t want them undercooked or overcooked, just a nice brown color.  Add 1 large white onion, diced.  Add 5-6 cloves of fresh garlic diced fine.  Sautee mixture until onions are browned.

Add your mushrooms.  At my house, we use a BUNCH of mushrooms. (about 2 cups) and saute them until soft on low heat.  Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt, ½ teaspoon of garlic salt, and some black pepper.

When mushrooms are