What should I cook my ovo-lacto vegetarian date for dinner?

Question

Some ideas puh-leaaase :)

Answer 1

What kind of food does he like? You can cook him up some pasta, salad, pizza, veggie burgers, barbecued tofu or seitan.

Here are some good recipes:

Chipotle Barbecue Ribz on Cedar Bonz

Dry Ingredients

3 cups gluten flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp granulated onion

2 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp chipotle powder (This makes 'em pretty spicy, feel free to reduce the heat if you need to.)

6 1 inch cedar bones (optional)*

Wet Ingredients

+/- 1 cup veggie broth**

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup Bragg's or soy sauce

1/3 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I used a chipotle hickory flavor)

extra bbq sauce for basting

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and knead about 5 minutes. Let mixture rest about 20 minutes. Pour a generous amount of barbecue sauce into the bottom of the baking pan. If using bonz, divide your "dough" into 2 equal pieces. Press one piece into the bottom of the pan, until it is in the shape of a large rectangle. Lay in the bonz equally apart from eachother, press the other piece of dough onto the top of the bonz, making sure to press in between the bonz so that the seitan sticks together. If you are not using the bonz, simply spread your dough into a nice flat rectangle. Spread another layer of barbecue sauce all over the top. Cover the entire pan tightly with foil and bake for about 75-90 minutes.

*If you can get your hands on a food safe cedar plank, cut it into 1" bonz uzing a saw, and then sand down the edges. Soak the bonz in warm water for at least an hour before use.

**If you find you mixture too dry, just add in a bit more broth.

Shepard's Pie

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    4 or 5 russet baked potatoes, peeled and cooked

    2 teaspoons olive oil

    4 cloves garlic, minced

    1 medium onion, chopped

    1 cup mushroom or vegetable broth

    3/4 cup plain soymilk

    8 oz. slice mushrooms

    1 head broccoli, chopped or grated, stems and all

    2 carrots, chopped or grated

    2 celery ribs, chopped

    1 teaspoon cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon flour

    1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

    2 handfuls French fried onions

Directions:

I got a version of this recipe from my friend Becky. I've altered it a bit to my own tastes. Her meat eating husband loves it so I figured mine will too. Made it last night and got many compliments from my husband!

Mash cooked potatoes with as much soymilk as you need and lots of vegan buttery spread to make them nice and creamy. Add some salt and pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powder.

Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the garlic and onion over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and celery and cook until veggies start to wilt.

Add the broth and soymilk along with the cornstarch and flour. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently. Sauce will thicken up a bit. Season with salt and pepper if you need to. When all the vegetables are cooked, remove from heat.

Spray a 8"x8" baking dish with nonstick oil spray and spoon the vegetable mixture onto the bottom. Cover with the potatoes and smooth them down.  Sprinkle the top with nutritional yeast and French fried onions. Heat in oven for 10 minutes or so until top is slightly firm and onions are browned.

Serve with garlic toast or fresh bread. Enjoy!

Another way to prepare this is to spread half the potatoes on the bottom of the dish, add the veggies on top, then spread the remaining potatoes on top of the veggies. Either way it is delicious!

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Answer 2

meat

Answer 3

Pasta! Choose well on the sauce! A tomato based one is great, but it does stain cloth! So any sudden motion could case a red stain. . . unless the cloth was rinsed immediately in cold water! So perhaps a premeditated splash on a shirt could result in it being taken off! (Is it a first date? then that would be not appropriate!!!). Then an Alfredo sauce would be more appropriate. Salad (balsamic vinegarrette is nice) is nice to go on the side. And breadsticks on the other side is great also. A tiramisu for desert adds the italian end to the dinner!

Answer 4

Any vegetarian loves a Hispanic dish. Pasta and salad is always a classic. Or just ask what your date would like. Just make sure that if your eating something with meat, that you cook everything with separate pots, pans, etc.

Answer 5

Pasta is always a good option, however if you feel the need to flex your culinary muscles you can make a vegetarian Pad Thai

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-...

You can go Mediterranean and make a rice pilaf or cous cous with falafel and tabouli. (all of which can be purchased dry)

You can also go ahead and use the grill, make some portabelo burgers (grilled portabelo mushrooms) top it of with sauteed vegetables served with a fresh seasonal salad.

There are tonnes of options out there, it all depends upon how much you like to cook and how comfortable you are in the kitchen.

Answer 6

http://www.bakespace.com/index.php?mode=...

Hope these ideas help. Enjoy the date! (:

Answer 7

Vegetarian fried chicken with biscuits and mashed potatoes.

http://www.vegcooking.com/recipeshow.asp...

I use Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips for the fake chicken. You can find them at Whole Foods and probably major supermarkets like Kroger or Safeway.

Good luck!