3 Delicious and satisfying veggie meals where you won’t miss the meat!

I love vegetables but I am not a vegetarian. I do try hard to get my 5 a day and I don’t mind having plenty of meals without any meat but I must admit that I don’t think I could go without eating bacon forever!

There has been quite a lot of press lately about it being healthy to give your body a rest from alcohol for two days every week. I have been trying to do this for some time now anyway but it got me thinking that it might be a good idea to try and have at least one or two meat free days each week also. I think we all probably eat a bit too much meat. It’s a habit to build your meals around some type of protein as the main ingredient. Also, if your husband is anything like mine and all the other men in my family, they just turn their noses up at the idea of chickpeas and lentils etc.  But eating veggie does not have to be dull or equate to a plate of rabbit food. Vegetables can be healthy, filling, exciting and down right tasty!

I was recently flicking through an old copy of Hello magazine and there was an article all about going veggie. It said that an estimated seven million people in the UK don’t eat red meat and four million have cut out meat altogether. What I found really interesting was that research suggests that a vegetarian diet could cut the risk of certain cancers by up to 40%. Eating lots of red meat and other proteins in your diet opens you up to certain strains of cancer and heart disease. Now I love cooking and all foods and I certainly don’t want this blog to end up sounding like a lecture making you feel guilty about life’s pleasures, but I do think that it’s worth bearing all this in mind and considering the possibility of having one or two meat free days a week. I don’t think it can hurt is all I’m saying!

With this in mind (and also my vegetarian readers who may sometimes feel neglected) I set about making three veggie dishes with the aim that my husband did not pine for the missing meat.

Baked Eggs with Spicy Peppers & ChickpeasFirst off I made a dish that I based on the Huevos Rancheros which is basically a Mexican breakfast dish of eggs and spicy tomatoes. I wanted this to be something rustic and filling that I could knock up quickly and which works really well as a lunchtime meal with some crusty bread. I am calling it Baked Eggs with Spicy Peppers and Chickpeas. I used a can of ready roasted peppers for this dish partly for ease but also because they have a wonderful sweetness and softness. The chickpeas bulk this dish out making it very satisfying, filling your belly on a cold winters day. I used Harissa paste to spice this dish rather than fresh chilli; it is a lovely blend of spices including red chilli, garlic and coriander and it can really pack a punch so use carefully! This dish is not fancy or cheffy but it is delicious and very pleasing. Neither I nor my husband missed any meat…

Roasted VegetablesNext I set about making a Roasted Vegetable Lasagne with Cottage Cheese. I got the idea for this from a recipe I saw in a magazine years ago and in it they used cottage cheese instead of a béchamel sauce. I did not keep that recipe but I never forgot the idea and always wanted to try it as a low fat alternative. I chopped up lots and lots of veggies and roasted them down for a good hour and a half. Roasted Vegetable Lasagne with Cottage CheeseI couldn’t get hold of any fresh lasagne sheets so I blanched some dry sheets and used those, layering with the vegetables and a good spreading of cottage cheese and a sprinkle of cheddar as you would when building a normal lasagne. The result was a triumph. The cottage cheese was very mild and allowed the vegetables to sing and the whole thing tasted light and guilt free! My husband said to me afterwards that it really didn’t need any meat in it all. I count that as a total success!!

Shallot Tart Tatin with Goats CheeseAnd finally I decided to try something a little more fancy that you could easily make at a dinner party to impress your guests, vegetarian or otherwise. Shallot Tarte Tatin with Goats Cheese is a thing of beauty and utterly scrummy to boot! (Recipe by James Martin) It’s not really hard to make although it is a little laborious peeling 600g of shallots! But trust me, it’s worth it. The little shallots are cooked in a caramel with balsamic vinegar which gives them a wonderful sharp, rich sweetness and then encased in the puff pastry and finally dotted with creamy Goats cheese. I really think this dish is beautiful and also quintessentially French so I shall be adding it to my repertoire immediately. Bon appétit indeed….

Has this inspired you to go veggie once a week? I would love to know!

11 thoughts on “3 Delicious and satisfying veggie meals where you won’t miss the meat!”

  1. Lovely ideas Anneli. The baked eggs in tomatoes and chickpeas is a real winner, especially if you’re lucky enough to have eggs from your own chickens. I completely agree that it’s a habit to build a main meal around meat. There’s simply no need.

  2. I would like to congratulate your campaign Anneli – 2 days a week should be no problem at all. Living out in France you are surrounded by some wonderful vegetables and it seems a pity for them to be just an accompaniment to a meat dish.

    As a lifelong vegetarian I would like to see more refined vegetarian meals that arent so reliant on carbs / cheese, so I put this challenge to you (perhaps when the vegetable season is in abundance)

    1. Thanks Caroline! I am glad you approve. I am looking forward to the Summer when my veg garden is abundant again and I can be inspired by the freshest ingredients! I accept your challenge so watch this space for more vegetarian posts xxxx

  3. Caitriana MacDonald

    Hi Anneli,

    I have read all your blogs with great enjoyment and tried the blette recipe and really enjoyed it. I have tried to subscribe to your blog but am not sure if it has worked. Could you please add my details to your subscribers list.

    happy cooking,

    Caitriana

  4. Anneli, I love this post! As someone who shares many of your beliefs about meat (including shuddering at the thought of giving up bacon), I started practicing the Meatless Monday principles last November. To keep myself honest, I started a blog to make myself report out my adventure. It has been wonderfully enlightening – exposing my to many new vegetables and grains.

    P.S. I love wine, but I love craft beers even more. However, once a year, I go 30 days without beer. I’m halfway through that 30 day period right now. I know that first Double IPA will taste great on day 31 🙂

    1. Thanks so much Al. I have had a look at your blog and it’s great! Meatless Monday is a brilliant idea! I look forward to more posts. Thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂

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