Calling all Veggies . . . Sunday Dinner?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Sunday is a special day for us and I would like to make a nicer-than-usual meal. My mom always made a roast or something that was nicer than average but not as nice as thanksgiving/Christmas.

 

I am not my mom.

 

We go to Mass at 10.00 am. We fast before going and usually have a doughnut or two apiece and a cup of coffee after Mass downstairs while visiting . . . we linger after mass anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. So after an hour and fifteen mass and another hour (or so) of visiting, we might get home around 12.30. Doughnuts hold us for a while but not long so pretty soon, we're more than ready to eat.

 

So . . . I'd really like to fix a nicer than average meal on Sundays. However, we're gone from 9.30 to 12.30 or so. Starting a meal at 12.30, especially a labor/time intensive one, will leave us famished and frankly, I don't want to spend my Sunday laboring in the kitchen all day.

 

Do you have any ideas for a nice Sunday meal, vegetarian, that is miraculously easy to fix? I'm willing to use the crockpot but honestly, everything I've ever tried in the crockpot has been mediocre at best. I'm sure I just lack the perfect recipe, though.:001_smile: I also have an oven that can be set to come on with a timer.

 

?

[OrganicAnn]

I think you need to make the meal on Saturday and then heat it up after church.

 

My favorite vegetarian recipe is a potato, pablano pepper, corn, onion mixture that you put in a tortilla iwth cheese.

[aggieamy]

Something on the grill? I love cauliflower, asparagus, and zucchini on the grill. I'd serve fish with it but that probably isn't very vegetarian.

[Mergath]

If you don't already have a big breakfast before church, you could do breakfast for dinner. Pancakes are quick, filling, and provide endless opportunities for topping variety. Throw in some veggie sausage, maybe some hash browns or a breakfast casserole assembled the night before... You can set out a bowl of muffins or whip up some quick buttermilk biscuits... Crepes with strawberry filling... Eggs benedict...

 

Sorry, I think I'm projecting my own cravings here. :)

[Giraffe]

Roasted vegetables - asparagus, peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, onions - whatever is in season, but I find that three veggies, one being onions, works best. Cut into relatively uniform pieces, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt (the kosher salt really does make a difference somehow), roasted at 350-400 'til done (about 30 min). You can have it prepared and on a baking sheet ready to go, or make it the day before and reheat. Serve with rice, maybe something else?

 

Look at "The Sultan's Table" - a Turkish cookbook that has lots of veggie recipes. It's a great non-vegetarian cookbook that could give you good ideas for vegetarian dishes. I recommend this because a LOT of Turkish dishes are designed to be made ahead and rest/blend in the fridge and then are served cold or room temperature. It's a cuisine that lends itself well to your purposes. :)

 

Edited to add - I'm the wife of a former-vegetarian Turk who's still not crazy about a lot of meat. I learned to cook "his" cuisine and found it to be delicious!

Edited April 22, 2010 by Hopscotch67

[aggieamy]

I found this when looking for dinner recipes today:

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Cream-Pasta-Primavera/Detail.aspx

 

It looks really good and would be pretty fancy.

[LibraryLover]

What about a lovely vegetable stew or soup with a bright salad? You could make it Sat, as soups are always best the next day. :) Maybe a spinach or veggie lasagna? Some other veggie food we enjoy: Udon noodles with veggies in a peanut or coconut sauce, stuffed squash, Portabella mushroom 'burgers', with chickpea pilaf, cous cous, or brown rice, giant tossed salad with roasted veggies, also with some brown rice or millet, pilaf etc. Quiona and millet are super-easy and fast, which is a nice thing when you don't want to be in the kitchen a long time. My kids love Indian food, so anything with curry--rice, garbanzo beans, firm tofu, sweet potatoes...all work.

 

Your mother's roast reminded me of my mother's chicken. I think it was the ease of preparing roasted chicken on Sunday is what tripped me up after well over a decade of being vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic. lol One day, at my mother's I thought, "Wow, she fed this whole family a big meal, and it took her all of 10 minutes to prepare!" I never noticed as a kid that roasting a chicken basically entails simply washing a pile of bliss potatoes, a few carrots, chopping head of cabbage in 4ths, popping it all into a giant roasting pan with a chicken slathered with olive oil, and putting it in a preheated oven for a couple of hours. We eat about 70% veg still, but, yeah, your Mom and a roast...like me and a roasted chicken.:001_huh:

Edited April 22, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Peela]

We do roasted vegetables with gravy, and a salad, often.

I would make something on the Saturday, and reheat it, or do an egg meal. Sundays for us is eggs. We get home around 9am and dh cooks everyone eggs on toast. Could be an omelette too, or scrambled or fried or poached eggs. He is vegetarian, and it is a lovely family ritual. (Its also the only thing he cooks!). Not sure if your "vegetarian" includes eggs though- ours does! You could do fresh orange juice and even a salad if you wanted to make it more lunchy. But we have no problem eating eggs for any meal of the day.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I think you need to make the meal on Saturday and then heat it up after church.

 

My favorite vegetarian recipe is a potato, pablano pepper, corn, onion mixture that you put in a tortilla iwth cheese.

 

Now how can you post something like that and not grace me with the recipe?

 

 

 

 

pretty please???

[Beach Mom]

The timed cook feature on my oven is most used on Sundays. I put in a tart, or quiche or other entree that I have prepped on Saturday night (or early Sun morning) and by the time we get home we have an almost ready hot meal.

 

Two of our favorite recipes are

 

Tomato Zucchini Tart http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/easy-zucchini-tomato-and-cheese-tart-recipe/index.html

 

Stuffed zucchini boats (I prepare the stuffing the night before)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/stuffed-young-zucchini-recipe/index.html

[LibraryLover]

I think quiche is a great, easy, pretty Sunday lunch. Add a salad, and you're done.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Roasted vegetables - asparagus, peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, onions - whatever is in season, but I find that three veggies, one being onions, works best. Cut into relatively uniform pieces, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt (the kosher salt really does make a difference somehow), roasted at 350-400 'til done (about 30 min). You can have it prepared and on a baking sheet ready to go, or make it the day before and reheat. Serve with rice, maybe something else?

 

Look at "The Sultan's Table" - a Turkish cookbook that has lots of veggie recipes. It's a great non-vegetarian cookbook that could give you good ideas for vegetarian dishes. I recommend this because a LOT of Turkish dishes are designed to be made ahead and rest/blend in the fridge and then are served cold or room temperature. It's a cuisine that lends itself well to your purposes. :)

 

Edited to add - I'm the wife of a former-vegetarian Turk who's still not crazy about a lot of meat. I learned to cook "his" cuisine and found it to be delicious!

 

What about a lovely vegetable stew or soup with a bright salad? You could make it Sat, as soups are always best the next day. :) Maybe a spinach or veggie lasagna? Some other veggie food we enjoy: Udon noodles with veggies in a peanut or coconut sauce, stuffed squash, Portabella mushroom 'burgers', with chickpea pilaf, cous cous, or brown rice, giant tossed salad with roasted veggies, also with some brown rice or millet, pilaf etc. Quiona and millet are super-easy and fast, which is a nice thing when you don't want to be in the kitchen a long time. My kids love Indian food, so anything with curry--rice, garbanzo beans, firm tofu, sweet potatoes...all work.

 

Your mother's roast reminded me of my mother's chicken. I think it was the ease of preparing roasted chicken on Sunday is what tripped me up after well over a decade of being vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic. lol One day, at my mother's I thought, "Wow, she fed this whole family a big meal, and it took her all of 10 minutes to prepare!" I never noticed as a kid that roasting a chicken basically entails simply washing a pile of bliss potatoes, a few carrots, chopping head of cabbage in 4ths, popping it all into a giant roasting pan with a chicken slathered with olive oil, and putting it in a preheated oven for a couple of hours. We eat about 70% veg still, but, yeah, your Mom and a roast...like me and a roasted chicken.:001_huh:

 

We do roasted vegetables with gravy, and a salad, often.

I would make something on the Saturday, and reheat it, or do an egg meal. Sundays for us is eggs. We get home around 9am and dh cooks everyone eggs on toast. Could be an omelette too, or scrambled or fried or poached eggs. He is vegetarian, and it is a lovely family ritual. (Its also the only thing he cooks!). Not sure if your "vegetarian" includes eggs though- ours does! You could do fresh orange juice and even a salad if you wanted to make it more lunchy. But we have no problem eating eggs for any meal of the day.

 

Roasted and grilled veggies sound great! We do have a grill but tend not to use it often. Sundays would be perfect!

 

Peela, about that gravy recipe . . . ???

[MomOfOneFunOne]

What about a lovely vegetable stew or soup with a bright salad? You could make it Sat, as soups are always best the next day. :) Maybe a spinach or veggie lasagna? Some other veggie food we enjoy: Udon noodles with veggies in a peanut or coconut sauce, stuffed squash, Portabella mushroom 'burgers', with chickpea pilaf, cous cous, or brown rice, giant tossed salad with roasted veggies, also with some brown rice or millet, pilaf etc. Quiona and millet are super-easy and fast, which is a nice thing when you don't want to be in the kitchen a long time. My kids love Indian food, so anything with curry--rice, garbanzo beans, firm tofu, sweet potatoes...all work.

 

Your mother's roast reminded me of my mother's chicken. I think it was the ease of preparing roasted chicken on Sunday is what tripped me up after well over a decade of being vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic. lol One day, at my mother's I thought, "Wow, she fed this whole family a big meal, and it took her all of 10 minutes to prepare!" I never noticed as a kid that roasting a chicken basically entails simply washing a pile of bliss potatoes, a few carrots, chopping head of cabbage in 4ths, popping it all into a giant roasting pan with a chicken slathered with olive oil, and putting it in a preheated oven for a couple of hours. We eat about 70% veg still, but, yeah, your Mom and a roast...like me and a roasted chicken.:001_huh:

 

Welll, we eat so many soups, stews, and one-pot meals that it wouldn't really be special on Sunday.

 

My mom did the chicken, too! It was as if she slaved all day in the kitchen but really, it was more like magic.

[Peela]

 

Peela, about that gravy recipe . . . ???

 

I just buy a vegetarian gravy powder that you mix with water wile stirring on the stove. Takes a couple of minutes to thicken, and tastes great to us. I am in Australia- I presume they have such things as gravy powder in the U.S.?

[Tap]

If you eat cheese..You can use refrigerated cheese ravioli. Layer with the veggies you like (spinach, mushrooms, olives etc) and top with sauce. Make it thick like a lasagna with the layers alternating a generous veggie layer with the raviolis.

 

It is a quick, easy lasagna that doesn't require much time to prep. You can leave it in the fridge overnight and just toss in the oven when you get home. Since there is no meat in it, I would set it on the counter when I leave in the morning so it only has to heat up from room temp.

[Giraffe]

I have a great spinach lasagna recipe if you're interested....

[Orthodox6]

Here is a vegetarian -- actually is vegan -- meal which my family like VERY much, and which is VERY easy to prepare !

 

Take two or three of these:

http://www.fieldroast.com/fieldroast_celebrationroast06.pdf

(how many depends upon which size you buy, and how many people you are serving)

 

Place the "field roast" in a roasting pan, surrounded by coarsely-chopped (i.e. large sized pieces) potatoes, carrots, onions. If desired, also include mushrooms and/or bell peppers. (First rub the vegetables with olive oil and some black pepper.) Pour some mild vegetable broth/stock over the "roast". (Mushroom broth also is good for this recipe.) (Don't overdue the broth and drown the vegetables.) Do not add additional salt, as both the field roast and the broth already contain plenty. Roast in the oven (375 deg. F.) for an hour. (or for however long is needed in your oven for the vegetables to be done) Remoisten the "roast" as needed during this time.

 

Slice the "roast" into thin slices. Serve with the vegetables, and pass any remaining vegetable stock as "gravy".

 

ENJOY !

 

(This is an obvious knock-off on pot roast.)

 

P.S. To save time, as this is for a post-church Sunday meal, you can chop the vegetables the night before and store them in a bag in the refrigerator until you are home and ready to throw everything into the roasting pan.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Orthodox6