Recipe requests

[siloguist]

I have to admit, I'm not the greatest cook who ever walked the planet, so I thought I'd consult the culinary oracle here!
A friend of mine is vegan, but as someone who tends to have meat and/or cheese in 99% of my main meals I'm at a bit of a loss for what to cook for them. Does anyone have any preferred vegan meals? Ideally something quite hearty to deal with the autumnal weather. Thanks in advance!

[PAstrychef]

Baked stuffed squash. I like to use acorn squash, one per person, or maybe 1/2 per person if the squash are huge. Stuff with cooked grains-rice, bulgar, barley, etc., mixed with sautéed mushrooms, onions, garlic and maybe chopped tomato. I sometimes add nuts and dried apricots.
You can use whatever flavor profile you like in the filling. Soy, garlic and ginger=Asia, lemon and herbs=France, cumin, sage and chili=Tex-Mex and so on.
Also look up the vegan death metal chef videos. Good things to cook, with an interesting viewpoint thrown in.
(For those non vegan meals, add some cheese to the filling)

[Zohar]

You can easily make a big filling chili, and Indian cuisine has many hot stew-y vegan (or easy-to-vegan) dishes, like chana masala, dahl, etc.

[siloguist]

Baked stuffed squash. I like to use acorn squash, one per person, or maybe 1/2 per person if the squash are huge. Stuff with cooked grains-rice, bulgar, barley, etc., mixed with sautéed mushrooms, onions, garlic and maybe chopped tomato. I sometimes add nuts and dried apricots.
You can use whatever flavor profile you like in the filling. Soy, garlic and ginger=Asia, lemon and herbs=France, cumin, sage and chili=Tex-Mex and so on.
Also look up the vegan death metal chef videos. Good things to cook, with an interesting viewpoint thrown in.
(For those non vegan meals, add some cheese to the filling)

That sounds mighty fine, thanks for the suggestion! Very versatile too. This vegan black metal chef guy is quality too

[Bakemaster]

I need a kick-ass recipe for spicy eggplant, must have infinite umami and be SAUCY. The lady who cooks at my favorite Med. buffet won't give hers.

[Liri]

I need a kick-ass recipe for spicy eggplant, must have infinite umami and be SAUCY. The lady who cooks at my favorite Med. buffet won't give hers.

I had a ratatouille a few nights ago that was absolutely heavenly. Hell of savory with some definite spice. I can try to find the recipe.

[Bakemaster]

I may try this one first: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/08/one- ... sauce.html

[dubsola]

This one looks good: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/10/aubergine-recipes-turkish-imam-bayildi-hungkar-begendi-roast-with-tarator-yotam-ottolenghi. Haven't tried it, but I have eaten eggplant in Turkish restaurants before, and they know what they're doing, and I've eaten Ottolenghi recipes before, and he knows what he's doing, so, it'll probably work.

[Bakemaster]

The serious eats one was okay but I yearn for the exact recipe at this restaurant. The harissa I used relied on cumin, which seemed like the wrong direction to take.

You know what *really* excites me, though, is the "Hünkar begendi" in dubsola's link above... That looks heavenly.

[Ginger]

Anyone know re: ways to spice up salads or other vegan dishes w/o ANY ANIMAL products so they don't just taste like watery leaves?

[Angua]

Red onions, chilli flakes and a bit of salt with lemon juice and olive oil. Spices up pretty much any salad.

[Ginger]

Thanks you Angua. <3 Your suggestions they sound... delicious and tasty. Bookmarked, A++ Response, shall try next time I eat salads.

[Quercus]

Thanks you Angua. <3 Your suggestions they sound... delicious and tasty. Bookmarked, A++ Response, shall try next time I eat salads.

Classic vinaigrette is entirely vegan and definitely spices up a salad (at least in the metaphorical sense of "spice"). Wine or cider vinegar, olive oil, crushed garlic, a little mustard, salt and pepper.

As for other food, nutritional yeast flakes are pretty much a miracle ingredient for satisfying vegan flavor, also soy sauce and dried mushrooms for umami (buy soy sauce from Asian grocery stores for massive savings). My main advice though would be to read about flavor balancing if you don't know about it already, because that equips you to come up with your own satisfying seasoning mixes with whatever you happen to have on hand. This article is a good place to start (not vegan specific, but a lot of the suggestions don't include animal products)

https://lifehacker.com/learn-to-make-an ... 1477864259

All of the applies to general cooking, but I've found its way more important in vegan cooking, because it's more often "ensemble" cooking, without a single stand-out component, like many meat dishes tend to have.

[Zohar]

Funnily enough, I'm posting here again for the same reason I started this thread - we're having friends over for a Eurovision party. This year it's hosted in Portugal (they won last year with a very mediocre song), so I'm going to make Portuguese egg custard tarts, but I'd like to make at least one more foody food. The problem's I'm vegetarian and they don't seem to have a ton of traditional savory vegetarian recipes. The ones I found all seem to be different kinds of soup, and it will be pretty warm.

Does anyone have experience with Portuguese food and can suggest ideas?

[PAstrychef]

I found this linkhttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/68117013084783834/ with some things that looked interesting, especially the multi colored vegetable tortas.

[Nath]

Caldo Verde, if you swap in some vegetarian sausage substitute. Açorda.

[PAstrychef]

Hi Nath! What’s cooking?

[poxic]

Hey, it's Nath. Hello.

[Nath]

Hello! I guess I absent-mindedly left lurker mode.

What's cooking (as of last night) is summer truffle pasta and vignarola.

[dubsola]

Portuguese egg custard tarts

I love these! Are they hard to make?

[Zohar]

They were a bit pesky when I made them - making puff pastry dough and all that. The custard itself was super easy to make, just a ton of eggs. And then it's a bit more work because you're individually assembling them. I suspect if you buy premade puff pastry dough it would be much easier.

And PAstry, those tarts look really pretty, maybe I'll make one of those!

Nath, I'd rather avoid a soup because I think it will be too warm.

[dubsola]

I will never make puff pastry. Store bought is fine + I'm not a baker. Sorry PAstryChef.

Also, seconding the 'Wow those tarts look amazing!'

[Thesh]

I just remembered I could buy wonton wrappers and just make dumplings whenever I want. Any ideas for something vegan I can make with black beans?

[sardia]

I just remembered I could buy wonton wrappers and just make dumplings whenever I want. Any ideas for something vegan I can make with black beans?

Queso dip nachos? Pressure cook beans https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/201 ... ecipe.html
Then make nacho cheese.

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/201 ... d-lab.html lay down single layer of chips . add beans to each chip. Repeat with each ingredient.
Add pickled jalapenos-onions-carrot. Add cilantro. Maybe some green onion. Broil until crispy. Top with guac and a squeeze of lime. Top with crema if you feel extra decadent.
Option 2. Make black beans. Eat. It's good by itself.

[Thesh]

No offense, but you are terrible at being helpful.

[CelticNot]

Assuming you're looking for a conflation of wontons and black beans, I did find this recipe. Can't speak to taste (I'm not much of a bean person myself), but it should be vegan-compatible?

This one too, omitting the sour cream.