cooking for a veggie

cav_hob

i have a date with a vegetarian on saturday and i'd like to impress her with mu cooking however its rare that i dont have meat with a meal i'm cooking so i'm curious if people think that this sounds like something nice...

it'll be spaghetti with baby spinach, basil and cherry tomatoes. i'm gonna chop up the veg and fry it seperate and then put the spaghetti and tomatoes in at the end after i've baked the tomatoes and cooked the spaghetti. then lash parmasen cheese on top.

its kind of a mixture of recipies i've read as a lot of them wanted tofu in it or else blend all the veg with tofu which doesn't sound great at all.

if this sounds terrible/great or if anyone can make a recommendation i'd be grateful for some feedback!

cormie

Just make sure she's vegetarian and not vegan before you put the cheese on top

Tofu can be a really nice addition, but there are different types/textures and there's on I had just the other day that could go really well with the above but I wouldn't have a clue what it's called.

cav_hob

no she eats cheese and eggs and stuff just no meat.

i had tofu before and it was very slimey, if i was to get it again i'd get the more firm type.

cormie

Cool, well what you have sounds good

You could make a salad too. Something like raw brocolli, cut up cherry tomatoes, hazelnuts, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, finely cut up leaves, apricots and feta cheese and make a nice dressings to go with it using oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic and mustard seeds all mixed together.

Mr Magnolia

Don't be afraid to leave the Tofu out altogether. You don't say if you've planned which veg to use but aubergines, red/yellow peppers, courgette, onion, garlic and chilli would all work well. You could also try feta instead of parmesan.

If you're really out to impress her you could do a dry-run tonight and check out what you should leave out or include. Let us know how it goes down please. Good luck

Hmm to be totally honest pasta isn't particularly impressive.
However an Irish man willing to not only cook but a meal without meat is.
I would incredibly grateful if anyone made the effort to cook for me.


Avoid tofu or meat analogs, not everyone is ok with them. I still can't get get my around eating anything that is trying to be meatlike like Quorn. Although if you are buying it again Taifun do a great range of flavoured tofu products. They are available in healthfood shops.

cav_hob

well i was just gonna use the spinach & basil and i was gonna put in garlic as well.

i could put in all those veg in, think i'll have a practice run tonight if i get out of work at a reasonable time.

i'll go with the whole thing peppers, courgette, onion & chilli and see how it goes.

Cheers!

Mr Magnolia

See how it tastes tonight. Sometimes less can be more too.

Also, if you both drink have a nice bottle of white wine or 2.

cav_hob

well if i was to stretch it to something more elaborate there's more of a chance i'd feck it up.

plus my chocolate pudding dessert hopefully will be impressive!

cav_hob

there will be plenty of wine

Alun

The only comment I'd have on your proposal is that spinach plus basil doesn't sound like a match made in heaven to me. I've never tried it personally, so maybe I'm wrong, but it just doesn't sound right to me.

kmick

Yeah plus what sauce are you going to use. all those vegetables sound nice and everything but if you don't have some form of sauce it wont work. I would suggest green pesto or arrabiata for spag. As regards Tofu I find it pretty poor unless it is deep fried.

Minder

Will you be doing any starter or side plates?

Spaghetti with spinach and cherry tomatoes sounds fine, I would make a light tomato sauce with a blitzed can of tomatoes, a little garlic, a splash of white wine and a bunch of basil. You can dress the pasta with some of this light sauce, mix in the spinach leaves. As you say, roast the cherry tomatoes on the vine and place on top of a pile of spaghetti with some shavings of cheese.

An attractive side plate would be griddled asparagus, griddled fresh peach sections, artichokes and some torn buffalo mozzerella. Dress with oilve oil and good balsamic vinegar.

cav_hob

right glad i went in here cause it seems it would have been a disaster...

i'll get some arrabiata sauce tonight and give it a bash, see how it turns out.

@Minder

that sauce sounds good but the side order would be a bit much for me, i dont even know what artichokes look like and i've never eaten or cooked asparagus.

Minder

Nothing wrong with your original idea, but a few more worth considering..

Risottos are great for veggie meals - mushroom risotto with truffle oil, particularly if you use dried porcini mushrooms, the depth of flavour is fantastic. Also mushrooms should be in abundance in the delis now with all the rain.

Another excellent seasonal risotto is made with roast pumpkin, roast garlic and crisp fried sage leaves. With any veggie risotto a light vegetable stock is used instead of boiled water to add flavour.

Again some interesting side plates will complete the meal in style.

kmick

Be aware Arrabiata is a tomato sauce with chilli - it can be quite hot. Some people may not like that.

Minder

cav_hob wrote: »

right glad i went in here cause it seems it would have been a disaster...

i'll get some arrabiata sauce tonight and give it a bash, see how it turns out.

@Minder

that sauce sounds good but the side order would be a bit much for me, i dont even know what artichokes look like and i've never eaten or cooked asparagus.

Artichokes for side dishes are sometimes sold in the deli sections of the supermarket - they have already been prepared and you just open the packet and arrange on the plate. They also come in jars in the section with the olives. These need to be drained of the oil they are stored in. Chuck them in a sieve over a bowl for a few minutes.

If asparagus is available in the shops from the fresh veg counter, you prepare it by cutting off the woody base, cut it at an angle to make it look attractive. They are about eight inches long in bundles - you can lose two inches off the base, usually. Another way of preparing them is to take a hold of each end and bend until they break - use the top part only - they should snap just above the woody bit. Drizzle with a little oil and add salt and pepper before laying them on a hot ridge pan across the ridges - they cook quickly and the stripes from the pan look attractive - move them around every couple of minutes - they are cooked after about six minutes but cutting a piece from the base of one spear and tasting will tell if they need a few more minutes.

Cut fresh peaches in half and take out the stone, cut the halves into three sections, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Cook on the ridge pan for a couple of minutes a side. Get some that are not too soft but not like rocks either. Arrange the warm asparagus and peaches around a large plate, scatter some artichokes between them and add the torn mozzerella. Dress with oil and balsamic.

Alun

Another tip on preparing asparagus ... Instead of trying to identify by sight where the 'woody' section starts/ends, which doesn't always work as well as you might like, just grasp the asparagus with two hands towards the base and just bend the stalk until it snaps naturally at the point where the tender and 'woody' sections meet. Works for me.

Arrabiata isn't a safe choice. Alot of people don't like it.

Aldi has aspargus spears for 79 cent a bundle. Steamed with a little lemon butter yum.

Last time I tried it, Aldi marianted artichoke was cat. I'm lucky to live near a great Italian deli. But MandS had jars of artichokes beside the beetroot and stuff. That were good.

catho_monster

Hold on, OP, why not stick with basically what you were going to do - as im sure thats what you'll feel most comfortable with and then the night will go more smoothly!
the problem is the spinach really. spaghetti, roasted cherry tomatoes, heaps of fresh basil, and lashings of GOOD parmesan can be really gorgeous - drizzled with olive oil (otherwise it'll be too dry). if it were me, i'd add some dry-pan-fried hazelnuts (careful not to burn) to the mix just to get the protein element covered.
at the end of the day, a couple of bottles of wine, some decent chocolate desert - something plain and simple for mains could be lovely.

sweet-rasmus

i hope your dinner went well
if all went well, and you need future veggie advice (restaurants/recipes), come on over to the veggie forum




<----

The Sweeper

sweet-rasmus wrote: »

i hope your dinner went well
if all went well, and you need future veggie advice (restaurants/recipes), come on over to the dark side

Uh huh, fixed that for ya.

Minder

OP - How did the dinner go and what did you cook?