How does he feel about lasagne (with GF noodles)?

My meat-eating nephew has a Hindu wife. When he wants meat he cooks for himself and she goes off and does something elsewhere. But neither tries to make the other eat his/her way all the time. So if he wants fajitas, he makes them for himself. Her family is so strictly vegetarian that her father won't eat from a plate that has ever had meat on it, but nephew and wife have worked it out well.

Hey LP would he perhaps be happier with a real meat and then have some of your veggie stuff as the side? Like find a spice rub he likes and throw a couple pork chops on the grill pan? Or simple roasted chicken leg quarters, etc. I’m thinking that could cover you part of the time, and some other stuff like lasagna, meat sauce, meatloaf, etc. could be portioned and thrown in the freezer.

If you’re like me then you’re cooking pretty simply weeknights anyway, so this should cover it. Weekends you can spend a bit more time on both of you.

He does cook his own meat, all the time. That's what we do. But I want to cook dinner for my husband some of the time. Hubs even makes vegetarian for me and I make meat for him. Hubs likes it when we eat a meal together. He is OK with me eating my food and him eating his, but some of the time he likes us to both eat the same meal. We already do the "his version has meat and mine doesn't" kinds of things. That is my rut. For example, one of our "go to" meals is braised cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions and he has his with bratwurst and I have mine with fake bratwurst.

I just made lasagna to get us out of our rut, but hubs mild lactose issues made that a big fail. I'm going to have to experiment with some lower cheese fillings. It's ricotta and mozzarella that really do the number on him (and to some extent me). Next time I might do squash and tofu filling maybe with some goat cheese and parm. Or white bean spinach with feta . . . I only did it traditional lasagna because it was a Sunday dinner and my uber picky dad was coming over. That's a whole other issue I won't go in to, trying to cook for my dad, he is a real head case when it comes to food. Unfortunately my 88 year old dad's food issues dominate our weekends so it is during the weeknights that I cater more to my own food tastes and hubs.

I do vegetarian lasagne with cheesy bechamel instead of ricotta. DH has lactose issues so I always use LF milk. He tolerates regular cheese but you could use LF cheese. The red sauce is like bolognese without meat, and with LOTS of small diced veggies- carrots, celery, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, whatever you feel like. Most people who eat it assume it is traditional lasagne and don't realise there is no meat, even big meat eaters. I made it for a friend's 70th birthday celebration, both with and without meat, and even the meat eaters wanted to take home the leftovers :-) You could probably get it past your Dad ;-)

Since nutrition isn't an issue--I know that you have that covered--I think the trick is to stick with what you just said. Your husband really likes basic American food on the European side. Since it doesn't sound like you mind that, the trick is to make things that have "right" flavors and textures. It sounds like it worked for the pot pie and pizza.

I've had cauliflower pizza crust that was chock full of Italian herbs and really delicious. It's probably too expensive even if you can find it, but you could make something similar and freeze it. The commercial one is soft...it's cauliflower after all. So I wouldn't recommend it for a proper pizza, but it could be something like a calzone, or roll, which is meant to be eaten with a knife and fork. You could fill with your veg pepperoni, marinated tomatoes, tofu, and lightly charred veg. It might look a bit different, but should be quick and easy, flavorful and familiar enough for someone who likes American pizza.

I can't remember if you have issues with other grains or just too much gluten. If the latter, you can make most quickbreads with alternate grains since you're not supposed to develop gluten. That means you could make a biscuit top for a pot pie, or a veggie stew with dumplings, out of just about any flour. I don't know how you feel about bugs. Some vegans eat them, as do many vegetarians. You could use some cricket flour or similar to up the protein. I used to make what's pretty much Mulligan stew completely vegan. It tasted like stew. Just no meat. Lots of tomatoes and mushrooms to up the umami without the meat.

Loaded potatoes would work, too, with some TVP pretending to be ground beef.

Remember, it's still early days. If you can get your husband to eat curry side dishes, chinese vegetables, etc., along with his meat, even if it's just a taste every time to make you happy, he'll get used to the flavors and likely come to enjoy at least some of them enough to want to eat a more foreign flavor for a main dish. Give it a few years. :) Meantime, it sounds like you have a good approach to finding ways to dine together.

Hubs just said the other day he wanted to try cauliflower pizza crust. I love cauliflower but I'm the skeptic on that one. We may at least try it for an adventure.

Even my dad might like loaded baked potatoes!

Did the sweet potato stew for dinner topped with a bit of goat cheese. It tasted good but was kind of mushy. Reminded me of a stuffed squash recipe I have but don't make often due to the squash being of unpredictable quality in our local markets. We had one last week that was great but more often than not they are bitter nowdays.

Do you eat eggs?

That looks appetizing!

I haven't made the cauliflower crust myself, but the secret of the one I liked is that it's thin and the cauliflower isn't chunky. It still tastes like cauliflower, mind you, but with all the Italian herbs, and plenty of oil it tastes really good. It also has more tensile strength than most. This looks like the one I had. If they have it near you, it might be worth buying a box to sample, and some others as well. I wish I had a recipe for you. What I can say, is you have to get out as much water as you can. Even so it's soft and not really a pick up a slice kind of thing.

I was just thinking, however, if you did develop a good alternative biscuit recipe, you might be able to make a great biscuit crust pizza that would be more like "real" pizza. Y'know--or maybe you don't because of your baking issues--when you make a high moisture buttermilk biscuit and bake it at high heat, you get lots of loft and a crunchy top. I can imagine making an amaranth biscuit dough pizza shell that would have more tooth than vegetable crusts, no gluten, and be liftable. The trick would be making it not too bready since it would be denser. But that's also something to think on... Yeast wouldn't do too much to it without stretchy gluten, but putting in a little bloomed yeast for flavor, and maybe even a drop of liquid smoke, might make something like that taste more like the real deal.

Another thing that's way American and should taste the same meatless is chili (Not)dogs. Or you could just as easily do veg for you and meat for him. Put them in individual au gratin dishes or similar, top with chili and put under the broiler to get really hot and melty and a bit of a crust on the chili. Have toppings like chopped onions or scallions, veg cheese, avocado, chopped peppers, chopped tomatoes, etc. Or just chili with toppings and cornbread.

Tamale pie with soy chorizo.

Spinach "meat"balls with black bean or lentil pasta--I highly recommend Tolerant brand.

There are a lot of world cuisine vegetarian dishes that don't taste too exotic if you don't know what they're called, like mujadarra, shakshuka (saudi style without all the spices in the Moroccan version), felafel, imam bayildi, etc. For felafel I just serve the patties on a salad with some kind of sauce. I do lemon-tahini, but a plain dill sauce would work, too.

I aee that it's tricky because frankly I would not like soy/ersatz variants of meat myself. I'd rather have something different than something wannabe, but there are plenty of vegetarian dishes where only the names are exotic. Maybe if you just called them something else?

I feel the same way, writersblock. I don't understand why if you don't eat animals you'd want to eat fake animals.

I understand the "Impossible Burger" is very good.

I don't know where you can get them.

dcarch

Re faux meat, I agree about the "chicken" and similar, but the many of sausages are quite good and it's the spices that are like the meat version, rather than it being imitation meat.

Lots of pasta dishes...lasagne gets boring.

There's a brilliant book on veggie dishes that is like a bible for me. Very varied and reliable recipes. My daughter is vegetarian, we are not, but we eat lots if her recipes because they're just so good.

https://www.amazon.com/Mediterranean-Harvest-Vegetarian-Recipes-Healthiest/dp/1605294284/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?keywords=Mediterranean+Harvest%3A+Vegetarian+Recipes+from+the+World%27s+Healthiest+Cuisine&qid=1556685119&s=gateway&sr=8-2-fkmrnull

I'll dig out my veggie burger patty recipe as well. They taste remarkably meaty and DH quite likes them too, even though he's not keen on vegetarian food.

My husband was similar to yours. I was never vegetarian, but wanted to eliminate some red meat from our diet. Years ago, when the Moosewood and Still Life with Menu and Laurel's Kitchen cookbooks came out, I found he would eat many of the recipes from those. Granted, they were heavy on eggs and dairy, but it was a start. One of his favorites was Phad Thai; theirs uses tofu, but it disappears

He liked spanikopita (I didn't use their recipe) and he liked the brown rice/spinach casserole that was ubiquitous at the time. He enjoyed Sweet Potato Pancakes and the Zucchini-Feta Pancakes - both savory dinner meals. I used to make Mushroom Enchiladas, sauteing finely chopped mushrooms and onions, herbs and spices, kind of treating them like ground beef, then adding a bit of low fat yogurt before stuffing into tortillas, rolling and covering with enchilada sauce. Bake.

I haven’t tried it, but apparently the Beyond meat patties are really good. I don’t want to eat vegetarian but my husband could stand to lose some weight. But when I read the nutritional data on them, the calories and sodium levels are right up there. No incentive for a weight loss program, but if you chose to eat vegetarian they might be a good choice.

Ah Islay, Martha Rose Schulman of "Vegetarian Feast" cookbook fame! I remember cooking from that book when I first became a vegetarian (at age 18 when I started cooking for myself). That was 40 years ago. I used to be a much better cook back then. I am more rushed nowdays. Hubs and I share a real love for Mediterranean food.

Fake meat is just a shorthand term I used. I could sub the word "patty" or "link" or "something ground up and stuffed into a casing but don't call it sausage." I like some of it. The problem I have with a lot of it is I don't like the taste of it. It's often made with msg and other constituents and seasonings designed to give the "meat" or "unami" taste, and meat texture, many of which I do not like the taste of. MSG is a particular no no for me. But some of it I like a lot. The advantage to a "link" is that it is easily diced and added to soups, pasta, pizza, etc. It's also easy since there is an Italian "link shaped thing made out of gluten and other things" that I really like and that is easy for me to swap in on nights when hubs is eating "real" sausage. Same with "patty made out of tvp and other vegetables and spices" that I like, Morningstar Farms. They work good as things to serve on a bun, but also just cooked on the side when someone else might be eating a pork chop or hamburger patty. So far, hubs only likes the Mornigstar Farms black bean patties. I eat the "breakfast patties" all the time, I love them. I like Yves "slices" for sandwiches too, and breakfast sandwiches with a fried or poached egg. I also like the Morningstar Farms brand "crumbles." Hubs tolerates that too. That stuff is expensive though, and heavily packaged, so I don't like to put it on heavy rotation. Plus I'm not gluten intolerant, I eat it, but there comes a point when it gets to be too much for my system. That's why we don't eat a ton of it, mostly. Once a day tops.

Hubs and I love spanikopita but can't really afford to buy it pre-made. I make it once and a while, but it's not a weeknight possibility unless left over. But I could easily do a quiche or broccoli or spinach rice casserole. I can make quiche with part tofu to make it less fat.

I love shaksuka or heuvos rancheros or uova in purgatorio, but alas, I can't sell hubs on them. Maybe if I didn't try to serve them on one of his "omelette" days (Wed and Sun) he might be receptive. Yes, sigh, my husband must eat omelettes on Wed. and Sun. And they must be with onions and cheddar cheese, every single time. That's the kind of food taste he has, he likes the "familiar" to the point of pedantry.

Animals taste so good but one doesn't want them to be hurt so one stops eating them but still craves the taste. That's where ersatz meat comes in. It's different when you're born to a vegetarian culture. If you grow up eating meat and love the taste but at some point realize the suffering of the animals outweighs your delight in their meat it"s a struggle to wean yourself from meat dishes. I've been through this when I was younger. Been vegetarian for over 12 years. Now carnivorous again.

We have the opposite issue. I really like this particular gf/vegan black bean chili in my IP as the chipotle really gives a meaty taste. I love soyriso -- a little ethnic but put into enchiladas, an omelet or where ever choriso goes it is is terrific. I agree that spicing is the key for any of the meat-alternative products -- of course some are hideous or "why bother", but others I view as a way to add texture and carry flavors. Also ethnic but mildly so are are pressed&frozen&squeezed tofu-based or cluck-based kara age. Basically soy/ginger marinated deep fried chicken nuggets (coated in potato flour/starch).

Animals taste so good but one doesn't want them to be hurt so one stops eating them but still craves the taste. That's where ersatz meat comes in.

Yes, but I wasn't talking about the vegetarians who eat those things, just saying that if you ate the real thing yesterday and know you're going to be eating it again tomorrow, the ersatz stuff just tastes lacking, and you don't really have an incentive to learn to like it.

pinkmountain, what type of vegetarian? Do you eat eggs, milk, cheese, or fish?

I you eat cheese, this is a fantastic recipe that my picky husband will eat. I sometimes blanch broccoli, cook sliced mushrooms, and pan grill cubed chicken breasts to add to the recipe. You could leave the chicken out of both or just yours.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/fettuccine_alfredo/

I like Elise's recipes best, but several others on here have some good ones. If you click on special recipes, it sorts by vegetarian or vegan, as well as other types.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/

There are pasta dishes like lasagna, stuffed shells or ravioli. There are lots of Greek dishes like moussaka, pastitsio, and other casserole type dishes. Replace the cheese with something else or with lactose free cheeses. I buy many lactose free foods for my DS.

When I became a vegetarian, and was one for 16 years, I made lots of ethnic main courses which meat eaters also enjoyed. I am no longer a vegetarian but still make those dishes without meat. We had millet or nut burgers instead of hamburgers and did buy vegetarian hot dogs, which weren't too bad. We even cooked them on a grill. Because most vegetarian recipes are involved and take time I would make double and freeze for another time.

I also bought quite a few vegetarian cookbooks to get more ideas and recipes. Today you can find many recipes online. There is so much more information and products today then back in 1972. Good luck and have fun.

40 year lacto-ovo vegetarian. I love fish too, but don't eat it that often due to cost and environmental pressures on most fish now days. It's a treat for us. I have a huge recipe book collection, all the old vegetarian classics from the 70s and 80s. I've just gotten in a rut and also don't really like to cook as much as I used to. The longer and more complicated the recipe, the less likely I am to make it. I do it once and a while, because I love eating the things, but not often. I eat eggs, cheese, dairy, etc. Just am trying to eat more vegetable based meals due to my wallet being smaller and my gut getting fatter and my tummy getting more touchy. But a little fat, dairy, gluten, meat, whatever, is OK. The only things I am truly allergic to are msg and aspartame.

Writersblock, I think that's my husband's issue, unless he really likes a meat substitute right off the bat, he's not going to want to bother with it. I think that's why I love the "fake" sausage patties on their own merits, (call them tvp patties!) but to him they taste like a pale comparison to the real thing which is what he wants to eat. Real sausage has too much of a gristly, fatty greasy mouth-feel for me. I'll eat it, but not a favorite by any means. So I buy pre-cooked frozen sausage and heat his real ones up with my fake ones. We don't have a problem joining our lifestyles, I just have a problem coming up with week night meals we both like.

We do OK with pasta, hubs just adds meat to his on his plate, so we eat a lot of pasta. It's an OK food, but actually a pretty refined and calorific one, so we try not to eat it more than a couple times a week. There are lower carb and whole grain pastas, but we try to keep the costs down. We eat some of those products, but hard to beat the cost of the average box of refined spaghetti. We have that a LOT. I'll open a can of beans and throw that on mine, and hubs will braise a chicken breast for his.

Gooster I might try some of the fried tofu dishes. Hubs just doesn't like the bland mushiness of tofu, but neither do I much. Maybe I need to get back into tofu. I used to bake it, and also freeze it and then thaw, which is a great way to get a LOT of the water out.

I pinkmountain, you both would like the fettuccine alfredo. I usually make the creamy version, but I have made the one without cream when I didn't have any and it is very good. It is quick and easy. If I get fancy, I add a salad and bread.

To me adding the broccoli and mushroom seems to make it more of a meal. I usually do fresh, but I don't see why frozen broccoli and a good jarred mushroom wouldn't work.

Your husband will probably like the dishes that are naturally vegetarian without the tofu or other meat substitutes.

I have long experience freezing borekes, and the only difference between spanakopita and my spinach borekes is the accent of the maker, so I'm sure it would work. :) If you're going to the bother of making them, make a triple batch and freeze! I like using small, shallow foil pans, just big enough, so they can be popped right in the oven. Handled with a little care the pans are reusable. Freezer paper is better than bags.

Good veggie burgers- these freeze well

2 cups cooked pearl barley

1 cup rolled oats

1 large onion, diced finely

finely diced vegetables of your choice (I usually add diced carrots)

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1 egg

enough flour (can be GF) to make a stiff, sticky mixture

Form into patties and shallow fry.

You can reduce the soy sauce but we really like it :-)

We do breakfast for dinner often when time is short. You could do a veggie omelet, fruit, toast or hash browns, pancakes and eggs or oatmeal, etc. You can buy good precooked bacon for a reasonable cost for hubs to add to his meals when needed-just heat for a few minutes in microwave. I find the sausage links don't seem as fatty as the bulk sausage.YMMV

Barilla protein plus pasta has more protein and fiber than regular and I don't believe it costs any more.

I try to keep hard boiled eggs on hand and can throw a tuna salad together quickly.

One of my kids favorite meals was a box of mac and cheese with a can of tuna added.

If fresh fish is too pricey, use canned salmon and make patties, add a vegetable and fruit.

I use my microwave bag for a quick baked sweet or white potato.

I love to cook a larger quantity and freeze for a second or third meal. Sometimes I take a day and cook several different meals in larger quantities and food save.

Tonight I was just not in the mood to cook, so pulled frozen chili out of freezer and had with carrot sticks and fruit.

Hopefully you will find things that work for you & your new hubs differing food tastes and it will be an afterthought. Planning ahead helps me a lot.

Last weekend, for the vegetarian contingent of the house guests, I made chickpea stew - chickpeas, spinach, tomato, eggplant, tempeh (you could leave any of these things out), onion, and seasonings. I went with an Indian set of seasonings but you could easily go Mediterranean with this.

Using the canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans will make this quicker and you may have enough left for another meal later in the week.

We had half and half that was outliving its expiration date to use up, so I suggested to hubs that we have the alfredo, and he made a face saying "We eat too much pasta already." That's the problem, the pasta has been my rut! Not that we both don't love it. Anyway, I riffed on the idea and made a spinach strata. Also was able to use up the bread we had languishing in the fridge along with some similarly urgent grated cheese. It's working out to be a good idea since it is something I can get ready the night before or in the morning before I go to work and then hubs can bake it if I have to work late. This time I added some ham since we are still working on our Easter one, but next time I can add veggie sausage or fake ham or fake bacon for the flavor and protein boost.

Since I use frozen phyllo for spanikopita, I have always been hesitant to freeze it again, but it could be done. I make Greek-influenced chili and stew that we both like too. And since new potatoes are going to be out soon, my Greek style potato salad should probably make an appearance! (Done with a evoo/wine vinegar marinade and green beans plus red onions or scallions, celery optional). Can always add some white beans to that!

Hopefully I can get out of the rut that I don't make bread on the weekends like I used to. We've been getting so busy that it gets skipped. I really miss having good bread and we can't afford the high-end chewy loaves at the store that I love!

How about fried rice? If you can go spicy, nasi goreng is a favourite here, with a fried egg on top.

If your DH will eat Chinese, there's Chinese fried noodles, or for spicy, mee goreng with a fried egg.

@pinkmountain -- you might try this basic recipe, since you are familiar with pressed/frozen tofu (I tend to add garlic to the marinade): link

I think a variant of the nuggets could be made with different flavorings, like a "buffalo style" that has more aggressive spicing in the marinade. I've been meaning to try this recipe or one of the variants she proposes (using real egg) -- she does a a double freezing and includes a "no chicken" broth in the marinade for flavor: link

I used to bake tofu for an hour or more to concentrate/dry it too. But I'm going to experiment with freezing again. The only recipe I ever did it with was tofu sloppy joes but I would like to try the "General Tsao's Tofu" since General Tsao's Chicken is the one and only thing my husband orders when we go out to eat Chinese! (Which is rare nowdays due to finances and also only one mediocre Chinese place for 30 miles, and the ones 40+ aren't that great either!) We really miss our local takeout Chinese place from our E. PA days. I can just hear hubs voice, "General Tsao's TOFU??!!" I have to try it just for that experience! :) Hey, gives us something to talk about right? Should be less stressful than the state of the world, but who knows . . . (JOKING)

I hear about the pasta. I go spaghetti, no, we just had lasagna, no, we had fettucchine, etc.

Fritatta...eggs and cheese and veggies of your choice....or/and potatoes.
Or just make your wonderful veggie/bean dish and put a chicken breast in the oven for him ot a ground beef patty or a skinny pork chop or....or...

That's my rut Linda! He's fine with eating either vegetarian or meat on the side, I just haven't been able to find very many vegan or vegetarian dishes that he likes. The aforementioned pasta being one exception, and stir fry with tofu being another and chili and braised cabbage with root vegetables with real and fake bratwurst. I'm trying to expand my repertoire! It's been a while since I have done Greek or Moroccan or Asian, we don't have as many favorites in that category, but I'm open to trying. I'm thinking I might want to get some won tons and experiment . . . he likes pierogis.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spicy_vegetarian_chili/

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/vegetarian_shepherds_pie_with_carrots_and_mushrooms/

I know this is another pasta, but it sounds good.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/butternut_squash_lasagna/

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/black_bean_burgers_with_spicy_mayonnaise/

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spinach_artichoke_sheet_pan_pizza/

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/make_ahead_feta_and_spinach_breakfast_wraps/

Okay, I've got to stop. It's making me hungry!

I can't get fresh filo anymore. It's all frozen. Fillo factory is a tad thicker than I ideally like but much much better than Athens or any of the others I've tried in the last decade. Defrost completely (several days) in its wrappings/box in the fridge. Bake completely but not overly brown. Freeze in foil pan and freezer paper. To serve, put out for a little to take an edge off the cold but don't thaw. Bake at same temperature/time as originally. Works great.

Did anyone mention Indian cuisine? Great for vegetarians and easy to add meat to for carnivores.

I've got a lacto-ovo, a vegan, two flexible ones that like everything, and a meat lover in my house.

Here's one for breakfast, or breakfast for dinner:

Apologies in advance because a lot of my recipes are made up and I don't have measurements. That's how I roll on a lot of stuff. I'll post a list of what I've been making lately. Let me know which you'd like the whole recipe for.

Vegan tofu scramble with assorted veggies

See variations for Lacto-Ovo changes

Basic tofu
scramble:

Drain, press and chop a package of
medium-hard tofu (or other hardness as desired).

Chop some vegan breakfast sausage
(optional).

Heat a small amount of vegan butter,
olive oil or veggie oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Sauté onions until translucent,
about 5 minutes. Add all your other
chosen veggies. (see “Variations”).

Add chopped tofu.

Add chopped vegan breakfast
sausage if using.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to
taste.

Cook until tofu is slightly
browned and veggies are soft.

Serve with toast or wrap in a
tortilla for a breakfast taco.

Note: For Lacto-Ovo Variations, add cheese of your
choice.

Variations:

Make it Italian: Veggies:
onions, garlic. Add: a pinch of red pepper flakes and Italian spice
mix or dried oregano. At end: fresh chopped parsley and a sprinkle of parmesan
cheese.

Make it French: Veggies: shallot, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes. Add: a
pinch of dried basil and fresh chopped marjoram. At end:
fresh chopped parsley.

Make it Greek: Veggies: onions, garlic, tomatoes. Add: a
pinch of dried basil. At end: fresh chopped parsley and crumbled feta
cheese.

Make is Mexican: Veggies:
onions, garlic, sweet peppers, serrano pepper, seeded and chopped. Add: a
small amount of cumin and Emeril’s Blend spice mix (get recipe online, mix it
up at home and use it on all things Cajun or Mexican). Serve with lime wedges, Chilula hot sauce, avocado
slices, shredded cotija cheese and tortillas.

Make it Indian: Veggies:
onions, garlic. Add: red or green curry paste.

Make it Asian: Veggies:
onions, garlic, shredded carrot.
Add: Spicy or mild Kim Chi. Serve with rice.

Make is Milanese: Veggies:
onions, garlic, green peppers. At
end: fresh chopped parsley.

Make it Californian: Veggies:
onions, sweet peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes. At end: fresh chopped parsley. Serve with avocado slices.

Would he try dal? I make this one often, but I use red lentils instead of black. My dh is a confirmed carnivore, but he really likes this one too. Maybe as a side dish to ease him into it?

easy dal

Here are a lot of the things I've been making lately. I have them mostly written out as vegan, but almost all of them have lacto-ovo options and some have meat options written in the notes or embedded in the recipe.

Some are quick but others take longer. I always try to only make one meal, but I offer a lacto-ovo and/or meat option that can be added at the last step, so that I am not stuck in the situation of making 2 different meals. In order to do that I sometimes have to change ingredients and the order of steps from an existing receipe so that those options can always be added at the end, keeping the "base" recipe vegan. Let me know if there any of these that you'd like me to post the whole recipe.

Breakfast:

Breakfast hash brown cakes (good use for left over mashed potatoes)

Tofu scramble with veggies and vegan sausage (made many ways)

Appetisers:

Fancy spinach balls with spicy mustard
sauce (vegan and lacto-ovo versions; great to bring to a party)

Veggies with store-bought hummus

Salads:

Hearty beet salad with pecans and vinegrette

Sandwiches:

Veggie pannini sandwiches

Grilled tofu, mushroom, red pepper and goat cheese (optional) sandwiches

Sides:

Braised rainbow chard

Poor man’s potatoes with sweet peppers and red onion

Vegan mashed potatoes

Roasted root vegetables

Roasted brussels sprouts

Mexican rice

Favorite vegan gravy for mashed potatoes

Traditional Thanksgiving dressing

Pear-pecan Thanksgiving dressing

Soups and Stews:

Vegan version of Ajiaco soup (traditional Colombian
potato and corn soup served with crema, avacado, capers and lime). Vegan lime crema for ajiaco, fajitas and tacos.

Vegan version of Boeuf Bourguignon
with mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and rich gravy

Vegan tofu creole (with shrimp option)

White bean and swiss chard soup Italian style

Black bean soup

Kim chi soup

Vegan udon soup

Vegan minestrone soup

Spicy lentil soup

Mains:

Tofu piccata with lemon and capers

Vegan pot pie with potatoes

Asian stir-fry with crispy tofu poppers

Grilled vegetable fajitas

Tacos with spicy, smoky lentils

Vegan Paella

Penne with swiss chard and garlic

Swiss chard lasagna

Stuffed portobella mushrooms