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+--- Thread: Ideas for a Vegetarian Easter? (/thread-297.html)
- Jackie - 04-09-2006
I'm trying to come up with a menu for Easter. My sister is a vegetarian, so lamb and ham are out. Salmon is a possibility but it seems I always end up serving salmon when she comes over. I'd like to do something different this time.
Anyone have a suggestion for a nice vegetarian Easter meal? With wine, of course.
Jackie
- VouvrayHead - 04-09-2006
hey! I've been a vegetarian since I was eight years old.
I'm Jewish, and don't know a lot about easter traditions, but I certaintly still have some ideas,
You can do a lot of things with spring themes,
like grilled or steamed asparagus (Sauvignon Blanc works well with Asparagus, dry Rose is nice, too.)
If you can find some fresh ramps or garlic scapes, these are wonderful spring-foods. I like dry sparkling wine with these. Prosecco is under-rated and really delicious.
Also big portabello mushrooms or a pasta with lots of mushrooms work well as a main dish. Pinot Noir tends to do very well with mushrooms.
Roasted Potatoes with onions and peppers and lots of herbs are always good, I like to serve a Cotes Du Rhone Villages or step it up to a Chataneuf Du Papes with this.
Just remember, most edible things on this planet are vegetables. be creative and loving!
- Thomas - 04-10-2006
Good advice from vouvrayhead.
I have a question vouv.: where do you get fresh garlic scapes this time of year?
- Innkeeper - 04-10-2006
Hi Jackie. Here's are very colorful dish we love. Serve with a medium horespower Zinfandel.
SWEET & SOUR EGGPLANT SOBA:
1 ½ T Sesame seeds
1 lb Eggplant
1 Red Pepper
1 Small onion chopped
1 tsp Chinese (roasted) sesame oil
1 tsp Minced garlic
Pinch dried red pepper flakes
1 C Tomato sauce
¼ tsp Ground ginger
½ tsp Granulated garlic
1 ½ T Soy Sauce
1 ½ T Apple cider vinegar
1 ½ T Honey
½ T Arrowroot
¼ C Chopped cilantro
½ lb Wild yam soba
Roast eggplant and pepper*. Toast sesame seeds in heavy saucepan, and set aside. Nuke onion with oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Peel, seed, and chop eggplant and pepper. Combine tomato sauce, ginger, granulated garlic, and soy sauce in a saucepan. Add eggplant, pepper, and onion mixture. Bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes. Place soba in boiling water, simmer eight minutes, drain, and rinse with hot water. Combine vinegar, honey, and arrowroot in a bowl. Add to sauce off heat. Stir till thick. Drain soba, and place on a warm platter. Nap with sauce, and sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve hot.
*To roast vegetables: Wash and dry them. Cut stem off eggplant, cut in half lengthwise, and put in ungreased roaster face down along with whole pepper. Roast uncovered at 375 degrees for 34 minutes, turning pepper over once halfway. Remove from oven, cover, and cool. Can be done in morning, and let sit all day till you are ready to prepare dinner.
- wondersofwine - 04-10-2006
I like some of Vouvray's ideas. I was going to suggest Ratatouille. Another possibility if she eats fish is pecan or almond-encrusted trout. Also you could make a nice marinated salad with shoepeg corn, petit pois (baby peas), french-cut green beans, finely chopped onion and celery and bell pepper, and pimientos. Marinade is of vinegar (I like to use tarragon-flavored vinegar for this), salad oil and sugar. Marinade overnight and then drain before serving. Another suggestion is butternut squash risotto (I plan to make this this week) or a mushroom, or artichoke or hearts of palm risotto. You can buy the already chopped up hearts of palm in a jar and that saves some chopping time.
I have a recipe from a bed and breakfast in South Carolina that makes a festive hot fruit dish. I like to serve it with ham and au gratin potatoes but it can be served without the ham. Here's the link: http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/sc/m/scm61011.htm You might try it with 1/3 cup light corn syrup rather than 1/2 cup.
[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 04-10-2006).]
- VouvrayHead - 04-10-2006
you know what? i think garlic scapes probably aren't in season yet. sorry!
they pop up fairly early in wisconsin (late may?) so i thought that they might be getting going down south. maybe not...
that eggplant soba dish looks great, by the way!
- Thomas - 04-10-2006
I was ready to have you send me some scapes... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]
- Kcwhippet - 04-10-2006
Never could figure out why I never got any until I found out they only grow on hardneck garlic. Now I can't get enough, but we have to wait until late May - early June. This year though I'll have to go looking for them. Because of my lttle health problem last fall, I didn't have a chance to plant any. Maybe Whole Foods will have them.
- dananne - 04-10-2006
I'm a veg, too. You know your sister's diet, but if there were to be other vegetarians there, I'd caution against serving the salmon, as most vegetarians don't eat meat, and that includes fish.
IK's recipe sounds very good, as do the suggestions by Vouvray and Wonders. I'd also suggest a lentil loaf -- a good, hearty option that is tasty enough for veg and non-veg alike.
Recipe is from Aine McAteer's Recipe's to Nuture:
2 cups brown lentils
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons EVOO
1 large leek, trimmed and finely sliced
pinch of sea salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
tamari to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
handful finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Put lentils and bay leaves into pot with 4 cups water, bring to boil for 2-3 minutes (skim off any foam), reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 45 minutes or until lentils are tender. Discard bay leaves. Heat 1 tablespoon EVOO in frying pan and add leek and salt. Saute 1 min. Add garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary, and zest. Saute for another 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf tin (8"X4"). Combine leek mixture and lentils. Add breadcrumbs, tamari, mustard, basil, and lemon juice and mix well. Spoon mixture into tin and drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon EVOO on top. Bake for 35 to 40 min, or until top is sort of crispy. Serve sliced with fresh mushroom gravy. Can also make yummy cold sandwiches as a leftover. I'll let someone else suggest a pairing for it -- Anne and I disagree (she'd do a white, while I'd have a lighter-bodied red, like a Beaujolais).
- Jackie - 04-15-2006
These are all very good ideas. Not sure which I will try yet. Where does one get Wild Yam Soba? Is this a noodle? Forgive my ignorance but I'm a beginner when it comes to serious vegan cuisine.
- Innkeeper - 04-15-2006
Soba is a Japanese linguini like pasta made of buckwheat. The wild yam variety (yummy by the way) has that added to the buckwheat in proportions unknown to moi. You get it at oriental specialty stores.