looking for cooking ideas

[existdance]

so.. my roommate and i are trying to figure out how to run a vegetarian household but we are both noobs to cooking. we just got a ton of produce at the public market and i am not sure what we should do with it all, so was wondering if you guys had any suggestions

Comments

[lorcas_novena]

Plum and rum tart. Stuffed eggplant. Squash risotto. Reply if you want any of the recipes I use for these.

Since the nights are drawing in and it's time for some comfort food I'd roast the potatos with garlic and lemon thyme and have a nut roast or flat mushroom steak, maybe with maple glazed carrots and trimmed green beans too! I love cranberry sauce and bread sauce with a roast too!

I've posted my asparagus soup on here a few time because I love it so much, so that should be in tags and whatnot.

I know a lot fo people would say make a salad with the oranges or maybe a carrot and orange coup, but for me oranges are just too delicious to be tampered with.

[cataphoric]

I'd love to see the plum and rum tart recipe :D

Warm Plum and Rum Tart

[lorcas_novena]

Quite a simple recipe really, but I really like it. You could use other stoned fruit like peaches or nectarines depending on what's available

[existdance]

what's your recipe for squash risotto?

[pearllessoyster]

One of the best things that I always tell people when they're new to cooking is to go get a few cookbooks! even if you don't use the recipes themselves exactly, a good cookbook is full of tips, techniques, ideas, etc, and even at that the practice of cooking from a recipe will help get ya some skills.

also, this community is a great resource! go to the tags and look under each of your ingredients for ideas.

here's something i've been doing lately with green beans that pretty much rocks my socks:
trim the ends of the green beans, and chop into small pieces. put a medium-sized saucepan on to boil. when the water's boiling, cook the green beans for about 3-4 minutes, then drain. in the meantime, chop some garlic/onions/peppers, and saute in a skillet. when they've softened (5 min or so), add the green beans along with some curry powder. deglaze with a little water and cook til it's all yummy.

[teostra]

One of the best things that I always tell people when they're new to cooking is to go get a few cookbooks! even if you don't use the recipes themselves exactly, a good cookbook is full of tips, techniques, ideas, etc, and even at that the practice of cooking from a recipe will help get ya some skills.

This! I always tell people, no one TAUGHT me how to cook, I just read a lot of cookbooks!

Also, I'm doing that with some green beans tomorrow. That sounds so good.

[existdance]

nice, i have only read the ones we have a little. vegan with a vengeance seems good though.

[lijago]

Similar to someone's suggestion above, allrecipes.com allows for an ingredient search, where you type in up to 4 ingredients that you want (& also ones you don't want, though I don't often use that unless it's giving me lots of things with a particular ingredient that I don't have) It'll likely give you some ideas.
I also tend to browse a lot of cooking communities, websites, blogs, etc, just to get ideas - one thing I love about cooking is that you can have an idea & change it as you wish!
Just make sure that with vegetarian cooking, you get all your nutrients, etc, that you lose with not eating meat :)

[junquegrrl]

twice baked potatoes with greens mashed up with the potato insides, frozen mashed bananas (texture of icecream - really a marvel!), maple-glazed roasted veggies, vegetable puree over cooked grains, rice and vegetable savory pancakes, baba ganoush (eggplant), stuffed tomato or stuffed squash, beans (garbanzos are good for this) and chard over pasta, green beans with walnut and miso sauce, imam biyaldi (eggplant), tomato eggplant and potato curry, balsamic braised carrots

[existdance]

wow, so many ideas. thanks :) 'd never heard of rice and vegetable pancakes before but it sounds awesome. too bad we don't have a food processor or i might try baba ganoush. beans and chard over pasta, may have to try that.

[something_pure]

Most of my meals consist of cooking up a grain, a sauce, and some veggies. Easiest would be to do a pasta primavera kind of dish, cook up your veggies (whatever you have on hand) in some garlic and oil, cook pasta and toss it in. I usually use quinoa pasta.

Casseroles are also easy to improvise with whatever is on hand. I'll layer almost anything in a casserole dish mixed with either red sauce or white sauce, topped with breadcrumbs (I make them in bigger batches and keep them in the freezer) and bake it. A really good, simple, potato dish that I love is to layer thinly sliced potatoes and onions in a casserole dish, topping each layer with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baking at 375- covered for 20 minutes, and then uncovered until brown.

You could also always make veggie pizza or calzones!

I'm getting hungry...