"What DO you eat?" Day 8

Yes, I know there's only seven days in a week but I started a day early so you get a bonus day!

By the way I'm adding my pictures to the VegSoc's Flickr group called appropriately enough 'But what do you eat?' Even I found it fascinating to see what other vegetarian's eat (I only know one other and I live with him!) so it was comforting to know that we do eat a lot of the same things.

Hope this week has helped some people understand us a bit better. That makes us sound like a different race but sadly sometimes we're made to feel like that!

I've just realised I've posted eight different meals here and NO LENTILS! They're one of my favourite foods too. A cliché I know but somebody has to uphold the tradition don't they :-)

Home-made chickpea burger in a soft wholemeal roll with salad leaves, cheese and in my case, ketchup! Cheap, simple, quick, delicious; what more could you want?

Burgers just out of the pan (although you could bake them too) Chickpeas tend to make a very soft burger with a tendency to fall apart but who ever said food has to be pretty to taste good?

"What DO you eat?" Day 7

Another day of my vegetarian diet in celebration of National Vegetarian Week and it's dinner time again.

This is something we eat when I'm being a bit lazy! I always keep a couple of Quorn fillets or Goodlife Nut Cutlets in the freezer for 'emergencies' (whatever they are...) I don't like relying too much on these sorts of things as I find the salt content uncomfortably high but they make a quick, simple dinner with some fresh, frozen or tinned veg. This is a mushroom and cheese Quorny thing I think. Served with new potatoes, frozen sweetcorn/broad beans and beautiful asparagus plus some veggie gravy. I only buy English asparagus when it comes into season but boy, is it worth waiting for!

"What DO you eat?" Day 6

Day 6 celebrating National Vegetarian Week and another example of the sort of lunch I throw together from what's in the fridge and/or cupboard.



This salad is made from leftover brown rice, avocado, sweetcorn, chopped olives, onion, goats cheese, toasted pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds (plus pine nuts if I have them) tossed in any old salad dressing (although I like Mary Berry's) and sprinkled with nutritional yeast flakes. Delicious! And of course, you can just vary it to suit whatever you have at the time. Some other things that come to mind are pasta, cous-cous, fresh or jar peppers (or any antipasti in jars) sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, feta, or halloumi cheeses, mushrooms, leftover peas, broad or green beans or other vegetables, any sort of tinned beans (not baked!) chickpeas, lentils...the possibilities are endless!

"What DO you eat?" Day 5

Day 5 of Deb's veggie diet in honour of National Vegetarian Week and a simple, wholesome and tasty dinner to share with you.

 

This is one of our favourite and most regular meals that is just thrown together. It takes just a little aubergine so great if you have a bit that wants using up but apart from that it's just store-cupboard ingredients. Onion, red pepper (I sometimes use the ones in a jar) a few mushrooms if you like, a tin of kidney beans (including the water) and some herbs and seasonings. The recipe has red wine in it but it's not really needed and I'd rather drink it, ha! It's called Red Stew and is taken from a great little cookbook called 'No meat for me please'. Serve with cous-cous, sprinkle with nutritional yeast flakes and top with a spoon of crème fraiche or yogurt. Add crusty bread if you're really hungry. Freezes well too!

 

"What DO you eat?" Day 4

Day four and a simple lunch dish.



Pea soup made with vegetable bouillion, onion lightly softened in oil, frozen peas, dried mint and a spoon of half-fat crème fraiche

"What DO you eat?" Day 3


Day three and a universal favourite, meat -free or not!



Home-made Spag Bol. Made with Quorn mince, frozen spinach, half-fat cheese and Spelt spaghetti.



"What DO you eat?" Day 2

Day two of National Vegetarian Week and my daily diet!



Home-made pizza (dough made in my bread machine) topped with tomato puree, onion, aubergine, courgette, mushroom, pepper, fresh basil, half-fat cheese. Served with new potatoes and salad leaves.

Fresh pizza dough 'proving'. Went a bit overboard with the olive oil I think!

"What DO you eat?" Day 1

If I had a pound for every time I get asked that question I'd have, ooh, about 200 quid! But seriously, I'm sure any vegetarian would say the same. It's always the question we get asked more than any other. It really does seem to be hard for meat-eaters to comprehend what our diet may be like and I can sympathise somewhat with that view so in the interests of enlightenment and in honour of National Vegetarian Week all this week I'll be cataloguing the sort of things I eat on a daily basis.
And it's not scary or weird, I'm sure you'll agree!



Lunch of wholemeal crusty roll, spread with vegetarian pesto, avocado, goats chees and black pepper



After lunch I generally have home-made yoghurt (Easi-Yo yoghurt maker) with  a good dollop of Manuka honey