Food Glorious Food - The Cooking Thread

[boxofrocks]

Sorry for the double post. I stupidly left out raw ground turkey in the package for 2 hours, 15 mins. I put it back in the fridge. Is it OK to cook and eat?

[petitesuite]

Oh no! I think that would be too long for me, I would only eat it if you by chance left it somewhere particularly cold. The internet suggests that the official cut off is two hours and personally I would view that as the absolute limit rather than something I want to test.

[angelaudie]

Anyone have suggestions or resources for vegetarian recipes? I’ve decided to cut back on meat consumption but I really don’t know where to start. I wish I could say my reasons were purely altruistic, like helping the environment, but it’s mostly for financial reasons. Seriously, meat is expensive right now.

[Ridha]

Pukka Paki is a site that has some really nice veg recipes. A veg recipe I like is fried aubergine, which I then marinate in sriracha, honey, and sesame seeds.

On that though, does anyone have any methods of cooking aubergine so that it gets that soft caramelly sticky texture that doesn’t involve frying in quite so much oil? It’s one of my favourite veg but damn it absorbs a lot of oil.

[petitesuite]

The New York Times recipe bank has a lot of very good vegetarian recipes, although they are paywalled. I also generally have success replacing chicken with tofu in any recipe that is basically sauce + chicken + starch. If you like eggs, quiches or frittatas are go-tos for me.

Some vegetarian, non-paywalled recipes I like linked below--I should acknowledge that I am not a huge beans person but that's obviously a great way to bulk up a meatless meal.

Whole roasted cauliflower with feta + grapes: www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/whole-roasted-cauliflower-with-grapes-and-feta-recipe

Spinach parmesan orzo: www.thekitchn.com/recipe-one-pot-creamy-spinach-parmesan-orzo-pasta-easy-254107?amp=1

Vegetable barley soup: www.spendwithpennies.com/vegetable-barley-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-179988

[boxofrocks]

Budget Bytes focuses on frugal cooking and users can sort by vegetarian and vegan options.

I agree that beans are a good alternative. Canned ones are obviously the most convenient, but I've been trying to cook and freeze dried ones since they're cheaper.

Sardines are another economic protein source. Protein, calcium, healthy fats (if canned in olive oil) all in one. I like making a sardine and fennel stew with pureed tomatoes, chicken stock, and navy or cannellini beans with drained sardines added at the end.

[prisma]

I also recommend beans and lentils for both their nutritional value and their ability to fill you up. They form the bulk of what I eat. My faves:

Vegan Richa
Nora Cooks Vegan

I haven't tried this yet, but Rabbits and Wolves has some really yummy looking comfort food.

I have been vegetarian my whole adult life but vegan for only the last four. To my surprise, going vegan changed my palette. I think it's because it forced me to cook more for myself and my diet became more centered on beans and lentils. There's a ton of pretty good fake meat out there but I don't tend to buy it because it's expensive. There are a million ways to do beans and lentils, so I don't feel like I am missing out on anything.

ETA: In case you are interested in tofu, I recently began experimenting with freezing it and pressing it. Freezing it before you marinate it makes it more porous and changes the texture so that it soaks up the marinade flavors more. It's also a little chewier like meat. If you are interested, just google frozen tofu and there are a zillion links telling you how to do it--it's easy.

[Mlle]

Mar 27, 2022 20:41:13 GMT -4 prisma said:

I also recommend beans and lentils for both their nutritional value and their ability to fill you up. They form the bulk of what I eat. My faves:

Vegan Richa
Nora Cooks Vegan

I haven't tried this yet, but Rabbits and Wolves has some really yummy looking comfort food.

I have been vegetarian my whole adult life but vegan for only the last four. To my surprise, going vegan changed my palette. I think it's because it forced me to cook more for myself and my diet became more centered on beans and lentils. There's a ton of pretty good fake meat out there but I don't tend to buy it because it's expensive. There are a million ways to do beans and lentils, so I don't feel like I am missing out on anything.

ETA: In case you are interested in tofu, I recently began experimenting with freezing it and pressing it. Freezing it before you marinate it makes it more porous and changes the texture so that it soaks up the marinade flavors more. It's also a little chewier like meat. If you are interested, just google frozen tofu and there are a zillion links telling you how to do it--it's easy.

I can add some more vegan suggestions as well: oh she glows (very healthy but delicious), it doesn't taste like chicken (vegan versions of everyday food, very simple, very delicious, highly recommended) and isa chandra moscowitz (the og queen of vegan- my favourite!). What I like about these three vegan cooks is that they do not rely on pre-made vegan stuff like cheese or "meat", so everything is made from scratch which is really preferable to me.
I, like prisma, have been vegetarian my entire adult life, but went vegan about 7+ years ago, and to be honest really love cooking even more as a vegan. It really is much cheaper and more varied and super delicious!

[angelaudie]

Thanks for all responses guys! I like beans and lentils and they are pretty easy to cook. Plus, I imagine the fiber may prevent me from being hungry again one hour after eating.

I tried tofu many moons ago and I honestly can’t remember what it tasted like. So I guess I didn’t hate it.

[scarlet]

I've been almost entirely plant-based for the last six months (mostly for health reasons) and found I don't miss meat at all, which kind of surprised me. I've leaned heavily into beans (plan on making that chickpea loaf Prisma linked a few pages back) and I've been pleasantly surprised with all the meatless options that are now available.