Hey ladies- a good friend of mine is coming to visit and I want to cook for her! She is vegetarian, but otherwise not very picky with what she eats. I want to make something really nice (and bonus if it works with my plan, but I can always watch the portion size instead and not blow it the rest of the day).

Any suggestions?

I'm not much of a cook, but I used to make a veggie stirfry with a curry sauce, over rice ALL the time (recently added meat because apparently I don't eat enough protein). There is also "naan" bread which is great with a curry sauce.

Yeah, there are great veggie-lasgna recipes out there. (google it) YUM YUM YUM.

Also, caeser salads.... adjust for meat eaters to have chicken, some vegetarians will gladly have hard boiled egg on top, and strict veggies would love pine-nuts on top.


Let us know what you make!!!

Hey Danagirl - I would recommend something that packs a nutritional punch without gobs of fat. Look for dishes that incorporate edamame (soybeans - you can get them frozen in your average grocery store) or tofu. I'm assuming she's just vegetarian and not vegan, right? If she's vegan, you'll want to make sure there are no eggs or other dairy.

One of my favorite salads would do for her and is easy:

Romaine lettuce
Radicchio
Baby spinach
Garbanzo Beans (canned, low sodium)
Soybeans (they come frozen, so I thaw them and then saute them in a teensy bit of olive oil, then let them cool before adding them to salad)
Fresh, ripe tomatoes, quartered
Cucumbers. sliced thinly
Red onion, thinly sliced
Feta, reduced fat, crumbled
Fresh mint, torn
Minced garlic , fresh or jarred
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

I listed the ingredients in order of quantity from most to least, keeping in mind that it's a salad, so go heavier on the greens than the beans. There's no science to it; just throw all the stuff in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, pour in the balsamic vinegar, and then drizzle the olive oil in separately WHILE you're whisking the olive oil. Don't be stingy with the olive oil, and don't be stingy with the dressing overall. This salad is a meal in and of itself, so it's ok for it to contain some calories....all of them healthy. Pour the dressing all over the top, and make sure to be GENTLE in tossing it, taking care to coat all of it with the dressing. If you need more dressing just make more. The mint is key to this!

Serve it with some crusty bread and some good cheese, and she'll be in heaven! If the meat-eaters want meat, then you can grill or sautee chicken or salmon with some garlic and rosemary and add it and it works nicely.

I make a bunch of veggie dishes because of my prior vegetarian status, but this one is super easy, super tasty, very satisfying, and is ubernutritious.....and the tomatoes are ripe and lovely now so I wanted to recommend something using them that's also good when it's hot out.

Do a search in the recipes here -- I'll bet there's some good stuff! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=120

Fab Food in the Alternachick Forum, lots of Veggie girls there!
Chris