The FastDay Forum

We are all looking for recipes for the fast days, but I think some good recipes for the feast days would be nice. So easy to go overboard when you can eat anything, however as reported here, that can lead to feeling ill and bad.

I am a vegetarian, but I don't eat bowls of steamed veg or creamy pastas...I do delicious vego food.

For something simple when I fancy just some veg I will roast pumpkin and cauliflower with olive oil and add some asparagus or spinach or a salad. For a beautiful salad I will put:
Avocado
grape tomatoes
roast cauli
roast pumpkin
pickled ginger - just a little
Thomy mayo - the best
kalamata olives
rocket and/or baby spinach
add some steamed asparagus on top

I often just slice Zucchini & baby Eggplant, then saute and serve with persian fetta on top - serve with a salad or some meat (I'm a vego)

I think vegies are the secret to a healthy life, but a lot of people just don't know how to cook them in a way that is just as delicious as a pizza

I often make an Italian tomato sauce - saute onions/garlic in quality olive oil, add cans of Italian tomatoes, cook for 30-60 mins, add salt....then freeze in portions.

I am veggie too but have problems sourcing a lot of those ingredients here. I live in rural Northern France where shops only stock seasonal veg. They never have baby sweetcorn and rarely corn on the bob which I love. I have to source quorn from the UK. I have plenty of eggs from my girls and have a big frittata each week. Once the salad stuff is in abundance again it will be easier and I hope my veggie patch yields more this year. I am always looking for suitable recipes. OH is not veggie so I have to adapt to give him the meat. Veg risotto, chilli and curry feature lots. I love the River cottage veg book that has lots of good recipes but they are not all diet friendly. Again I cannot always source all the ingredients. This is why I am a stone over weight, it takes so much time to work out meal plans using seasonal food

Hey thanks Bobshouse - I haven't seen River Cottage veg book - will look it up. Must say lots of my friends eat veg when @ mine and even the big meat eaters love it...add some recipes - for feast days...anyone?

I throw ~ 1 cup dried chickpeas, a few litres of water + a teaspoon of oil (reduces foaming) in the pressure cooker for about 20 minutes once a week & leave the cooked peas in the fridge for up to a week to use as an ingredient - then I use the chickpeas as I would pasta or blitz them in the food processor for home made hummus (+lemon juice & garlic or a little powdered sumac).

Stir fry chickpea mumble is big on the menu here - i.e. whatever veg. I have to hand + heaps of herbs (e.g. italian parsley & basil) for flavouring, often crumbled feta. Tasty, filling - heaps of fibre.

Not a complete vegetarian - but don't hanker for meat more than once a month or so. Eat a fair few pulses - northern beans, chickpeas, lentils etc.

Also make heaps of risottos (pumpkin, herb & feta or dill & parsley) etc etc etc. Risotto also v. good the next day lightly fried till it has a crusty bum & then an egg cooked in the top.

Sorry no real help with recipes - I don't use them for savoury stuff, only for baking where a bit more chemistry is required. Just look at whatever is available in the garden & improvise from there.

Start growing your own - liberate your cooking.

Just bought the Riverview Cottage veg book - sounds fantastic - I too don't use recipes for savoury, but thought I might get some ideas from this book

http://www.rivercottage.net/about/lates ... every-day/

G MH your recipe sounds so tasty! help i'm fasting ( say 100 times, tomorrow,tomorrow )Do you like Middle Eastern food - lots of tasty vegetarian ingredients, burghul (cracked wheat), flatleaf parsley and mint by the bucketload, lemons, yogurt and tahini used as dressings etc. you get the picture. Claudia Rodin is a food hero of mine and her books are a great read, as much for the evocations of places and smells of the souk, as for the mouthwatering recipes. she is not vegetarian but many of her recipes are veg based. There is a new kid on the block, Ottolenghi who has just done a series on BBC - Ottolenghi's mediterranean feast (I think?) and his focus is on the oft overlooked countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey etc. he is completely obsessed by lemons and most of his recipes contain the juice, rind or flesh in one way or another! I make my own preserved lemons as i am another lemon fanatic (easy, cheap and tasty). If you can access this programme please do - He is a very engaging presenter and his love of vegetables and life in general really shines through. Inspiring!! BTW what is a vego?

Update - Ottolenghi's mediterranean Feast was broadcast on channel4, not BBC..oops

Me again - what is Persian feta? Is it from sheep, ewe, cow or vegan?

I'm not a vegetarian but Iove the River Cottage Veg book. The pinto bean chilli is a staple on fast days. Just over 300 cals per serve.

I used the River Cottage Veg Every Day book a lot last year (though I'm not vegetarian)Lovely recipes - but not all as healthy as they could be! Some f the salads were fab!!

Hey great ideas - I love the use of lemons, I have some rotting at home LOL, must use them more as I do love them. Lemon juice in water is absolutely amazing @ keeping the body alkaline (use test strips to check). I work in an area that is full of Lebanese food, so it's everywhere, tho most the same old.

Persian Fetta is a deliciously creamy and soft cow’s milk - but it is soft and creamy & delicious, tho expensive - however if one compares to junk food rather than other cheese it's not expensive & hey if u don't eat twice a week, lots of dosh to buy the finer foods in life.