Food Cooking and all things like that

Ok I need help links advice recipes things like that, I am a novice cook (which means I can cook a chinese roast dinner)(which means my timing is crap and you end up with each item as a different course).  I have recentl by choice taken over the cooking during the week (due to my being off work sick) which is made somewhat harder by having a step daughter who is a vegetarian.  Also increasingly difficult is that both the ladies are not overly keen on veggies (potatoes apart) what I need really are good but easy dishes/ meals that can easily be converted to make one of the meals vegetarian.  I have done fine so far even making my first ever pizza (completely from scratch) but as cooking goes I swear like a chef but cook like a ass.

Ass stated all advice recipes link accepted happily then I can see what I can swap so that it can be eaten )

Thanks

I am veggie and my husband eats meat so I have this problem all the time. Pasta is an easy one because you can make one sauce with meat and one without.  Or you can buy things like veggie burgers etc for the vegetarians and have steak or whatever for yourself and have the same side dishes for both.  We also eat Mexican food quite a lot, again you can do meat or veggie fillings for tacos, enchiladas etc and then you have rice, corn, salad etc on the side.

One of the easiest things to do, even if you are bad at timing stuff, is vegetarian chilli. 

Fry onions, add mushrooms, Quorn mince, any left over vegetables you might have in the house, fry it all up a bit more until the quorn starts to brown a bit, add herbs and seasoning (salt, pepper, oregano, basil, a ton of chilli powder if you like it hot, and paprika if you've got it), bung in a tin of tomatoes, a small tin of kidney beans, a veggie Oxo, a big squirt of tomato puree, a glass of red wine and a glass of water, then leave it to simmer until it tastes nice (about 45 mins in my experience).  If you think it needs more herbs and spices, add them if you like, but beware that the chilli powder will taste hotter as the liquid reduces.

When you think it is done, turn it right down, put the lid on fully, and do the rice.  It is basically impossible to overcook chilli, so you can't really go wrong.

Just change the spices and veggies for vegetarian spag bol.

My favourite veggie substitute brands are Cauldron, who do amazing sausages (I regulary feed my carnivore boyfriend with these) and work great in toad in the whole, and also Tivall, which you can get in Sainsbury's and kosher shops...they do great chicken style nuggets.

Quorn chicken style pieces are great for stir frys and if you are feeling adventurous try them in a pie in a white sauce with tarragon, which is what I make for myself every christmas dinner.

Bugger, I'm really hungry now!

Vicky

Im not much of a cook but this is one of my favourites. It's simple and great for this time of year. 


Sweet Potato Recipe

5 large sweet potatoes, cooked cooled and mashed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white sugar
1 stick melted butter
little milk
Mash together and put in dish

Topping ...
1 stick butter (melted)
1 package of chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix together and spread on top of potatoes.
Bake at 325 for one
hour