Funny you should ask right now...I love a "veggie fry" with sauteed sweet onion, sweet peppers, tomatoes zucchini and maybe yellow squash and mushrooms....sauteed in olive oil with garlic and served with crusty white bread and cheese, either grated on top or sliced on the side.
Linda C

My all-time favorite is fresh peas and potatoes but since fresh peas are so hard to find I do fresh green beans and potatoes...I can easily make a whole dinner on that. Favorite sides to go with???? Coffee and pie!

No problem for me to go without meat. Coffee is not debatable, hope I never have to give it up.

Nancy

Oh, Teresa, it'd be hard to beat what you already listed - one of my favorite meals...greens, beans and cornbread. Add some sliced homegrown tomatoes and you've got a wonderful meal.

Linda C, your meal has me salivating, too.

Gees, I can't think of anything else other than what y'all have mentioned. Oh, what about a good baked squash, with a green salad of some kind, and what else, maybe baked beans? That's winter fare, though.

For summer, a good gaspacho soup with salad and garlic bread or any kind of good bread, or some tortillas and some sliced avacadoes.

Can you tell I'm getting hungry?

Sally

I need additional inspiration! What has been listed so far does wonders for my palatte, but I have a confirmed "pea-hater" that I married (heathen that he is, I am still keeping him) and a DS that thinks all veggies are the work of the devil (yep, I'm keeping him too).

I need a full arsenal of "all veggie" dinners that I can bring to the table at least once a week.

Thanks so much for starting this thread!

Alexa

I'm going to make me a list!

Another one I thought of - a baked potato with a topper, broccoli and cheese sauce or just melted cheese with the Claremont cabbage salad that I love.

Baked sweet potato with some butter and maple syrup, mixed greens and......?

Squash casserole/sauteed squash, green beans, carrot salad and cornbread.

Hummus, pita bread, Israeli salad, feta cheese cubes.

Pasta with marinara, pasta with pesto, pasta with mushrooms and bechamel made with wine,
Pasta with mushroom blue cheese sauce ( can you tell I am on a pasta binge here? LOL!), pasta with chopped fresh spinach, garlic butter and parmesan cheese...
Et cetera!
Linda C

One of my favorites is Salad Nicoise. I make it with lettuce, boiled baby red potatoes, steamed green beans, tomatoes, black olives, sometimes some onion, and any other veggies I may have on hand, then top with some tune mixed with a basil vinaigrette and drizzled with more vinaigrette. MMMMMM!

I also like veggie kebobs on the grill in summer, and baked potatoes with cottage cheese, salt & pepper.

Linda

Our favorite almost vegetarian meal was onion and garlic sauteed in bacon fat and then piling in yellow squash, potatoes and cabbage. We would add a little water and steam the whole mess. Of course we put the bacon back in too, but you could leave it out and use butter instead. I got to have some. Thanks for reminding me.

Fresh corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes, both just picked. When I was a kid, we always had bread, thickly spread with butter. First you used you buttered bread to butter your corn, then you ate it. I think it was an old farmers thing - like saucering your tea.
Jane

My favorite is just a big ole' pan of roasted vegetables, whatever I have or looks good at the grocery. It can include tomatoes, asparagus, green beans, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, parsnips, carrots, rutabaga, any number of things.

Drizzle them all with olive oil, salt and pepper and it's supper. If I happen to have a slice of homemade bread, it's pretty nearly perfect.

That said, I had beans and greens for lunch today, with a slice of homemade honey wheat, and I was happy. Leftover beans and greens for supper!

Another favorite is any combination of corn, beans (black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, whatever) and tomatoes, the tomatoes chopped and added after the corn and beans cook.

Having grown up on a beef farm I can take meat or leave it, it's never been a big treat for me, just a way of life. I far prefer vegetables, but I'm not so excited about fruit generally.

Annie

One of my very favorite recipes from this site is the one from AnnT for the Greek vegetable stew with green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and feta. It's yummy.

I also love ratatouille - a great way to use summer vegetables. And, of course, some good bread to go along with it.

segrass

And don't forget about good old bean soup....can be made without the ham bone....if you need to pretend, add a couple of drops of liquid smoke.
Linda C

Blackeyed peas, turnip greens, mac & cheese, and cornbread -- that's definitely our favorite veggie feast. Oh, and I'd better throw yellow squash in there, too, cooked with lots of sliced onion and tons of pepper, and 'fried' a little at the end with butter. In the summer, I add sliced tomatoes or a marinated cucumber/tomato/red onion salad. Other great sides are slaw, broccoli salad, and pickled beets.

Another good combo is tostadas made with refried beans instead of meat, with Spanish rice or Rotel rice and bbq black beans.

Baked potato salad (can serve it hot or cold, depending on the time of year), with roasted green beans or asparagus, marinated mushrooms and a salad.

Vegetable lasagna, salad, garlic bread.

Steamed broccoli, a cauliflower casserole with lots of good cheese and sweet potatoes or sweet and sour carrots.

Potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, cornbread salad or slaw and -- just for fun -- fried pickles.

Fried eggplant with anything!

sm

Oh Teresa you just hit on our favourite foods - vegetables, salads and cold platters of both! As we live in a warm climate and love fresh produce, we live from it in one form or another every day. And the Canary Island typical salads are so very good, and include cooked, sliced beetroot, grated carrot, assorted salad greens such as lettuce, rucula, spinach, cabbage (all raw) and plenty of chopped garden herbs.
Also included are corn niblets, cooked green beans, olives, peppers, avocado. We also like cold rice & vegetables, Salade Niçoise, salmon & veg salads, asparagus and baked veg, with added cooked diced potatoes, feta, and accompanied by wine, vegetable or tomato juice and pieces of a brown crusty baguette, perhaps with some goat cheese. I've also added grilled onion, peppers, zucchini and celery sticks.

Here are some of our dinner vegetable plates:

Now I'm hungry and it's not yet 12 noon.

SharonCb

Wow, Sharon, I feel ten times healthier just looking at your vegetable and salad plates!

All your suggestions are great and like I said, I'm going to make a list to help me remember these combinations. I am not becoming a vegetarian (not that there is anything wrong with that!) but I'm simply trying to get more vegetables into my diet. Meat, fruit, eggs, cheese, and grains - I do not have a problem getting enough of those. But my thinking was to concentrate on vegetables at least one main meal per week.

Thanks for your replies and keep them coming if you think of more.

Teresa

Alexa, if you're trying to get vegetables into your reluctant menfolk, what better way than pizza? You can make your own crust or buy a Boboli, top it with your choice of cheeses (I'd go with the traditional mozz with a bit of orange cheddar just for color at least the first time...after all, you're already feeding them a vegetable pizza).

You can put just about any vegetable on pizza!

Of course, you can never go wrong with some form of Pasta Primavera either. I get bored with the same old sauces though and get more playful.

I like a toasted nut cream sauce for one...
Walnuts, pecans, almonds or cashews-very finely chopped.
Milk, half & half or cream (if you're feeling truly decadent)
Garlic (one or two cloves, to taste...sliced paper thin on a mandolin)
Nutmeg, bay leaves or citrus rind
flour
butter
Salt & Pepper (black or red)

Now, the proportions can be altered according to taste, but basically, you will need about 1/4 cup of nuts per cup of milk or cream, and about 1/2 T of butter & 1/2 T flour per each cup.

It's easier to toast the nuts before you chop them, as toasting chopped nuts is a chancy business, they can go from just right to burnt in a second.

You can dry roast the nuts in a fry pan or toaster oven, or fry them quickly in oil, draining them well before chopping. You want to bring the flavor out in the nuts, not singe them.

Warm the milk or cream carefully, so you don't burn it. Just before it boils, add the chopped nuts & flavoring (nutmeg, bay leaves or citrus rind), remove from heat and set aside.

Melt the butter over a medium heat, and add the garlic. Saute for about a minute, just to release the garlic aroma, and then stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux for a few minutes, until it is cooked, but not browning at all. Then whisk the roux into the milk or cream.

Salt & pepper to taste & serve with pasta & sauteed veggies of your choice. Chunks of roasted butternut squash, black olives & green oninos are good. Or crookneck squash & shredded kale with mushrooms. A bit unusual, but tasty, is celery (it should be sliced fairly thin, and quick sauteed so it's still crisp) with apples & peas. For some reason, I don't like bell peppers with this sauce, but that might just be me.

Sharon, those salads look so good! I have salad nearly every day for lunch. When I have enough greens in the garden, I go out and snip a few leaves here and there, grab an assortment of fresh herbs such as any combination of parsley, fennel, thyme, chives, dill, cilantro, and basil, depending on the season, then throw them together for my lunch with a little bit of grated cheese, black pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.

Other days I'll have carrot salad or egg salad.

How about veggie tacos, especially for those that don't like veggies? We use either the TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) such as the crumbles made by Morning Star, or more frequently just use a can of black beans. I'll saute some onions in olive oil, add the black beans, some chile powder and cumin, and use that as the "meat" filling. Then the other stuff to go with or rather in ithe tacos are chopped tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce, black olives, scallions, peppers, grated cheddar, jack, or whatever cheeses you like, and of course, salsas and sour cream. This has always been a hit at my house.

Sally

If you want to make your cooked greens a little healthier and leave out the ham bone, bacon or fat back here is my favorite way to make them that I learned from my sister:

1 large (family size) bag frozen collard greens
1 bag (again, large size) mixed greens, kale, turnip greens or mustard greens

cook greens in water on the stove top according to directions until tender, drain well

toss greens really well with:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cider vinegar

adjust seasonings to your taste adding more syrup or more vinegar and a touch of salt and pepper

That's it! I make half a recipe at a time and heat them for several meals. The secret is really tossing and mixing the greens with the oil, syrup, and vinegar. I always add extra vinegar.

Teresa, those folks at EatingWell must have ESP, their newsletter landed in my email box today and what is the "headline story"? 25 Healthy Vegetarian Recipes!

Check it out, some sound really good.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: EatingWell

I love fresh corn-on-the-cob, fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh lima beans cooked with a little bit of bacon and some cornbread or Texas Toast.

A big plate of roasted vegetables or grilled vegetables (squash, zucchini, onions, potatoes, fennel, tomatoes, etc.)

Roasted veges. mixed with pasta.

Black Beans, Corn and tomatoes tossed together with various spices and olive oil, lemon juice, etc.

I can't wait for fresh veges. to get here for the summer!

Just checking back in to make a list of all these great suggestions since I didn't have time to jot them down before.

Don't think anyone has mentioned Eggplant Parmesan, which has to be one of the most wonderful meatless main dishes on the planet! Or you can just do 'stacks' of fried eggplant, sliced tomato, cheese and fresh basil.

And how could we forget tomato pie? Or fried green tomatoes?!? (Pssst! Here's a little Southern secret that I wouldn't share with just anyone... Sprinkle the slices lightly with lemon pepper in addition to the usual kosher salt, then grate some Parmesan into the cornmeal-flour mixture you coat them with. TDF!)

Stuffed zucchini is something I've meant to try but never have. You just slice it in half lengthwise, scoop out some of the pulp, and then stuff. Some recipes call for flour, some for breadcrumbs; some for beaten egg, some not. Mushrooms, bell pepper and tomatoes seem to be the favored fillings, along with ground beef if you don't want vegetarian. Seasonings are basil, Italian blend, cayenne, etc. And lots of cheese baked on top. Anybody have a t&t recipe for this?

One last suggestion -- spinach bread. I could eat my weight in it!

sm

That mention of Eggplant Parmesan made me think of another veggie dish, which I haven't made for a long time but now might just have to make again!

I make this two different ways, depending on my mood. I either precook the veggies quickly on a very hot grill so as to get grill marks but leave them only barely cooked, or I use raw vegetables without the grilling step.

It's very simple, and you need a fairly deep casserole dish.

Slice a variety of vegetables in a 1/4 inch slice. I like eggplant, zucchini, crookneck squash, mushrooms, asparagus (unsliced!). A layer of yam, sweet potato or regular potatoes is nice as well, generally I precook these a wee bit.

Sometimes I get a little jazzy and add a layer of other items, like artichoke hearts (from a jar) or if I am grilling, baby artichokes. Roasted red bell pepper, kale or other greens (especially if I have some left over that I cooked with bacon & red pepper flakes). Frozen peas or corn add some variety if I'm lacking that quality-this is a dish I usually make on the spur of the moment with whatever I have on hand. I only add onions if I'm grilling, as I don't care for the flavor they add without the char for some reason. If I want to up the protein ratio, I'll add a layer of garbanzo (or other) beans. If I've got fresh basil in the garden, a layer of leaves or two is very nice.

Anyway, y'all get the idea...it's veggie madness.

Alternating between layers of vegetables and cheese (mozz, Parm, pepperjack, or even blue), are layers of whatever tomato sauce I have on hand, whether it be home made or Classico from a jar.

Then I bake it until the cheese layer on top is hot and bubbling and a skewer pushed through the layers proves the veggies to be tender. If I grilled the veggies, I use a hotter oven, as I want the cheese to melt without the vegetables turning to mush, I'll also tend to put more of the cheese on the top layers for the same reason.

Anyway, it is a very pretty dish, with all the different vegetables, and very tasty too.

Oooh, I forgot...

If I've got some leftover lentils or Indian Dahl, I'll put a layer of that in as well...mmmm.

For me it's probably green Rattlesnake beans, new potatoes (not the little ones they just call new, but the really new ones) prepared Matre de hotel style which is just with lemon juice, salt and butter and creamed corn fresh from the garden. Also, to go along with that some fried okra, sliced fresh tomatoes and marinated cucumbers.

I used to love pinto beans, onion, cornbread and homemade chili sauce in the winter time when I couldn't get anything fresh from the garden. Now I've come to love refried beans instead.

Omigosh, how could fried okra have slipped my mind, especially since I just had some that was perfection?!? It was in a tiny town in Mississippi a couple of weeks ago. The local burger joint is located in what was originally the town saloon. The menu is written on a blackboard, you rip off your 'napkin' from a roll of paper towels, and the drinks are -- oh, happy days! -- in glass bottles! It must have taken me 15 minutes to decide between a root beer or an Orange Crush. Talk about nostalgia... lol

The thought of serving fried okra with hamburgers had never entered my head, but they offered it as an option. Somehow it seemed totally perfect given the setting, and it was. (Total perfection, that is.) Next time we grill out, I'm going to scratch the french fries and go with okra!

sm (who practically had to be rolled out the door in a wheelbarrow she ate so much...)

I too had forgotten about fried okra, SM, as I usually have it pan fried only in the summer when it is fresh and lately - expen$ive. But I see it all the time in the freezer section at the store. My rationale is that if I am hardly never making fried foods at home, then the occasional batch of fried okra is not going to hurt me.

Last night I did a much needed grocery shop and stocked up on certain veggies: frozen peas, greens, fresh celery, cucumber, scallions, Vidalia onions, a couple of baking potatoes, and canned beans and corn to make a marinated vegetable salad. Also got a jar of pickled beets to keep in the fridge and add color and tang to up coming vegetable plates.

Steel Maggie wrote: sm (who practically had to be rolled out the door in a wheelbarrow she ate so much...)

Hee Hee hee!!! That's how you can tell a good restaurant! Look for the rack of wheelbarrows out back!! :D

Before I married my husband, there would be the occasional evening when I wanted simple food, a good book, and a glass of wine.

So, I'd cut a stalk of celery into 3 or 4 pieces, "flower cut" a few radishes, wedge a good tomato, quarter a cucumber and add a few slices of red bell pepper and maybe some broccoli florets...anything fresh and crunchy that I had on hand.

These, with a dish of olive oil, garlic, s & p and balsamic and maybe another dish of my good ranch or thousand for dipping, a hand full of good mixed olives another of nuts and maybe some chunks of Tillamook cheddar or a wedge of nice Brie and crackers or some baguette slices made a wonderful dinner.

I love the salad they serve in Greece. It is sliced cucumbers, bite size tomato chunks, greek olives, drizzled with olive oil and covered with crumbled feta cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Served with a nice loaf of crusty bread. By the time I have had that, the entre is not so important.

I also have learn to appreciate okra as an adult. Before that, I only liked it breaded and deep fried. Now I love to cook a couple of slices of bacon, remove the bacon, saute an onion and then add the sliced okra (frozen or fresh) and cook for a few minutes. Then add tomatoes (usually two cans, or fresh in summer). Season with minched garlic and chili powder. Add crumbled bacon back in and serve with cornbread.

In spite of being raised by 2 Texans, (but I was not raised in Texas), I never even heard of fried okra until I met my husband. I still haven't acquired a taste for it. I've never had it where it didn't taste burned. I was raised on boiled okra, and even more strange, I actually like it, slime and all. I especially like it cooked with tomatoes and onions, in sort of a gumbo style.

Sally

Macaroni & cheese, pinto beans, and either greens or slaw.
Black-eyed peas over rice (I like Success brown rice that boils in the bag), and greens.
Basically, I substitute beans/peas (pintos, great northerns, black-eyed peas, butter peas, limas, butterbeans, etc.) and or mac/cheese for the meat, and use any vegetables, like green beans, greens, yellow squash (either stewed or in a casserole), stewed okra & tomatoes, sliced fresh tomatoes if they're in season locally, fried okra or squash, coleslaw. I might include one starchy vegetable such as corn or potatoes, or use rice, with the beans/peas on top of the rice (like Hoppin' John). Oh, a local restaurant makes "Hoppin' Juan"..it's black beans over rice topped with chopped tomatoes, green onions, salsa, grated cheese and sour cream.
Biscuits or cornbread if I want bread.
Any kind of pickles or chow chow is good with vegetables.
If I order a vegetable plate at Cracker Barrel I get pintos, hashbrown casserole, greens, fried apples and biscuits. And I save the apples to eat with the biscuits for dessert. I like that better than apple pie.

I like the idea of the "Hoppin Juan," Iris! I don't eat black-eyed peas or limas, but everything else sounds good. This morning I'm have some Mexican cornbread with breakfast. Because it has creamed corn, peppers, and onions, I think of it as a "vegetable" more than a bread - LOL!

Fried okra was the very first thing that came to my mind, and I also make an okra casserole, similar to eggplant Parmigiano, but with okra instead of eggplant. I occasionally make vegetable tempura, and my favorite vegetables to cook that way are turnips and parsnips.

I like to make garbanzos with Indian spices and serve that with chapati bread. I also make lentils with potatoes and tomatoes using Indian spices.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make chapati (roti)

Oh how could I have forgotten zucchini and yellow squash!

I also love boiled okra. I add about 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to the water to prevent slime. It works!

Teresa, I have learned how to fry okra in the oven with very little grease and I like it better than top of the stove.

Preheat your oven to 425. Place about 1 Tablespoon of your choice of oil into a cast iron skillet and heat in the oven until very hot. Meanwhile salt cut up okra and let sit to bring out the moisture. Then batter with cornmeal. Place battered okra in the hot skillet and place in the oven for twenty minutes, then turn the okra. Wait 15 more minutes and turn again. One more turning and cook for 15 minutes and your fried okra will be ready. Times are approximate. Naturally using bacon grease would be better. LOL

Thanks, Beverly, I'll have to try that method! Tonight was baked mac and cheese, marinated vegetable salad, pickled beets, and a Mexican corn muffin. The mac 'n cheese turned out rather watery - not sure what happened. I'll continue to look for a better recipe.

Lots of great ideas here!

I am copying and pasting for future reference!

Alexa

I bookmarked this page, since everything sounds delicious.

I'm with annie on the roasted vegetables, but I also grill them. We love our grilled veggies here. Things we never eat end up on the grill tasting delicious. We particularly like grilling red onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and green beans. Yum! We use a sprayer to get a light coating of olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and whatever spices sound good (always freshly ground black pepper, maybe some fresh garlic, some cumin, whatever). I hate living in an apartment because I can't use a real grill, but my cast iron stovetop grill works beautifully for veggies.

I can't say enough how much we love our grilled veggies. One of our favorite meals is a nice steak with some grilled veggies. We'll sometimes add a starch, but often omit it (I make a really yummy orzo dish with all the goodness of mac and cheese with a fraction of the guilt when we're in the mood for a starch - yum!)

Jen, I'm sure we would all love for you to post that yummy orzo dish! Thanks!

Teresa

Lars, we are great fans of Manjula's Indian cooking videos. Did you know she also has a website? Her instructions are clear and I really like watching her videos - so homey and she makes it all so easy. I'll have to try the roti recipe. We have been making naan.

So far we have made the chola tikki (a garbanzo-potato patty - so yummy), hari chutney (cilantro - it can also be mixed with yogurt for a dip or frozen in ice cube trays for later use but we have been going through it so quickly that we haven't gotten around to that), chola (a curry with garbanzo beans with tomato), and the potato curry with yogurt gravy (we also did one where we used cauliflower and carrots instead of the potato).

I've found her recipes easier to use because she is US based so her recipes have the American names for the ingredients. Some of the other Indian sites have good recipes but it takes extra time to figure out what the ingredient names mean which makes browsing difficult.

My son makes something like "Hoppin' Juan" - but we didn't have a name for it.

We have also found a lot of good vegetable recipes in Olive Trees and Honey like this one:

Sephardic Leek and Cheese Casserole
Olive Trees and Honey -

1/4 c olive oil
3 lb leeks ( 1 1/2 lb if you do the zucchini varient), white and light green parts only cut into thin lengthwise
slices and washed
1 large onion chopped (optional - I've always used it)
1 c water
2 cups (~1 lb) grated zucchini
2 tsp salt or 4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (5 oz) crumbled feta or 1 c (8 oz) farmer or pot or 1 c grated kefalotyri or Parmesan cheese or a
combination (I've always done the feta)
1 c shreded kashkaval, Goueda, Muenster or Cheddar (did this the first time and thought it didn't add much -
other times I've done just the feta)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
ground black pepper to taste or 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 c chopped fresh dill or 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and oil a 9 " square or 8 by 11 inch baking dish or two 9-inch pie plates.

In a large sauce pan (she must have really large sauce pans - I use a small soup pot), heat oil over medium heat.

Saute leeks and onion until softened. Add water, zucchini if using, 1 1/2 tsp salt or 3 tsp kosher salt, cover and
simmer until leeks are tender (about 15 min). Drain

Combine cheeses, eggs, remaining salt, pepper and dill or nutmeg. Add leek mixture.

Put in baking dish. Bake until set and golden brown, about 50 minutes.

Variant - you can leave out the cheese and cook 2 lb peeled, diced russet potatoes with the leeks. Kind of mash it after the draining step. I usually still put in the feta or you can put in 1/2 c Parmesan cheese.

Here is a link that might be useful: Manjula's kitchen