Veggie Options On Board?????

[SteveO]

Having been told by my cardiologist that I should adopt a largely vegetarian diet, avoiding red meat, I am now searching for tasty and satisfying but healthy veggie options that are easy to prepare and cook on a boat.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Steve

[BroadAmbition]

Adnams Girl is your friend (You lucky so and so) on this one,  Hopefully she will be along soon to advise you accordingly

Griff

[AdnamsGirl]

Hi Steve

I must admit that I tend to have a set few meals now that I know are easy to cook on a boat (and camping too), although some of these rely on cheating.

Boat staples usually include packing some of the ready cooked pilau rice which can quickly be heated up in a saucepan (or microwave if your boat has one) and a jar of Patak's curry sauce. Sauté some onions and mushrooms (can used tinned mushrooms if necessary) and then add a selection of chopped vegetables - peppers, carrots, celery, green beans - whatever you can find in the shops or have to hand really. Add some Quorn chunks, pour on your curry sauce (I usually bolster the flavour up with a veggie oxo cube to replace the flavours you'd normally get from meat juices) and simmer until the veg is tender.

Similarly, a jar of decent pasta sauce (Seeds of Change o some nice ones) but bolster it up with suated onions, mushrooms, peppers, carrot, broccoli, tinned sweetcorn etc.

Cooking from scratch, a vegetable chilli, cous-cous and pan fried haloumi is quick and easy (although not too sure how healthy the halloumi is). Again, sauté a selection of vegetables of your choice - add some herbs, chili powder to taste, a stock cube, a tin of kidney beans or chick peas, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a little water and some tomato puree to thicken. I often chuck a handful of whole fresh baby plum tomatoes at the end too. There are so many packets of flavoured cous cous available these days which you just need to put in a bowl, add boiling water, cover and leave for 5 minutes. I add a pinch of dried mint, some flaked almonds and a slug of lime juice to add to the flavour a little. If your going for the halloumi, jut slice and gently pan fry with a little oil until golden brown on both sides.

Here's one I prepared earlier (last years boating holiday)

 

 

Another quickie is a quorn and vegetable stew (with or without dumplings).

Again, sauté onions, mushrooms, garlic and then add chopped potatoes, peppers, carrots, beans etc. Make up some instant veggie gravy - I use the Bisto finest roasted vegetable gravy which I've found to have the most flavour. Their onion gravy is pretty good too. Pour on to the veggies, add some Quorn chunks, mixed herbs, a little black pepper, a good slug or red wine and a dessert spoon of tomato puree. If you want dumplings - cheat! The packet dumpling mixes (veggie suet versions are available) just need water adding, roll into balls, pop on top of the stew, cover the pan and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times to stop it sticking at the bottom of the pan.

 

Quorn chunks and mince is readily available these days so you can make healthy versions of many dishes that you would have used meat for - just remember to add herbs, spices and stock to the dishes to make up for the flavour you would lose from not having meat.

 

Carol

 

 

[SteveO]

Thanks Carol, some really good ideas there. I don't really like Quorn, but I guess I could replace it with either more beans or some "meaty" vegetables such as mushrooms, aubergines or sweet potato.

Thanks again

Steve

[Timbo]

After two weeks of living on a vegetarian diet enforced by my then wife I'd had just about as much as I could take... so I give you...

Cooking with Quorn the Timbo way...just as I did for my vegetarian wife for two years.

1. Buy one packet of Quorn mince and one packet of Quorn chunks.
2. Empty contents of packets into dog's bowl and then tip what the dog has left...just about all of it...into the neighbour's bin.
3. Retain the Quorn packaging in an inconspicuous place.
4. Prepare a tasty meal using real food.
5. Carefully place the Quorn packaging that most resembles the meal you prepared into the kitchen bin.
6. Eat the meal and wash up.
7. The following day retrieve the Quorn packaging from the kitchen bin and hide it somewhere safe.
8. Repeat the steps above for two weeks before buying more Quorn for the packaging so that the sell by date is current.

As I say I managed to keep this up for two years only being caught out when I forgot to renew the packaging and the sell by date was spotted. In those two years I was lauded as the master vegetarian chef able to make Quorn have the taste and texture of Pork, Chicken, Turkey etc. And the strange thing was...the wife swore blind that she'd never felt so healthy and active or enjoyed her food as much since I'd taken over the cooking!

[JanetAnne]

8 hours ago, Timbo said:

After two weeks of living on a vegetarian diet enforced by my then wife I'd had just about as much as I could take... so I give you...

Cooking with Quorn the Timbo way...just as I did for my vegetarian wife for two years.

1. Buy one packet of Quorn mince and one packet of Quorn chunks.
2. Empty contents of packets into dog's bowl and then tip what the dog has left...just about all of it...into the neighbour's bin.
3. Retain the Quorn packaging in an inconspicuous place.
4. Prepare a tasty meal using real food.
5. Carefully place the Quorn packaging that most resembles the meal you prepared into the kitchen bin.
6. Eat the meal and wash up.
7. The following day retrieve the Quorn packaging from the kitchen bin and hide it somewhere safe.
8. Repeat the steps above for two weeks before buying more Quorn for the packaging so that the sell by date is current.

As I say I managed to keep this up for two years only being caught out when I forgot to renew the packaging and the sell by date was spotted. In those two years I was lauded as the master vegetarian chef able to make Quorn have the taste and texture of Pork, Chicken, Turkey etc. And the strange thing was...the wife swore blind that she'd never felt so healthy and active or enjoyed her food as much since I'd taken over the cooking!

That had made my day, brilliant. Well done sir!

We have a house full of vegetarians here one of which is coelliac. That means nearly everything has to be prepared and cooked on board.

Roy's food hall do the best range in the area.

[Timbo]

On a , semi, serious note I love Roys food hall. All cooking on the boat is done by me and I learned whilst in the Scouts the art of cooking on a single or double burner. I enhanced my skills while at Uni so my cooking on the boat is just like my cooking at home...similar meals. For vegetarian options, when forced to, I have a copy of Dhelia...good Norfolk Girl...who's meals are easy to prepare and delicious. I did hear a parody of her cookbook yesterday by the late Janet Brown.

" For a delicious vegetarian curry blend the herbs and spices and fry with the onion before adding chopped sweet potato and coriander leaf...British cooks may want to substitute a Victoria Sponge at this stage..."

For vegetarian dishes with a bit of a kick I recommend Ken Hom's stir fry book. I keep a cupboard stuffed full of fresh and dried herbs and spices and make the effort to visit the local Chinese supermarket for ingredients, but occasionally I just have to go for something bland. 

Like SteveO my GP has put me on an almost vegetarian diet...could be karma...for health reasons, but I do look forward to my weekly bacon sandwich...Bacon being a food group all on its own!

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Timbo,

I fully agree about bacon being a food group. Nothing better than a Bacon & Egg butty

Nothing wrong with red meat its the way that it is cooked, we cook all of our meat over water, beef, chicken, pork or lamb.

Regards

Alan

[BroadScot]

A bacon n egg "Stottie" not the 12" version I may add from the lay-by at Scotch Corner....what a mouthful! Brill value too!

Iain.

 

[BroadAmbition]

the wife swore blind that she'd never felt so healthy and active or enjoyed her food as much since I'd taken over the cooking!

Brilliant Post Timbo

My MrsG will as a fruitless point refuse to consume owt I bring home from the 'Field' which has be known to include, partridge, pigeon, pheasant, hare, rabbit.  The preparation I have to do kinda puts her off.  So one evening I prepared a chicken stir fry, that in itself was unusual as cooking for me is a chore / necessity and way down on my 'To Do' list.    Anyroadup instead of chicken I used one of my previously prepared pheasants - without telling her of course.  We sat down for dinner - MrsG being well impressed I had cooked, she proceeded to eat the lot commentating afterwards how nice it was.  It was then I told her she had eaten one of 'my' pheasants from my shoot.  Her face was to die for, that famous saying 'A bulldog licking 'water' off a nettle' that was her, and yes I was put under indefinite 'Stoppage' once again - which I am well used to btw

Griff

[Timbo]

9 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

the wife swore blind that she'd never felt so healthy and active or enjoyed her food as much since I'd taken over the cooking!

Brilliant Post Timbo

My MrsG will as a fruitless point refuse to consume owt I bring home from the 'Field' which has be known to include, partridge, pigeon, pheasant, hare, rabbit.  The preparation I have to do kinda puts her off.  So one evening I prepared a chicken stir fry, that in itself was unusual as cooking for me is a chore / necessity and way down on my 'To Do' list.    Anyroadup instead of chicken I used one of my previously prepared pheasants - without telling her of course.  We sat down for dinner - MrsG being well impressed I had cooked, she proceeded to eat the lot commentating afterwards how nice it was.  It was then I told her she had eaten one of 'my' pheasants from my shoot.  Her face was to die for, that famous saying 'A bulldog licking 'water' off a nettle' that was her, and yes I was put under indefinite 'Stoppage' once again - which I am well used to btw

Griff

I can sympathise with your Mrs Griff. I suppose I'm a bit squeamish. Don't get me wrong I used to love roaming the fish and game stalls on Donny market...stopping for 'scrawns on a ashtray' as I used to call them when we'd walk into town from Balby. I think it was my maternal great aunts who 'did' for me. I was once presented by them with 'jugged hare' and worst of all starry gazy pie...all those little fishes heads poking accusingly out of the crust...Ye Gods! 

Getting back to Steve's original request...

I had such difficulties getting used to a new diet that a dietician got involved> I was expecting an emaciated stick of a girl but was pleasantly surprised...

Her first piece of advice was 'don't cut all cholesterol from your diet as your body needs it'.

Starting with the 'bulk' so I wasn't hungry my cupboards were filled with pasta of various sorts, rice and potatoes. A shopping trip to Morrisons (avoid Tesco for fruit and veg) and I was stocked with a selection of fresh veg, peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli, dark green cabbage, corn,sweet potato, chilli. She added tins of beans of all descriptions, tinned tomatoes and then we hit the frozen veg aisles for green beans, broad beans, peas and frozen mixed veg. A pack of bacon, chicken and fish were added. Oats in the shape of porridge, bread and biscuits. Cous cous, olives.

The best thing I learned was to use the Knorr Veg Stock Pots. Just melting one into anything I'm cooking really brings out flavour. She also advocated not steaming or boiling the wotsits out of the veg...leave some crunch. My luxuries and foods that were 'non negotiable' for me were real butter not plastic emulsions and whole milk instead of 'white water'.

Chicken plays a major role in a lot of meals. I make a lot of soups, risotto, stir fry and of course curry etc. All of which I find quick and easy to cook on the boat.

The major problem I have is of course catering to Uncle Albert who will eat nothing but beef and sausages or 'snorkers' as he insists on calling them. I also have to avoid any spaghetti shaped pasta, soup, stew, broth or cereals...basically anything that can be slurped as the noise is horrendous and there is no escape on the boat.

My favourite recipes on the boat are chicken and mushroom madras with plenty of chopped coriander and chapattis toasted on the hob. I make a swift saag aloo to go with this. Takes about twenty minutes to cook from scratch. I also like to make a veg risotto. Courgettes, cherry tomatoes, sweet potato, whole chillies and onions are slapped in a roasting tin with a sprig of thyme and a splash of olive oil and banged in the oven to roast while I go fishing. Slap a couple of bags of boil in the bag rice on to cook, chop the veg and slap the rice and veg back in the roasting tin and flash it on the hob while I stir in a veg stock pot. Amazing flavour...filling and guaranteed to have Uncle Albert moaning for days!

[grendel]

I am fortunate, being on warfarin I have the best reason in the world not to eat my greens, although when I told the wife this she stopped buying spring greens and bought spinach instead (if cabbage rates at 100 parts of the vitamin K (potassium) that makes it tricky for warfarin users- spring greens come out at 500 and spinach at 1000 per unit weight. anything over about 50 it is important to either avoid or eat regularly the same amount and adjust the warfarin levels to suit. so I now have adjusted to regular cauliflower (I have never liked greens since I was small- now I know why).

I have also been known to make fresh bread rolls on a camping stove - only easy if you have a strong saucepan with a tight lid and making one at a time.

Grendel

[johnb]

On 3/23/2016 at 9:31 PM, SteveO said:

Having been told by my cardiologist that I should adopt a largely vegetarian diet, avoiding red meat, I am now searching for tasty and satisfying but healthy veggie options that are easy to prepare and cook on a boat.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Steve

Change your cardiologist? Sorry, I know not very helpful but apparently there is more than one way to skin a ,,, oh sorry you can't do that either! 

Wish you the best of health in the future

[Chelsea14Ian]

Try a veg pie,onions carrots,cauliflower and broccoil.Season with salt and pepper add a little veg or corn oil.Then roast in a hot oven.make a white sauce,if you like buy a ready made sauce.top with shop made puff pastry.

Mushroom stroganoff:One large diced onion or shallot cook without colour until soft add sliced mushrooms(to give it a kick use wild mushrooms).fry off until brown,season add smoked paprika add a little veg stock one teaspoon of tomato puree,a little white  wine.finnish with cream.Serve with rice.

Veggie dishes don't have to be boring.Just have a go

[BroadScot]

I thought for a second there Ian,you said kick the wild mushrooms before frying! I've read too many Forum replies today!

Iain

[Chelsea14Ian]

No Iain if you kick the mushrooms they would  be  wild

[SteveO]

Thanks to all contributors for your helpful and/or amusing suggestions. I will certainly be trying out your recipes over the coming weeks. Having said that I don't like Quorn, I was tempted by a Gang Pa curry, made with this substance, from the Yim Siam in Hoveton and it was delicious. My daughter had the same curry made with tofu,which I didn't like as much.

I will not be forswearing meat entirely.I still plan to succumb to the occasional steak, bacon butty and BBQ, but these will be the treats rather than the norm. I will build the suggested recipes into a repertoire of dishes that hopefully will stand on their own merits, and which I will eat because I love them and not because they are less likely to harm me than what I eat today.

Steve

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Steve,

Trim any fat off of your meat including bacon. Grill or braise, The George Forman grill is ideal, hot air friers are great if you must have chips, the results are much improved on oven chips.

Regards

Alan 

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

Hi Steve Marina has a problem with fat what we do is get nu me 70per cent reduced fat fro Morrisons ,which is in fact the eye of the bacon I then cook with out fat in the oven

Try fish cakes using the fish of your chose i.e. haddock smoked salmon prawns etc.I bake in the oven using just a little fat,chop fish add mash potatoes chopped chive,add finely diced chilli or chive.Flour,egg and crumb.Set in the fridge over night,fry in a little oil giving colour Finnish in the oven.

 

[SteveO]

Thanks Dave. I probably didn't make it clear enough that I am not contemplating a totally vegetarian existence, but a diet that is more vegetable-oriented i.e. not every single meal involving meat of some kind. I am interested in vegetarian dishes that stand on their own merits, i.e. not imitating meat and can be eaten with pleasure without leaving you feeling that you should have had meat with them. I eat fish and other seafood, some white meat and the very occasional bacon butty, but red meat will be taken with all visible fat removed and things like sausages will become very infrequent treats indeed.

I do exercise vigorously 2-3 times a week on my elliptical trainer. I feel good on this regimen and with the exercise and new diet I am losing weight slowly, which is the best way IMHO. However, at 18 stone, I still have a way to go with this.

Steve

[Boaters]

Hi Steve, we regularly have Spag Bol with Quorn mince well seasoned also shepherds pie made with Quorn , and chunky  vegetable curry with rice  all easy to do on the boat.Try different flavourings ,I am sure will find one to your taste.

[Kaety]

Morrisons have started to sell various stuffed and/or prepared vegetables.  Their stuffed red peppers are especially nice and you simply pop into the oven on a baking tray for a few minutes.  They go down well with a glass of rose. 

[SteveO]

On a similar vein, we have found that most of the big supermarkets do a variant on the spicy bean-burger and, so far, the ones we have tried have been very good. These make a great meal served in a bun with salad, accompanied by the sweet potato spicy wedges described in another thread on here.

Steve