Whether it’s a partner or a family member with different eating styles and preferences, conflict can arise on various fronts when some people in the house are vegetarians and others are not. The good news: with a little patience and compromise, not to mention good humor, it is possible for everyone to enjoy meals together. Setting ground rules in advance can ward off many disagreements in the kitchen. In particular, deciding who is responsible for what can help prevent resentment and ensure things run more smoothly when it comes time for food preparation.
- Will a group meal be prepared that everyone will share?
- How does the vegetarian feel about preparing and cooking meat even if he or she doesn’t eat it?
- Will the non-vegetarian prepare vegetarian meals?
- Is it simplest for each person to be responsible for their own cooking?
There is no one correct answer and it may take some time to work out the best system. As far as meals are concerned, vegetarian and non-vegetarian options can be blended without making the division obvious. Here are a few suggestions for minimizing the differences and increasing the joy of eating together:
- The non-vegetarian partner should agree to expand his/her food horizons and try new vegetables, grains and protein sources.
- Find as many dishes as possible that also work for your partner.
- The vegetarian partner should tolerate having the non-vegetarian cook meat, chicken or fish in the family kitchen. Have pots and dishes just for that, if it’s an issue.
- At the same time, the vegetarian shouldn’t be expected to cook meat, unless he/she doesn’t mind.
- Freeze individual portions of each partner’s favorite dishes to eat when time is short or you can’t agree.
- Never make negative remarks about what the other wants to eat. Don’t try to convert the other to your point of view or even think that this would be a good thing. It never is.
Types of Vegetarians
- A vegetarian eats no meat, poultry or fish.
- An ovo-lacto vegetarian eats eggs and milk.
- A lacto-vegetarian eats dairy products, but not eggs.
- A vegan eats no animal products at all, often including honey. There are strict ethical vegans who don’t wear or use any animal product.
- Raw food devotees are vegan.
- A pesco-vegetarian (eats fish) isn’t vegetarian, because fish is considered an animal product.
- Flexitarian is a made up term for one who flips back and forth from vegetarian to non-vegetarian.
When entertaining think about the likely food preferences of those you’re feeding. Ask about likes and dislikes, as you would with any other guest. Stick with familiar foods, when feeding both vegetarians and non-vegetarians at the same meal.
Here are some suggestions:
Serve egg or cheese based dishes, such as a Spinach Quiche. Good accompanied with baked potato and a salad. Chickpeas and kidney beans are familiar enough to be used in small amounts. Add them to dishes that are well-known – such as three-bean salad, pasta salad, minestrone soup or vegetarian chili. Use familiar comfort foods, such as potatoes, breads or pasta. Familiar ethnic foods work well: Mexican, Indian or Italian. Whenever possible, tell your guests in advance what you’re planning to make and ask them for suggestions, if you feel comfortable with that idea.
Breakfast may be one of the easier meals to accommodate vegetarians and non-vegetarians, so inviting friends for brunch may be an ideal way to entertain. There are many breakfast options that do not contain meat, such as oatmeal, yogurt, granola, fruit, coffee cake, pancakes or waffles that can be enjoyed by both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. For a larger breakfast, eggs or omelets can be eaten by everyone, except vegans. For the non-vegetarians, bacon or sausage can easily be added to the meal as a side.
For vegetarians, sandwiches made with vegetables and cheese can provide an alternative to deli meats, while non-vegetarians can add sliced turkey, beef or chicken to their sandwiches. Soups can be made with vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef broth. Cooked chicken, fish or beef can be added to the non-vegetarian soup just before serving. Salads are also lunch options that are easy to make vegetarian by replacing meat or fish with beans or hard-boiled eggs. Dinner pasta or rice recipes made with vegetables are easily prepared dishes where meat or fish can be added for family members that are not vegetarians.
The situation in my family is easy. The vegetarians are not vegan. They just do not eat animal protein and they don’t get upset if it is on the table. My typical approach is that I make the same foods the non-vegetarians are eating minus the animal protein part for the vegetarians. It is a two-in-one system. Two versions of the same dish, one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian. Here are some of the recipes that work in our family.
Split Pea Soup
Corn chowder is another great option. Serve crumbled bacon on the side as a garnish.
4-6 servings
Ingredient
- 2 cups dry split peas, rinsed
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 1 large onion (2 cups), diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 pound cooked ham steak, diced and heated
Directions
Sauté the onion, celery and carrot in olive oil in a Dutch oven for about 10 minutes, until the onions translucent. Add the potato, garlic and rosemary and sauté for another 5 minutes.
Add the split peas, vegetable stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook, partially covered, for another 40 minutes or so until the peas are very soft and falling apart.
Serve the warmed ham in a separate bowl for non-vegetarians to add to their soup bowls.
Stuffed Cabbage
4 servings
Ingredients
Cabbage & Filling
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup short-grain brown rice
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 1 large Savoy cabbage (2-3 pounds)
- 1 pound baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup dried currants
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts, chopped
- 6-8 ounces (2 links) sweet turkey or pork Italian sausage, casing removed
- Olive oil for drizzling over the cabbage rolls
- Chopped parsley
Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 28-ounce can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red wine
Directions
To prepare the rice:
Combine water, rice and 1 teaspoon oil in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain the barest simmer, cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is just tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
To prepare the cabbage:
Half fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
Line a baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel and place near the stove.
Using a small, sharp knife, remove the core from the bottom of the cabbage. Add the whole cabbage to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. As the leaves soften, use tongs to gently remove 8 large outer leaves. Transfer the leaves to the toel lined baking sheet and pat with more towels to thoroughly dry. Set aside.
Drain the remaining cabbage in a colander for a few minutes. Finely chop enough to make 1 1/2 cups. (Save any remaining cabbage for another use. I place the remaining cabbage in the freezer to save for a soup recipe.)
To prepare the filling:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic, sage, rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until the mushrooms have released their juices and the pan is fairly dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until evaporated, about 3 minutes more. Add the mushroom mixture to the cooked rice along with currants and pine nuts.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same skillet over medium-high. Add the chopped cabbage, the remaining salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until the cabbage is wilted and just beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside in a separate bowl.
Add the sausage to the empty skillet and brown. Set aside in a separate bowl.
To prepare the sauce:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until starting to soften, 2 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and wine; bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Coat two 8-inch baking dishes with olive oil cooking spray. Place a ½ cup of tomato sauce in each baking dish.
To stuff the cabbage:
Divide the rice mixture in half. To one half add the sautéed cabbage and to the other half add the browned sausage.
For the vegetarian rolls:
Place a reserved cabbage leaf on a cutting board; cut out the thick stem in the center, keeping the leaf intact. Repeat with three more cabbage leaves.
Evenly divide the cabbage/ rice mixture among the four leaves. Fold both sides of the cabbage over the filling and roll up. Repeat with the remaining 3 leaves and filling. Place the stuffed cabbage rolls, seam side down in one baking dish.
For the non-vegetarian rolls:
Place a reserved cabbage leaf on a cutting board; cut out the thick stem in the center, keeping the leaf intact. Repeat with three more cabbage leaves.
Evenly divide the sausage/ rice mixture among the four leaves. Fold both sides of the cabbage over the filling and roll up. Repeat with the remaining 3 leaves and filling. Place the stuffed cabbage rolls, seam side down in the other baking dish.
Pour the remaining sauce evenly over the rolls in both pans. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the cabbage rolls in each pan. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the tops of the vegetarian rolls, so you will know they are the vegetarian rolls when serving. Bake, uncovered, basting twice with the sauce, until hot, about 45 minutes.
Pasta Primavera with Chicken
4 servings
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast, 1 to 1 1/2 pounds
- 1 medium onion, cut into quarters
- 1 small lemon, sliced
- 1 carrot, cut into quarters
- 2 ribs celery, cut into quarters
- 2 large bay leaves
- Small bunch of each – parsley, thyme and rosemary – tied together with kitchen twine
For the Primavera:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 small or 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
- 1 small zucchini, trimmed and cut into 2-inch matchsticks
- 1 large leek, trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on an angle, washed and dried
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- Salt and white pepper
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose of instant flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- Water
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 10 oz box frozen peas, defrosted
- 1 pound egg tagliatelle or fettuccine
- A handful of parsley, thyme leaves and rosemary, very finely chopped
- 1 lemon
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions
To poach the chicken:
Place chicken, onion, lemon, carrot, celery, bay and herb bundle in a medium saucepan, cover chicken with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Strain and reserve a 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid. Save remaining broth for another use. Cool chicken and remove the skin and bones. Slice the chicken into serving pieces, place in a serving bowl, cover and keep warm
For the pasta sauce:
Heat oil with the butter over medium heat in the same pan. Add carrots, zucchini, leeks and garlic, season with salt and white pepper and sauté until tender, 6-7 minutes. Sprinkle veggies with flour and stir a minute more. Deglaze the pan with the wine, then stir in 2 cups of the vegetable broth. Cook until the sauce thickens. Stir in the peas and reduce the heat to low.
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add salt and cook the pasta to the al dente stage and drain. Add the Primavera sauce to the pasta along with the remaining 1/2 cup vegetable broth.
Gremolata-zest the lemon and combine it with the finely chopped herbs.
Serve the pasta in shallow bowls topped with some of the gremolata and some grated cheese.
Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken poaching broth and pour it over the sliced chicken. Serve the chicken to non-vegetarians to add to their pasta bowl.
Grilled Beef Sirloin & Shrimp & Farmer’s Market Skewers
I like to serve this dish with a brown and wild rice mix and a tomato salad. You can use any combination of vegetables that you like and that your vegetarian friends or family like.
Ingredients
Mustard-Thyme Glaze
- 4 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
- 4 tablespoons apricot preserves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Skewers
- 1 lb top sirloin steak, grass-fed if possible, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 lb extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 medium yellow squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 thin eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
- 1 large onion, cut into 1-inch thick wedges
- 12 medium mushrooms
Directions
Combine glaze ingredients in a large glass measure. Microwave on HIGH 45-60 seconds, stirring once until bubbly.
Place the vegetables on one platter, the shrimp on another platter and the beef on another platter.
Lightly brush some of the glaze on all sides of the vegetables. Wash or change to another pastry brush and lightly brush the steak and shrimp with the remaining glaze.
Heat an outdoor grill and oil the grill grates.
Thread vegetables, beef and shrimp, separately, onto 12-inch metal skewers.
Place beef skewers on the grill over medium heat. Grill steak, 12-15 minutes for medium rare to medium, turning occasionally.
Grill vegetables skewers for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are until tender. Grill the shrimp just until they turn pink, turn and grill until the second side is pink.
Serve the grilled vegetables on one platter and the shrimp and beef on another platter.
Related articles
- Where Vegans and Meat-Eaters Happily Coexist (eastbayexpress.com)
- http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2012/10/01/holiday-entrees-for-vegetarians-and-non-vegetarians/
- 5 Vegetarian Recipes for Meat Free Week (styleunearthed.com)
0 Comments