Your favorite fancy Vegetarian/Vegan main dish?

[itsasmallfarm]

not sure if this counts but i like mushroom patties. kinda like a sausage but with mushrooms instead. really don't have a recipe as its pretty much what ever you want. not fancy but a good meal.

i like my mushroom patties on lettuce.

but i love cooking with mushrooms (i like really any kind, if you know where to pick them there even better in the wild.)

 

[Canuck88]

I haven’t read the whole thread so forgive me if they’ve already been mentioned. My mom makes a really good vegetarian moussaka (with eggplant instead of lamb) and my aunt always makes spanakoptia for family/holiday meals. Veggie lasagne and chilli are always good options too

 

[HomesteaderWife]

At one point yearrrrrrrssss back, I was baking vegan desserts. I made some vegan "chocolate muffins" to take to friends and put toothpicks in the middle with some cute greetings/stickers. Consider a special vegan dessert like this to pair with your meals!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

At one point yearrrrrrrssss back, I was baking vegan desserts. I made some vegan "chocolate muffins" to take to friends and put toothpicks in the middle with some cute greetings/stickers. Consider a special vegan dessert like this to pair with your meals!

Thanks, but I have a TON of desserts already in my repertoire.
Also stickers/toothpicks would be wasteful in our household/community. I'd get funny looks from my friends. XD

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Understood! I was a teenager when I made them and the stickers were all animal-rights type related so it was just to spread the word at the time. But yes, I do understand today it is wasteful. So glad you have good desserts already in mind though!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I had a sort of bachelorette party for a friend at my house. She brought in fancy toothpick snacks and the toothpicks had little bits of shiny plastic on the top. When I mentioned to the group to please compost what they could within reason some of them (like half???) started taking the plastic bits off the tops of the toothpicks so they could be composted. XD My partner has a sticker phobia. And some of my friends don't even like that I use wrapping paper for them. (I use used brown packing paper for them now.) We're an odd bunch.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Ok folks, so, an update! I ended up going with this recipe

https://delightfulvegans.com/recipe/pecan-mushroom-wellington/

But. Turns out this recipe is terrible. I didn't really notice it before but you may notice that salt and pepper are completely absent from this list. In fact the spice and aromatics list is pretty lackluster in general. After cooking the mushrooms and onions according to the recipe I tasted it and was massively disappointed. It tasted like hot mushrooms with thyme and nothing else. It was so bland and disappointing. So I doctored the heck out of it!

So! Here's Mouse's Pecan Wellington Recipe! (makes 3 wellingtons)

1tbsp olive oil
1.5lbs mixed mushrooms (I used crimini, button, bellas, oyster and trumpet)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1/3rd cup white wine
3.5C toasted pecans, ground to a gritty texture with no big chunks
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1tbsp dried thyme
1/2 tbsp parsley
Salt to taste
2tsp powdered sugar
1/4lb fresh green beans
1.5 tbsp stone ground mustard
3 sheets vegan puff pastry

Throw a tbsp olive oil in a pot with the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, parsley, chili flakes, white wine, salt and pepper and soysauce and cook until the mushrooms start to release a lot of water and become soft. Using a slotted spoon scoop out the solids and let them cool. Let the liquid drain from the hot solids for a bit and pour it off back into the pan with the rest of the liquid. Add the powdered sugar to the liquid, mix it in until it's dissolved, and heat until it cooks down to a syrupy texture. Add the still-wet mushrooms back in and the pecans. Cook on very high heat for about 1-2 minutes stirring constantly then remove and cool for 15 minutes or so. The resulting mixture should look dry with no obvious water coming out as you stir it but feel wet to the touch.

Blanch the green beans for 2-3 minutes. Cool in ice water. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Roll your puff pastry sheets out a bit so they are about 12 inch squares. Put 1/2tbsp mustard on each puff pastry sheet and spread it thin over the whole surface. Split the mushroom mix into thirds and each third into half. Then place a layer of the mushroom mixture in the middle of the puff pastry sheet using one portion of the mixture, 1/3rd of the blanched beans in a strip running end to end, then another portion of the mushroom mixture on top.
Cut the pastry in 1cm diagonal strips on either side. One end of the puff pastry should end up with the corners removed. Tuck the ends up over the mushroom mixture, then cross the strips over each other until they are covering the mixture. Once the whole wellington is covered use the corner scraps to cut or form shapes and decorate. You can also use some water and wiggle whole pecans into the dough. Repeat the previous steps with the other two wellingtons.
Cook at 375*F until the puff pastry is crispy and golden brown (about 40 minutes). Without an egg wash it won't get as dark as a normal but will still taste nice.

So... How'd it turn out like this? Really good! It was quite tasty! My meat eaters gave it an 8/10 and the veg*n group loved it! I have to say it was WAY better than last years pie thing that wasn't very good. I'm really happy with how this turned out!

I'll share a picture or two later today!

 

[fuentemoon]

I know this is a year old, but I thought I would share that phillo dough is also great as a wrap for a similar filling. My sister uses spinach, mushrooms, onions and nuts in hers. She wraps and shapes it into a crescent to bake. It has been a traditional dish in our family for more than 20 years!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

There will be no fancy veg*n dish this year due to COVID-19, unless one of the boys really wants some stuffed squash. No gathering. It's pretty heartbreaking but not worth the risk.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Last years Vegan Wellington