Following on from a few weeks ago HERE. Here are three more veggie meals....................
I use these to save me spending too much time in the kitchen preparing a meal (something done for 40 years that I don't want to do so much now)
First these from Birds Eye. They were OK although not a lot of flavour but a good crunchy coating. Plenty big enough for 2 meals at 75p each, I served them topped with a big spoonful of my sweet onion chutney which added a bit of ooomph and lots of fresh vegetables of course.
And an Asda own brand below which was really REALLY nasty! I ended up eating just the pastry (with a good heap of carrots and cabbage) and I have no idea what was in the middle but it looked nothing like the photo. Extremely gelatinous. Ugh. It does say it's a Limited Edition, thank goodness, as it means I'll never buy it again by mistake.Even worse is that it's the most expensive thing I've tried!
And finally nut cutlets or burgers something I've been buying for a while as they are one of Asda's earlier vegetarian things.
I always load up a bap with lettuce, tomatoes and chutney before adding the burger. When I first started buying these they were £1 for 4 now they've gone up to £1.75. Still a cheap meal at 44p each.
Despite not wanting to spend too long in the kitchen I don't eat supermarket frozen stuff everyday!
One of my favourite speedy things is a warm pasta salad. While the pasta is cooking I chuck a big handful of mini plum tomatoes cut in half, a big bit of cucumber cut into chunks and lots of olives into a bowl. Plus either a smoked mackerel fillet or some feta. Then tip in the strained pasta and a spoonful of mayo, mix it all and Yum!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
K and S love the Asda nut cutlets and that is what they have when we have a roast. They would agree that there are some strange and not very pleasant tasting veggie meals about!!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep testing - it's fun to try new things and there seems to be more available - haven't even tried Tesco yet
DeleteThe pasta salad sounds absolutely delicious. Lots of big flavours there.
ReplyDeletexx
It's one of my favourite quick things - one saucepan, and one bowl and the time it takes for the pasta to cook
DeleteI am beginning to wonder why vegetarian food is becoming a meat lookalike, there is some 'bacon' in the fridge that looks positively wax like, and why try for the 'chicken taste' when nut burgers are so much better?
ReplyDeleteI've not tried veggie bacon because I can buy locally produced which is lovely. Although I have seen it and it looks very strange
DeleteYou're sounding like Nigella, "chuck a big handful of mini plum tomatoes..."! oh so casual.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely don't look like her!
DeleteAs a vegetarian, I find most supermarket own brand products not up to much at all. I'm not a fan of "fake meat" but if it helps someone make a change to eating less meat and they can stomach the fake flavour and texture, then good on them, but it's not for me. Homemade from scratch is so much better, but it's nice to have something just to pop in the oven at times too.
ReplyDeleteOnce I get my freezer later today I shall do some more batch cooking and avoid the fake meat.
DeleteI'm glad it's not just me that wants to spend less time in the kitchen! The only veggie pretend meal I've ever eaten were Linda McCartney something or other (burgers?) and they were OK. I wouldn't bother trying anything else veggie pretend meat.
ReplyDeleteI tried the Linda McCartney burgers with mozzerella - they were quite good - I might buy them again
DeleteSue and others are like me less time in the kitchen is time for fun. The sun is out so time to tidy up the garden we only have one week left for the garden waste and I want to cut the Hellebore leaves down.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day,
Hazel 🌈🌈🌺🌺🍃🍃
It's a beautiful day here - ideal for some more garden clearing
DeleteThank you for being our 'taste tester' on this, Sue. There's not much point is people criticising the powerful people making Big Decisions in Glasgow, if we small people don't make personal lifestyle changes as well. Hazel's comment above reminded me to check when the Norfolk Garden Bin collection stops for the winter. Pleased to say that unlike Leics and Dorset, it goes on all year!!
ReplyDeleteI think I checked and found Suffolk is all year too. I'd better look again to make sure
DeleteHello, I'm in Doret and we do have year-round collections (paid for) of garden waste. My sister in Scotland won't get another until March!
DeleteMy favorite veggie burger is a black bean burger. Very easy and cheap to make and so tasty. Just pennies each.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately all bean things have a bad effect on me! and chick peas the same which is well annoying
DeleteAlthough I like most vegan sausage rolls, I have never found a fake meat pie that I like yet. I much prefer to keep it honest and just go for a homemade vegetable pie or 'cheese' and onion pie. My cheat to keep this simple and quick is to nearly always have some ready made, ready rolled pastry in the fridge and to make more vegetables than I need for one meal so I have pie filling for another.
ReplyDeleteNut cutlets or nut roast though that's a different matter, they are usually good and adding something like your sweet onion chutney would make them even better. I guess the downfall comes when something is trying to be something it's not.
Your pasta salad sounds good, and that is something I nearly always have in the fridge now ... cooked pasta. Whenever I have a pasta meal I make double or triple the amount of pasta or spaghetti that I need and rinse what I don't eat that night under the cold tap straight away. Once it's drained and I've finished my meal I put the unused portion into a tub in the fridge ready for pasta salads or to be used instead of noodles in a stir fry or soup.
The worst nut roast I ever had was years and years ago at a Christmas meal with Col's work colleagues.I'm sure it was just a packet of stuffing mix with a few cashews thrown in!
DeleteMuch better now
I am always looking to add more veggies to my diet I should start looking at something like these.
ReplyDeleteCathy
I always have a big heap of fresh veg with the frozen veggie thing. Carrots being a mainstay- always in the fridge
DeleteI can't stand 'fake meat' products on the whole but I do occasionally eat Linda McCartney sausages in a hot dog and Quorn quarterpounder burgers (for some reason they are really hard to find at the moment) on a bun with a slice of cheese. The fake 'bacon' looks foul! Give me honest veg any day although nut roast type products are ok :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for testing these meals for us Sue!
Haven't tried the Linda M sausages. I'm not totally vegetarian and I can get locally raised pork ones so still eating those - helping a local business!
DeleteWe were strict vegetarians for years and I never used anything which pretended to be meat. I relied a lot on middle eastern cookery but having read what you say about chickpeas, Sue, it wouldn't agree with you!
ReplyDeleteChickpeas are a mainstay of so many vegetarian meals but I always get stomach cramps after eating them so not a good idea
DeleteI've been trying to find good vegan frozen food for years, because it's handy to have something in the freezer you can whip out and make a meal of quickly (I know I could make my own and freeze them but I rarely seem to get round to it). Most things I've tried have been quite quite horrible! I also eat a low fat diet and a lot of processed veg and vegan burgers and sausages tend to be high in fat. The ones I use regularly are Quorn fillets with no coating, simmered in either a mushroom and soya cream sauce, or in a tomato sauce, which go well with plenty of veg and provide a bit of moisture, Heck sausages and anything by Tivall or Frys, both old continental Jewish brands that seem to have cracked the fake meat thing decades ago. Frys hotdogs and Tivall's schnitzel are really nice, with a distinct flavour and not too many additives. Unfortunately they are hard to get hold of - Waitrose stock Tivall sometimes, and Tesco have Frys, but I have to buy them online as our local stores don't carry them. For mince I used the dried soya stuff - much cheaper and nicer, imho, than the various branded versions. If you try them I hope you enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteI like your warm pasta salad idea! And I ll look for some veggie burgers, like the birds eye ones. I usually do not like frozen foods, prefer to prepare for three or four days at a time. I don't mind eating the same thing every day.
ReplyDeleteMeat substitutes are really expensive here so I only buy them when they are reduced in price. I had plant-based sausages recently which actually tasted like sausages so I will get them again. Your pasta salad sounds like something I would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThe pasta salad sounds lovely. As Chris says meat substitutes are very expensive here. So I usually go with eggs, and cheese. Sometimes beans.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
In the US, I find frozen veggie prepared foods are generally expensive and have little taste but lots of salt. Lately when I don't want to prepare a meal, I make a quick omelet adding whatever I have on hand. Hearty sandwiches along with veggie soup is enjoyed too.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Richmond meat free, theres some really interesting stuff in m&s and the Tesco frozen range is really good.
ReplyDeleteI bought some higgerty (I think) mini porkless pies, they were really good. Filled with puy lentils and a little spice. There were 4 in a pack, I ate two as the meat eaters also like them.
linda mccartney sausage rolls are my guilty pleasure , loved them for years sadly theyve changed the packaging and doubled the price recently . plus theyre hard to find
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! There are such lovely vegetarian meals available in England. Not so much here and what there is are really expensive or they are 'fake' meat products. I'd love just to eat some veggie vegetarian options .
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