Vegetarian main dish recipes wanted!

[kelliem]

I have a vegetarian* friend coming out to visit in a couple of weeks, and I'm looking for some 'tried and true' vegetarian entree recipes since kidunit and I are in main carnivores and most of my entree recipes contain meat. I could go look up vegetarian entrees on foodnetwork.com or epicurious.com but what I want are your recipes, ones you've made a zillion times and love and would like to share. So please comment to this post with your favorite vegetarian recipe.

Thank you all!

*ETA: Specifically looking for ovo-lacto style recipes-- eggs and dairy are okay but not meat or seafood.

Comments

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Do you have a spanakopita recipe? I'd love that. Tzatziki is basically Greek-style yogurt blended with dill and cucumber, right? The kebabs are a great idea, too.

[arallara.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry this took me so long! Busy couple days! :(

I put minced garlic in my tzatziki and don't always use dill. Sometimes I use fresh mint! A little salt and pepper to taste. But the cucumber and yogurt are the basic elements.

Here's my general recipe for one 9x13-inch dish of spanakopita:
1 lb. phyllo
1 stick unsalted butter
Approx. 1 1/2 lbs fresh spinach or 2-3 10 oz. pkgs frozen
Approx. 1/2 - 3/4 lb. feta
1/4 - 1/2 c. grated Kasseri cheese
(it's different, but I often use Parmesan if I have it on hand instead of buying Kasseri)
Approx 1/2 - 3/4 c. green onions, in 1/2-inch slices
2-4 eggs, beaten lightly
1/4 c. olive oil
nutmeg (can't beat freshly grated)
black pepper

Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees.

Wilt spinach, squeeze out as much water as possible, chop reasonably thoroughly. Saute green onions in olive oil until soft. In large bowl, mix spinach, cheeses, green onions and olive oil, eggs. Add a few grinds of fresh black pepper, or no more than 1/4 tsp. pre-ground. Add a dash or a few grates of nutmeg. Mix well.

Melt butter for brushing on phyllo. Brush baking pan with butter. If phyllo is long, fold over sheet of phyllo to fit in bottom of pan. If it's pan-sized, lay two pieces in pan. Brush lightly with butter. Repeat until you have 10 or so double layers in pan. Brush top layer more thoroughly with butter. Spread spinach mixture over phyllo evenly. Cover with more double layers of phyllo, brushing each with butter, until phyllo is used up or it seems like you have enough. (I usually wing the number of layers each time I do this, and I usually end up having some phyllo left over from the 1-lb. pkg.) Brush top layer very thoroughly.

Use a very sharp knife to cut the spanakopita into pieces before you bake it! Be careful just to cut through the top layers! (I have forgotten this step before, and it's totally impossible to cut nice pretty pieces once the phyllo is crispy.)

Bake 40-50 minutes, checking carefully for over-browning during the last 10 minutes or so. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

I vary the proportions of cheese, egg, and spinach depending on my mood and whether I want something richer or lighter.

Oh my god, now I totally want to make this. It's been a while. :)

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Hey, no problem! It sounds marvelous. Thank goodness phyllo is now available commercially. :)