Need tasty vegetarian recipes for meat eating husband!

[Huskerwmn]

Hi there. I have been an on again/ off again vegetarian for about a year now. I find it difficult to maintain a strict vegetarian diet because my husband is a strict meat eater. I have come to a compromise with him and will cook meat for him 3 nights a week (and a veggie burger for myself) and a vegetarian meal for both of us the other 3 nights. My only problem is that he hates the vegetarian meal nights and will complain the whole time. He hates beans (except green beans), tofu, wheat pasta, eggplant, mushrooms and almost any other meat substitute. Does anyone have any suggestions for tasty healthy vegetarian recipes that don't contain any of the above ingredients? He will eat almost any type of vegetable and salad, but it's hard to come up with main dishes that are strictly vegetable. Thanks for any ideas...

[oneLove]

try veggie lasagna (regular white pasta). Chili without meat, just add twice as much beans. Baked potato with broccoli and cheese on top, egg rolls, stir fry with rice, homemade or premade soups with grilled cheese (use a combination of cheeses and some really great bread) my husband also eats meat but he would prefer to eat the blackbean burger recipe that i've posted under recipes than hamburger. veggie fajitas. stir fry zucchini, onion, corn....have some salsa, quacamole, sour cream, cheese, and make your own fajitas at the table. my husband loves that. I make vegetarian dinners almost every night but I have some extra options for him like the cheese and sour cream.
their are so many options. food is just as tasty without meat.

[RFL1986]

I found that a lot of the meals I was already making were easy (and tasty) just by excluding meat in their preparation. Pastas, stirfrys and other similar dishes can be just as good without messing up a vegetarian diet.

[tater03]

Pastas and stir frys are what I have to make for my husband for dinner when I don't cook meat for him. I am lucky in that he is not very picky. He doesn't like any of the mock meat I have tried so far though.

[Taggart]

Have you tried a ground beef substitute? I've had a very convincing kind, but unfortunately I don't know the brand name of it.

It works very well in dishes like tacos and lasagna.

[katharina]

I found that a lot of the meals I was already making were easy (and tasty) just by excluding meat in their preparation. Pastas, stirfrys and other similar dishes can be just as good without messing up a vegetarian diet.

I noticed this too... that a lot of my recipes that use meat are actually very good without it. The recipes it works best with seem to use veggies and starch and the meat that is easiest to cut out seems to be (at least with my own recipes) those that use cut up chicken pieces.

[Serenity]

I love ratatouille, would he like that? It's quick, easy and pretty filling. You can have it over pasta too (since you said he doesn't like the wheat one, I'm assuming he'll eat ordinary pasta?) if you want to bulk the meal up some more. I like it best on its own with some type of crusty loaf or roll to dip in the juices and soak them up.

[rerere]

I find that if i cover everything with chilli cheese - my husband is more than happy. I balance with BIG salads. Try and find a sauce that you can drown everything in, that your husband loves - be it chilli, cheese, herb mustard etc
Also, baked potatoes are a winner at my house for the both of us!

[liza123]

What about preparing dishes for him that have mock meat? Chicken curry, sweet and sour chicken and whatnot. You can get the recipes online. you can buy Chinese mock meat that have various shapes and sizes:D

[Cassilda]

Serving big salads is a good idea. I have a recipe for potato salad without mayo, see if you like it: boil potatoes, let them cool off, dice; add some diced onion, some salt, and dress with vegetable oil (not too much).