If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen some of the weekly meal plans I put up. I can’t live without a meal plan; I think I would implode. As I find them so useful, my thinking is that other people may find them handy or take some inspiration from them. Looking at how my meal planning has changed and what I choose to eat now there has been a real shift in my kitchen and I now eat vegetarian meals four (and often more) times a week and I’m always looking for new vegetarian recipes to try out.
If you’re looking to increase your veggie cooking repertoire The Part Time Vegetarian is a great book to have on your shelf. All the meals are vegetarian but there are tips for adding meat or fish to the recipe if you want to. Mighty handy if you have a veggie and non-veggie coming for dinner or you want something to help the transition over to the vegetarian side.
Flicking through the book (the photos are pretty dribble-inducing) I was torn between trying out the Chickpea Fritters with Mango Raita and the Chimichurri Gnocchi. I went for the Chimichurri Gnocchi in the end as I love gnocchi so any excuse to have some! This was so simple and so tasty I can see it becoming a regular in my kitchen. Make the chimichurri, leave to one side, fry the gnocchi then add some fresh chopped tomatoes to the gnocchi to warm through. Then serve up and pour the chimichurri over. I reckon it took 20 minutes if that. My ideal weeknight meal. For the meat eaters (or for a special treat) you can add some sliced sirloin steak.
The only thing I wish the book did have would be for the recipes to tell you roughly how long they take; I know then if I’m looking at a weeknight or weekend dinner. I like that the book is full of modern recipes and cooking ideas; vibrant flavours and ingredients and with a few speedy suppers too. No soaking beans overnight, just flavourful recipes which are a mixture of quick meals and indulgent weekend cooking. I’ll certainly be taking inspiration from this book in future.
Thanks to Watkins Publishing for the book. All opinions expressed are my own.
The gnocchi sounds so good. I don’t use a meal plan as supper is very free form in our house 🙂
You Captcha does not like me!! Really battling with it. I love the sound of the gnocchi 🙂
Sounds like a great book to have on the shelf!
What a great idea for a book. We eat vegetarian dishes a couple of nights a week although admittedly we don’t really do it when we go out to eat.
Hi Caroline, this sounds like a wonderful book, love the way your dish sounds.
This book sounds so great!!! I definitely want to buy it. The gnocchi looks beautiful, it’s one of my favourite things to eat!
I’m a big meal planner as well! It helps me to make sure we don’t waste food and to keep from just getting take-out or something after a long day. I know what we are having to eat every day! We also try to incorporate vegetarian meals each week (though we are more like 2ish). This sounds like a helpful book.
This sounds like the book for me! I’m eating far more vegetarian meals now, but sometimes you just fancy a bit more protein!
Saskia / girlinbrogues.com