Hilary's Vegetarian Recipes

Available on the App Store :

This Book is for You

  • If you are a vegetarian
  • If a member of your family is a vegetarian
  • If a vegetarian friend comes to eat with you sometimes
  • If you want a meat-free meal occasionally
  • If you are bored cooking the same food
  • If you want to reduce your shopping bill


Vegetarian Meals

Vegetarian meals are low in fats, calories and cost

Pulses (peas, beans & lentils) are full of protein, iron, phosphorus and B vitamins

This book is for family meals – it is not celebrity-chef cooking.

These are uncomplicated meals.

We are not looking for perfection, just nutritious, tasty food.

Here you will find vegetarian recipes under four headings:
  • Starters/light lunches
  • Family meals
  • Special occasions
  • Vegetables + a difference

How it all started

Twenty-five years ago my husband found he felt better in his gut if he didn’t eat meat. I cooked meat dishes for our two children – who continue to be committed carnivores – and vegetarian food for him. It didn’t take me long to relish the vegetarian meals, so I joined him! Remembering the time it took to find easy and quick recipes for us adults I knew that there was a need for straightforward recipes for everyday simple vegetarian food. Believe me it is delicious, nutritious and doesn’t have to be complicated with fancy ingredients.

Cooking Vegetarian Meals

A vegetarian diet can be really satisfying and a pleasure to eat. There is no need to be anxious about a shortage of protein. To be a vegetarian is not a matter of eating only vegetables. There is more than enough protein in a balanced vegetarian diet which includes vegetables, fruit, dairy products, lentils, pulses, cereals, seeds and nuts. Our bodies need 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day and this is readily supplied by a vegetarian diet.

Cooking vegetarian meals need not be daunting. One of the great advantages is that it is easy to adapt a recipe to what you have available in your cupboard, fridge and freezer, and to your family’s taste. If someone doesn’t like garlic, leave it out. If someone doesn’t like parsnips, substitute another vegetable. Unlike baking, where lack of precision can ruin a cake, in vegetarian cooking quantities don’t need to be exact. A further advantage is that many of your basic vegetarian ingredients don’t ‘go off’ while in the cupboard. Tins of lentils, beans, chick peas and tomatoes have a long shelf life and dried pulses and beans keep well.

Lentils (red, continental or Puy) are laden with protein but they are quite bland. They need to be jazzed up to suit your taste. You can use Cayenne pepper, ground cumin or ground chili flakes – or you can try other spices or herbs.

Experiment with your cooking, it makes it fun rather than a boring routine. Remember you are not cooking for a competition; it’s just for family or friends. When you have eaten the finished product you may decide that next time you will add something else or leave something out.

You will be surprised, and so will your friends, even dedicated meat-eaters, at how delicious vegetarian meals can be.

Hard copies of 'Hilary's Vegetarian Recipes' are available at €10 including postage from Hilary Semple, 49 Richmond Park, Monkstown, Co Dublin, Ireland.