I love all of the ideas - in general, German food is pretty meat-centric (just visit a grocery shop in Germany and check out the meat section - holey moley do they have a lot of types of sausages!!!!!!!!!!!) .... so having said that, your best bet is going for the side dishes like cabbage, sauerkraut, spaetzle, etc. Here are a few recipes:
Roasted German Potato Salad
Published June 1, 2005.
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Why this recipe works:
German potato salad, studded with bacon and tangy from a mustardy sweet-and-sour vinaigrette, is a backyard barbecue classic. Our Roasted German Potato Salad recipe goes a step further by roasting the potatoes. We used red potatoes and seasoned them generously before roasting them in a hot oven. We used a portion of the rendered bacon fat to cook the onion and also blended some into the vinaigrette. We also whisked the mustard into the vinaigrette off the heat to best preserve its tangy flavor. Dressing the potatoes with the vinaigrette while both were still warm allowed the potatoes to soak up the vinaigrette’s flavors.
less
Serves 4 to 6
This bacon-dressed potato salad tastes best when served warm or at room temperature and makes a natural accompaniment to grilled pork. If your bacon does not render 1/4 cup of fat, add olive oil to get to 1/4 cup.
Ingredients
2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 strips bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon whole-grain German-style mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss potatoes with oil in medium bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast potatoes in single layer in shallow roasting pan, tossing potatoes once or twice, until golden brown and skins are wrinkled, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to large serving bowl.
2. Meanwhile, fry bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels. Discard all but 1/4 cup fat, return skillet to medium heat, and add onion. Cook until onion is softened and just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and stir until dissolved, about 30 seconds. Add vinegar and water, increase heat to high, bring to boil, and cook until mixture is reduced to about 3/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Off heat, whisk in mustard and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour dressing over warm potatoes. Add parsley and bacon and toss to combine; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Braised Red Cabbage
From Cook's Country | December/January 2015
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Why this recipe works:
This German American dish is all about balancing sweet and sour. In order to do so, we braise the cabbage in orange juice concentrate (to save time reducing orange juice), red wine, and brown sugar. Removing the lid partway through cooking allows the braising liquid to reduce to a thick, syrupy glaze. Finishing the dish with a tart Granny Smith apple, butter, and chopped parsley brings everything together.
less
Serves 4
We developed this recipe with inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon, but any dry red wine will work. Our favorite frozen orange juice concentrate is Minute Maid Original Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, halved and sliced thin
1 head red cabbage (2 pounds), cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Salt and pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in cabbage, wine, orange juice concentrate, sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Stir in apple. Increase heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, uncovered, until cabbage is tender and liquid is syrupy, 25 to 30 minutes longer.
3. Off heat, stir in parsley and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Family-Sized Potato Roesti
Published March 1, 2007.
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Why this recipe works:
Producing a golden-brown crust for our roesti recipe wasn't much of a problem, but the inside always came out gluey and half-cooked. For a better roesti recipe, inside and out, we eliminated moisture by wringing the raw grated potatoes in a towel rather than patting them with a paper towel. First covering the potatoes, then uncovering them to finish cooking created surprisingly light potatoes. Our final breakthrough came when we tried removing excess starch with a rinse in cold water before squeezing, but then added back just enough starch to hold the cake together by tossing the rinsed, squeezed-dry grated potato with a teaspoon of cornstarch.
less
Serves 6
The test kitchen prefers a roesti prepared with potatoes that have been cut through the large shredding disk of a food processor. It is possible to use a box grater to cut the potatoes, but they should be cut lengthwise, so you are left with long shreds. It is imperative to squeeze the potatoes as dry as possible. A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet can be used in place of the nonstick skillet. By adding fried eggs, ham, bacon, cheese, cooked onions, and/or tomatoes, (see below for specific suggestions), roesti can be turned into a light meal.
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (5 to 6 medium), peeled and shredded (see note above)
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Ground black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large bowl and fill with cold water. Using hands, swirl to remove excess starch, then drain in strainer.
2. Wipe bowl dry. Place one-third of potatoes in center of kitchen towel. Gather ends together and twist as tightly as possible to expel maximum moisture. Transfer potatoes to bowl and repeat process (twice) with remaining potatoes.
3. Sprinkle salt, cornstarch, and pepper to taste over potatoes. Using hands or fork, toss ingredients together until well blended.
4. Melt 2 1/2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add potato mixture and spread into even layer. Cover and cook 6 minutes. Remove cover and, using spatula, gently press potatoes down to form round cake. Cook, occasionally pressing on potatoes to shape into uniform round cake, until bottom is deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
5. Shake skillet to loosen roesti and slide onto large plate. Add remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons butter to skillet and swirl to coat pan. Invert roesti onto second plate and slide it, browned side up, back into skillet. Cook, occasionally pressing down on cake, until bottom is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer roesti to cutting board, cut into 4 pieces, and serve immediately.
Ramping Up RoestiThe Swiss traditionally top roesti with a range of meats, cheeses, and vegetables to create a simple main course. But roesti is not pizza—you must use a light hand with toppings to preserve the potato flavor and proper texture. One topped roesti will serve two as a main course.
Slide 2 softly fried eggs onto finished roesti and sprinkle with 1/2 cup to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese and coarse salt to taste.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese over roesti about 3 minutes before fully cooked on second side. While not traditional, sharp cheddar, Manchego, Italian fontina, and Havarti cheeses taste good, too.
Drape 4 or 5 slices cured ham or prosciutto over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. If desired, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or rosemary and coarse black pepper and serve with whole-grain mustard.
Top with 3 or 4 strips crumbled cooked bacon and 1 large onion, sliced thin and cooked in 1 tablespoon bacon drippings or butter until soft and seasoned with salt and lots of black pepper. Sprinkle with sherry vinegar if desired.
Shingle 1 large tomato (sliced very thin, placed on paper towels, salted for 30 minutes, and patted dry) over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. (Particularly good when combined with fontina; put cheese down first so that it melts.)
Oooo, I love spatzle. Well, I love pretty much anything with potato in it. I've had some pretty amazing cooked red cabbage with vinegar in Germany too.
http://food52.com/recipes/search?q=German -- this will give you some German recipes on the site. Some are vegetarian already, and some could be adapted. Some may have a sauce that you could use with a vegetarian base. Sometimes parallel thinking will get you what you want!
German sausages have a long tradition and testify to the fact that nose-to-tail use of an animal is not a new idea. In addition, many of the sausages fall under the EU's protected geographical status. No need to resort to a fake grain product to put a decent German meal on the table!
Vegetarian fake sausage, while not the most 'real food' ingredient, can be really good. Check out the Field Roast brand vegetarian sausage. It has good flavor, decent protein, and is a great substitute.
PS Sauerkraut is always good, but it is usually served with meat. to make it a full meal. Without meat, you need to serve it with boiled potatoes, or even better, Spätzle. Make the Spätzle the day before. To serve with the Sauerkraut, melt butter in a frying pan, add some chopped onions and fry til translucent. Then add the Spätzle and fry until crisp and brown.
You might also look at some soup recipes. Soup was and is a popular main dish during the winter.
There's a category of recipes called Mehlspeisen, which are flour-based dishes without meat. These were standards for Friday meals before Vatican II. A few examples: bread dumplings topped with chanterelles in a cream sauce, apple strudel, quark strudel, yeast dumplings with vanilla sauce, Kaiserschmarrn (pancakes torn with a fork and served with a seasonal fruit compote, Zwiebelkuchen (onion pie (most recipes call for bacon, but it is easy enough to omit) . . . Or, you could pretend you are a medieval monk and just drink your meal. According to tradition, a group of monks who relocated to Munich from Italy in the 1400 or 1500s were desperate for vegetarian options during Lent. The choices were pretty slim and ranged from rutabegas to cabbage, so one of the monks began playing around with the beer recipe. The result was Starkbier, which has a higher alcohol content and was the equvalent of eating nutritious bread. The beer is still made and served during Lent in Bavaria.
If you provide a few more clues on what kind of meal you are looking for, I might come up with more ideas.
Braised sauerkraut is really nice. Sauté some onions in butter, add sauerkraut and cook 5 min., add a grated potato and/or apple and caraway seeds. Cover the sauerkraut with 1/4 cup or so white wine and the rest stock. Simmer 30-45 min. Season to taste.
My first boss was German and whenever I went to his house for dinner, they made potato pancakes. They were big, almost like thin rösti. They told me it was a traditional dish.
14 Comments
Roasted German Potato Salad
Published June 1, 2005.
Add to Favorites
Share:
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on google_plusone_share
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Why this recipe works:
German potato salad, studded with bacon and tangy from a mustardy sweet-and-sour vinaigrette, is a backyard barbecue classic. Our Roasted German Potato Salad recipe goes a step further by roasting the potatoes. We used red potatoes and seasoned them generously before roasting them in a hot oven. We used a portion of the rendered bacon fat to cook the onion and also blended some into the vinaigrette. We also whisked the mustard into the vinaigrette off the heat to best preserve its tangy flavor. Dressing the potatoes with the vinaigrette while both were still warm allowed the potatoes to soak up the vinaigrette’s flavors.
less
Serves 4 to 6
This bacon-dressed potato salad tastes best when served warm or at room temperature and makes a natural accompaniment to grilled pork. If your bacon does not render 1/4 cup of fat, add olive oil to get to 1/4 cup.
Ingredients
2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 strips bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon whole-grain German-style mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss potatoes with oil in medium bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast potatoes in single layer in shallow roasting pan, tossing potatoes once or twice, until golden brown and skins are wrinkled, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to large serving bowl.
2. Meanwhile, fry bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels. Discard all but 1/4 cup fat, return skillet to medium heat, and add onion. Cook until onion is softened and just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and stir until dissolved, about 30 seconds. Add vinegar and water, increase heat to high, bring to boil, and cook until mixture is reduced to about 3/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Off heat, whisk in mustard and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour dressing over warm potatoes. Add parsley and bacon and toss to combine; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Braised Red Cabbage
From Cook's Country | December/January 2015
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Why this recipe works:
This German American dish is all about balancing sweet and sour. In order to do so, we braise the cabbage in orange juice concentrate (to save time reducing orange juice), red wine, and brown sugar. Removing the lid partway through cooking allows the braising liquid to reduce to a thick, syrupy glaze. Finishing the dish with a tart Granny Smith apple, butter, and chopped parsley brings everything together.
less
Serves 4
We developed this recipe with inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon, but any dry red wine will work. Our favorite frozen orange juice concentrate is Minute Maid Original Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, halved and sliced thin
1 head red cabbage (2 pounds), cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Salt and pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in cabbage, wine, orange juice concentrate, sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Stir in apple. Increase heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, uncovered, until cabbage is tender and liquid is syrupy, 25 to 30 minutes longer.
3. Off heat, stir in parsley and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Family-Sized Potato Roesti
Published March 1, 2007.
Add to Favorites
Share:
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on google_plusone_share
Share on pinterest_share
Shopping list
Email
Print
Why this recipe works:
Producing a golden-brown crust for our roesti recipe wasn't much of a problem, but the inside always came out gluey and half-cooked. For a better roesti recipe, inside and out, we eliminated moisture by wringing the raw grated potatoes in a towel rather than patting them with a paper towel. First covering the potatoes, then uncovering them to finish cooking created surprisingly light potatoes. Our final breakthrough came when we tried removing excess starch with a rinse in cold water before squeezing, but then added back just enough starch to hold the cake together by tossing the rinsed, squeezed-dry grated potato with a teaspoon of cornstarch.
less
Serves 6
The test kitchen prefers a roesti prepared with potatoes that have been cut through the large shredding disk of a food processor. It is possible to use a box grater to cut the potatoes, but they should be cut lengthwise, so you are left with long shreds. It is imperative to squeeze the potatoes as dry as possible. A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet can be used in place of the nonstick skillet. By adding fried eggs, ham, bacon, cheese, cooked onions, and/or tomatoes, (see below for specific suggestions), roesti can be turned into a light meal.
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (5 to 6 medium), peeled and shredded (see note above)
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Ground black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
1. Place potatoes in large bowl and fill with cold water. Using hands, swirl to remove excess starch, then drain in strainer.
2. Wipe bowl dry. Place one-third of potatoes in center of kitchen towel. Gather ends together and twist as tightly as possible to expel maximum moisture. Transfer potatoes to bowl and repeat process (twice) with remaining potatoes.
3. Sprinkle salt, cornstarch, and pepper to taste over potatoes. Using hands or fork, toss ingredients together until well blended.
4. Melt 2 1/2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add potato mixture and spread into even layer. Cover and cook 6 minutes. Remove cover and, using spatula, gently press potatoes down to form round cake. Cook, occasionally pressing on potatoes to shape into uniform round cake, until bottom is deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
5. Shake skillet to loosen roesti and slide onto large plate. Add remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons butter to skillet and swirl to coat pan. Invert roesti onto second plate and slide it, browned side up, back into skillet. Cook, occasionally pressing down on cake, until bottom is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer roesti to cutting board, cut into 4 pieces, and serve immediately.
Ramping Up RoestiThe Swiss traditionally top roesti with a range of meats, cheeses, and vegetables to create a simple main course. But roesti is not pizza—you must use a light hand with toppings to preserve the potato flavor and proper texture. One topped roesti will serve two as a main course.
Slide 2 softly fried eggs onto finished roesti and sprinkle with 1/2 cup to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese and coarse salt to taste.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese over roesti about 3 minutes before fully cooked on second side. While not traditional, sharp cheddar, Manchego, Italian fontina, and Havarti cheeses taste good, too.
Drape 4 or 5 slices cured ham or prosciutto over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. If desired, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or rosemary and coarse black pepper and serve with whole-grain mustard.
Top with 3 or 4 strips crumbled cooked bacon and 1 large onion, sliced thin and cooked in 1 tablespoon bacon drippings or butter until soft and seasoned with salt and lots of black pepper. Sprinkle with sherry vinegar if desired.
Shingle 1 large tomato (sliced very thin, placed on paper towels, salted for 30 minutes, and patted dry) over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. (Particularly good when combined with fontina; put cheese down first so that it melts.)
You might also look at some soup recipes. Soup was and is a popular main dish during the winter.
If you provide a few more clues on what kind of meal you are looking for, I might come up with more ideas.
Voted the Best Reply!