Ask the expert: Simon Rimmer

About Simon Rimmer

Simon Rimmer became an unsuspecting expert on vegetarian food when he bought his first eaterie in Manchester in 1992 - an established veggie café. Despite being a carnivore he decided to stick with the vegetarian menu and immediately embarked on a mission to learn as much about vegetarian cooking as he could. Many years of learning, experimenting and trial and error later, he's established a successful business, written a vegetarian cookery book and mixes vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes as the chef on BBC Two's Something for the Weekend.

Why did you open up a vegetarian restaurant when you're not vegetarian yourself?

When we first bought the restaurant it was a hippy-vegetarian café. We (myself and business partner Simon Connolly) bought it because we wanted somewhere cheap. It was very cheap as the area wasn’t very trendy. We didn’t put much thought into it; we basically thought we could do something with it and since I couldn’t cook back then, I had no idea whether a vegetarian restaurant would be a hard or easy thing to do.

I became quite obsessed with the idea of creating a really good vegetarian restaurant. I’m not actually a vegetarian myself but I don't eat a huge amount of meat. Although when I get home from work I do want to eat something different, so I tend to cook myself either chicken or fish.

Many foods contain hidden non-vegetarian ingredients, so can you really trust the 'vegetarian' sign in non-veggie restaurants? Do chefs understand what is vegetarian and what is not?

No, I don’t believe you can always trust that the vegetarian option will be fully vegetarian in a non-vegetarian restaurant. I would be surprised if most of the cheese they use is vegetarian, for example there is no such thing as vegetarian parmesan. Pecorino cheese is also traditionally not vegetarian but I get a fantastic veggie cheese that's similar in style from South Wales. I would also be surprised if they do actually use separate knives and pans for the veggie/non-veggie stuff.

Why do you think celebrity chefs tend not to cater for vegetarians?

I think professional chefs find vegetarian food labour-intensive. If your background isn't in vegetarian food then when you're creating a dish you will typically base it around meat or fish. I've found that you really have to be creative with vegetarian dishes to avoid making the same boring dishes such as lasagne or risotto.

What vegetarian options work well on the barbecue?

You can do something very simple such as marinated vegetable kebabs - just mix up some chilli oil, cumin and crushed coriander seeds and coat some vegetables - go for something adventurous, not just onions and peppers. See what's seasonal in your local greengrocers.

You can also roast aubergines on the barbecue with some olive oil, and you can create delicious wraps with coconut rice - simply cook some jasmine rice, stir in a big dollop of coconut milk and chopped chilli, wrap the rice in a banana leaf and put it on the barbecue. All the flavours will seep through - it's absolutely perfect for the summer.

You could also try aubergine satay skewers, a simple satay dip would just involve fresh coconut, chilli and some stock. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, marinade them, then roast them on the barbecue.

Have you got any suggestions for vegetarian meals that young children will enjoy? I am trying to encourage my three-year-old to eat fewer chicken nuggets!

If you're going to cook for kids, don't make them feel chicken nuggets are bad for them as they will only rebel and refuse anything else!

Try them on vegetable nuggets - they're easy to make and taste amazing. Simply roast some sweet potato in a little olive oil, then finely chop some red pepper and green beans and add some grated hard cheese. Mush it with a fork and mould it into sausage shapes. Roll them in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and shallow fry or grill them. Kids love them! Pasta dishes are also a great way to get children to eat their vegetables. You can put puréed veggies in a tomato-based sauce and they won't even know they're eating something healthy.

I'm catering for a vegetarian dinner party and I wondered if you had any ideas for a simple vegetarian dish that can be made in a large amount?

You can make a vegetarian Lancashire hotpot, which is a very simple dish to make in a large amount. This recipe will feed about 20 people:

• For the sauce, take four chopped onions, a clove of crushed garlic, a chopped green chilli, about 50g/1 3/4oz tomato purée, 100ml/3 1/2fl oz tomato ketchup, a splash of vegetarian gravy browning, a bottle of red wine and about 100ml/3 1/2fl oz vegetable stock.
• Sauté the onions, garlic and chilli in a little oil until they are soft, then add all the other ingredients and boil for about 30 minutes. Blend until smooth - this gives you a sauce.
• Now take plenty of vegetables - you can use butternut squash, asparagus, baby onions, broad beans, whatever you like - and boil them briefly until just cooked (except for the squash which you should roast). Once the vegetables are cooked, spoon a portion of them onto each serving plate and spoon over the sauce.
• To make the topping, very finely slice some baking potatoes, leaving the skin on, then blanch until the slices are just tender. Lay them out on a baking tray, brush with loads of butter and stick under a hot grill until crisp and golden. Pop a few slices on top of each serving of hotpot.
• If you don't want to put out individual portions you can mix it altogether in one pot and serve with a ladle.

What dish would you recommend for a die-hard meat-eater who always says that vegetarian food would be better with a nice steak?

My favourite dish is my Filo strudel with port wine sauce - it's the dish that changed the world, or at least my restaurant. I like to serve it with some fine beans, garlic and tomato sauce and a few new potatoes, although you can even serve it with chips and garlic mayonnaise too.

I'm cooking a Chinese meal for friends tomorrow and one is a vegetarian - any suggestions for interesting dishes?

I have a great recipe for Chinese mushroom pancakes. It takes its inspiration from crispy duck and pancakes, but I use oyster mushrooms instead. They're brilliant and really work like crispy duck.

Which countries have influenced you most with their vegetarian cooking?

My two favourite countries are Thailand and, bizarrely, Spain which is probably not known for its great vegetarian cuisine. I love the tapas dishes the Spanish make. There are lots of vegetarian ones and they use really gentle spices like paprika in their food, while the Thais tend to use more severe spices. The Spanish also do lots of griddling and roasting, with artichokes and aubergines, which I love.

What is your perfect vegetarian meal?

• For starters I would have goats' cheese rolled in honey, with sesame seeds and chilli, served with fresh mango and mint sauce.
• For mains I would have a green Thai curry and aubergines, broad beans, fresh peas and snake beans.
• For pudding I would have passionfruit cheesecake.

Where do you get your inspiration from to create a new dish?

I like to think I'm a bit of a magpie really. I will borrow ideas from anywhere. For example, I am currently playing around with challenging the idea of the normal samosa. Currently I have got as far as taking puff pastry, asparagus, raisins, pine nuts, cumin and coriander seeds and serving it with a fresh tomato sauce. The idea came from eating a vegetable samosa in an Indian restaurant and wondering how I could make it more interesting.

What are your favourite seasonal vegetables to put on the menu?

At the moment asparagus is my favourite seasonal vegetable. We use Formby asparagus, which has a very short season, but it grows out on the sand dunes near the restaurant in Didsbury. I also love purple sprouting broccoli. May and June are the nicest times of year for vegetables, full stop, with fresh broad beans and fresh peas in season. I also like the winter, though, when there are parsnips and turnips.

Try vegetarian recipes by Simon Rimmer

• Aubergine tikka masala by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Nori maki sushi rolls by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Black bean and aubergine chilli by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Sweet potato and pineapple sandwich by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Spicy beetroot and coconut soup by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Aubergine roll-mops by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Pumpkin enchiladas with mole sauce by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Lancashire cheese sausages with onion gravy by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Jerk-spiced pumpkin pie by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Hazelnut and mushroom parcels by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Chinese mushroom pancakes by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Savoury Paris-Brest by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Filo strudel with port wine sauce by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian
• Lychee and toasted coconut cheesecake by Simon Rimmer from The Accidental Vegetarian