Request for vegitarian meals with a spicy KICK

I don't actually cook from recipes much, but some of my favorite spicy vegetarian dishes outside the realm of curries and chilies are

Chilis rellenos. Pick a decent sized pepper that suits your desire for heat (I like hatch chilis, and poblanos) and stuff with your favorite spicy stuffing (grains, beans, cheese, and/or pureed veggies, with chili powder, ground chipotle, or cayenne to kick it up; a little cinnamon can be nice, too). I like a mixture of bulgur, pureed (or canned) pumpkin or squash, and pepipitas (toasted pumpkin seeds). Dip in beaten egg and dredge in cornmeal, flour, bread crumbs, or chopped nuts or seeds -- you can add cumin or chili powder to the dry ingredient you've chosen for dredging. Shallow fry in oil of your choice (I like corn or another neutral-flavored oil, but olive oil will work fine). Top with a spicy tomato sauce of your choice and a little shredded cheese, and heat in microwave or oven until sauce is hot and cheese melts.

Spicy fake eggplant parmesan. Broil or grill sliced eggplant, layer with spicy tomato sauce (e.g., fra diavolo), top wtih parmesan, slide back up under broiler or in a medium oven until cheese melts and browns a little.

Kushari. Cook broken spaghetti or vermicelli, rice, lentils, and garbanzos (or use canned garbanzos). Combine desired amounts of pasta, rice, and legumes. Top with spicy tomato sauce (I like to make my own for this, or at least cook down a bottled sauce so it's thicker, and add hot sauce to it) and grilled onions.

I made this and it was delicious and different:

Ethiopian Style Berbere Lentils

And this was more what you've probably been eating, but it was nice too: Thai Green Vegetable Curry

And I keep meaning to try this:

Spinach Jalapeno Dip

I loved chili rellenos when I ate eggs, so I second the recommendation for them.

Just thought of another one:

Noodles with spicy peanut sauce. You can make this either hot or cold (the main difference being whether you cool or even chill the noodles after cooking). I use any kind of noodles these days, but I think either soba or "cellophane" noodles work if you want something more Asian to go with the sauce. Or you can choose a noodle that suits your macro needs.

Again, I don't generally bother looking at a recipe anymore to make the peanut sauce, as I've been making it for close to 30 years. I just combine peanut butter (I prefer one that's just peanuts and salt, but use what you like); vinegar (red rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, cider or malt vinegar); rice wine or sherry if you like (I usually don't bother); soy sauce; hot oil (la you, chili-infused sesame oil), or you can sub a Tabasco-style hot sauce; and, if you like, a little sugar or other sweetener (I prefer it without). Then I taste and adjust to get the balance of flavors the way I like them. You're going for a complex mix of heat, saltiness, umami, sourness, and a little sweetness.

Ideally the vinegar, soy sauce, and wine or sherry, if you're using it, will thin the peanut butter down enough to pour over the noodles. If you use a peanut butter that doesn't have other (non-peanut) oils added, I find it thins down to a pouring consistency pretty easily. You're looking for something close to the consistency of chocolate syrup. But if you get the flavor where you want it and don't want to mess the flavor up trying to get it thinner, just spoon it on the hot noodles and toss it, and the heat should help it spread and coat all the noodles. Even if you want to eat it cold, you can put the peanut sauce on when it's hot (in fact, it's a good idea to do so, as it will help keep the noodles from sticking together and forming a solid clump).

Tofu* goes good with it, especially if you press the water out and/or freeze it and/or roast or fry it -- any of the techniques to give it a chewier and/or crispier texture. If you fry the tofu and want to up the heat in the dish, you could fry a dried chili (remove before frying if you want to temper the heat) or the chili flakes that you sometimes see in pizzerias before you add the tofu to the oil. I like to cook it until it gets a little brown in spots, to ensure a little crispiness and also add color to what can be a pretty beige dish.

I also like bell peppers (but you could use hot peppers, if you prefer) and cucumbers with the tofu. Try other vegetables if you like. I like the veggies raw in this dish, but feel free to saute or stir fry them, again in oil with dried chili if you like. You can toss the veggies with the noodles when you add the peanut sauce, if you like, but I usually prefer to put them on top with the tofu when I serve it -- I just think it looks more attractive.


*ETA: obviously, if you're not a fan of tofu, or want to try something different, you could sub tempeh or seitan or your favorite beans or your favorite commercial meat substitute -- faux grilled "chicken" strips would be very nice, I think.

Lentil loaf with a poached egg on top and a good dollup of hot sauce.

when I was in South India I came across Avial, which has become one of my favourite vegetarian dishes.

I'm linking to a recipe for you. But, this recipe uses yoghurt (as a souring agent). The chef who showed me how to make this in Kerala used tamarind paste instead, but also said you could use mango powder if you didn't have tamarind. This would reduce the "dairy" element of the recipe for you.

https://food.ndtv.com/recipe-kerala-style-avial-486444

Super simple, but since I have been trying to eat my way through my stash of soy curls recently, it's worth throwing out there:

Rehydrate your soy curls or TVP
Marinate protein in a mixture of salsa, chili powder, and water if needed--I usually prep in the morning and let them sit in the fridge all day
Simmer until the "sauce" is thickened
Serve on warmed corn tortillas with your favorite taco toppings. I like pepper jack cheese on them, or Trader Joe's "reduced guilt" chunky guacamole.