in a vegetarian rut...need recipes

jmcnealy

I went vegan for about 8 months, then i got stressed out and started eating cheese and eggs again. I want to stop eating at least cheese for now. That being said, I'm looking for recipes (or products) that a) kids would like b) don't take a ton of prep time (or can be done the night before, etc) c) don't involve a lot of cheese

can anyone help? I am tired of the same thing - veggie burgers, stir fry, spaghetti and meatless meatballs

KylaDenay

Veggie spicy thai fried rice
Quinoa and black bean burritos
Quinoa enchiladas
Sweet potato and black bean tacos
Lentil sloppy joes
Lentil stuffed jamaican patties
Caribbean black bean soup
Veggie eggrolls or thai spring rolls
Gnocchi with pesto and veggies
Quinoa chili
Cauliflower nuggets
Veggie lo mein

ETA: my sister and I live together. She has a 2 yr old and 5 yr old. I have a 13 yr old. They will eat these items. Most except my 13 yr old is a HUGE meat eater, but they love this food.

RodaRose

Refried beans on a wrap with lettuce and salsa. Almond butter and banana wraps.
Mexican type quinoa casserole topped with avocados.
Baked oatmeal can be made the day before and eating during the week. Instead of egg, use apple sauce.

lyttlewon

Do you eat butter?

elephantlovex

Enchiladas made with beans and red sauce (could even whip up an easy vegan cheese sauce recipe), vegan chili, soups, and breakfast for dinner are my staples I highly recommend any of Chloe Coscarelli's books! I have her Chloe's Kitchen book, and I've made a ton of recipes out of there, and they're all really easy, vegan, and turn out to be delicious.

Blueseraphchaos

I make a white chili with tofu, white beans....i also add vegetables to it, so it may not technically be chili, not sure. But here's the gist of what i do...

Take a package of super firm cubed tofu, drain it, put it between paper towels until mostly dry (this usually involves putting a heavy weight on it for half an hour or so). Once it's dry, toss it in just enough cornstarch to coat. I add seasonings to the cornstarch, like garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet, throw the tofu into the skillet, cook until it's browned a bit. Meanwhile, put however many white beans into a bit of vegetable broth (just enough to add flavor but not turn it into a soup). I usually cook dried beans and use those, but cans of beans work just as well. This is usually when i add things like shredded carrots and possibly dried green peas. Cook until the veggies are tender and the beans are warm, add the tofu last. My kids eat this.

Quiches and frittatas and omelets are great options as well.

I make casseroles with quinoa and tofu too...sorry i have no measurements, i pretty much do everything by eye, or measure while I'm doing it just so i can put it in the recipe builder here....

melimomTARDIS

I cook tofu and greens in a skillet with 1/2 packet of oriental ramen seasoning, and then serve on the cooked ramen noodles soup.

I also like pasta salad, my favorite kind is spaghetti noodles w/ garbanzo beans, celery,sesame seeds, and Kraft sesame salad dressing.

melimomTARDIS

Also, bush's vegetarian baked beans with a baked potato, topped with BBQ sauce is a favorite.

tessaleonie

Buy any Ottolenghi cookbook. Not exclusively vegetarian but they are stuffed with brilliant veggie recipes.

IKnowStuff2

Vegetarian black bean soup: 1and 1/2 cups water, 1 vegetarian bullion cube, 1 can black beans, smash about half of them after they're in the kettle with a fork or something, about 1 cup of salsa, (I like hot) put it in a kettle and heat it till it's hot and the cube has dissolved. It's quite good and real easy takes about 15 minutes total. Sometimes I add extra onion cause I like it. You can put some shredded cheese or sour cream on top but it isn't necessary .

ViolaLeeBlueberry

I'm not vegetarian, but have been in the past and have many vegetarian family members. Have you checked out recipes in the Indian mode? Lots and lots of great ideas, very pro-vegetarian, and most dishes honestly don't take long to prepare. (That's a secret. Don't let it get out! But seriously, it takes me maybe 5 minutes to prepare a curry.)

My teen (whose middle name is "pizza") really likes cucumber raita. That's just yogurt with thinly sliced cucumbers and maybe some onion or cilantro if you want. It's a side, but goes with everything. Also you can make it and just keep it in the fridge for days.

I know you said you're tired of stir fries, but FWIW, coconut milk makes everything taste better! And you really only need a tablespoon added at the end. It'll coat things like green beans or whatever and make it really good, but still not high-cal like a whole cup or more of coconut milk.

Don't know if you've tried rice topped with dal, but that's a standard that feeds a good chunk of the world's population, and it's super-quick. You may already know this, but dal (a legume sauce) is typically just made by tossing some lentils or other legumes into the pressure cooker with salt. Not even spices. (Well, traditionally turmeric, but you can do without.) Try adding a few tomatoes, maybe a bit of coconut milk, or a rasam mix -- rasam is great! (Tamarind paste is one of the secret ingredients.) It shouldn't be thick like a lentil soup ... more like a broth. Then you just serve sauteed veggies on the side and perhaps an achar (often described as a "pickle," which it can be, but a tomato achar and salsa are basically the same.) Anyway, the whole meal is very easy, and everyone'll think you worked hard LOL!

And of course you can keep frozen eggrolls, spring rolls and potstickers around. Definitely kid-friendly, and no need for cheese

lyttlewon

I love cooking dal in coconut milk with tumeric. Indian food is super vegetarian friendly. If you don't do dairy you can sub coconut oil and milk easily in recipes.

jim_just_jim

I'm not vegetarian or the OP but try to eat as many veggies as I can but it does get boring, so THANK YOU all for posting suggestions ! I'll try some of these ! )

GalgoMomAnita

Bumping for the great ideas - thanks!

SyntonicGarden

(bump)

peaceful_minion

Curried Butternut Squash Soup:

One 3lb butternut squash, seeded and roasted
3 C vegetable broth broth
1 spoonful of onion powder
1 spoonful of minced garlic
3 teaspoons of curry powder (Watkins brand is my fav)
Put all into a huge soup pan. Once heated through puree with an immersion blender. Honestly it will be about the consistency of baby food. When done add in cooked wild rice to taste and frozen mixed veggies to taste. Heat through and nom hard.

or

Hungarian Mushroom Soup (with obvious vegetarian subs)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup/detail.aspx

jim_just_jim

OMG, I forgot I have 2 spaghetti squashes in the pantry ! Love them baked with just butter spray and garlic, and maybe some cheese if Im splurging ! Tomorrooooooow !

jim_just_jim

peaceful_minion wrote: »

Curried Butternut Squash Soup:

One 3lb butternut squash, seeded and roasted
3 C vegetable broth broth
1 spoonful of onion powder
1 spoonful of minced garlic
3 teaspoons of curry powder (Watkins brand is my fav)
Put all into a huge soup pan. Once heated through puree with an immersion blender. Honestly it will be about the consistency of baby food. When done add in cooked wild rice to taste and frozen mixed veggies to taste. Heat through and nom hard.

or

Hungarian Mushroom Soup (with obvious vegetarian subs)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup/detail.aspx

Oh yums ! tyvm !

tycho_mx

try some ethnic cuisine books. Lots of cultures eat small amounts of meat, mostly from economic factors.

Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Ethiopian all have lots of vegetarian alternatives.

Cook your stuff. It's much cheaper than buying the prefabricated meat-like stuff like veggie burgers. My wife is vegetarian, she stopped buying them. They aren't even that tasty: mix vegetable pulp from juice [or just shredded vegetables] with almonds and chickpeas in a food processor with onion and garlic. Add spices, hot sauce, soy sauce, etc. for flavour and some breadcrumbs for consistency. Form patties. Grill. Delicious, and can keep for a week in the fridge. No meat means little risks of them going bad, and you can add them to a pasta, or if you make it into a large enough tray instead of patties you can make it into a veggie "meat" loaf. My 3 year old loves it with ketchup.

ViolaLeeBlueberry

BTW asked my son last night if he was vegetarian, what would he pick to eat?

First he said "fake meat." (He spent 3 days once as a vegetarian, inspired by his grandfather -- a vegetarian for about 50 years -- and also because we'd had the audacity to put out mouse traps. Which prompted him to walk around with a protest sign. But, well, the veggie lifestyle didn't take!)

Then he said hummus and some of his favorite foods from a Middle Eastern vegetarian restaurant he really likes. So: add hummus, baba ghanouj, felafel, etc! Officially teen approved.

jmcnealy

thanks everyone! i try to eat as little diary and egg as possible, but i don't let it stress me out.

nogrows

Asparagus & Goat's cheese tart,
easy recipe, 4 servings, prep. Time 10 min. To cook 35 min. Recipe: Annabel Langbein

Ingredients: 100 g. #goat's feta, 100 g. #creamcheese, 2 #eggs, 0.5 cup cream, finely grated zest 0.5 #lemon, 2 tbsp chopped #parsley, 0.5 tsp salt&pepper, 12-14 #green #asparagus, #shortcrust pastry shell 25 cm #homemade or store bought.

Directions: Preheat #oven 170C. Place #feta and cream #cheese in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon. Then whisk in eggs, cream, #lemonzest, herbs and #seasonings until smooth. Arrange asparagus spears in a single layer in cooked pastry crust. Pour over cheese and cream mixture. #Bake until set, about 35 minutes. #annabellangbein #recipeshare #quickmeal #dinnerrecipe #easycooking #foodporn #vegetarian #baking #vegetables #goatcheese #tart #asparagustart #goatcheesetart #tartrecipe #foodporn

More recipes on my instagram: http://instagram.com/desla_pomme

nogrows

Pink Grapefruit, Avocado, Hazelnut, Fig & Sage Salad (instagram Desla_pomme)


Ingredients: Salad leaves, #Kale finely sliced, pink #grapefruit, #figs finely sliced, #avocado cubed, handful of toasted #hazelnuts, Sage few leaves finely sliced.
Dressing: juice of 1 #orange, 3-4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon #mustard wholegrain, salt, crushed pepper, sugar (optional). Method: Tear the #salad leaves roughly. Add the kale + sage and toss. Now place the grapefruit, figs and avocados evenly all over and throws the nuts. For the dressing just mix all the ingredients well and pour over the salad. #vegan #vegetarian #healthyrecipe #easycooking #recipeshare #cleaneating #foodporn #superfoods #aaplemint Recipe from www.aaplemint.com

nogrows

Portobello mushrooms filled with kale pesto guacemole. Put the mushrooms in de oven (450F 15min). Then make the pesto: Kale leaves, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, AVOCADO, salt and pepper. Put the pesto in the toasted mushroom and eat! (recipe: Bevcooks) #portobello #avocado #guacamole #pesto #foodporn #healthy #loveit #design #kale #bevcooks #vegetarian

nogrows

nogrows

Sorry just read: do not involve a lot of cheese.... Recipe asparagus tart is with a lot of cheese, for the filled portobello it is optional!

nogrows

From instagram desla_pomme: Salsa Soup, by #BillGranger. Ingredients: 5 ripe #tomatoes (300 gr.), 1 red #onion, 1 #garlic clove, 1/2 tsb sugar,1 #lime juice, handful #coriander, #oliveoil, #tortillachips. Put all the ingredients into a #blender (not the chips) with a generous grinding of pepper and salt, if you like. Pulse until you get a chunky, frothy #soup. Serve straight away with tortilla chips on the side or chill until needed. #bbcgoodfood #easycooking #quickrecipe #healthyfood #vegan #vegatarian #salsa #salsasoup