New Vegetatian- Looking for tasty recipes

jennipooh82

Hi all,

I have been on MFP for a while, well I guess I have taken a leave for a bit, but back at it....AGAIN. So in the past , lets say, month, I have been doing quite a bit of inner life seeking and a lot of this is me dealing with the things I eat. I have watched a few documentaries such as, GMO OMG, Food Inc. and Forks over Knives- All which were eye openers for me.... I have now gone and transitioned to vegetarian and slowly going to make the transition to being Vegan. I'm looking for a life with clean eating, bettering the earth and knowing that I'm not taking part in harming animals. By clean eating, I don't mean, sub out regular Coke for Diet Coke. I'm looking for ideas that use real food. I want to limit processed foods, so as being a vegetarian and not eating hotdogs, I don't want to eat some highly processed hotdog that is "vegetarian/vegan" with a list 10-20 UN-pronounceable ingredients. I would rather do with out the stinking hotdog!

With that all being said, I was wondering if any of you had any great vegetarian/ vegan recipes that you are willing to share with me. I want to have the healthiest, tastiest, filling change of live that I can.

Thanks for reading my piece and taking the time to leave a comment.

jamie_reynolds

are you on pinterest? feel free to follow my vegetarian boards - some recipes are vegan too! https://www.pinterest.com/jlp79/

barb106

Here are a few of my favorites:

http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/09/honey-lime-sweet-potato-black-bean-and-corn-tacos/
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/11/easy-red-beans-and-rice.html
http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2015/01/fettuccine-swiss-chard-pistachio-pesto-butternut-squash.html
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chopped-kale-greek-salad-recipe/
http://www.cookincanuck.com/2011/11/hearty-lentil-black-bean-soup-with-smoked-paprika-recipe/

dawnmcneil10

I'm not official a "vegetarian" but I love veggies so I tend to make a lot of dishes that are in fact vegetarian.

Zucchini and or eggplant lasagna - I use ground raw vegetables in place of the meat. My favorite is a combo of eggplant, zucchini, carrot and onion.

Pasta with a tomato and ricotta sauce with diced zucchini, onion, peppers and mushrooms.

Portobello burgers - great as a burger or topped with sauce and cheese as a side dish.

Grilled/roasted vegetables I eat constantly.

Cauliflower baked with pineapple and cheddar cheese.

Those are just a few of the random items I can think of right off the top of my head.

flippy1234

I like to keep it simple. Try Quinoa or brown rice with black beans. Cook the quinoa or rice first) Then add in a bag of frozen veggies, whatever kind you like. Then a can of diced low sodium tomatoes. Stir all together in a pot on stove to heat up. So yummy, healthy and lasts for days!!!
You can use it in burritos, with eggs, on it's own...

jennipooh82

Thanks! These are all great ideas and I will be trying them. Thanks again!

TYLHF3

Hello,

I thought I'd throw in a couple recommendations.

I really like Mark Bittman's exhaustive cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It helped me translate my view of food toward vegetables, grains and legumes pretty seamlessly. It's not aimed toward low calorie meals but does depend on whole foods. The recipes tended to be simple, flexible and use a combination of familiar and unfamiliar applications for foods.

Here is a link to a different recipe project he did a while back to give you a sense of his style/ideas: NYTimes 101 Salads. *Many, but not all, of the recipes on this list are vegetarian or vegan. Also, they are great, especially #14 (the carrot, cumin shredded salad) and #40 (the cucumber, ricotta salata and caper salad).

As for building a personal recipe collection, I find it easiest to finding an ingredient I really love and then work up a couple dependable "go-tos" that revolve around it and your tastes; then move on to another ingredient. It makes it easy to build up a bunch of dishes without too much extra planning.

One of those favorites for me is chickpeas. So, I sometimes make a chickpea, spinach, coconut milk stew and serve over it a roasted sweet potato (recipe). Or, a chickpea, artichoke marinara with a little pasta or gnocchi. Or, little savory chickpea patties baked up to dip in yogurt. Or, a ginger/garlic/chili/cumin spiced tomato and chickpea soup. Or, especially in summer, a huge chickpea, cucumber, tomato, caper, lemon, dill salad (+ toasted bread for a heartier panzanella-style dish or a little mozzarella). Find what you love and work out from there.

TYLHF3

Oh, and I want to second the quinoa and black bean recommendation above. We cook the black beans with a spicy sofrito and/or salsa and serve with a section of baked sweet potato and a dollop of yogurt. Wonderful!

daisyverma

I am a vegetarian however I love this vegan blog called Oh She Glows.
Made the "Perfect Veggie Burgers" over and over...so good!

Also, as others suggested, Pinterest has some great recipes as well...just made Quinoa Enchilada....mmmm

Oh My Veggies also has a lot of recipes

CloudlessMe

I have been a vegetarian for 3 years, and it took a lot of trial and error to figure out what foods to make. I use beans in place of may for a lot of recipes. Try lentil tacos or with mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes. Bean chili is great and so easy to make. Stuffed peppers are yummy too. There are lots of vegetarian recipe blogs oUT there to check out. Congrats on making the transition! Good luck!

MakePeasNotWar

daisyverma wrote: »

I am a vegetarian however I love this vegan blog called Oh She Glows.
Made the "Perfect Veggie Burgers" over and over...so good!

Also, as others suggested, Pinterest has some great recipes as well...just made Quinoa Enchilada....mmmm

Oh My Veggies also has a lot of recipes

I second Oh She Glows.

So many tasty things

Queenmunchy

MakePeasNotWar wrote: »

daisyverma wrote: »

I am a vegetarian however I love this vegan blog called Oh She Glows.
Made the "Perfect Veggie Burgers" over and over...so good!

Also, as others suggested, Pinterest has some great recipes as well...just made Quinoa Enchilada....mmmm

Oh My Veggies also has a lot of recipes

I second Oh She Glows.

So many tasty things

I third it - awesome website!

kenbox12

I'm having a bit of a problem posting the link, but Google savory style sweet potato nachos. I made them yesterday, and they were to die for! About 390 calories for a rather large serving (toppings that I added were 2 tbsp salsa and 1 and 1/2 tbsp of nonfat greek yogurt).

jamie_reynolds

feel free to follow my vegetarian recipe boards on pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jlp79/

Yaunsay

Burmese tofu (no soy!)

2 cups of chickpea flour
2 cups of cold water

Mix together well till there is no clumps

4cups of water
Any spices you want to use

*Bring to a roiling boil
*Then add the chickpea mixture and stir
*Once all the mixture is added to the water turn off the stove and continue to stir till it's nice and thick
* pour mixture into the dish shape of your choice ( I like a bread loaf pan) lined with parchment paper
* Let cool in fridge for 4 hours and cut into about 10 slices
* Eat as is or fry in a pan with soya sauce or any sauce of your choosing , add to soup ect.

Each piece is around 77-100 calories depending what you use for spices