Ideas for vegan, low-calorie recipes?

AnnieintheN0rth

I'd love any suggestions for vegan, low-cal meals. Preferably, not with exotic ingredients, not a great selection where I live. Getting tired of my staples of quorn chicken, stir fries and oats.

Thanks

Old_Cat_Lady

Quorn chicken? I googled this and got:
All Quorn foods contain mycoprotein as an ingredient, which is derived from the Fusarium venenatum fungus and is grown by fermentation using a process that its manufacturer has described as similar to the production of beer or yogurt.
Maybe you can order things like Quinoa, and black beans online? Canned tomatoes? Barley? Lentils so you can make your own lentil burgers? Wheat pasta? No produce like sweet potatoes where you live?

crinus

Pintrest has a lot of really great vegetarian recipes. I have been trying to eat less meat and I would like to cut my meat consumption down to one day a week or less and eventually cut it out all together.

CattOfTheGarage

Scottish lentil soup

Chop an onion, a carrot and two or three potatoes. Fry till onion is soft. Add red lentils* and veg stock or well-salted water.

Cook in pressure cooker (10 min at 15psi), in saucepan (simmer ~1 hour) or slow cooker (4-5 hours on High or 8-10 hours on Low).

Lentils should disintegrate. Stir and taste - if it's bland, it needs salt (lentils soak up a LOT of salt). Serve with fresh scones.

*Amount of lentils is hard to say as it depends how thick you like it - try 1 part lentils to 3 or 4 parts water and go from there. It will thicken on standing - if too thick just stir in some hot water.

Scones for soup

- 8oz (225g) self raising flour
- 1.5oz (38g) hard fat (eg margarine, coconut oil (butter if you're not vegan))
- Pinch of salt
- Tasty mixins. I add cheese and herbs, you could try that nutritional yeast stuff, spices, seeds, toasted nuts, whatever you please
- Liquid to mix, you can use any kind of milk or just water.

Rub fat into flour (doesn't matter if some lumps remain). Add salt and mixins. Stir up with a table knife, then add liquid, a bit at a time, mixing with the knife, until it starts to form a ball of dough.

Put the dough on a baking tray (some greaseproof paper stops it sticking). Pat into a thick flat circle. If you want, paint with milk or water and sprinkle eg seeds on top (optional).

Cut into wedges, pull the wedges apart, then bake, 180C/350F for 15min.

Serve hot with the soup, split open and spread with some kind of butter alternative.

ETA the soup is very low calorie, and if you behave yourself with the scones, this whole meal is good calorie value. But behaving yourself around fresh scones can be hard. You have been warned.

PaigeInTechnicolor

My personal favorite for "the make a pan of this for all week long" catagory. Takes a bit of time, but all ingredients are pretty easy to find.



8 tortillas
4 oz vegan cheese (If you can find it, if not, no biggie) cheddar, jack, queso fresco or similar.
Filling-
2 tblsp oil of your choice (I use evoo)
4 or so cloves of garlic
½ onion
1.5 tblsp oregano
5 large carrots
2 cans drained low sodium black beans
1 cup salsa (I use the premade stuff from the refrigerated section, but making your own would be better)
Sauce-
16oz low sodium tomato puree
2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
2 tbsp chili powder ( yes, that’s a lot )
1tsp cumin
1tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp garlic salt, or sauteed garlic, 3 cloves, if you prefer

Sauce:
Add all ingredients to saucepan, let simmer 20 minutes, stir occasionally

Filling:
Grate carrots
Sautee garlic and onions over medium heat in oil
Add carrots and oregano, let cook down until not quite crunchy (about 15 minutes)
Meanwhile, blend black beans, reserving half to a quarter (depending on how much bean texture you want)
Add black beans and salsa to carrot mixture, stir to blend flavors (about 5 minutes) and remove from heat.

Enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 275f
Put just enough sauce to cover bottom of large casserole pan.
Roll filling into tortillas, like a burrito, divide as evenly as possible.
Put these tightly into pan
Cover with sauce, making sure to get all edges and sides.
Cover with vegan cheese
Put in oven until bubbly and delicious


makes 8 giant enchilladas, aprox 375 cal, before topping with guac, etc.
filling by itself also delish in a burrito with fresh veggies

PaigeInTechnicolor

Also easy: zoodles in marinara. You can use a veg peeler if you don't have a spiralizer. Just make sure the sauce is decent.

Malyssam27

Check out Forks over Knives website. Also, super easy, a cookbook called the Everyday Happy Herbivore.

CynthiasChoice

I created this recipe when I was following a vegan diet. I enjoyed it because it had so many different textures and flavors in it. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it too.

Lentil Soup with Corn and Olives
Number of servings 7
Serving size 2 cups
311 Calories, 15g Protein, 8g Fat, 46g Carbs

Use 2 T Olive oil to saute:
Yellow Onion, 1 large (3”, 8.5 oz, 230 g
Garlic – Raw, 3 cloves
Squash – Zucchini, includes skin, raw, 3 cup, chopped

Add:
Imagine Organic – No-Chicken Broth, 2 cups (or more if you prefer)
1 container of Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils (or 2 1/2 cups of cooked lentils)
15 oz can Black Beans, Rinsed
15 oz can White Beans
28 oz can Diced Tomatoes with juice
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup pitted green olives
½ tsp. Coriander
1 tsp. Cayenne

Heat through, then add ¼ cup fresh Parsley, salt and pepper to taste

Susiefun

A good resource is youtube, just google vegan food prep, and there are videos of often easy, week long vegan menus. Otherwise,

Chili (beans, canned tomatoes, beans, corn, onion, bell pepper, spices, etc)

Spaghetti squash with marinara

Vegan hot dogs on organic buns with saurkraut, onions and mustard. They were 3 grams of fat total, and not too many calories.

Mashed potatoes and vegan gravy with steamed vegetables is something we eat when we are low on groceries because we have instant mashed potatoes on hand. Or you could mash your own potatoes.

Big pot of split pea soup (vegetable soups of all kinds... very low calorie!)

Curry dishes tend to fill me up. Maybe a curry simmer sauce with onions and vegetables, over a little bit of rice.

evlmidget

Hop on pinterest. Tons of recipes

hannamarie0098

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

Quorn chicken? I googled this and got:
All Quorn foods contain mycoprotein as an ingredient, which is derived from the Fusarium venenatum fungus and is grown by fermentation using a process that its manufacturer has described as similar to the production of beer or yogurt.
Maybe you can order things like Quinoa, and black beans online? Canned tomatoes? Barley? Lentils so you can make your own lentil burgers? Wheat pasta? No produce like sweet potatoes where you live?

It's the egg in quorn products you need to watch out for, not the fungus, if your concern is avoiding animal products.

HeliumIsNoble

There is a special vegan range of quorn now without the egg. Might be what OP meant.

estherdragonbat

How many calories are you looking at?

CattOfTheGarage

I've never heard of fungus not being vegan. That would be inconvenient.

sqwelchy_2007

Tofu stir fry, and if you have a sweet tooth try tofu cheesecake. Low cal, high protein.

BalkanBlonde

Eziekial toast topped with avocado, onion, tomato, cucumber salt and EVOO to taste

claireagray

Malyssam27 wrote: »

Check out Forks over Knives website. Also, super easy, a cookbook called the Everyday Happy Herbivore.

That's a great book, I've used lots of their recipies

dinadyna21

Curried lentil spinach bake was a favorite of mine when I was vegan, pretty easy to make.
Also zoodles with coconut curry sauce.

ana_varn

I'm not a vegan but maybe try these out: lentil soup, chickpea soup, bean soup, fruit salad, soy "mince" sauce with pasta (think pasta bolognese)... actually most "vegan" foods are low-cal except maybe nut butters and nuts overall.

janejellyroll

ana_varn wrote: »

I'm not a vegan but maybe try these out: lentil soup, chickpea soup, bean soup, fruit salad, soy "mince" sauce with pasta (think pasta bolognese)... actually most "vegan" foods are low-cal except maybe nut butters and nuts overall.

Vegan food can be just as high calorie as other foods when you factor in things like coconut, avocado, beans, grains, plant oils, olives, potatoes, vegan butter/mayo, etc. I've been logging as a vegan for over three years now and I've certainly found a lot of higher calorie vegan dishes.

jaclynndabbs

Tonight I made a roasted cabbage steak and then topped it with a vegan mushroom gravy that I made from sauteing mushrooms in water and liquid aminos, then added unsweetened cashew yogurt drink, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. It was sooo yummy! Very low calorie and quite filling.

vegan4lyfe2012

VEGETARIAN CHILI

1 ½ cups cooked kidney beans
1 ½ cups cooked pinto beans
1 can Dakota Pride Mild Chili Beans (my secret weapon-only thing I buy at Aldi’s)
1 onion, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
2 ½ cups water
1 tblsp chix bullion powder (vegan)
1 tblsp chili powder
1 tblsp garlic salt
1 tblsp cumin

Bring everything to a boil and cook until onions and peppers are soft – about 15 minutes.


Decrease oil or saute in water for even lower low calorie for this one:

VERY VEGGIE “SPAGHETTI”

1 Tbsp Tuscan Herb Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or regular EVOO)
1 Onion, diced
2 large Zucchini, shredded in food processor
2 large Carrots, shredded in food processor
2 cloves Garlic, minced
10 oz jar sliced Mushrooms
1 can (15 oz) Tomato Sauce, no salt added
1 can (15 oz) Diced Tomatoes, no salt added - DO NOT DRAIN
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp Flaxmeal
1 Tbsp dried Basil
1 Tbsp dried Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Saute onion, zucchini, carrots and garlic in oil. Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through.

Using a julienne peeler, make a huge mound of raw carrot or zucchini "pasta"...then top it with very veggie sauce.


LOADED BAKED SWEET POTATO

(ingredients listed tops 2 sweet potatoes):

Combine 1/4 cup beans (red, black, white, pinto...your choice), 1 diced tomato, 1/2 diced onion, 1 tablespoon ground flax, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Mix it all up and top the sweet potatoes.

I usually just stab the potatoes with a fork several times and microwave them for 10 minutes and they turn out perfect!


QUINOA VEGGIE PLATE

Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 cup water
1 tsp vegan chix bouillion (optional)
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen cut carrots
1 cup frozen peppers and onions

*Sauce:
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup diced tomato with juice
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp dried minced onion
Dash of garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
Sprinkling of Adobo Seasoning

Directions
Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add vegan chix flavored bullion, if desired. After boiling, stir in rinsed quinoa, lower heat to medium low, cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until quinoa is semi-translucent.

While quinoa is cooking, steam green beans, carrots, peppers and onions for 12 minutes.

For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried minced onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper and heat on stove for 5 to 10 minutes.*

To plate, divide quinoa onto two plates, top each with half of the veggies and sprinkle on Adobo seasoning. Divide the tomato sauce and pour over each plate and top each one with 1/2 tsp of nutritional yeast.

Tips
*To speed this up, you can substitute your favorite pasta sauce for the sauce recipe.

coffeebean92

Baked sweet potate with a drizzle of almond butter, a side of brown rice rice and your favorite frozen veggies. Instant health (:

Ideabaker

I also spend time on YouTube viewing so many wonderful vegan channels out there... Sarah's Vegan Kitchen, Cheap Lazy Vegan, Pick Up Limes, Sweet Potato Soul and so many others. They use everyday ingredients and walk you through the steps of making their dishes.

bethmarie93

I am vegan and my fav quick meals include tofu and white rice. You can have any sauce u want and put it on the tofu - like I use general tsos sauce, just a little. You can eat it boiled, pan cooked, etc. i also make what i call a mexican bowl. I use brown or white rice and put it on the plate or bowl first, then black beans, then your favorite salsa and your favorite guacamole. Sometimes I eat it with a little bit of tortilla chips for crunch or just by itself. It’s really good, fills you up for a while, quick and easy to make esp if u cook a lot of rice and beans ahead of time although beans take like 10min to heat up. And you dont have to eat much of it to be full.

peavy09

Vegetarians can eat beans. Beans are really good too.