EASY healthy vegetarian main dishes?

kristen2713

Slenderkitchen.com and skinnykitchen.com are two of my favorite sites for vegetarian and low cal recipes that are also fairly easy. My favorite "go-to's" are homemade black bean burgers and then freeze them for easy and quick meals, zucchini pizzas, and small portions of pasta loaded with sauteed vegetables and beans. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years so meals can get boring after a while and I'm always looking for something new to try. Those quinoa fajita burritos sound awesome!!

acpgee

Pasta with Pesto and Soupe Au Pistou are my favourite vegetarian mains. Google for recipes.

corinnelapolt

I rely heavily on canned beans and lentils. Use garbanzo beans to top green salads. Also mash them up with celery/chopped pickles/spring onions and light mayo and put it in a pita. Use lentils to top green salads and make quick soup--chop and soften carrot-celery-onion mixture then add can of cooked lentils and veggie broth.

Eggs make a very quick, low-calorie, protein-rich meal. Stir fry veg, throw a couple eggs in and stir it all around.

I make one batch of pizza dough (I use this recipe http://www.marthastewart.com/316808/whole-wheat-pizza-dough but omit the oil), break it into six separate balls and freeze it. When I want pizza I take a ball out of the freezer in the morning and its ready to go by dinner time. It's approximately 330 calories per serving. Some dieters use pita bread as a pizza base to save time and calories.

This week I made a huge batch of marinara sauce on Sunday and used it for four meals--pizza (as sauce), roasted veggies mixed and baked w/ sauce over polenta (you can buy pre-made polenta in tubes at Trader Joes and I imagine at many other grocery stores), as "pasta" sauce (I used a veggie peeler to create ribbons of raw zucchini and use that as my pasta), and tonight where I used the last of the marinara by throwing it with green peas, fresh spinach and cooked pearl barley into a small baking dish, topped it with parmesan cheese and popped it in the oven which resulted in a strange but delicious veggie bake thing. These dishes all still work with store bought marinara, of course.

Mexican food can be quick and healthy. Tortillas and black beans with veggies (I use peppers, onions and mushrooms and prepare like you would a stir fry but season it with chili powder and cumin) for tacos or burritos. Top with salsa and avocado. Veggie chili can also be very healthy and filling--canned or homemade.

I find that when eating vegetarian (I sometimes eat seafood) I have to really load up on the vegetables to keep myself full. My husband is a meat eater and he will serve himself like a half cup of broccoli as a side dish for dinner. I have to at least triple that to keep myself full. I also add canned beans to whatever I can to add substance and protein to veggie meals. I still haven't figured out how to add protein to pizza though.

Here are some sites that might be helpful:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
http://foodgawker.com/
http://summertomato.com/

I hope this helps! Good luck : )

corinnelapolt

Fabulous post!!

HollisGrant

I am the worst cook...ever. However, I need to eat. I am a vegetarian and am looking for ideas or recipes for main dishes?

I seem to always find myself hungry/unsatisfied after dinner. I will generally do one of the following:
- a rice and veggie stirfry
- a rice and tofu/veggie stirfry
- canned soup
- quinoa salad

Any suggestions on new things I can try? I need it to be filling and under/around 600 cals! Recipes would be awesome but ideas are also great Or ways to make my existing meals have more substance?

:flowerforyou:

I am the worst cook ever, too. I eat brown rice, 1 cup lentils, and steamed, stir fried, or blanched veggies all the time. A cup of lentils has the protein of 3 eggs. They taste somewhat bland, but take on the flavor of whatever you cook with them.

Sample meal:
1/2 cup brown rice (cook ahead of time in a rice cooker)
1 cup lentils (boil and simmer for 30 minutes. I cook a big batch twice a week).
1 cup steamed butternut squash
1 cup steamed kale or collard greens
For the lentils, you can cook a big batch in a pot and season at the table with sea salt, Tamari, or toasted sesame seeds. Or stir in a pan with a little olive oil or vegetable broth.

Lentils are also good with sweet onions, tomatoes, any kind of squash, avocado, and just about anything else.

Bwandls

This thread topic inspired me to go get creative and come up with a new recipe on the spot that's vegetarian, easy. and super nutritious. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

- 1 Head of Red Kale (washed, chopped, stems removed)
- 1 Head of Broccoli (washed, chopped, stems removed)
- 6-8 Sprigs of Asparagus (washed, chopped, tough ends removed)
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion (washed, chopped, skin removed)
- 1 can of Chickpeas (drained, washed)
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Hemp Seeds
- 1 Clove Garlic, diced
- 1-2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper (according to taste)
- Salt and pepper (according to taste)

Directions:

1. With you're prepared vegetables, toss them all in the same pot and boil them at the same time until tender. Then proceed to drain them, place them in a large bowl, and set aside.

2. Add the chickpeas to the vegetables and mix well.

3. Take the olive oil, hemp seeds, garlic, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper, and toss them into the veggies until well mixed.

4. Enjoy!

Not only does this meal provide a great source of iron, protein, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, fiber, and antioxidants, but it's super quick to make. It's also cheap, and tasty if you ask me!

Vegans can feel free to replace the chickpeas with tofu, blackbeans, quinoa, rice (brown jasmine and wild rice are two of my favourite kinds), or whatever other ingredient they'd like. There are tons of meat substitutes on the market for vegans to get their protein fix.

Non-vegans, feel free to add shrimp, chicken, strips of beef, ect., to make this a more omnivore-friendly meal.

Hope this helped.

emmarosegibson

Hiya, mixed bean chilli, pasta and passatta sauce, spinach and lentil dhal, pea and asparagus risotto as well as lots of other pasta dishes. If you want any of the recipes just contact me x