Ideas for a vegetarian student?

GiuliaShakespeare

So... I'm a student and I'm the only vegetarian both at home and at school. That means that I frequently have to be creative and make myself dinners-and-lunches-for-one when the family is/roommates are making meat. Unfortunately, I'm not very creative! I usually end up getting cans of soup (of which there are very few options for vegetarians) or having PB&J, which is great, but I'd like a little more variety. Does anybody have any recipe ideas (one serving or to freeze in bulk for later), tips, or ideas for things to keep around the house when I'm scrounging for food?

emmyvera

Hi There!

I just made this great sweet potato and black bean chili last night for dinner. Makes a bunch!
I'm having it right now as I type for lunch. So delicious!

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sweet_potato_black_bean_chili.html

here is the link info! Good Luck!

Samantharose8akaDebbie

Go to the community tab, message boards, search: Type in Vegan recipes. I wish you luck my dear.......:bigsmile:

Val_from_OH

Spaghetti or other pasta is always easy, and not fattening if you eat a reasonable portion and pair it with a big salad. If you eat dairy, you could even make a lasagna and freeze it in individual size portions.

You can always keep bags of salad on hand, then add in your favorite ingredients, canned corn & black beans, garbanzos & olives, etc.

Grilled portobellos make a great meat substitute. Or you can just throw some boxes of Gardenburgers or Bocas in the freezer.

Amy's organic vegetarian frozen entrees are really delicious, as are the Kashi ones.

AggieCass09

I'm also a vegetarian graduate student, message me your email and i'll send you some recipes.

here are some staples in my home: greek yogurt (okios brand w honey is my favorite), granola (gran biotics vanilla almond crunch), laughing cow cheese, quiona, mushrooms, spinach, salads (of course), frutits, veggies, almond butter (to mix up the variety from pb), beans (black are my favs), hummus

I hope this helps. Its tough living with non-vegetarians (my husband is a meat-loving Texan)...i will usually make one meal but take out my portion before adding the meat (with coconut curry chicken or pepper steak for example). We are also trying to cut down on pasta for my carb limit sake so that has eliminated several go-to easy pasta meals.

Good luck.

Cooking light and http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/mushroom-casserole-recipe.html that site are where I get lots of recipes from.

GiuliaShakespeare

Thanks so much to everyone for your advice!! I'm making up a grocery list right now.

amyadell

This one is AWESOME and I use the 10inch tortillas... freeze em or just keep em in the fridge... leave off the cheese if you don't eat cheese... I do that and put it into "my recipes" without the cheese and adjusted the calorie count... They are so good I just had half another one!!! They are good for a long time just in the fridge too... there's nothing in them that will go bad quickly like meat does!!!

This one came from www.allrecipes.com It's called "addictive sweet potato burritos" I've made it twice now... both times loved it:) They taste so good and are really satisfying! They are also really big so usually a half of one is enough for a small meal or snack, unless it's your dinner meal!!! Sounded like a weird combination but invited a whack of people over and tried it anyway... everyone thought it was great!!! Great to make and have left over for packed lunches... we've been eating them all week A little salsa goes great with these too!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups canned kidney beans, drained (almost all reviews say use BLACK BEANS instead... I did!!!)
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed (we use whole wheat ones)
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese (I leave the cheese off but of course it's better with cheese on)
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce. (I found it much easier to put the beans in the blender/food processer with a little less water and THEN put them in the pan with the other stuff... mashed them the first time and it took FOREVER!!!)
3.Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.
4.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 505 | Total Fat: 8.5g | Cholesterol: 20mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

reander

Chilli and pasta dishes are always great. I'm the only veggie in my house and i'll make enough chilli for a couple of servings and freeze and reheat when I need it. The same works for pasta sauces and soups as well.

Camellian

Remember: It doesn't have to be cooked to count as a meal! Many of the easiest meatless meals can be put together with no cooking at all.

Try:
Canned vegetarian refried beans wrapped in tortillas (you can microwave it if you want the beans warm, but they're good cold)
Peanut butter on apple slices
Yogurt (especially plain or vanilla, without the sugary "fruit sauce" -- you can add your own fruit if you want to)
Cereal (Kashi and some other brands make high-protein cereals)
Cheddar cheese on crackers
Peanut butter on crackers
Peanut butter on celery
Tortilla chips dipped in vegetarian refried beans or hummus
Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Nuts

Some of those may sound like snacks, but they're all healthy and have enough protein that you can mix and match to make dinner-- yogurt + cheese and crackers one day, peanutbutter apple slices + a handful of almonds another day, etc.

shander7

When I was at school last year and was also the only vegetarian I would make a big batch of sauteed vegetables one night and then mix them into different meals each day. I would usually use peppers, onion, zucchini, squash and whatever else looked good that week and then I could make fried rice, a pasta primavera, fajitas and all different things with it by heating up a portion of it each night. I would do this every other week or so because I didn't want to get tired of having the same thing every night, but it was exciting to see what else I could make with the same ingredients! You can also freeze the veggies to save for whenever you want as well! Just mix them with whatever spices or sauces you want that night!

embym

There are a ton of awesome recipes you can try! My personal favorite is shepherd's pie, using fake beef burger crumbles by Boca or Morningstar Farms. Here's the link to my favorite recipe, just follow it using a bag of burger crumbles instead of turkey: http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=87591
My advice is to think of some of your favorite meat recipes and use meat substitute.

MikeInAZ

Filling, healthy and vegan/vegetarian.


-5 or 6 brussel sprouts split in half
-Saute some some onion with diced carrots and celery and any other veggies you like
-little bit of olive oil (to coat everything)
-lemon juice (like 1/2 a lemon worth)
-salt, pepper, garlic (powder or crushed) to taste

mix it all up in a bowl, stick it in the oven at 350 for 10-15 min until the brussel sprouts are tender

Serve with some brown rice.

The whole meal is very healthy, low fat, and low calories. Brown rice is about 200 Calories per 1C serving, so go easy. But the brussel sprouts, and other veggies are almost nothing. Light on the oil too, keep it under 1Tbls

Add some fruit to round it out.