Vegetarian living in South Korea

Do you have access to dried pasta? Other noodles? I would do pasta tossed with a different vegetable or beans?

Hi, I've been a vegetarian for almost 4 years now.
I'm living in South Korea and eating was the hardest part in the beginning.
Needless to say, I don't eat out anymore because I was always disappointed at the lack of vegetarian meals.

You could make ratatouille. It's good on its own or over rice/pasta/bread. You could probably spoon some over a baked sweet potato, even.

I like baking courgette and/or aubergine and putting it in sandwiches with tomato and lettuce. If you can't find herbs or spices for the veg, you could brush them with a bit of oil and vinegar to give some flavor. You said you're cutting back on pasta, so if bread is out as well then you could skip the sandwich part and just eat the veg stacked up.

You can make omelets with different veg combinations. Or you could try tofu scramble - lots of vegan sites have recipes, so I'm sure you could find one using ingredients you have access to. I just googled "sweet potato hash" and some of the recipes that came up looked quite nice, so you could try that to go with the eggs/tofu.

Good luck!

Kimchi usually has fish ingridents in it

Kimchi is pretty easy to make and keeps well. It doesn't need any fish ingredients to taste good.

I struggle a bit here in Taiwan, you can't be 100% sure of what is in every dish in a restaurant unless you speak the lingo. I try to cook at home as much as possible.

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Not to make things harder for you, but I'm a vegetarian as well and have learned over the years that you should limit your soy intake to twice a week. Although soy has a lot of great health benefits in moderation, it also contains phytoestrogens which mimics the action of estrogen in your body and can wreak havoc on your endocrine system (irregular periods, PMS/pregnancy symptoms, etc.), and can also act on your nervous system. Just an FYI, since a lot of people don't know that and vegetarians tend to overeat soy when their options are limited.

If you can access dried beans and lentils, then cooking up a big batch of bean chili, lentil soup, or dahl can be a good option, so you can just grab a serving and take it with you for lunch. Lentil burgers can also be made in batches and frozen - lentils make a great ground beef substitute in general, like for veggie meatloaf - try this recipe for mexican style mock ground beef http://www.theppk.com/2011/05/ancho-lentil-tacos. In general theppk.com is a great resource for fun veggie meals that often revolve around basic ingredients (although you might run into trouble with a limited array of spices). You can also make home-made seitan (an inexpensive and delicious non-soy mock meat) if you can get your hands on vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast.

Don't forget about non-fat yogurt (also a nice substitute for sour cream) and eggs as protein-packed staples. I make egg-salad without the mayonnaise (try to get creative with what you have: mustard, lemon juice, rice or apple cider vinegar) and that's a nice to have around.

mushroom gravy is also delicious and not too many calories. My favorite recipe is:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ****ake (or anything not button) mushrooms
1/2 cup all purpose flour
6 teaspoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoons soy sauce (and add to taste, but watch the sodium)
2 cups vegetable broth (I like to add some cooking sherry if I have it on hand)
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt (but depends on where you are with the soy sauce)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and saute for another few minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

You can use that over yorkshire pudding (which is just eggs, flour, and water!), with sweet potato fries, or to flavor roasted, sauteed, or even steamed veggies.

You might also make a big batch of a veggie-loaded tomato sauce to go with roasted veggies or over a grain.

Oh, and I second the call to make kimchi. Everyone I've ever known who makes it makes a veggie version and it's always wonderful. Plus, fermented foods are amazing for you and might give your body a boost if you're not getting all of your nutrients because you're limited in your food choices.

Hope that helps. Good luck!