EASY healthy vegetarian main dishes?
tinyfitlauren
Posts: 30
in Recipes
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 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:
0
Replies
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please!0
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Your best friend is going to be Google.
My diary is open if you want to look, although I am far from inventive.
Recommend skinnytaste, bbc.co.uk, allrecipes sites.
It's not that hard to find stuff.
Use more pulses, eg chick peas, kidney beans...
Curries are an easy bet.
Jacket potatoes stuffed with anything you like.
Good luck!0 -
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 : )0 -
Baked/roasted potatoes, egg bake/quiches, and burritos are all easily done vegetarian although they all take some prep
Pasta once in a while; I love veggies and parmesan cheese on pretty much any kind of noodle.
Eggplant Rollatini... Weight Watchers has a great recipe and they keep well as leftovers.
Mini pizzas and quesadillas are my "I have 10 minutes to make dinner" specialties
Sometimes my dinners are really light on protein, but I usually have cottage cheese or Greek yogurt as "dessert" to make up for it.0 -
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.
I have a pizza recipe somewhere that uses pureed canellini beans as a white pizza sauce. I made it a couple of times because why not... and I guess that's one way to add protein! Texture leaves something to desired, as you might imagine.0 -
go check out pinterest for some nice inspiration! it varies from really simple to more entertaining type meals but that way you might find something that suits your taste and preferences0
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I like spaghetti squash with marinara sauce and loads of veggies – mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, whatever. A lot of volume, very filling and low in calories. I like to mix in some Upton's Naturals Italian Sausage style seitan.0
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I'm not a vegetarian, but I recently started cutting back on animal products (thank you, Netflix documentaries)
Lately, my favorite has been a pita pocket stuffed with hummus, romaine and/or baby spinach, avocado and dried cranberries. I'm a pretty big eater, but half a stuffed pita is plenty for me.0 -
I just googled cannellini sauce and found this recipe. I'm so making this! Thank you so much for the idea!
http://thesimpleveganista.blogspot.ie/2012/09/cannellini-cauliflower-alfredo-sauce.html0 -
I love veggie cottage pie with sweet potato mash. I just chuck the veg and quorn in a pan - cook it up, and add some gravy the I pop it in a oven dish and put the sweet potato mash on top and bake it.
It is great, and depending how much you eat ( I don't eat a great deal in one sitting) it comes in at about 300 calories. :-)0 -
You can have a look at my diary, if you want to.
I love to prepare indian dishes like palak paneer or paneer with cauliflower and potatos. also indiam noodles (Papadams) with tomatosauce are great. I can send you some recepies, if you want to.
Best
Mimi0 -
The hungry girl blog has a lot of easy vegetarian options that are relatively healthy.0
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I am not a vegetarian but I do make a lot of vegetarian meals. I mostly get my recipes from All Recipes.
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/vegetarian/?vm=l&evt19=1&p34=HR_ListView#recipes
Some of my favorites are
Black bean veggie burgers
black bean burritos
black bean and salsa soup
vegetarian chili
Baked Falafels
I also really like Soy Glazed Tofu and Asparagus
http://www.food.com/recipe/soy-glazed-tofu-and-asparagus-648290 -
You can join the Happy Herbivores group. They have a lot of recipes listed in there.0
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I had stuffed peppers for dinner last night:
Stuffed peppers per person:
45g(dry weight) brown rice, cooked
tbsp sunflower seeds
few sun dried tomatoes, soaked for 20mins then chopped
cup spinach diced
1/4 -1/2 avocado diced depending on your calorie limits
handful of basil
garlic clove crushed
2 spring onions diced
1/2 tbsp tamari
1/2 tbsp lime juice
pinch ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Bell peppers
Core and bake the peppers in a hot oven for 30mins, mix everything else together and stuff the pepper...easy
My favorite veggie burgers - These are AWESOME:
http://www.womanandhome.com/recipes/534348/spicy-mexican-bean-burgers-recipe
I use half mixed beans half butter beans0 -
I'm not vegetarian, but try to eat at least one meat-free meal per week for variety. My favorite is my mom's spaghetti. As long as you keep your portions in check, it can be perfectly healthful. The main part is the doctored sauce:
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 tablespoon regular olive oil
1 jar pre-made marinara sauce (I like Great Value Chunky Italian Garden, pick a fairly neutral-flavored one)
3/4 cup Merlot (I like blackberry) or any red wine
Chop up the onion, garlic and celery in the food processor until it's lots of little chunks. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven and add the vegetable mixture, saute until softened. Add the jar of marinara sauce and the Merlot and reduce the heat to the lowest temperature. Heat as long as possible to reduce to as thick as you can get it, stirring every hour or two. Serves up to 6.
If you aren't able to babysit the pot, you can saute the vegetables in a skillet then add everything in a slow cooker with the lid ajar on low.0 -
Easiest healthy vegetarian meal I can think of is Pasta Marinara0
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Making curried lentils & sweet potatoes tonight. Lentils, sweet potato, can of tomatoes, onion, curry powder/paste. Serve with basmati rice.0
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Recipe for my Veggiebobble pasta
THE EQUIPEMENT
THE INGREDIENTS
pasta 2oz
passata 1l
peppers 3
red onions 3
cherry tomatos 15
garlic 10 cloves
cheese 30g
chop all your veggies to the sizes you like
brown your peppers then add in your onions and passata, let it settle for a minute or two then add in tomato's and garlic
while thats simmering boil your pasta and grate your cheese
seperate your sauce into seperate containers if you are going to serve on seperate occasions
serve your meal and top with cheese
or if your like me mix it all in together
this has been made in bulk but you can just make the one serving if you want. depending on the cheese used it works out at under 400 cals0 -
I'm not a vegetarian, but I usually eat meatless meals a few times a week. I made these a few weeks ago: http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2012/06/quinoa-fajita-burritos.html
They were really easy and really good, and the best part was that in the time it took me to make dinner I was able to make 8 meals. I kept a few in the refrigerator, then froze the rest.
I had wanted to use whole wheat tortillas, but I couldn't find them in the size I needed. Even with white tortillas, they came out to 426 calories, 7g of fat, and 16g of protein (I used reduced fat cheese). One of these and a big salad was a satisfying meal. I topped mine with more salsa and some avocado. Sour cream or Greek yogurt would probably be good on it, too.0 -
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!!0
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Pasta with Pesto and Soupe Au Pistou are my favourite vegetarian mains. Google for recipes.0
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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 : )0 -
Fabulous post!!0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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 x0
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