If you're a vegetarian please read:) need help.

blcotton
blcotton Posts: 43
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
Okay, so I was a vegetarian a couple years ago for about 4 months and was pretty strict on not allowing myself to have any gelatin or animal by-product containing foods. I have decided to give it another try, this time I am going to be more leniant though and allow myself to have jello and dairy, just cutting out meats. So, I am in need of recipes to have a good food variety...last time I did this I was living off of oatmeal, peanut butter, cereal, morning star chicken nuggets, and soy burgers....needless to say this time around I'd like to have more to pick from than just that very small list of things. I really love tomatoes, potatoes, and corn, so any recipes involving those would be great and some recipes and ideas on things to do with fruit would be nice too. Please help! Thank you.:smile:

Replies

  • JMuzzy
    JMuzzy Posts: 63
    hey raven,
    im a vegetarian and you are welcome to look through my food diary for ideas!
    jennie :flowerforyou:
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    Butternut Squash and Lentil Casserole

    Ok, this is one of my absolute favourites. It has a great balance of protein to carbs, and is low in fat and - even better - low in calories.
    My daughter makes this with Cranberries , i don't like cranberries so i use prunes!


    Butternut Squash and Lentil Casserole
    Serves: 6
    500g Butternut Squash
    1 1/2 cups green lentils
    1/4 tsp nutmeg
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    3 cloves garlic
    3g thyme
    400g tomatoes, tinned
    100g dried cranberries or prunes!
    1 tsp olive oil
    1 onion
    1 chicken stock cube
    400 ml water

    Boil the lentils in the chicken stock cube and water for 1 hour.
    Roast the squash in chunks in the oven for 30 mins.
    Warm the oil and add finely chopped garlic and coarsley chopped onion.
    Add the squash and any fluids which may have come off during roasting.
    Drain the lentils, reserving the stock and adding it to the pan.
    When the squash begings to break up a little, add the lentils and tin of tomatoes.
    Simmer for 20 mins then add cinnamon,nutmeg, thyme & cranberries or prunes.
    Mix well and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the squash has almost completely broken down and the sauce has thickened.

    227 calories per serving, 0.2g F, 0.0g SF, 44.2g C, 6.9g S, 10.1g Fb, 11.9g P

    This freezes well and refridgerates for up to 3 days. I know the combination of flavours sounds crazy, I was skeptical too, but it really tastes delicious! I eat it on its own, its quite a large portion. Would perhaps go well with a small green salad, and maybe some bulgur wheat or brown rice if you fancy some starchy carbs/grains.



    Chickpea and Spinach Curry

    My family loves it when I cook this! There are 3 servings because I eat it on its own as a meal, but if you have it with rice, or pilau bulgur as I occasionally do, you can half the portion size. This is so incredibly low calorie for a huge portion and one of the meals I tend to make in bulk and keep in the freezer for a while. It really is delicious! Don't be daunted by all the herbs and spices, they are all great for using with other things.

    Chickpea and Spinach Curry
    Serves: 3
    240g chick peas, canned, drained weight (basically one tin)
    400g tomatoes, canned
    100g spinach
    8 mushrooms
    1 onion
    2g yellow mustard seeds
    5g paprika
    5g cumin
    2g ginger
    2g garam masala
    3 cloves garlic
    1 tbsp olive oil
    1/2 tsp salt
    1g pepper
    1 small red pepper
    1 small green pepper
    2 small yellow pepper

    Heat the oil in the bottom of a large pan.
    Add the mustard seeds on low temperature
    When the mustard seeds start to pop add in the sliced onions garlic and ginger with a little water.
    When the onions soften add in the mushrooms and peppers.
    Add in the spices and herbs and cover for 5 mins until all the veg is soft.
    Add in the chickpeas and cover for 5 more mins.
    Add in the chopped tomatoes and stir well.
    After 5 or so mins add the spinach (about 6/7 lumps frozen).
    Mix the spinach in so its covered by the sauce.
    Cover it up but keep stirring every few mins.
    It can be served as soon as the spinach is cooked (i.e. not frozen in big lumps, but flavour intensifies the longer you simmer it for.
    It may need simmering without the lid to reduce the wateriness of the sauce.

    240 calories per serving, 7.4g F, 0.9g SF, 38.2 C, 8g S, 9.5 Fb, 9.8g P


    http://heavling.blogspot.com/
  • ElsaFiancee
    ElsaFiancee Posts: 2
    hello, and welcome back:)

    first thing I'd say is to look at the BBC recipes website, it's really well constructed, so you can choose recipes based on being veggie, and with a specific ingredient depending on what's in your fridge!

    the other thing I'd say, is to avoid being looking for substitution too much (e.g. living of veggie sausages and co) - you can have a lovely food just with vegetables!
    for instance, I made a killer moussaka the other day using lentils insted of meat, my guests loved it!
    Soups are another great way to eat: easy to make, or lots of choice if you buy them.
    I also do a lot of stir fry, with tofu and soy sauce.

    Finally, be there to have a varied diet: eat dairy, eggs, but also lentils and beans to get proteins. Yogurt in particular is great I find.

    hope it helps!
  • kms1981
    kms1981 Posts: 207 Member
    You can look through my diary or add me, I am a vegetarian and have been for about 3 years.
  • Redheadedsunshine
    Redheadedsunshine Posts: 102 Member
    I'm still learning how to cook healthy vegetarian foods (which is sad since I've been a veg for 13+ years) but I just vary pasta w/ vegetables & sauces... Morningstar products are good... various egg dishes.

    I love skinnytaste, hungry girl, vegetarian times, spark people, the veggie table and look for recipes on there.

    Good Luck!
  • RosieB405
    RosieB405 Posts: 150 Member
    bump
  • bevcrok
    bevcrok Posts: 40
    There is plenty of delicious food to eat as a vegetarian and lots of resources with recipes! VegWeb.com is an awesome site with tons of user-submitted vegan recipes (I'm sure you could make them vegetarian if you wanted to). I find that the Internet in general is a great place for recipes. The magazine Vegetarian Times also has some great recipes.Feel free to friend me if you want.
  • 4lafz
    4lafz Posts: 1,078 Member
    I am not but I do enjoy vegetarian food. This was posted and lots of people say it is terrific. I love Quinoa! I will try soon.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/89005-quinoa?hl=Quinoa+primavera&page=1#posts-1227627
  • cupcakecarnivore
    cupcakecarnivore Posts: 267
    One of my go to meals is easy.

    Rice cooked in vegetable broth
    mushrooms, lentils, spinach, tomatos sauteed with a bit of olive oil and garlic
    ---after veggies are cooked, add to rice
    ---then when its all done, chop up half an avocado and mix it in....mmmmmm so yummy!

    I do so many variations on this that its not even funny! You could add whatever kinds of veggies you want and I usually make enough to last me a couple of days:)

    You can have a look through my diary to get ideas:)
  • irishblonde2011
    irishblonde2011 Posts: 618 Member
    Have you tried any of the quorn products? I am a vegetarian 8 years but only started eating these 2 years ago.
    There is lots of recipes on quorn.com
    x
  • SugarDiva
    SugarDiva Posts: 403 Member
    Feel free to look through my diary for idea if you like. I also post up recipes now and then in my blog. Help yourself :smile:
  • kristilovescake
    kristilovescake Posts: 669 Member
    I was a vegetarian for about 4 years or so. Beans are your friend :) You can make "regular" meals and substitute beans or meat substitutes (the soy crumbles are delicious) - such as in tacos. I made a lot of red beans and rice in the crock pot. Tofu is great for any asian-inspired dish. I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian so I still ate yogurt and eggs so that helped me get some additional protein. One thing you need to be careful of is to get enough protein. I ended up in a rutt where I was eating TONS of carbs (pastas, breads) and veggies and not much protein. I think allrecipes.com has a section for veggies and I use that site for almost all my recipes and just alter them for lower cal/my taste.
  • PoorGirlEatingHealthy
    PoorGirlEatingHealthy Posts: 209
    I would recommend lots of stir frys with tofu, eggplant, sweet potato...anything you want as the "meat" of the meal! they are quick and easy and allow you to do a lot of experimenting!
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
    Check out Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" (I borrowed a copy from my local library and wrote down/ remembered my favorites) and Rodale's recipe finder (just choose vegetarian or go by ingredient): http://recipes.rodale.com/homepage.aspx.

    I eat fish now (sometimes) but I've been different levels of vegetarian since high school. This time around I'm eating way more vegetables, tofu, beans, lentils, a variety of dairy, much less "carbs" (breads, potatoes, breads, cereal, breads, you know...bread), much less junk ( I was a vegetarian in high school and to me that meant cereal and pop tarts.), and a lot of raw or fresh foods like just a bunch of steamed veggies or a bunch of roasted things at once.
  • exacerbe
    exacerbe Posts: 447 Member
    Feel free to look at the diary as well - I'm not a true vegetarian but follow a pescatarian lifestyle (plus eggs and dairy). It's been a recent change -- so I'm always looking for ideas too so thanks to all that posted =)
  • ruhimaach
    ruhimaach Posts: 171
    Feel free to add me as a friend so that you can view my diary. I've been a vegetarian all my life. I mostly eat Indian food, which has TONS of options when it comes to eating only veggies.
  • bespatter
    bespatter Posts: 73 Member
    I have a food blog: www.sharetheveganlove.blogspot.com

    It's full of recipes and ideas, and since I'm extremely busy, a lot of the recipes are really easy to make. I also put the calorie/fat/protein counts on everything. I have recipes for bean burgers, falafel, salads, smoothies, etc. Just if you're interested. :)
  • globe_trekker
    globe_trekker Posts: 20 Member
    Hello,

    I saw this article from the SF Chronicle and it lists 20 vegetarian diets: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/03/08/vegetarian_recipes.DTL

    Also, I eat mostly vegetarian (have since I was a kid and told my parents that they can't force me to eat meat anymore), but do eat chicken for the protein factor as it's the only meat that i don't have the taste nor texture. So i often use my phone apps to get vegetarian recipes, mostly from Epicurious, TastyBytes (Rachel Ray) and AllRecipes. For the Epicurious app (my favorite amongst these), i just search the recipe database for a veggie that I want to be the focus and often find lots of veggie recipes listed among the results.

    I recently bought the Mark Bittman "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" book and on this website it lists a few of the recipes: http://www.howtocookeverything.tv/product.php?product_cd=0764524836.html
  • LixxiKitti
    LixxiKitti Posts: 116
    hey :)
    i have been vegetarian for almost 10 years, and decided to really clean my diet up the last month or so. i still eat a limited amount of dairy (cheese/yoghurt only really) and am a bit naughty on the gelatine front sometimes although i do try to avoid it...

    in terms of weight loss etc - i am really watching my portion sizes with bread/rice, and avoiding most noodles (i always thought noodles were ok but have discovered they are high in cals and sodium :( )
    i am have been doing heaps of stir fries with satay or soy sauce, and tofu, also loads of salads (mind you its summer here so its more salad-y weather but if you're in the northern hemisphere, i'd say cook it all up and make a soup)
    :)
    i discovered a blog called low fat vegan which has some recipes im going to try, the blog author also provides nutritional info which is great
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