Vegetarian week

sewiggle
sewiggle Posts: 50 Member
edited November 15 in Food and Nutrition
This week is going to be meat free for me, can anyone recommend any cheap and healthy vegetarian meals please?

Replies

  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Is there a specific reason?
  • Reaverie
    Reaverie Posts: 405 Member
    Wish I could convince family here to do that. I mean, I suppose I could try but reality says the moment they serve meat, Im eating it..
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    Black bean tostadas, or black bean/sweet potato tacos. In either, roasted sweet corn is a good addition.

    Veggie chili, either regular red chili (add about a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder per 2 servings, too - trust me), in which you can use just beans for the protein or add some tempeh; or white chili made with white beans and whole hominy.

    If you're doing dairy, baked mac'n'cheese with plenty of mashed winter squash and some Greek yogurt as part of the "creamy" bit. Or veggie lasagna along those same lines.

    This is a good soup, but it needs some extra protein in the meal. You could put white beans in it (puree them in if you want them to disappear) and amp up the seasonings proportionately, or serve a bean salad on the side. eatingwell.com/recipe/252458/sweet-potato-peanut-bisque/

    This was pretty tasty, too, but it's more of a side than a main (and does have dairy): https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/edamame-cranberry-salad/

    Stuffed spaghetti squash (with marinara and mushrooms, say) is pretty good - for tomato sauce used with spaghetti squash, I think the whole thing tastes better with a tiny bit of fennel seed crushed in the sauce. Larger zucchini can also be stuffed, maybe with Moroccan-seasoned quinoa, raisins, and chopped nuts?

    I'd offer more actual recipes if I had them . . . but I usually just cook and sorta wing it.
  • Vikka_V
    Vikka_V Posts: 9,563 Member
    I eat lentil soup almost every day. Very economical, nutritious and tasty.

    Usually I add plain boiled potatoes to the soup, it makes it very filling and potatoes are my favourite food.

    For a change I like fresh ciabatta bread (the stuff that only really tastes good the first day). If you portion out the bread you can double wrap it in plastic wrap, put it in a ziplock bag and freeze it. It tastes almost as good as first day warmed up in the toaster oven.
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
    Veggie chili, tofu scramble, seitan burritos, tempeh wraps, oatmeal
  • karly2612
    karly2612 Posts: 11 Member
    Veggie meat balls (made with almonds), taco burgers, chilli, stir-fry, quinoa veggie nuggets
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    sewiggle wrote: »
    This week is going to be meat free for me
    Good idea to plan big changes.

    can anyone recommend any cheap and healthy vegetarian meals please?
    A varied diet that provides everything you need, and not too much of anything, is a healthy diet. You can achieve that eating vegetarian as long as you know what you are doing. Not eating meat can save you a lot of money, if you know what you are doing.

    Or just don't eat meat for a week.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    What are your favourite meals (regardless if they're meat-free or not)? You could often replace the meat in any recipe with beans or lentils which are also cheap. Whole lentils work like a charm in place of loose ground meat. Beans could be made into patties and "meat"balls for various applications. If tofu is not expensive, it could also work in some applications. It's really easy and cheap to eat vegetarian, a bit harder and potentially expensive to eat vegan while keeping true to your usual preferences because eggs and milk products have certain properties that need some know-how to mimic.

    Just ask google for whatever recipe you like, preceeded by "vegetarian". Example: vegetarian spaghetti and meatballs if you want spaghetti and meatballs, or vegetarian chili if you want chili...etc.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    I made a delicous sweet potato and black bean chilli last week. I was going to cook some chicken to have with it, but it was so good it didn't need it.
    And last night's dinner was pasta with caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, spinach, olives and feta. Yum!
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
    All recipes has a guy with a video called Chef John. His meatless meatballs - made of mushrooms were delicious.

    I also make a lentil/mushroom loaf that's pretty good. Pinterest is a good source as well.

    I second the roasted (worth the time in the oven vs. microwave) sweet potato/black bean combo. I no longer even use the tortillas, it's so good on it's own. Add any or all: salsa, avocado, cheese or sour cream to boost the flavor.

    Stir fry with tofu and a handful of cashews. Treat tofu like meat. Drain, press and pat it dry and season well. Saute it first and then add to your cooked vegetables and sauce.

    Red lentil soup has a ton of flavor - so many variations. I like red curry paste and coconut milk. Look up the actual recipe - I too just wing it.
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