Vegetarian dinners - help!!

Most of my vegetarian meals are kind of high in calories I think. LOL

I'm not vegetarian but try to get about 2 or so days in that don't have meat just because I think it's healthier for me and my husband. My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy and even though he's more open minded about food ( two different ethnic backgrounds here ) than a lot of guys I know he's still really picky about vegetables so I try and work around that .

I made up a black bean and plantain taco which has about 128 calories per serving when you don't include the tortilla .

I just copied it from MFP recipe entry for you.

0.50 tbsp, Spices, garlic powder
1.50 tbsp, Oil, avocado
1 tsp(s), Spices, onion powder
0.25 tsp, Spices, paprika
0.16 tsp(s), Salt
382.00 g, Plantains, cooked <-- You want leopard yellow and brown here. Not green.
0.25 cup, Lime juice - Raw
0.25 tsp(s), Spices, chili powder
8.82 ounce, Black Beans Canned <-- drained and rinsed
2 tsp(s), Cumin Powder

Makes 7 servings basically.

Basically I cook the plantains in the avocado oil . Once cooked then smash them up with the black beans . Add the seasons while I smash it up.
Plop it on tortilla and you can garnish how you like. I usually like a little sour cream and cilantro.

Kung pao chickpeas! https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/kung-pao-chickpeas

lots of chilies and curries can be made low calorie just up the veggies (that are lower in cal). serve over cauliflower rice or veggy noodles or stuff like nupasta.

i eat vegetables (home made broccoli slaw, cauliflower rice with cow cheese, other veggies with eggs or a veggy pattie (i buy at store, some are lower cal)

Mejadra is always good. But to keep down work and calories don't bother to deep fry the onions. Just pan fry half the onions that get stirred into the rice and lentils. For the onion topping used for garnish, just buy the ready made deep fried onions that most people use in Thanksgiving bean casseroles.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/09/mejadra-recipe-yotam-ottolenghi

Recipe I am currently into:

seitan or tempeh or even tofu

pan fry in a little olive oil with the following:
some kind of chili spice blend
onion
sweet potato (chopped pretty small)
other veg if you want, cauliflower or zucchini work well

then add:
tomatillos
poblano
ancho chile

Cook for a bit and then add some water and simmer until the sweet potato is done.

At the end add some cilantro, a little coconut milk, and pumpkin seeds (consider roasting them first).

Butternut squash chili (under 300 calories per heaping bowl)

Place one large chopped yellow, one orange, one red bell pepper under broil until skin is scorched. Place in ziplock bag for about 15 min (easier to peel skin)

Sauté diced sweet onion and a few cloves of garlic in .5 ts olive oil
Add
1 TBS cumin and paprika, .5 TBS red pepper flakes (more or less to your personal taste preference) stir
Add one box organic vegetable broth
Add three cans of rinsed beans (I use black, kidney, and northern)
2 cans salt free diced tomatoes
Add about 2 c cubed butternut squash
Peel peppers from above and add to pot
Bring everything to a boil for about 5-10 min and then simmer until squash is at consistency you like

I rarely use recipes and exact measurements and just make according to my taste but this is really, really good!!!! Found it in a magazine about 10 years ago.

Forks over knifes has a great app that has a lot of vegetarian recipes on it. Very nice app

You might like gado gado. The constants are the peanut dressing, tofu, tempeh, boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, blanched green beans. Add any other blanched or raw veg you have on hand.

https://rasamalaysia.com/gado-gado-recipe/