ISO easy vegatarian meals

[elmh23]

Help! I'm trying to get my family to eat less meat than we do. I need some easy (perferably quick) meals that don't involve tomatos (dd has issues with them) that are vegatarian. We do a lot of soups without meat, but I need some other things. Thank you so much!

[UUMom]

Does he have issues with tomatoes looking like tomatoes? Can it be added as paste or whatever, to soups ans stews?

OK-- More info. Do you eat dairy at all? And what does your family dislike, besides tomatoes?

I have a zillion recipes...

I would also say start serving what you all like, but without the meat. If you like pasta (not all pasta involves tomato sauces) serve it without the meat.

Some of our fav veggie foods are middle eatern things like lentils, grape leaves with rice, hummus, pita, rice, falafel etc We also love mexican, salsas , tortillias, burritos, quesidillas etc which can all eadily be meatless.

Southeast asian foods--stir frys, rice, cabbages etc are also great.

Giant salads with avos, and lots of different vegetables are filling.

Veggie burgers, roasted veggies, are all delish.

What are your fav meals right now, maybe we can come up with ways to make it meatless.

[elmh23]

Thanks UU. When I said dd had issues with tomatos, I meant to say that I can't eat them because they upset her stomach (she's 8 months old, pretty much exclusivly bf'ed)

I've never made pasta with out tomatos sauce. I'll have to find a great recipe!

Right now, we eat a lot of soups (easy to do meatless), casserol dishes, mexican (I'd love to do this meatless because I think dh would be more likely to eat it). We eat dairy though I try not to eat a lot of it. Whatever it is, it has to be filling! My dh loves meat (I'm not a huge fan) and is resistant to any meal where meat is absent.

[lioralourie]

Just a couple of ideas: kidney beans chopped up are very filling and quite similar in consistency to ground meat. Can include in burrito filling and such.

As for your pasta problem, we like pasta with just a garlic/olive oil (or salted butter) sauce (if you use oil, saute minced garlic/red pepper in the oil till some are just turning a bit tan. Then add a little water, then salt. W/out water, the salt won't dissolve). You can add olives and some tiny chopped red bell peppers, or zucchini or anything else you have around. If you eat tuna, adding tons of garlic (like 10 cloves), lemon juice and pepper and the tuna makes a "scampi" type sauce.

Azuki (aka adzuki) beans are delicious! They're a little red bean. I don't know how widely available in the states they are, though. Cook well, possibly with seaweed (kombu). Can add diced pumpkin if you want when nearly cooked. And soy sauce to taste. YUM, sweet, salty, hearty, serve on top of brown rice. Will fill anybody up.

For some great comfort food recipes I love a book called Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. The photos are amazing, and the recipes are wonderful (although, true to form for most every cookbook, I use more spices on most recipes.)

[isosmom]

I think you're on the right track with the mexican food. It's filling, cheap and easy. Burritos, tostadas, tacos. And I always find that dc love love love mexican (as well as I do )
Really huge salads are great as well. They can be more filling than you think. Add not just a ton of veggies, but cheese, beans, nuts and seeds, avocados, fruit. Serve with some bread and you've got dinner.
Soups are great and I make them at least once a week.
Homemade pizza is a lot easier than you might think. If you don't want to make dough, you can buy it, everyone can choose what they want on their pizzas. It's fun, too.

[kavamamakava]

Stir fries are pretty quick (if you can chop veggies during the babe's nap). You can add some thin noodles like ramen noodles on top and put a lid on for the last 3 minutes of cooking and then you have noodle stir fry. All kids love that. I buy the buckwheat ramen and use the flavor packet with my veggies and add about 1/2 cup of water right before I add the noodles to make sure that hte water heats up to make enough steam to cook the noodles.

Quesadillas are pretty easy. I grate cheese in batches and keep a bag in the fridge for quick cooking. I sometimes add spinach or diced green onions and they cook along with the cheese. My kids really like it when I spread seasoned cream cheese in there before putting hte grated cheese.

Go ethnic. Most types of food have delicious vegetarian options. Lasagna is yummy with a cream sauce rather than tomato based. Alfredo sauce is good with angel hair and spring veggies like baby carrots and snow peas and small bits of broccoli. Tempura and edamame and tofu dressed with sesame seeds, crushed garlic, soy sauce, ginger and chopped green onions. Falafel in a pita sandwich and hummus. Rice, dahl and chapatis. Stuffed green peppers. Shepherd's pie...

[SMR]

fajitas are easy and oh so yummy!! I'll take whatever veggies I have around (zuchinni, spinach, peppers, onions) add some lemon juice and seasonings, sometimes some sesame seeds and for protein, you could add sliced tofu, tempeh or a meat substitute (the morning star farms chicken stuff works well, even though it's breaded) throw it on a tortilla with cheese and sour cream and YUMMY YUMMY!!

[mysweetfiona]

I wanted to recommend what someone else did to me. Read "Eat to Live" Dr. Fuhrman.

My husband was *furios* about my decision to stop cooking so often. I wanted to eat the most living foods as I could (and for the kids, too). I felt so good, looked great, dropped 6 lbs in 2 weeks. BUT He was still furious. He would eat out. Undermine my meals with the kids, like saying....People eat meat, Big boys eat meat! To my 3 & 4 year olds....Mentioning a LOT that I am depriving them of nourishment. I was flabbergasted. And felt divorce was up to play. I bought the book so I could research what was in food and make an educated decision and case to state. I kept telling him to read it. He refused and kept up his antics for about a week. This is after the two weeks he was out of town and wouldn't even speak to me on the phone.

Long story short. He came home one day obviously upset and a little embarrassed how he dealt with some work issues. I told him I wasn't surprised. He was grizzly bear that we all tried to avoid. He began to read the book, done in 4 days. I had previously bought salmon, and chicken breasts to show that I was willing to compromise for him (goodness sakes I couldn't talk to him, had to show him) Anyways.....It has been a month and the meat is still in the freezer! He NEVER asks for it. We splurge (aka screw up) with our old food habbits when we eat out. It always haunts us! The kids asking for more food...even though we just ate what looked like a lot. Feelings of cramps, gas, thirst! SO thirsty in fact that everyone had to get up in the middle of the night for water. Mom knows and felt that the next day! They all got up at different times, including myself.

I got a great deal at Amazon.

Raw sunflower seeds can "meaty-up" a salad, even fruit salad.

Keep up the good work. If my dh came around (now he wants extra copies to send friends and family) your's can too. I am hoping for you anyway!

Lori

[mysweetfiona]

wanted to suggest chopping and adding all mexican dishes to a large fresh salad, squirt lemon/lime on lettuce and corn chips. Our favorite, and we don't need salad dressing.

[kavamamakava]

mmm freshly made corn chips with lime juice spritzed on them.

[Peony]

I made a great pasta dish tonight, red chard with carmelized onions sauted in white wine with penne pasta and feta cheese, it was yummy, DH isn't too into veggie meals and he liked it. Homemade "hot pockets" are a hit at our house too, I usually fill them with cheese and broccoli.

[G&B'sMama]

Originally Posted by mysweetfiona

wanted to suggest chopping and adding all mexican dishes to a large fresh salad, squirt lemon/lime on lettuce and corn chips. Our favorite, and we don't need salad dressing.

:

We also do a lot of grilled tofu or tempeh in the summer time. We slice it in slabs and marinate it for at least 30 min. in whatever is handy: teriyaki sauce, salad dressing, a marinade we make up, or even a 1/2 and 1/2 combo of honey and mustard. Throw it on the grill with some fresh veggies from the garden and dinner in about 10 minutes.

Also, lots of times we throw a couple cups of dried beans in the crock pot on low in the morning. The beans are cooked by dinner. Toss with veggies and vinagrette for a bean salad. Mix with salsa or lime and cilantro for a taco filling (you can leave them either mashed or whole). Put them in coconut milk with garam masala or another spice blend for fast curry. We eat a lot of beans at our house.

[G&B'sMama]

Originally Posted by AMB8301

I made a great pasta dish tonight, red chard with carmelized onions sauted in white wine with penne pasta and feta cheese.

Yum- I wish I had dinner at your house last night!

[mmgarda]

Salads!

A huge chopped salad w/ nuts, seeds, beans and/or cheese (for protein) is quick, easy, and verrrrrrry tasty. Add some good crusty bread and butter and you are golden!

Also, if you freeze and thaw firm or extra firm tofu and then squeeze out the water, it will crumble like ground meat and you can sub it really well in things like chili, tacos/burritos, pasta sauce, etc.

[Zoesmama]

We use white sauce. Its cream so milk probably in it. Maybe some vegan options there somewhere.

How about pesto sauce with your noodles its healthy if you use olive oil.



We have even just done butter and parmasean cheese. You can do vegan cheese if you don't do dairy.

[Zoesmama]

OH and I recently did a kidney bean oatmeal burger that was tastey. It works for me. It was bland plain but dressed as we'd normally dress and burger it was good. and took little time to cook. A LOT less than meat.

[caitlinsmom]

I second the mexican food. We live on cheese enchiladas with black bean soup, quasadillas, tacos (use black beans and rice with salsa as the filling), and nachos (with lots of chopped veggies).

Pasta is super easy and really filling. We love angel hair pasta with carrots, broccoli, and zucchini tossed in parmesean cheese and veggie stock. A side of bread and a salad make a filling (and pretty) meal.

Good luck.

[JoyfulMomma]

Originally Posted by Zoesmama

OH and I recently did a kidney bean oatmeal burger that was tastey. It works for me. It was bland plain but dressed as we'd normally dress and burger it was good. and took little time to cook. A LOT less than meat.

Would you mind sharing thsi recipe?

Black bean burgers are also yummy, quick & easy.

JM

[Zoesmama]

Forgive me I don't recall the source of where I got it. I should have noted that on them all.

Ingredients:
•2-1/2 cups cooked kidney beans
•1/2 cup oats
•2 Tablespoons Braggs (or tamari or soy sauce)
•garlic powder or fresh minced garlic, optional
•onion powder, optional
•oil
Directions:
Mash kidney beans. Add oats, Braggs, and seasonings.

Mix and form into patties. Fry in oil until brown on both sides.

The burgers like to fall apart, so I add a little oil or extra Braggs to the mix. We always top with 'normal' burger stuff like onions, tomatoes, pickles, etc.


Oh and I used oatmeal but I suspect they meant something else in line of oats.

[mmgarda]

"Goulash"

I have no idea why this dish I invented was given this name, but that's what we've always called it. It came into being one CA summer when the abundance of tomatoes and zuchinnis was crying out for a new invention! Amounts are totally flexible, to taste, and fresh tomatoes can be replaced with canned chopped tomatoes (flavored or not)

1/2 med onion, diced
several cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1 large zuke, quartered and sliced thin
several tomatoes, diced
cumin
Indian curry powder or garam masala powder
marjoram
salt
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and toss. Add all other ingredients (season to taste) except garbanzos. Stir, cover, simmer until zuchinnis are cooked through. Add garbanzos and mix until heated through. Serve w/ any grain - particularly good w/ basmati rice or couscous.