I am trying to switch our family over to a more vegetarian-based diet. Lots of reasons.
What I do NOT have a lot of are recipe ideas, or tricks for eating more vegetarian.
This week's vegetarian fare will include the following:
* Rolled Lasagne with meatless sauce, salad and rosemary-lemon bread
* Black Bean and Corn salad with quinoa
What have you got that I can try next week? I'd like to experiment with curries and polenta and squashes and beans. Tofu, not so much.
6 comments:
I have some good ones for you, but I am not at home. So, shoot me an email, and when I get connected to the Internet at my new house (on Monday!) I will send you a few of my vegetarian favorites.
Black Bean Burgers
1/4 c. flour for coating
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups canned black beans, mashed
1/2 cup corn (I use frozen)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp fresh parlsey
Set flour aside for coating. Saute onion, garlic, oregano in oil until onions are translucent. In a large bowl mash the beans with a fork (I am lazy and use a food processor--leave it a bit chunky). Stir in onion mix, corn, bread crumbs, cumin, salt, chili powder, and parsley. Mix well. Divide and shape into patties. Coat in flour. Cook on lightly oiled frying pan on medium high for about 5-10 minutes, or until brown. Makes 5-6 patties.
Dress with you favorite toppings.
We've been working on going more meatless during the last few years; some times it works out well, sometimes not. I do have some recipes up on my blog; I have the label 'recipes' and if you click on them, most of them are vegetarian. A few other ideas that I do:
When I plan my weekly menus I try to rotate things around so we usually have beans 2-3 times a week, something based on dairy/eggs 1-2 times, and meat 1-2 times. We usually have leftovers one night a week and we almost always end up having breakfast for dinner once a week too. I just try to go for some sort of variety and so we don't end up eating beans five nights in a row.
I've used a lot of my 'regular' recipes and simply cut out the meat or used beans instead. Pasta salad with kidney beans instead of pepperoni; taco salad with warmed black beans/corn; spaghetti sauce with sauteed veggies in it; quesadillas with refried beans or sauteed veggies; pizza without meat; quiche with no meat; bean burritos or taquitos; etc.
Most pasta dishes are just fine without meat, and most Mexican foods can be made with beans instead. My kids and I actually prefer bean tacos--I just cook pinto or black beans with some onion and my taco spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano)--mash the beans a little for a thicker texture so it doesn't fall out of the taco shell.
Even on dishes that still are better with meat, like my chicken pot pie or stir-fries I usually cut the amount of meat in half and just increase the vegetables.
Keep your pantry stocked with non-meat foods--different types of grains, a variety of beans, maybe some frozen 'fake meat' (I actually don't like most of those, but we really do love Morningstar Farms breakfast 'sausages')
One of my favorite cookbooks is 'The Vegetarian Family Cookbook' by Nava Atlas. She has a lot of easy, basic recipes that use fairly standard ingredients. My kids like almost everything I've made from there. I also like the fact that she includes menu suggestions so you can plan your whole meal. I've also gotten some good recipes from the Meatless Monday website.
El Paso Pilaf
2 t olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 c chicken broth + 1 1/2 c water
1 c rice
1/4 c lentils
1/4 c chopped red bell pepper or canned pimiento (optional)
1 14oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c frozen corn kernels
1 c chunky salsa
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
1 c Monterrey or cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, diced
Tortilla chips (optional)
In a 3-qt pot, heat oil over high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese, tomatoes, and optional chips, stirring pot contents to mix evenly.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until rice and lentils are tender. Stir pilaf and then top with cheese, then tomatoes. Serve, with chips on the side if desired.
Serves 4 to 6.
Good for you going veggie! We are almost vegetarian, also for many reasons, one of which is that Jason is allergic to beef, pork and chicken! Ha ha. Did you know that was even possible? So we do eat turkey and fish occasionally, but mostly veggies, rice, beans, and the like.
It's so easy to do Mexican-style foods and Asian foods vegetarian. Also Italian... okay, wait, so foods from most other ethnicities are easy to make in a healthy vegetarian way!
We still grill- my kids love Boca burgers. And I actually do like some of the fake meat crumbles for things like tacos. Seriously, I think I like them even better than the real thing. Meat has always kind of gagged me.
I'm not much of a chef, and I don't have specific recipes to share, but I know you'll find plenty of ways to do the veggie thing. I have found us leaning even a little bit in the vegan direction, but not in a crazy way. Just trying to maintain a low-fat diet for us. Rice milk, anyone? ;)
All good comments, I especially liked FoxyJ's. It's easy to make most of your favorite meals vegetarian, I learned that when I married John and had to change my whole way of cooking. I've always loved lentils, and I've been on a lentils streak lately, trying a bunch of different recipes. It's hard to find something that both John and I like (he tends toward spicy and I can't stand spicy), but I really liked a tomato based lentil stew with rosemary I made a while ago. If you want the recipe, let me know. I'm sure you can look up and find a million yummy lentil recipes if you like them. Good luck!
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