I want some Vegetarian Recipes.

Don't get me wrong, I love beef, chicken, fish and bacon. What I'm looking for are some veggie recipes that you have cooked that include carbs, fat and protein. My goal is to replace protein from meats to protein from vegetables two days out of the week.

Let me compile some of my recipes for you. We stopped buying meat when money got tight a few years ago, and never really looked back. When I do buy meat, it's always as locally sourced as I can get it, which can be expensive.

Some good resources/blogs off the top of my head are
-100 days of real food
-oh my veggies
-oh she glows (this one is all vegan, but we add cheese and animal fats where needed).

Interested in seeing what people have to say here. I've recently been trying to reduce the amount of animal based foods to reduce my cholesterol and weight.

Check out the cookbook One Dish Vegan by Robin Robertson. There are some fantastic, easy recipes inside.

Edcculus said:

Let me compile some of my recipes for you. We stopped buying meat when money got tight a few years ago, and never really looked back. When I do buy meat, it's always as locally sourced as I can get it, which can be expensive.

Some good resources/blogs off the top of my head are
-100 days of real food
-oh my veggies
-oh she glows (this one is all vegan, but we add cheese and animal fats where needed).

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Thanks, I'll check those out. Today we ate no meat and didn't really miss it.

dgreene120 said:

Interested in seeing what people have to say here. I've recently been trying to reduce the amount of animal based foods to reduce my cholesterol and weight.

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+1 I love veggies. Just trying to make a few adjustments.

Aaron, are you looking for just no meats, or no animal products (cheese, butter, etc.) at all?

I do love a farro pilaf, with shallots, mushrooms, dried currents, and toasted almonds, finished in a marsala-vegetable stock broth.

My wife and I have been dieting for a few months with the goal of losing 40 lbs each or so. (she's lost 40, I'm down 35!) In addition to just cutting back portions and eating healthier in general, we've been looking at vegetarian options a few nights a week. This one is one of our favorites. I make this almost every week.

(mixing lentils with rice forms a "complete protein" -- that is; includes all 12(?) amino acids -- making it super nutriious and a small amount seems very filling. Which is why so many "poor" societies/cultures have some sort of "rice and beans" type traditional dish.)

Red Lentil Dal
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 servings
Makes 8 servings. Nutritional Info Per Serving: 124 Calories, 2.5g Fat, 37mg Sodium, 19g Carbs, 7.7g Fiber, 4.7g Sugar, 6.1g Protein

Ingredients
1 tsp olive, grapeseed or canola oil
3/4 cup dry red lentils
1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1.5 tsp sweet curry powder (or use hot, if you like it spicy!)
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup vegetable stock (or water)
One 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
1. Mix the ginger garlic, curry powder, coriander, garam masala and crushed red pepper in small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add your oil, onions and celery and cook on medium high heat for about 2 minutes until vegetables are fragrant and translucent. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
3. Turn down heat and add the ginger, garlic and spice mix and cook on low heat for about 1 minute, allowing the spices to “bloom” until they become fragrant. Add the lentils, vegetable stock, diced tomatoes and coconut milk.
4. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook with a lid on for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until lentils are soft. If your heat is up too high, the liquid will evaporate before the lentils are done cooking. If that happens, just add a little bit more stock (or water, if you are using that) and continue to cook. When lentil are soft, turn off your heat and add in your chopped cilantro. Adding cilantro at the end will keep the flavor lively and fresh.
5. Serve as a soup, or over brown rice with some steamed veggies, or with naan or roti!

econjoe said:

Aaron, are you looking for just no meats, or no animal products (cheese, butter, etc.) at all?

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Good question. On my veggies only days, I think no protein from meats is the main idea. Cheese, milk and butter, etc. on veggie only days
I want to reduce or eliminate. I need to give this question some more thought.

Jim (langod), this looks right, easy and tasty.

Vespasian said:

I do love a farro pilaf, with shallots, mushrooms, dried currents, and toasted almonds, finished in a marsala-vegetable stock broth.

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Does that include Marsala wine?

Also, I HIGHLY suggest you go out and buy (or check out from your local library) the book "in defense of food" by Michael Pollan.

I think a lot of the things toy are trying to figure out will be answered better than I can communicate here.

It's not a diet book, but it changed my life. The major tennant is "eat food, mostly plants, not too much". Think about that long and hard. Especially the first part "eat food" since so much of what is offered in the supermarkets is not actually FOOD.

DoctorShavegood said:

Does that include Marsala wine?

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Yes. I brown a cup of farro in a little olive oil, add 1/2 cup of chopped shallots, a minced clove of garlic, then sliced cremini mushrooms, maybe 6-7 mushrooms. When it's all sort of hot, I deglaze with a slug of Marsala wine, maybe 1/3 cup. I use sweet Marsala, or sometimes Madeira. When the alcohol boils off, I add 2 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken, if I'm not in a veggie-only mood). Big handful of dried currants. Cover and simmer low-and-slow for an hour. Check for done-ness and liquid. In a perfect world, the liquid has all been absorbed when the farro is tender (1 1/4 +/- hours.) If not, add a little more stock. When done, then add salt and pepper. Salting too early can make the pilaf much too salty. Fluff up. Serve with a topping of sliced almonds you have carefully browned. Pine-nuts are the classic topping, but they are now so uniformly nasty that I use almonds.

Farro is a hearty grain, and this dish has some heft. Italians also use cooked farro in delicious salads; the interweb is teeming with recipes. Just make sure the farro is cooked; many recipes underestimate cooking time.

Vegangella is a good site for recipes. I love the indian curry/lentil soup - dahl really.

I've been following a "weekday veg" idea for a while now, and it's a great balance (for me at least) between vegetarian and omnivorous eating.

Nicks&Cuts said:

Vegangella is a good site for recipes. I love the indian curry/lentil soup - dahl really.

I've been following a "weekday veg" idea for a while now, and it's a great balance (for me at least) between vegetarian and omnivorous eating.

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Thanks for the links. Good stuff. I'm trying to lower my red meat intake. Really have no interest in going completely vegetarian.

Nicks&Cuts said:

Vegangella is a good site for recipes. I love the indian curry/lentil soup - dahl really.

I've been following a "weekday veg" idea for a while now, and it's a great balance (for me at least) between vegetarian and omnivorous eating.

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This is good. I like the variety. I don't want to just steam my veggies.

Ok, this is what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Lunch: I large tossed salad with a medley of leafy greens, asparagus, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, a few diced pickled serranos, green onions and a yogurt based blue cheese dressing.

Supper: Bean salad. Both black and pinto beans with red onion, diced jalapeno, avocado, chopped cilantro, diced cherry tomatoes, olive oil, red wine vinegar(very filling). Also, some baked beets with a sprinkle of Gorgonzola cheese, splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

We do the vegetarian meal once a week. In the regulars we got

• Hummus/Baba Ganoush/Pita/Feta and olives
• Spaghetti Eggplant
• Pasta with roasted tomatoes, garlic and oil
• Bean tacos with salsa and guacamole
• Cheese and bread (we skip the pâté)
• Mac and cheese (either a traditional or the one that Steven Raichlen made on primal grill)

Everything is homemade, of course (tortillas included). A Vitamix (if you can afford it) can really help to make the sauces and many preparations where you just throw everything in and turn it on.

Steven Raichlen had a fantastic burger recipe where you would replace the meat with a portobello mushroom. I did not think that would cut it but it turn out really nice and I didn't eat more than what I usually eat (if it would be meat).

Luc said:

Steven Raichlen had a fantastic burger recipe where you would replace the meat with a portobello mushroom. I did not think that would cut it but it turn out really nice and I didn't eat more than what I usually eat (if it would be meat).

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+1 on the mushroom burger. We've made these a few times and they are more hardy than you think. I like to grill them with a little dark spicy mustard. Glad you brought that up...I'm putting it on my list.

We love this Quinoa and Black Bean Taco recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/01/quinoa-black-bean-tacos/