If you are a vegetarian, what foods / recipes are staples in your diet?!
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Answers: My family is wanting to go vegetarian, and I need some inspiration on tasty / simple dishes I could make regularly.
I would love to hear your thoughts!
When I do my food budget/shop every week, these are what I normally make sure I have in the cupboards/fridge:
Carbohydrates: Rice, pasta, cous cous, noodles, rye/wholemeal bread, potatoes
Protein: Tofu, an assortment of tinned beans (chick peas, kidney beans etc), red lentils, nuts/muesli bars
Iron: Mushrooms, green veggies (peas, broccoli, spinach etc)
Other fruit & veg: I normally get an assortment of what's in season, PLUS fresh herbs.
Then I'll pick up other useful things for cooking like coconut milk, curry paste (for when I'm to lazy to make it from scratch), tomato puree (for making chilli or pasta sauce).
I tend to experiment a lot and make some unexpectedly delicious meals. If you like, email me at natastrophe@gmail.com and I can share some stuff with you that's from my "food diary"!
Some of my regular recipes are:
-Thai tofu salad with coconut cous cous
-Grilled veg with balsamic dressing & sundried tomato risoni
-Vegetable & bean chilli with rice
-Teriyaki marinated veg & tofu with udon noodles
-Orange & mint salad (involves grilles veg, cous cous and my special fresh dressing)
-Pasta
-Fried rice
skim milk, hard boiled egg whites(I'm totally not a vegan), cottage cheese, lots of beans, whole wheat bread, brown rice, ALL the vegetables, fruit, etc.
Cheese Pizza, Pasta and Marinera or Alfredo sauce
PBandJ... I eat alot of salad and bananas. and of course vege/ black bean burgers..( thier super yummy) . thats almost everything i eat... oh and cheese ravioli.
omg, RICE.
I make lentil soup that all the family like.
Vegetarian lassange
vegetarian potatoe pie
polenta, kale and mushrooms
potatoe and leek soup
spinache omlette
Mushroom & Cheese Macaroni
Ingredients
400g wholewheat macoroni
60g butter or margarine
2tbs chopped parsley
450g mushrooms
60g grated cheese
Method
1. Cook macaroni according to manufacturer's instructions.
Slice mushrooms and fry in the fat for 8 mins then add the parsley.
Drain macaroni and mushrooms and toss together lightly.
2. Serve sprinkled with grated cheese.
Spinach & Cream Cheese Pancakes
Ingredients
Batter
120g 85% wholewheat flour
Pinch salt
1 free range egg
300 ml milk
Oil for frying
Filling
900g spinach washed and chopped (or frozen)
45g margarine
1 large onion
1 clove garlic crushed
?tsp grated nutmeg
?tsp pepper
60g cream cheese
60g grated hard cheese
Method
1. Make the pancakes and keep them warm.
Cook the spinach and drain in a sieve pressing with a wooden spoon to remove excess water.
Set aside.
2. Cook chopped onion and garlic in the margarine but do not allow to brown.
Stir in the spinach, nutmeg and pepper; mix well.
Add the cream cheese and cook on a low heat for 3 mins with stirring.
3. Spread over each of the 8 pancakes, roll up and place on the serving dish.
Sprinkle the grated cheese and place under the grill for 3 to 4 mins until the cheese melts and browns.
Barley Broth
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Ingredients
30ml/2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
50g/2oz mushrooms, quartered
1tsp thyme
1tsp basil
30ml/2tbsp tamari
1 potato diced
2 carrots, sliced
?swede, diced
50g/2oz pearl barley (soaked in water for 1 hour)
1.35L/2?pt vegetable stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Heat the oil, add the onion and sauté gentle, add the garlic and the bay leaf, and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms, thyme, basil and tamari and cook gently for a further 3 minutes.
Add the remaining vegetables, barley and stock.
Cover and simmer for about 30-40 minutes.
Season and serve with hunks of crusty wholemeal bread.
Chunky Vegetable Soup with Dumplings
Serves 4
A hearty soup for a cold day. Make sure that the soup is boiling before adding the dumplings, otherwise they will not fluff up and melt in the mouth.
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Ingredients
For the soup:
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small potato, parsnip, carrot, turnip, swede, leek and large stick celery
1?pt Marigold Vegetable Bouillon
?tsp dried mixed herbs
seasoning
1 leaf from a Savoy cabbage
1oz / 25g frozen peas
For the dumplings:
2 heaped tbsp self raising flour
1 heaped tbsp vegetarian suet
pinch salt
Method
1. Put the onion and garlic into a pan.
2. Cut the potato, parsnip, carrot, turnip, swede, leek and celery into ? inch cubes and add to the onions, together with the stock, herbs and seasoning.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
4. Make the dumplings by combining the ingredients in a bowl and adding enough water to make into a stiff mixture.
Add more flour if necessary.
5. Take heaped teaspoonsful of the mixture and roll into balls.
Roll the dumplings in a little extra flour and set to one side until the soup is nearly ready.
6. At the end of the cooking time, add the cabbage and peas.
7. Bring the soup to the boil and carefully add the dumplings, making sure that they are immersed in the soup.
8. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the dumplings are fluffy and have risen to the top.
Serve at once.
Hearty Lentil Soup
Lentils make an excellent base for a nourishing soup. Make a meal of this with plenty of wholemeal bread, or serve in smaller portions as a first course. Vary the vegetables according to what is available, but do include some root vegetables which give the mixture a robust quality. Vegan.
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Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
2tbsp sunflower oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
4oz/l00g broccoli, broken into small florets
4oz/l00g red lentils
2tsp miso
1pint/600ml vegetable stock
14oz tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp thyme
salt and pepper
Method
1. Fry the onion in the oil until just soft. Next add the vegetables and mix well.
Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.
2. Add the lentils and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Dissolve the miso in the vegetable stock. Pour this over the vegetables and add the tomatoes and thyme.
Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 1-1? hours. Season to taste and serve piping hot.
Extra Special Leek Soup with Garlic and Herb Topped Croutons
Vegan
Serves 4
Ingredients
30ml/2tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium potato, peeled and very finely cubed
450g/1 lb leeks, washed and chopped
900ml/1 ? pts vegetable stock
250g/9oz Swedish Soft with Garlic and Herbs ( dairy free soft cheese)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
4 slices white bread
100g/4oz Swedish Soft with Garlic and Herbs (or Plain if preferred) ( dairy free soft cheese)
to garnish - chopped chives
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently cook the potato until tender. Add the leeks and sweat with the lid on for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Put the Swedish Soft with Garlic and Herbs into a bowl. Add a few spoons of soup and blend together with a fork to make a thick, creamy consistency. Stir into the hot soup and season to taste.
4. Toast the bread on both sides and remove the crusts. Cut into bite sized croutons and spread one side of each with Swedish Soft (Garlic & Herbs or Plain). Place on a baking sheet and pop under the grill for a few seconds until golden and bubbling.
5. Heat the soup through gently, but do not boil.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each one with a few croutons. Sprinkle some chopped chives over and serve.
Google african vegetarian, italian vegetarian, german vegetarian, chinese vegetarian , spanish vegetarian the possibilities are endless goodluck
most of the recipes are from vegetarian society uk
Have some wholesome carrots.
Rice milk (or Silk: Soy Milk) for cereals
Amy's Veggie Burgers
Veggie soup (potatoes, onions, lima beans, corn and tomato sauce)
Potato salad
you can also try this site:
http://www.veganchef.com/
Lentil soup - Crushed tomatoes, chili powder, squash or carrot dice, lentils and onions.
Chickpea salad - Onion, tinned corn kernels, chopped tomato, chickpeas, homemade dressing from cumin, garlic, canola oil, lime juice and cayenne.
Chickpea curry - Chickpeas, a load of spicy tomato salsa, plain yogurt, curry powder, onion.
Homemade mac and cheese
My boyfriend makes a Japanese curry with Japanese curry cubes, a load of veggies, tofu puffs or other kinds of fried tofu, and konnyaku noodles that is EXCELLENT.
Falafels in a pita with tomato and lettuce.
well theres organic cereals and soymilk in the am and stir-fry veggies over white rice and some fruit for lunch and for dinner theres cabbage and carrots and soy burgers and chocolate soy dream for dessert . I know that was boring but the thing is you have to be creative and plan ahead and if you get too busy you can still eat out i order everything that i like from the china star resturant i just order all without meat
like veggie low-main and veggies fried rice and broccoli in .sauce over white rice. also they have delicious spring rolls no meat also veggies and bean-curd soup and so forth just go through all your menus and circle all veggie meals its easy only on accasions you dont want to make it a habit . it is best to cook your foods at home just plan ahead to make it easier on you buy plenty of apples and oranges and mangoes but fresh or frozen veggies whenever possible. its really easy to get used to eating all the potatoes and pasta and white rice but dont do it because that will keep the weight on your body and you must learn what you need to take as for herbs and vitamins.
Legumes of all kinds...Soy is also a good staple. I tend to eat alot of soups like lentil and veggie chili. Mexican and Indian foods seem to pop up alot. Convenience foods from both cuisines tend to be vegan as well.