what is a nice inexpensive vegetarian dish to cook for your family?

Answer 1

I like Falafel- it's a great vegetarian dish that still satisfies us meat eaters.

2 cans garbanzo beans
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 small onion
cornstarch
1 bunch each of parsley and cilantro
1- 8 oz container, plain low fat yogurt
1/3 c low fat/fat free sour cream
1/3 c tahini paste (you can find it at a health food store or at Kroger)
about 4 lemons
Near East brand "Taboule" (that's how it's spelled on the box) wheat salad
mix
6 medium tomatoes (the salad looks really pretty with assorted colors, but
if you can only find the red ones that is ok also.)
1 european cucumber (the kind that comes shrink wrapped- you can leave the
skin on since it's not waxed, and it's a softer skin.)
1 bunch of green onions
olive oil
Cumin
Corriander
salt and pepper
Pita bread or flatbread

1. First, hydrate the wheat salad- pour 1 cup of boiling water over the
bulgur wheat and seasoning packet, stir, cover and let stand for about an
hour.

2. Drain the garbanzo beans and put in a food processor or blender. Coarsely
chop the garlic and onion and add to the garbanzo beans along with 2 T cumin
and 1 T corriander and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth, adding
the juice of 1-2 lemons to thin the mixture. Add half the parsley and
cilantro leaves and blend until incorperated. If the mixture doesn't get
smooth, add some water while blending and keep scraping down the sides. It
takes awhile. Remove mixture to a bowl and by hand, stir in 1/3- 1/2 c
cornstarch (if you used a lot of extra water use more cornstarch). Bring it
about to the consistency of cookie dough. The cornstarch is the secret
ingredient that makes them stay together and get brown and crispy. Cover
this mixture and set aside in the fridge.

3. Mix the yogurt, tahini paste, sour cream, juice of 1 lemon, and
salt/pepper in a bowl until smooth. Refrigerate dressing until serving.

4. Chop the cucumber and tomatoes into a 1/3 in dice. Seed the tomatoes and
remove as much of the "guts" as possible- they make the salad wet and icky.
Slice the green onions into small rounds, chop the remaining parsley and
cilantro fine and toss the veggies with the wheat salad. Dress with lemon
juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and cumin and corriander if
desired. (I do- about a tsp of each.) Set aside in the refrigerator until
serving.

5. Remove garbanzo mixture from fridge and shape into 1 inch balls. Deep fry
or bake at 400 until golden brown. They don't really soak up much oil when
deep fried, but baking them is obviously better for you. Just doesn't taste
as good! I don't know how long it will take to bake them- I always deep fry
them. You should probably spray the pan or drizzle a little olive oil on it
before you put the falafels down so they won't stick though. A guess- about
20 min in the oven should do it.

6. Warm the pitas- either in the microwave or wrap them tightly in foil and
place in the hot oven with the falafel.

7 Yum- it's time to eat! Pile it all into a pita and nosh!

Oh- and what's real good to go with it- hummus. Use the store to help you
there- you worked hard making the falafel. Pita chips for it are easy to
make at home though. Slice some pitas or flatbread into wedges, place on a
baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400 until they start to
turn golden. MMM! I'm hungry!

Answer 2

OK, I have to share this soup recipe - I love it! I always make it from memory/feel, so this is approximate:

Saute 2 onions, chopped in a bit of olive oil.

Add 2, cloves of garlic (or more) and 4 stalks celery, chopped. And 1 tsp curry, 1 tsp celery seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds/powdered. Saute 5 minutes.

Add 2 quarts vegetable stock (powder/cube/box OK), and 3 cups rinsed red lentils. Simmer for 30 minutes, then blend about half the soup, or stir very vigorously with a whisk.

Season to taste with salt/pepper. You can add some broccoli florets or brussel sprouts and cook another 5 minutes, or serve plain. Can be eaten as soup or over rice.

Answer 3

Stir Fry! You can use any veggies you like, mix in a light sauce, and serve it on rice. Hearty and good for you. Cheap pizza crusts and meatless sauce and make a veggie pizza (with or without cheese). When it is cold, make veggie soup (potato soup, Tomatoe bisque or bean soup!). The possibilities are endless!

Answer 4

Yes, vegetable lasagna is a good one. Michelangelo's makes a great veggie lasagna, and they make a family-sized one. Since I became a vegetarian, I have lived on California Kitchen's spinach white pizzas. If you want to make a meal from scratch for your family, you could make cheese enchiladas. This recipe sounds tasty to me: http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/AZ/Chsnchilds.asp .

Answer 5

Some of the groceries here have pre-made soybean casseroles for cheap. I eat meat, but I have had these also and they are not bad. Fix or buy a package of salad to go with it and you are set.

Answer 6

Spaghetti with sauteed zucchini, onions, garlic, soy crumbles, bell peppers. After you add sauce to this mix top it off with some fresh spinach leaves and cook it for 5 minutes more (even if you don't like spinach, trust me!).

Answer 7

Stir Fry with tons veggies and tofu and rice.

Answer 8

Curried lentils on rice. Lentils are cheap and tasty and they taste great with curry.

Answer 9

you can make rice and beans, and then have like fruit for a sidedish! its a huge hit with my family

Answer 10

mac n cheese lol
have a great day