Add some Indian (from India) foods to your diet. Full of flavor, you'll never miss the meat.
Also, there are a jillion types of dry beans and legumes out there. Do one variety every other night... freeze L/O, then turn the L/O into a bean-veggie-noodle soup!
Here's a couple good recipes:
SESAME PEANUT NOODLE BOWL
Makes: 4 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 2 minutes, plus pasta
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
8 ounces spaghetti
1/4 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons light or dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup coarsely shredded carrots
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (green part only)
Heat a small skillet on medium heat. Add sesame seeds; cook and stir about 2 minutes or until fragrant. Immediately pour out of hot pan to avoid over-toasting. Cook spaghetti according to directions.
Meanwhile, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, sugar, ginger and red pepper in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in carrots and sesame seeds. Drain spaghetti, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water. Add spaghetti and water to sesame seed mixture; toss to coat well. Sprinkle with scallions tops. Serve immediately.
Per serving: 418 calories, 13 grams protein, 15 grams fat (33 percent calories from fat), 2.6 grams saturated fat, 58 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 606 milligrams sodium, 4 grams fiber.
-- 7-Day Menu Planner website
__________________________
STUFFED SQUASH WITH BULGUR AND FETA
This vegetarian dish can be prepared up to a day ahead; fill the squash halves with the cooked bulgur mixture, then refrigerate, covered, until ready to bake.
4 large summer squash (about 8 ounces each)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup bulgur wheat
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
lemon wedges, for serving
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Halve each squash lengthwise; slice off a sliver of skin from each half so they sit flat. Scoop out flesh with a small spoon or melon-baller, leaving a 1/4-inch border; chop finely, and reserve. Place squash halves on a rimmed baking sheet, skin sides down; set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add reserved chopped squash, onion, almonds, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is dry, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add bulgur and 2 cups water; simmer over medium heat until liquid is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes (bulgur should still be slightly crunchy). Remove from heat; stir in feta.
4. Mound bulgur mixture in reserved squash halves. Bake until squash is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.
Note: Once the flesh has been removed from the squash halves, it is chopped and added to the filling so nothing is wasted.
--EverydayFOOD
___________________
EGGPLANT PARMESAN W/ TOMATO SAUCE
2 pounds (about 2 medium-sized) eggplant
Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh bread crumbs, seasoned with 1/4 chopped fresh basil leaves and 1/4 cup pecorino
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Wash and towel dry the eggplant. Slice the eggplant horizontally about 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices in a large colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside to rest about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the eggplant and dry on towels.
In a saute pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until just smoking. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and saute until light golden brown on both sides. Repeat with all of the pieces. On a cookie sheet lay out the 4 largest pieces of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over each piece and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and top each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the top of each little stack is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Basic Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes
Salt
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve.
This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
--Mario Batali, FoodTV
2006-12-17 05:55:55
·
answer #1
·
answered by Sugar Pie 7
·
1⤊
0⤋
There are a couple of products on the market that would help you quite a bit. If you have children, it is doubtful they're going to want to stray too far from their tried and true favorites. You'Il be better off substituting vegetarian items for the meat items in your 'usual' recipes. You can introduce completely new dishes one or two at a time throughout the month.
I have male housmates, and they are just like kids when it comes to trying new foods. Gardenburger Seasoned Soy Crumbles is now my best friend. It is a freeze dried, frozen soy product that is used just like ground beef in any recipe. Rehydrate it in boiling water first, then proceed with your recipe. I have found it is most successful in highly seasoned foods, and my housemates usually can't tell if they're eating soy or a very tender meat product.
With Soy Crumbles I have made meatloaf, tacos, enchiladas, spaghetti sauce with 'meat', spciy mexican burgers (add a binding agent like you are making meatloaf), chili, casseroles of every descripton and empanadas. You are limited only by your imagination.
I really think this is your best bet to convert your family to at least a demi-veg diet. As I mentioned earlier, you can work in some 'traditional' vegetarian meals a few at a time as they get used to the idea that meat does't have to be the center of every meal. You can find a lot of very tasty vegetarian recipes here --->
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do cook and eat that way fairly frequently. I have subscribed to this magazine for a while now, and find their recipes to generally be quite family friendly.
Hope I was able to help you at least a little bit.
~Morg~
2006-12-17 04:44:42
·
answer #2
·
answered by morgorond 5
·
1⤊
0⤋
Yes, like said before greek salad is awesome! One night I had some friends come over to experience a full vegetarian dinner. First, we started off with the greek salad, and then I had made gumbo, with okra and rice and celery, etc. And then for the last meal I had made a three cheese pasta dish (so long ago I don't remember the name lol). Some people feel limited to salads and boca products, that they don't consider all the possibilities! What might help you most is actually buying yourself a vegetarian recipe book. I have tons!
2006-12-17 07:16:18
·
answer #3
·
answered by Britterrsssss 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
I agree with ROBERT L O
Forget about all this silly "hippie" Western vegetarian stuff. Look around the world, the majority of the world is either vegan, vegetarian, or very close. Meat and dairy in most cultures is a condiment or to add a bit of flavour.
From China (they specialize in vegetable dishes - you must own a wok if you are vegetarian), to the Middle East, to India, to Italy, people are eating a lot of vegetables, grains, legumes, beans, etc. Most countries have no animal-industry-subsidization so not only is it very expensive to put a slab of meat, a brick of cheese, and a gallon of milk into your diet, but probably overwhelming for most pallets where people do not grow up eating candy, sugar coated cereals, concentrated fruit drinks, and everything else from a package etc. Away from the rich countries, people are more 'country-like' and crop foods are cheap and plentiful.
The answer for us was: start a garden. Order free seed catalogues, visit the library, read books, and get started. In the backyard, on the apartment balcony, it can be done anywhere, and you will add variety. Finally you can stop going to the produce section of your store that offers the boring regular selection of veggies. There are at least 4000 vegetables to choose from not to mention all the sub-varieties. One little pack of seeds will grow hundreds of plants for what, a dollar? It's a good deal. Start now and in a few years you will be a venerable professional at it like us.
In the 1970's all the young people were gardening. As kids, we used to sit on fences in the back alley and reach over into gardens to snack on peas, berries, etc. By the mid 80's, very few vegetable gardeners were left, but I think there's a resurgence as the intelligent educated youth are finding themselves poor and unsatisfied (history repeats itself). I go out to my garden and bring in vegetables every day that would cost a good $15 retail. Nothing is cheap anymore in the USA and Canada, and we’re supposed to be amongst the richest countries of the world. Once you have your own garden, you will find yourself more relaxed as you have some power over feeding yourself and no longer have to worry about rising prices at the store.
No, it’s not hard work, that’s what we thought, but actually, the way we garden is to do the least amount of work possible. Forget weeding, do mulching. Forget putting everything in orderly rows. In fact, we moved, and went back to clean-up our old community garden after many months thinking that it would be all dried up and dead without our care in the summer heat. It was over grown. Hacking everything back we found LOTS of vegetables hidden under the growth. By not pulling weeds, the moisture stayed, the overgrowth shaded the garden, and we literally did no work at all. The yield was much smaller, yes, perhaps half the yield, but we didn’t lift a finger. OK, I’ve babbled enough. That’s my two-cents worth.
2006-12-17 05:39:25
·
answer #4
·
answered by Scocasso ! 6
·
0⤊
0⤋
I dont have any off the top of my head, but check out a vegetarian recipe book. I asked my mother if she could get me one for Christmas this year, and there are actually alot of tasty looking stuff in it. She also got me a book with tofu recipes and she is more excited to make some stuff then I am and she eats meat! haha
The tofu one is called the giant book of tofu cooking and I forgot about the other one.
2006-12-17 04:26:28
·
answer #5
·
answered by J. 4
·
1⤊
0⤋
I buy the steak strips from Morningstar, its in a green bag. The chicken flavor isn't too tasty.
Cook them in a pan with a bit of oil. Garlic salt, season salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper. Heat up some corn tortilla's and you got fajitas!
Or add them to your stir fry. Boca also makes crumbles (ground 'meat') you can make tacos, or a taco salad. Lettuce, torilla chips, cheese, jalepenos, salsa and catalina dressing. (you can also add guacamole, sour cream)
Use this where recipes call for meat. Meat balls, lasagna.
They also have soy bacon, veggie burgers, bbq ribs, italian sausage, breakfast sausage. Just use your imagination.
2006-12-17 07:00:10
·
answer #6
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
A greek salad is realllllllllllllllly good. You can get it @ some greek restrunts or you might be able to get it from Publix. I dont know. I am 1/2 greek and my great grandmother used to make it all the time,but I dont know where the recipe is.
2006-12-17 04:24:28
·
answer #7
·
answered by vw chick 4
·
1⤊
0⤋
Geez, why are you making this so complicated? Do you really need to plan your diet out like that? Just stop eating meat, and you're done. Everything else stays the same.
2016-05-23 02:07:28
·
answer #8
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
Discover more ethnic cooking. Greek, Italian, Mexican, and Indian cooking has plenty of meatless recipes. They use spices that Americans don't use that will give your dishes more variety.
2006-12-17 04:24:50
·
answer #9
·
answered by ROBERT L O 4
·
2⤊
0⤋
There are lots of ideas here : http://www.recipesfrvegans.co.uk
2006-12-17 07:36:15
·
answer #10
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋