My friend Molly commented on an earlier post in which I mentioned that we mostly eat vegetarian. This trend toward limiting meat is definitely gaining in popularity, and Molly said, "We're eating less and less meat these days, but short of having beans all the time I find it hard to come up with meals!" So, in honor of October being Vegetarian Awareness Month, I thought I'd share some meatless meal ideas for Molly and anyone else who might like to try out a few more vegetarian meals.
First, I have to address the issue of beans! We do eat a lot of beans. Mostly because they are just so good for you: high in fiber and protein, and low in fat. Really an ideal food. I can't say it's one of my favorite foods, but because beans are so nutritious I've learned to like them, and we do incorporate beans into a lot of the meals that we eat. The key is just variety.
Having said that, you'll find that the meals we eat are not so very different from what most health-conscious families eat. We don't eat a lot of processed soy products or meat substitutes. Rather, we just eliminate the meat and focus on adding more vegetables to our meals. So here are some ideas:
Soups and Chili - With cold weather around the corner I'll be back to cooking more vegetable soups and my vegetarian chili. Vegetable soup is pretty easy because you can just use whatever vegetables you have on hand or that your family particularly enjoys. I usually start with onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and beans, then go from there depending on what's on hand or what was on sale.
Stir-fry - Again, just throw in your favorite vegetables. My main ones for stir-fry are onions, carrots, bell peppers and broccoli. Snow peas are good too. We will sometimes have tofu when I'm stir-frying vegetables.
Roasted vegetables - Roasting vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. I highly recommend roasted cauliflower - it's one of my kids' favorites! Roasted beets are also yummy. For a main dish, throw together sliced onions and peppers, diced potatoes and carrots, and some broccoli or zucchini. Season with Italian seasoning and bake at 450 until tender (around 30 minutes).
Pasta - This is my quick, easy weeknight standby, made with whole-wheat pasta. You can add a variety of vegetables to tomato sauce. Or toss pasta with roasted veggies.
Curry - We have a couple of curry recipes that we absolutely love. One is made with cauliflower and red lentils. Another has potatoes and green beans and the addition of coconut milk. There are so many different ways to make curry; just find a recipe that you like.
Beans - A couple of our favorites in this category are bean burritos and my homemade bean burgers.
Salad - For a main-dish salad use your favorite toppings and be sure to include some beans and nuts or seeds. We usually throw on chickpeas and also sunflower seeds.
So there are a few ideas to get the ball rolling. A favorite blog of mine for vegetarian meal inspiration is FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Enjoy those veggies!
