Hey guys,

I have been a vegetarian now for about 6 months or so. I am doing great with my breakfast meal every day but, I REALLY need some help with lunch and dinner. When I go to the grocery, sometimes I get frustrated because I don't know what to buy or, how to fix good sustainable vegetarian meals.

I am doing very good about salads but beyond that, I'm still trying to figure it out. From time to time, I even eat fast food but, do my best to eat it vegetarian style. IE: no meat at all.

So, any help at all will be most welcome.

Thanks bunches

Some meals I like - though I do mostly cook everything myself:

Spicy bean burgers with potato wedges and a side salad. 

Mushroom puff pastry pies with mashed potato, veggie gravy and peas. 

Boston baked beans with baked potato and coleslaw. 

Nut roast with all the 'trimmings'  

Chunky tomato & vegetable ragu over pasta with some focaccia (or similar tear & share bread). 

Curry and rice (I usually buy frozen 'chicken' style chunks and add a bought curry paste)

Lentil shepherd's pie with cabbage or other veggies

Macaroni cheese

Butternut squash tagine with couscous

Scrambled tofu, brown rice and steamed spinach

Roasted vegetables is one of the easiest things to make. Serve it with rice or couscous and you're good. Tonight I'm roasting broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and walnuts. Yummy.

One thing you can do is make up some different salads to store in the fridge and serve them with sandwiches. Goya has an good chick pea salad and the recipe is on the back of the can. I made an awesome roasted corn salad last night with black beans and cherry tomatoes.

Look for easy recipes online. Start small and work your way up.

Chili, sandwiches, rice & beans, pasta .... all yummy, infinitely customizable, easy to find vegetarian options. Good starting points.

Heck, I still go in for a good old fashioned PB&J sandwich.

If you feel like you have breakfast figured out a bit better that the other meals don't be afraid to have breakfast for lunch or even dinner. I do that all the time.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I see a couple of you talking about "roasted" veggies. How does one go about doing that exactly? I have have veggie plates at a couple places that I really liked but, did not understand how they roasted em.

Also, I picked up some Tempeh recently. What can I use it for and how do I fix it?

Again, thanks guys. ;)
 

Here's a page on roasting veggies.

I liked tempeh cut into strips, dredged in flour, and deep fried. I don't eat it that way too often, but it's good for an occasional treat.

Id like to know some ideas as well other than just beans, or falafal, and also we are on a budget, and cant get access to the stuff we use to have in the states, and if I am able to find it, its very costly because its imported.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KHADIJAH 

Id like to know some ideas as well other than just beans, or falafal, and also we are on a budget, and cant get access to the stuff we use to have in the states, and if I am able to find it, its very costly because its imported.

Various grains steamed and mixed with chopped vegetables, seasoned with herbs/spices - your choice.

Thinly sliced vegetables layered with tomatoes (for moisure) baked en casserole - served with rice or potatoes or what you will.

Potatoes or sweet potatoes cubed and cooked and tossed with a light vinaigrette while still warm then chilled. Add finely chopped raw vegetables, salt and pepper to taste.

And can you get avocadoes? Lots of options there.

Lots of easy choices! Check online for great recipes for vegetarians and vegans. And good luck. It's hard not to be able to get what you're used to, but it can be an interesting advenure :)

Take any recipe you are familiar with from your omni days and replace the meat with soya, tofu, tempeh, beans or seitan (or any number of similar veg foods).

e.g. lasagne - make it as you would but replace the meat sauce with soya mince or curry - firm tofu, seitain pieces or boiled eggs make an easy substitute.

Just like meat, any of the above do well if marinaded. A nice trick is to stick your seitan or tofu or soy in a zip lock bag with marinade and stick it in the fridge overnight so that when you use it the next day, there is a ton of flavour in there - a lot more than you will ever find with meat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siv 

Take any recipe you are familiar with from your omni days and replace the meat with soya, tofu, tempeh, beans or seitan (or any number of similar veg foods).

 

e.g. lasagne - make it as you would but replace the meat sauce with soya mince or curry - firm tofu, seitain pieces or boiled eggs make an easy substitute.

 

Just like meat, any of the above do well if marinaded. A nice trick is to stick your seitan or tofu or soy in a zip lock bag with marinade and stick it in the fridge overnight so that when you use it the next day, there is a ton of flavour in there - a lot more than you will ever find with meat.

Thanks Siv for suggesting this. I can use my Tempeh for a dish that I frequented when I was still in y "omni" days. My mom called it soul food. easy peasy..  Black eyed peas, french onion soup, rice, and meat which, I will now replace with the tempeh.

I appreciate you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siv 

I love French onion soup but was dismayed to find that most places make it with beef stock. Do you have a good recipe for a veg version?

As I was gathering the ingredients for this yesterday, I discovered that the soup I normally used to use has GMO in it so, no french onion soup. I am going to try it with just veggie stock and see how it turns out. I do really like the french onion soup flavor though so, I may experiment a bit in the future to make my own.

So, for now though, everything the same, Tempeh, black eyed peas, rise, and now veggie stock instead of FOS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siv 

I love French onion soup but was dismayed to find that most places make it with beef stock. Do you have a good recipe for a veg version?

I don't have a recipe, but I'd suggest using something like Vegemite (yeast extract plus dark vegetable stock), Marmite (yeast extract) and/or Vecon (dark vegetable stock paste) as a straight sub for the beef stock. They all work well for me in similar contexts where I want a rich dark savoury flavour.

Vecon - I have never heard of that but it doesn't seem to be very good for someone for high blood pressure! It has 16.5% sodium compared to 3.9% in Marmite. I have been cutting down on my Marmite use because I think it has too much sodium (and it's probably the quantities I use - I love the stuff).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siv 

Vecon - I have never heard of that but it doesn't seem to be very good for someone for high blood pressure! It has 16.5% sodium compared to 3.9% in Marmite. I have been cutting down on my Marmite use because I think it has too much sodium (and it's probably the quantities I use - I love the stuff).

I'm so fortunate, my blood pressure is superb, so I refuse to concern myself with how much salt is in stuff. That's useful as I'm fond of well seasoned meals! Cooking my own of course means I inevitably add less than would be found in most ready bought meals, but whatever, I do enjoy a good dash of  salt! And I LOVE Marmite!

I love cooking, so I follow lots of food blogs, and save the recipes I like to my Pinterest account.

Most of the recipes are spicy and from all around the world, but there are some plainer ones there is you don't like spices as much as I do! http://pinterest.com/kanzi/vegetarian-main-meals/

Quote:

Originally Posted by elsie182 

I
I usually make if with veg stock (or mushroom stock) and some dried thyme, and it tastes just incredible!

Good idea! I get Mushroom Stock too. Kallo make it and it is suitable for vegans.

Have you browsed the recipe area here? It's packed with good ideas and easy to browse too - because of the decent categories. https://www.veggieboards.com/f/36/recipes

Mushroom stock! I didn't know there was such a thing - just thinking about it makes me hungry. I'll have to search out where I can find some.

Quote:

Originally Posted by angie54321 

I love cooking, so I follow lots of food blogs, and save the recipes I like to my Pinterest account.

 

Most of the recipes are spicy and from all around the world, but there are some plainer ones there is you don't like spices as much as I do! http://pinterest.com/kanzi/vegetarian-main-meals/

Thanks for sharing your pinterest board! I'm following now and can't wait to see what goodies you have!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegetarian Zen 

 

Thanks for sharing your pinterest board! I'm following now and can't wait to see what goodies you have!

Thanks! I'm following you as well now on Pinterest :-)