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Okay, y'all, so I really do want to become a vegetarian (maybe vegan eventually, but that's waaaaay down the line). But I need your help! I need more recipes!
So I am asking for:
+ Meatless recipes (can contain eggs or dairy, though if they don't, that's great!)
+ That can serve as a main for a meal
+ That I can make in a large batch
+ That will last for three to four days in the fridge
+ So that I can make a bunch of it at the beginning of the week and take it to work for lunch
+ The simpler the recipe, the better, as I do not enjoy cooking
Alternately! If you have any plant-based "meat" products that you think are really good, plug them here!
[eta] Oh, and I don't have any other food restrictions, so this field is wide open.
So I am asking for:
+ Meatless recipes (can contain eggs or dairy, though if they don't, that's great!)
+ That can serve as a main for a meal
+ That I can make in a large batch
+ That will last for three to four days in the fridge
+ So that I can make a bunch of it at the beginning of the week and take it to work for lunch
+ The simpler the recipe, the better, as I do not enjoy cooking
Alternately! If you have any plant-based "meat" products that you think are really good, plug them here!
[eta] Oh, and I don't have any other food restrictions, so this field is wide open.
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(and you should totally look at budgetbytes.com, which has a ton of batch cooking and a ton of vegetarian recipes)
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Ooh, thank you! I will certainly look into that one!
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On budget bytes, also look at the lentil stuff with meat, usually you can just omit it. Like, lentil and sausage stew also works without the sausage. It looks like mud, but it tastes amazing. I also love dhal nirvana, which also freezes well.
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Panzanella (this one's in English, because it was easy to find), more of a summer thing (but omg so good)
The aforementioned red lentil lasagna
Another version with squash (but the one above is better, imo, just if you have to use up squash....)
Lasagna soup with or without meat (it's not a theme, it just looks like one)
curry soup
actually, just.....look at the vegetarian tag
Some other things from my recipe collection that I don't just make up as I go:
https://www.thekitchn.com/vegetarian-recipe-pumpkin-chili-recipes-from-the-kitchn-196046
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-spicy-lentil-wrap-with-tahini-saucerecipes-from-the-kitchn-167629
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fettucin-13396
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-coconut-spinach-chickpeas-with-lemon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-164551
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/pumpkin-soup-recipe/ (Pumpkin Soup with Apple & Spices, sounds horrible, tastes amazing)
Things I mostly make up as I have ingredients: chana masala (should be easy to google)
Also very good: Spätzle mit Linsen (spätze with lentil). No recipe, but it's very easy: cook brown or green lentils with aromatics of your choice (important, because especially brown lentils don't have much of their own taste), drain cooking water. melt butter (or margarine, or cooking oil), cook onions or shallot until softened. make a very thin bechamel (with water is fine, you don't want it to overpower the lentils anyway and it shouldn't be super thick like for a lasagna either, just so the lentils are not super dry). turn the lentils in the sauce.
when the lentils are half cooked, cook spätzle (if you can get them, other noodles work too, but spätzle is traditional (also easy to make yourself, if you're so inclined, I actually have a shaker 😂)).
serve together, either side by side or the lentils on top of the spätzle.
traditionally, this is served with wiener sausage (well, an approximation, but they serve here), but I usually eat it without meat since I get my protein from the lentils.
can be scaled up however much you want.
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Vegetarian cookbooks I've used in the past:
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (the one I use most)
Didi Emmons's Vegetarian Planet
various Moosewood cookbooks
Crescent Dragonwagon's Passionate Vegetarian (she's Charlotte Zolotow's daughter btw)
also Liz MacDowell's Plant-Forward Keto is not exclusively vegetarian but the one tofu recipe I've tried out of it was a hit.
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My fave go-to lentil soup isn't in that link though, because it's less a recipe than an idea, of a thing you make with your heart. I've made it SO many times over the years, and even batches that don't turn out perfect are still hearty and comforting to eat. Here's the approximation:
plain cooking oil
1-2 onions
3 carrots
2 potatoes
vegetable bouillon (I like Better than Bouillon brand, it makes soups so tasty!)
3/4 cup red lentils
rosemary
paprika
parsley
cayenne
lemon juice
Chop and get the onions frying in oil; use generous quantities, since it's the only source of fat in the recipe, and fat is important for conveying flavour. Grate the carrot, and add to the onion to fry a bit too. Add water and veg bouillon. Grate the potatoes, and add that too, along with the lentils, and the spices/herbs. Bring to a simmer, and cook until lentils are well-cooked. Add a splash of lemon juice before serving.
Notes: can omit the potatoes, can add other carbs instead (eg rice or noodles), can add other vegetables (eg tomatoes), can change the proportions/quantities of vegetables, can play around with the herbs. Very good with feta cheese crumbled in, but I almost never bother because I never have it on hand. If you don't have a good veg bouillon, you do need SOMETHING to make the broth umami, so I've used soy sauce in emergencies and that can work fine. Can use other kinds of lentils if you prefer a less dissolved-into-one-mooshy-texture soup experience. Can chop the veg instead of grating them, ditto for the texture. The lemon juice is vital though. It tastes sadly flat without that bit of brightness!
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I love this so much!
Anything that involves rosemary, paprika, parsley, cayenne, and lemon juice is going to be for me!!!
Thank you for both the specific recipe and the link! (Have you heard that the Pinboard guy has lost interest in it and is going to stop updating??? I am very concerned about this.)
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I have it in my schedule to backup my pinboard every month, but at this point I think I will increase to saving a backup any time I make substantive changes to my pinboard!
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at any rate I hope you hear back about your link archive copies!!
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I found it pleasant to spend an evening just going through an endless series of links and taking care of it.
I love this about you!
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Also, I got really into googling plant-based protein sources while trying to get more protein myself, so there are a lot of good online resources out there on that topic! (My kingdom for actually being able to eat like 90% of them, SIGH. Eat them for me, pls!!!!! Chickpeas are so hot right now!)
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I hadn't heard of them so thank you so much!
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/braised-kale-and-tomatoes/18236/
Add a can of black beans or kidney beans. Chopped carrots if you like. Substitute collards for kale if you want. Used diced tomatoes from a can if you can't get fresh.
Serve over rice. Or with cornbread. Or add frozen corn kernels to the basic ingredient list and you have a one pot meal.
If you go for vegetarian rather than vegan, you could grate cheese over it.
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Plenty of others have given lentil recipes, but one I really like is this Thai red curry lentil soup that's very easy and both keeps and freezes well: open a can of full fat coconut milk (don't shake it!) and scoop 2-3 tablespoons of the cream that's gathered at the top into a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat, and wait until the cream has turned into oil (if your can doesn't have the coconut cream, just heat up vegetable oil). Add in 1-2 tablespoon of thai red curry paste and toast the paste in the hot oil until you can smell it. Turn the heat down to medium/medium low and add in a chopped yellow onion or four diced shallots, chopped tomatos (canned is fine) if desired and stir until softened. Add in 2 cups red lentils and 6 cups water, bring to a boil and then simmer until the lentils are done to your liking (usually around 20 min). Add in the rest of the can of coconut milk and stir until even. Finish with lime juice and salt/soy sauce/fish sauce to taste. I like to garnish with either cilantro, crispy fried shallots from the asian grocery store or crispy cubed tofu to bulk it up (cut a block of firm/extra-firm tofu into cubes, toss with a bit of salt, corn starch and oil and lay flat on a baking sheet. Bake at 425, turning occasionally, until all sides are browned and crispy, around 30 min), but they're not necessary.
For non-soups and salads I really like this soy sauce mushroom noodles recipe, though I would bulk it up with some thin sliced five spice tofu and maybe an egg. Japanese curry is also something that you can easily sub in firm tofu for and keeps well and is delicious (just use store bought curry roux cubes for ease).
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I'd also recommend the out-of-print cookbook Lord Krishna's Cuisine if you can find it - if not, this blog transcribes some of the recipes from there. Mung bean paneer is one of my favorite recipes.
I also like Monsoon Spice - this recipe is one I've used a lot from there.
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- If you like chickpeas, then hummus is a great idea. You need a cup of chickpeas (the ones from cans are perfect, otherwise you need to let them sit in water overnight and then cook, and it takes more time), garlic, salt, pepper and paprika to taste, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp of water (you can always add more of these later, depending if you use more or less chickpeas), olive oil. Hummus also generally uses tahini, but if you don't have it, I think it turns out OK without it! Toss all the ingredients (except for the water) in your food processor/blender/mixer. You can smash the chickpeas yourself too, which I sometimes do because it's sooo therapeutic, haha! Mix and add the water slowly, until you get a creamy texture. At the end, you can add salt and pepper to taste, and top with olive oil, and also paprika if you like it. This is my favourite spread/dip! (my second favourite is smashed avocado/guacamole).
I also try to make food batches so I don't have to cook as much (especially in summer). I usually make a big batch of rice, and use it as the base of several meals, for example:
-Stuffed peppers. Slice the peppers in half, bake or roast until they are slightly soft, then fill the halves (with rice, tofu, olives, mushrooms, cheese, vegetables, hummus, basically any leftovers will do.)
and
-Stir fry. Fry whatever you have in hand (mushrooms, spinach, tofu, vegetables...) with a bit of oil, and add the pre-cooked rice at the end. I also do the same thing with spaghetti instead of rice.
-Also, Salads! Cheese, tomatoes, basil (I like this in summer a lot!), also eggplant, onion, roasted tofu (this one is great warm or cold). Other things that are good to add to your salads are chickpeas and lentils, because you can eat them cold and still get proteins!
-Humita. One of my winter favourites! This is great for a weekly batch: you need three cans of corn (or regular corn, but you have to cook it first, so the cans are easier, haha!), and half a squash (but if you want the corn's taste to stand out more, you can definitely use less squash). Whatever spices you like: paprika, onion or garlic flakes (you can add the real thing too, but for someone who doesn't like cooking those flakes are a lifesaver, right?), salt, and olive oil. Cook the squash until it has a soft, creamy texture and you can smash it with a fork easily. Meanwhile, blend the cans of corn until you have a puree, while still having some pieces of corn that remain whole (this is depending on how you like it--trial and error--but it doesn't affect the taste at all!). Mix the squash and the corn purees together, and add the olive oil and the spices, and cook it a bit longer, maybe 10 minutes, stirring ocassionally so that it doesn't stick to the pan, until you like the texture. If you feel it's too thick or pasty, you can add a bit of milk (vegan milks are OK to use). It's supposed to be thick and stew-like, so you can eat it with a spoon. You can also add cheese at the end, so that it melts on top.
-Empanadas: these are super easy, great for summer, and you can also fill them with leftovers. When I have leftover humita, I mix it with cheese, to make it more pasty, and use it as filling. I also like mushrooms, olives, onions, red peppers, spinach, and basil and tomatoes for fillings. You can definitely make the pastries yourself, but the store-bought ones are way faster--I generally make empanadas when I run out of ideas, haha! I think I mentioned that instead of using one pastry per empanada, you can use two, and make mini-pies! Less prep time, same amount of food!
-Super lazy+fake lasagna: it's basically roasted eggplants+roasted tomatoes+roasted tofu sliced and piled together (one slice of each), with a bit of olive oil or cheese on top. I usually have this with a side dish of rice.
That's all I can think of! (it was 41 °C today and I think that my brain melted, haha!) But I hope that some of this was helpful or useful--best of luck! <3
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I hope today is cooler!
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With matching jackets! XD
Oh, and before I forgot to mention the Supercook site... I might have mentioned it in another post?? It's super useful--you enter the ingredients you have, and it gives you recipes you can make with those, and suggests more ingredients you might also have but haven't thought of. I think it's great for people like us who don't like cooking, because it lets you keep it as simple as you like, gives you ideas of ingredients you can mix together, and you don't have to worry about not being able to make a specific recipe because you don't have x ingredient.
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Easy chili: I use the Bush's Chili Magic "just add tomato and protein" chili starter, which is available at most big supermarkets, plus a can of diced tomato, a can of beans (any kind, strained), and a chopped onion -- saute the onion (plus any other vegetables you want, optional) in some oil, add all the canned stuff, mix and simmer for 15 minutes.
A good minestrone recipe is worth having -- easy to make in large batches, and you can use canned tomato + frozen veg to speed up the preparation.
Roasted vegetables are minimal effort once you get the cooking time right (and you can even use frozen pre-chopped veg to save the chopping time).
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fish sauce is obviously... not vegan (not vegetarian? depends on where people draw the line, i guess) but there are vegan alternatives, mostly mixing together as much mushroom and seaweed flavours as possible for the umami delivery. Nước chấm (fish sauce or variant of, sugar, lemon/lime, garlic, etc) + aromatic herbs (mint, coriander, thai basil, whatever else is cheapest) can be thrown on top of thinly sliced, in-season vegetables and some vermicelli noodles and voila, Meal You Actually Are Willing To Eat 5 Days In A Row, or at least i've found so! an example recipe: https://thevietvegan.com/lemongrass-tofu-vermicelli-bowl/
Kimchi, pickled radishes, pickled ginger etc are other good options for umami flavourful-ness that can dress up tofu + vegetables. at the other end of the spectrum, my most rudimentary, emergency backup "deliver nutrition now, make it hearty and satisfying" filler is a whole sweet potato, stabbed all over with a fork and microwaved for 5 minutes. split down the middle, add paprika and maybe some mayo, add to whatever else i've got.... not really as useful as Proper Recipes, but a good trick if whatever you've got prepared for the week is not hitting like you wanted.
i can also second any lentil and/or eggplant lasagna recommendations, although i find lasagna boring and time consuming to prepare. sometimes you just need a solid brick of tomato-y, savoury, hearty pasta!
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I am intending to actually be pescatarian (sp?) for a while, so fish sauce works just fine for me! (Plus, there are so many dishes I love it in, so I would have a hard time giving it up!)
Thank you thank you!
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I made a vegan cookbook for a dear friend a couple years ago, with the recipes arranged in ascending order of difficulty -- would you like me to email you that?
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That would be absolutely lovely! Thank you so very much! I can't remember if you have my email address or not, so I will PM you. Thank you thank you!
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