Quick And Healthy Veg Dinners

neuro-praxis

I know you've been asked to post your favourite vegetarian meal before, but the thread didn't amount to much.

I find when I cook vegetarian meals that I am left quite unsatisfied. (I am quite sure this is down to my lack of culinary expertise.) I got an excellent (Veg. Society) cookbook with delicious recipes but all of the meals are quite heavy in oil/butter/cheese. As I am trying to lose weight right now, that's not so useful.

I am bored stiff with tomato/pasta dishes and stir fries.

If you have a staple favourite healthy dish, please post the ingredients and method here. Please don't link me to a veg site - I am looking for your tried and tested meals that you guys eat every day! I would be particularly pleased with nice soup recipes. Lunches are a tough one for me and I have had enough sandwiches to do me til death.

Thanks for your help.

Nature Boy

I know what you mean. I'm sick of sandwiches for lunch every day. I wish I could get something hot for lunch...

But anyway. I made a stuffed mushroom dish recently that was pretty good.

Thick brown wholemeal bread (with the crusts cut off)
Cranberry sauce
Humous
Garlic tofu (I recon plain tofu and some crushed garlic might have worked better)
Very large mushrooms
Beef tomato

Spread some cranberry sauce on the bread (Bare with me!). Place the mushroom on top of the bread. Blend the tofu, garlic and humous together in a food blender. Cut a slice of beef tomato (I did it with my JML super slicer ). Place the tomato slice on top of the mushroom, then spread the tofu/hummous mix on top. Bake it in the oven (I think i baked it for 10 minutes or so).

I had two of them that night with some homemade chips, but i guess if you're on a diet you could have a risotto or something with it.

Let me know if you try it

neuro-praxis

Thanks Nature Boy, I will give it a go, although tofu and me aren't really best friends.

Can I ask why you blended the hummous with the tofu instead of just having hoummus? Did it change the taste and texture much? I always find tofu tasteless.

Nature Boy

Tofu is tasteless, but it absorbs flavours very well so it depends on what you cook with it. I guess you could just have homous but i figured it might be a bit strong on it's own so i blended tofu with it, plus i had some tofu in the fridge and didn't want it to go to waste

quickbeam

Have you tried Quorn? It tastes darn close to meat so you feel you're getting something filling and leave the table more satisfied. I'm not a fan of their chicken-style pieces, but I love their mince. I make a very quick and easy chilli with it:

Into one bowl throw in:

Quorn Mince
Tin of Tomatoes
Kidney Beans
Chilli Powder
Your favourite veg (I usually use onion, mushrooms and courgettes)

Microwave for 7 minutes stiring half way through. Serve with rice (wholegrain if you're being ultra-healthy).

I make spaghetti bolagnaise the same way - leave out the kidney beans and chilli powder and serve with spaghetti instead of rice.

I'm sure there's better ways of cooking Quorn, but I'm a lazy cook and I found the microwave works as well as a pan.

neuro-praxis

Mmm, this one is dying a slow death as before. What are you all eating? Is it secret food?

Nature Boy

I know you said you don't like tofu but...

I made a marinated tofu dish a couple of times (well actually it was tempeh the second time) and liked it. I just got a jar of marinade stuff but I guess it might be better to make your own (Something with tomatos would be nice i'd say, barbeque-y)

I used the paul newman marinade (cajun i think)
Made bread crumbs (From wholemeal bread of course :-))

Cut the tofu in triangular shapes, I think i used smoked tofu, or maybe it was tofu with herbs. Coat it with marinade, leave for about 30 mins (I think i onlt left it for 15 or so), then coat with the bread crumbs. Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins.

I had it with noodles. Find yourself some nice thick noodles, sprinkle them with soy sauce (Obvously cook them first :-)) and use them as a bed for your tofu stakes

I guess you could use a quorn or realeat veggie roll (You can get chicken/turkey/lamb style) and cut it up instead of the tofu.

Oobie

I don't mind tofu (once it's flavoured well) but I absolutely hate all those meat substitutes like Quorn etc.

Blub2k4

Pasta, oilive oil, garlic, chili and parmesan, lots of fresh parsley if you have it.
Easy.
Crusty bread to soak the garlicy oil, mmmmm.

Mentalmiss

My favourite meal (other than breakfast) is as follows:
Mash avocada and add some chopped onion and some Herbamere.
Place thickly on flax crackers and top with sliced tomatoes.
Breakfast is a green smoothie
http://www.rawfamily.com/products2.htm

Mantel

Veggie meals for myself tend to consist of du puy lentils and the odd baked potato stuffed with cheese and anything else that will fit in to it.... or around it. The lentils are good as you can use them as a base ala pasta or rice but aren't as soft or squishy, well lets say a different texture and quite a different taste.

A bowel of du puy lentils (with some olive oil and vingear mixed in), a sauce on top (so it isn't too dry) and some carrots on top does the job for me. Although I'm a fairly simple person.... and not really a veggie either.

Kastro

im a big fan of mushrooms..
what i usually do is ge tthe big mushrooms, think they are called portabello or something.. break off stalk, wash.. stick loads of sweet chilli sauce into em or garlic sauce and top with cheese.. you can either fry or bake.. i do both cause its faster and to a certain extent healthier. fry for 4-5 mins and then stick into the oven.

another one a danish friend of mine showed me (its real simple)
loads of button mushrooms and a lemon.
cut the mushrooms into quaters down the stalk if you get me.
fry em up in a big wok.. once fryed squeeze in half a lemon and let it fry for about 10 seconds.. then serve.. its good on its own or with a salad etc..

sweet-rasmus

hmmmm.... i love eating lentils. if you cook them with diced carrot, it's brill. add to a pot, cooking in this order: a little oil, a large onion (chopped), a clove of garlic (chopped finely) , one stick of celery (chopped), two medium sized carrots (chopped), tin of chopped tomatoes. Cook. Then add 2 cups of brown lentils and plenty of hot water and cook for 40 mins or till soft.

and the stuffed mushrooms don't need tofu - i always make them with breadcrumbs, thyme, courgette, red onion.

another brill dish is mexican - refried beans. you can buy them and spend the hour boiling them, or just buy a tin of them. good in flour tortillas with salsa (easy to make - chop 2 tomatoes, add 2 tsp of cumin powder, 1 garlic, half an onion) and fresh veg, or a mix of whatever veg you have in the fridge, cooked. pretty easy and two big tortillas filled with fill you up!

and a tomato risotto is good to make, but you have to stand there for about 40 minutes stirring the rice and adding the liquid (chopped tin tomatoes, or soft fresh ones, with hot water); can be hard work!

oh, new potatoes are out this time of year - boil a couple and serve with some lettice, raddish, spring onions, cumcumber etc... it does actually fill you up! plus, it's easy.

hope this was of some help! i admit, all that effort makes me want to go back to pasta and a jar of sauce... good luck!

neuro-praxis

Thanks, some of those sound great sweet-rasmus.

gabi.sz

neuro-praxis wrote:

Thanks, some of those sound great sweet-rasmus.

I know you have said that you are sick of samdwiches but here is a breadspread that I love and it is great protein as well.

blanch some almonds and throw in the foodprocessor. Process with garlick, some sonflower oil or olive oil, water, salt, mustard, mayo, katchup, spices to taste. You can make any flavour you like. The base is almonds, oil, water, spices and I love garlick. I cannot give you measurements because I usually make a whole bunch and taste as I bland adding more of this or that depending on what I feal like, put into jars and store in the fridge. This can last for a couple of weeks (mind you it never does in my house because we love it). The consistency should be like humus. This would be an alternative to chickpeas and tofu.

bonzo82

Since you said you'd like a soup recipe, here's one I made recently that was a bit of a success....I called it Thai Red Lentil soup, I haven't a clue if they use lentils much in Thailand, but anywaaaaayy...

This is to serve 4ish...me not good with measurements.
Fry up 1 medium onion, 1 red chili pepper, some garlic and ginger over a medium heat. When everything's nice and cooked, bung in some split red lentils and some veggie stock. While that's simmering away, crack open a can of coconut milk and tip some of that in. Add salt/soy sauce to taste. Simmer for a while and when the lentils have gone mushy, serve and prepare to be chuffed with yourself. Some fresh coriander is lovely, if you have it chop it finely and chuck it in, and I'd imagine some lemongrass would be good at the frying stage too...I didn't have any at the time!

rainglow

I'm not a veggie but here are some of my favourites. Hopefully these suit and don't contain things you hate!

I'd recommend that you check out some of Carol Vorderman's detox cookbooks - they're fantastic for veggies and since they're "detox" you'll find that most recipes are low in fat, and only healthy fats are actually included.

What I do when I want to make a recipe healthier is load up on the spices, use way more veggies than the recipe calls for, and use one of those one-cal cooking sprays rather than the oils that the recipe recommends. This will work if it's a weight-driven switch to healthy eating....if you just want to change your eating habits for overall health then olive/ rapeseed oil will do you no harm in the heart department

Pesto-ey couscous

Couscous
Stock cube of your choice
Feta cheese
Red pepper
Green pesto

make couscous, using the stock cube for added flavour. While that's soaking up the liquid, chop the red pepper into small squares. Crumble the feta into small pieces. Stir both into cooked couscous, and then added pesto to taste. Pesto is high calorie, but the flavour is so strong that you won't need to add tons.

Absolutely yummy and so simple. Even the carniverous bf loves it!

I'd have this for lunch - I guess if you were having it for dinner you could have some crusty bread with it?


Rice Pilaf

Onion
Brown rice
Leeks
Garlic
Green beans
Mangetout
Pease
Veg stock
Ground Coriander (1 tsp)
Pine nuts

Fry onion, leeks and garlic over moderate heat for 10 mins until softened. Add coriander and brown rice, stir for 1 min. Add veg stock and bring to boil. Simmer for about 10 mins less than the cooking time of your chosen rice. Chop veg up, add green beans to pot at end of cooking time (as above), making sure you have enough water left in the pot. Cook for a further 5 mins, then add mangetout and peas, and cook for another 5 mins. Towards the end, toast your pine nuts and then mix them in when the pilaf is finished.

If you're bulk-cooking this, only do enough pine nuts for the portions you plan to eat immediately and don't stir them into the whole pot. They go soggy and are pretty crap the next day.


Lentil and Veg Dahl (4 servings)

2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil (optional, could use spray oil)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
175g red lentila
750ml veg stock
2 carrots, diced
85g courgette
125g frozen peas
125g cashews, toasted
1tbsp lemon juice (to season)
Salt (to season)
Few sprigs fresh coriander (to garnish)

Heat oil, saute onions for 5 mins. Add garlic and spices, cook 1 more minute stirring constantly. Add lentils, stock and courgettes. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 mins, adding the peas 5 mins before the end of the cooking time. Stir in cashew nuts, season with lemon juice and salt. Finally, stir in fresh coriander (or garnish).

You could also serve it topped with some natural yoghurt to make it creamy when stirred in.

See pine-nut advice above and apply to cashews here.

Nature Boy

I made a curry last night from some left over food I had and it was lovely!

I cubed some potatoes, fried them for a while in olive oil and a little tumeric and ground cumin.

Then added some mashed potatoe with chopped spinach in it.

I blended together a tomatoe sauce I made for a pizza (Just tomatoes, tomatoe puree, basil & oregano) with lots of spinach and some more tomatoe puree.

Mixed that in with the spuds. Added 2 tablespoons of curry paste and a couple of teaspoons of an indian powder, i think it was garam masala.

Serve with basmati rice.

I guess that's not exactly quick but it was pretty damn good, it looked like crap but it tasted nice!

I'd imagine it could be made nicer if if was made properly I just made it with whatever I had in the house.

Macha

I have a vegan boyfriend (yes he upgraded himself from vegetarian about 2 months ago) and the dinner we make the most is vegetarian tortilla wraps.

a bit of olive oil or other kind
ground cumin
garlic
onion
red chili
tofu (or kidney beans works well for alt protein source)
mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, whatever veg u have
canned tomato
tortillas
cottage cheese/LF yoghurt or hummus
small size tortillas

Ok in terms of healthy, Im going to assume you mean relatively low fat and low carb with a good amount of protein. This recipe has all that! its easy to make and tastes goood.

Ok heat oil in fryingpan, add chopped onion & chilli, crushed garlic & about tablespoon of cumin.

Let onions soften and add in the chopped up tofu (Wait til later for kidney beans if using as they just need to be heated)

Once the tofu has browned a bit throw in the chopped up veg in the usual order of mushrooms first then beans, broccoli and finally peppers (as they take least amount of time to cook)

Finally chuck in the can of chopped tomato and allow whole thing to simmer for about 5 mins,

Heat a tortilla in the microwave for 10-15secs

Throw a spoonful of veg mixture in middle of tortilla and either some yoghurt, cottage cheese(extra protein) or hummus (vegan option)

Fold up one side, then the other 2 sides to form a pocket

eat, drink and be merry