I seem to have a problem recently. I’m a fairly good cook, but I’m kinda running out of new meals to make. Anyone got any suggestions for good, relatively easy, vegetarian meals?
Preferably not indian food, as most of what I make at the moment is indian and I’m getting a little tired of using onions in everything 
Thanks,
David
Vegetarian or vegan?
Just vegetarian. Preferably nothing involving large quantities of dairy products or eggs, but it’s not too important.
You can make surprizingly good sloppy joes by substituting 2 cans of (drained) mashed up black beans and about a half cup of oatmeal for the pound of ground beef.
This one I made up:
Drain one can of Cannelini (white) beans in large sieve, add half of a 10oz package of chopped spinach. (You can score the box with a serrated knife and whack it against the edge of the counter – usually breaks in half.) Boil 8-10 package of penne pasta and drain by dumping contents over spinach & beans in sieve. Return to pot, stir a couple of times to make sure everything’s heated through, add Pesto to taste (the jarred Classico Basil Pesto is YUM) and eat. Fast, easy and good. Excellent with garlic toast.
There’s another good one I make with black beans and sweet potatoes with cumin. I can post if you like but I have to go track it down.
Yes pleas, if it’s not too much trouble. I happen to have all three ingredients to hand, and it sounds nice.
Thanks for the recipes.
pleas=please.
But you knew that already, didn’t you?
(Oh how I miss the ability to edit my posts, though I can very much understand why it’s not available on this board)
Wow, I wish I were home with my beloved vegetarian cookbooks, but I’m traveling for business and will be for 4 weeks. I’m going to try to jot down by memory a few of my favorites (tough for me, since I love onions in EVERYTHING).
Spinach Quesadillas
One package of frozen spinach, defrosted and drained very well
Chopped onion (heh, omit if you’re sick of onion, I guess)
Garlic (minced, as much as you like)
small can of sliced black olives
some chopped up sun dried tomatoes
Shredded cheese (basically just to stick everything together, so use as much or as little as you like)
half a can of cream of mushroom soup (I use the low fat kind, but the campbell’s roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup is GREAT)
Small bit of oil to saute
small drained jar of artichoke hearts, chopped
some pine nuts (if you’re feeling fancy)
package of big tortillas (I use the low fat kind, but not necessary)
salsa/sour cream for serving as desired
Cumin
Coriander
Cayenne
(sorry I don’t remember the exact measurement for the spices, I use the cayenne very sparingly)
Pam or other cooking spray
Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add sun dried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, spices. Stir all that stuff up until well mixed and heated through and the artichokes begin to wilt a bit. Add the well drained spinach and the half can of soup, stir some more. Generally, at this point, I transfer it to a large bowl. Since I always cook for two of us, I dual weild two huge skillets to make the quesadillas.
Spray the skillets with Pam and let them eat up to medium-high heat. Put a tortilla in the bottom of each skillet, sprinkle in some cheese (this is nice because you can customize cheese levels for each individuals, more or less depending on preference). Spoon on some of the spinach mixture, careful to keep it in the center of the tortilla (if you get it too close to the edges, will be a huge mess when you attempt to flip the quesadillas). Sprinkle some more cheese on top.
Pay careful attention to the bottom of the quesadilla, they are much easier to flip when they’ve become golden brown. When the cheese has melted and the bottom of teh quesadilla is “stiff,” put the other tortilla on top and carefully flip the entire thing using a spatula.
When both sides are browned and everything is gooey and melted, carefully transfer to plates, cut into 4ths and serve with some salsa and sour cream.
This next dish is very easy to prepare, but takes a long time. Well worth it though!
2 cans tomatoes
Curry powder
Onion, sliced
minced garlic (too taste, I like a LOT)
two potatos, cut into dice sized pieces
Olive oil
Carrots
Greenbeans
broccoli florets
Can of drained chickpeas
1 cup of vegetable broth
Lime
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly oil a good sized metal pan (with high sides) and put the potatoes in. Drizzle oil oil on top (as desired). Stick in the oven for 15 minutes.
Generally while the potatoes are in, I slice the onions, mince the garlic, clean the green beans and peel the carrots. At the end of 15 minutes, pull the potatoes out of the oven and slide them to the sides (they should be golden brown) Put the garlic, onions, carrotsk, chickpeas and green beans in the middle and drizzle a bit more olive oil on top and stick it back in for 15 minutes.
While that stuff is in the oven, I get the tomatoes ready. Generally I drain one can, but keep the juice from the other can. I crush the tomato and get the brocolli florets ready. Usually, I put the tomatoes in a large bowl and go ahead and add 2 tablespoons of curry powder (I know that’s a freakishly large amount, I really like curry powder).
When 15 minutes is up, bring the pan out. I usually arrange the broccoli florets around the edges of the pan, then dump the tomato stuff around the edges of the pan, over the broccoli. Back into the oven for 15 minutes!
During that last step, I make sure the broth is ready. At the end of 15 minutes, pull the pan out of the oven and transfer the contents to a large bowl. Turn an oven burner to high and add teh broth to the pan and put the pan over the burner. Squeeze lime juice into the broth and reduce by half, stirring constantly (be sure to scrape the crispy bits off the sides).
When the broth has been reduced by half, dump the broth over the vegetables and serve over rice. I know it sounds hard, but it’s really very easy to make, just time consuming with some chopping involved.
Apologies for typos, I’m typing on a laptop keyboard and I really miss my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard.
Found it! (A lot of chopping, but soooooo good.)
http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/potatoes/sweet-potato-black-bean-hash
Here’s an easy cassoulet recipe. I just leave the sausage out and still like the taste fine.
1 lb polish sausage, sliced diagonally (LEAVE OUT, duh, haha.)
1 15oz can each (drained): white, black & red/kidney beans
1 15oz can tomato sauce
3 med carrots, thinly sliced (very thin, or your cassoulet is crunchy)
2 small onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings (I usually only use a half onion, chopped finely)
2 T brown sugar (I leave out, too sweet for me)
1/2 C dry red wine or broth (I use Madiera (sp?) – so good with beans!)
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I use more, of course!)
Mix all in 3-quart casserole and bake in 375* ovenfor 50-60 minutes or until bubbly and carrots are tender.
Here’s a good lentil-rice casserole from the Tightwad Gazette:
3 C Broth
3/4 C lentils
1/2 C brown rice, uncooked
3/4 C chopped onion
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Blend in casserole dish and bake covered for 1 1/2 hours at 300*. During last 20 minutes top with cheese if desired. (It will look like way too much liquid when you put it in the oven, but the lentils and rice soak it all up, don’t worry!)
Glory has already mentioned quesadillas, so I just thought I’d point out that if you don’t like spinach, they work just fine with diced peppers or tomatoes.
If you’re willing to spend a little more time in the kitchen, there’s nothing better than a good lasagna. It works with almost any combination of vegetables.
If you want some great recipes, try The Vegetarian Epicure .
Urk. I’m an idiot, I should have said. Our kitchen doesn’t have an oven, just two cooking hubs and a microwave.
Have no fear though, I’m very good at adapting. Failing that, these will still be tried as soon as I return home.
Thanks again.
Fat Free (FF) Green Chili
Ingredients:
1 Med/Lrg Onion, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
27 oz can Diced Green Chilies (or fresh roasted if availbale)
14.5 oz can Peeled Diced Tomatoes
14.5 oz can Vegetable Broth (fat free)
1/3 to ½ sm can diced Jalapenos (optional) * See Note
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients and cook on stovetop or crock-pot until vegetables are soft. (Stove 40min, Crock 3-4 hours).
Stir well and immediately remove 2 to 3 cups and puree in a blender.
Return pureed chili back to the remainder. Makes about 6 cups.
Note: Use only the amount of Jalapenos you to suit your taste and freeze the rest for the next batch.
Makes a great smothered burrito with FF vegetarian Refried Beans and a FF tortilla
If you can boil water, you can make this one. I make if for potlucks, and bring for lunches.
Cous-cous w/feta & peas
2 1/4 c water
1 1/2 c cous-cous
1/3 choped red onion
1 c peas
2/3 C crumbled Feta (or gorgonzola) cheese
1/3 c mint
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 T Olive oil
1 T Lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t lemon zest
3 T pine nuts (whatever those are-I skip this)
Boil water, pour over couscous. Cover until absorbed, 5 minutes.
Then add onion, peas, cheese, mint to cous-cous. Fluff it up.
Then mix up wet ingredients, pour over cous-cous, mix it up. recipe says refridgerate, but I like it warmer, room temp, you can taste it better.
If you have access to a sunny spot for several hours in a row you might want to try making a solar oven. http://www.solarcooking.org
It would work well for the recipes using canned (pre-cooked) stuff, but you’d have to have it out a pretty long time for dried beans or lentils, etc.
Incredibly Easy Lentil Barley Soup, courtesy of my friend’s mom:
Chop up one medium onion and several stalks of celery (as much as you want.) Put in a large pot with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and cook until the onion and celery are soft but not browned. Add:
-3 cans italian-style stewed tomatoes
-2 cubes of vegetable boullion
-3/4 cup lentils
-3/4 cup large barley (medium also works, but DO NOT USE quick barley)
-some carrot coins (as many as you want. Frozen crinkle-cut carrots work well, and I usually use half of the bag).
-6 cups of water
-Oregano, basil, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. (The cayenne is especially important. With = great, without = kinda boring.)
Bring to a boil, then let simmer for one hour. It’ll get very thick and stew-ish, especially the next day.
If you like other veggies, throw them in – this soup gets better with improv. You’ll end up with enough to eat for days, but it freezes very well.
::snicker:: One word to that: Britain.
Thanks though, and to everyone else who’s posted recipes.