Vegetarian recipes wanted, please

I’ve been cutting down the amount of meat I eat. I don’t plan on going totally vegetarian any time soon, but I’ve noticed that restricting my meat intake to once a day or less has made me feel better and… “cleaner”, if that makes any sense.

But since I grew up with a family where “if there’s no meat, it isn’t dinner!” was a prevailing attitude, I’m a touch ignorant on actual recipes and ideas for veggie food. Could the ever so wise Dopers help me out?

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

These all have good vegetarian recipes that are simple to make.

Vegetarian Times magazine has a recipe database with hundreds of recipes. You can search the recipes by any ingredient (e.g., potato) or keyword (e.g., soup).

Epicurious, which bills itself as “The World’s Greatest Recipe Collection”, also has a lot of vegetarian recipes. Just click on the “Meatless” box in the Special Considerations section of their search engine.

Thanks for the replies so far. But are there any recipes that Dopers find particularly yummy? Any snack ideas I might not think of? I know there are a decent amount of vegetarians and vegans here, so I’m hoping to learn. :slight_smile:

Best Tofu Marinade Ever:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 Tbsp cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Combine in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the brown sugar is dissolved.

Pour this over 1 cake of tofu, cubed, in a shallow pan and marinate for about 20 minutes, giving everything a quick flip after 10 minutes to ensure even absorption.

Then you can just heat the tofu through in a frying pan with a little oil, or broil it, or whatevah.

This recipe is adapted from Gingered Greens with Tofu from one of the Moosewood cookbooks (Cooks at Home, I think? Or Low Fat? I don’t remember.) All the Moosewood cookbooks are awesome.

This was on America’s Test Kitchen; I made it last night with all crimini 'shrooms instead of the shittake/crimini split and it was delish:

Pasta with Sautéed Mushrooms and Thyme
Serves 4 as a main course or 6 to 8 as a side dish
Vegetable broth can be substituted for the chicken broth to make this dish vegetarian. If you add the pasta to the boiling water at the same time the cremini go into the skillet, the pasta and sauce will finish at the same time.

Salt
1 pound campanelle or farfalle pasta (ed: I used linguini)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 large shallots, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps wiped clean, and sliced ¼ inch thick
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced ¼ inch thick
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 ¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
Ground black pepper
2 ounces finely grated Parmesan (1 cup)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

  1. Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil, covered, in a stockpot; add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta, stir to separate, and cook until just shy of al dente. Drain and return the pasta to the stockpot.

  2. Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet until foaming. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high; add the shiitakes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the cremini and ½ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until the moisture released by the mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook 30 seconds. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the
    bottom of the pan; off heat, stir in the cream, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Add the mushrooms, chicken broth/cream mixture, cheese, and parsley to the pasta in the stockpot. Toss over medium-low heat until the cheese melts and the pasta absorbs most of the liquid, about 2 minutes; serve immediately.

Four of my favorite vegetarian recipes:

Tofu Benin With Tomato-Peanut Sauce

Thai Sweet Potato Stew

Penne With Pesto and Vegetables

Vegetable Medley With Basmati Rice

Baigan Bartha
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos (this is from the aforementioned Moosewood Cookbook)
Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Couscous
Zucchini Lasagne

Apple Roast Vegetarian
3 lb Vegetarian meat*
1 tb Cooking oil
1 Carrot; small chunks
2 Celery; chopped
3 tb Quick-cooking tapioca
1/4 c White wine
1 ts Beef bouillon granules
1/4 ts Salt
1/4 ts Ground cinnamon
6 oz Frzn apple juice concentrate; thawed, undiluted
*If vegetarian meat is not available, lean pork will do.
Trim any fat from vegetarian meat. Cut in half, if necessary, to fit into crockpot. Put carrots and celery into bottom of crockpot. Sprinkle in tapioca and add apple juice concentrate combined with other ingredients. Cover, cook in crock pot on Low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.

zweisamkeit, my husband is a vegetarian, so I eat very little meat, and I’ve also found that I feel better for it. Maybe because I still eat meat, though, I can’t stand most imitation meat products like gardenburgers or tofu dogs. I like tofu in Asian dishes, but not as a meat substitute.

My sure-fire “vegetarian to impress non-vegetarians” meal is black bean soup. It’s quick, easy, and freezes well.

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 diced onion
4-5 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp. cumin
about a dozen sun-dried tomatoes
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 cans of black beans
Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

Pour about 1/2 c. boiling water over the sun-dried tomatoes and leave them for about 10 minutes. In a large saucepan, saute the garlic and onions until soft in the olive oil. Add the cumin, red pepper flakes (I like it really spicy, but you can adjust to your own taste), and can of tomatoes. Let things simmer for around 15 minutes. Add the black beans and sundried tomatoes and let simmer for at least 20 minutes. (The longer it simmers, the better it will be.) While it’s simmering, add salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, puree half the soup in a blender and then return it to the soup pot.

Serve w/ grated cheese or sour cream on top. Cornbread and green salad are the best sides for this. It’s good stuff.

I created this recipe by combining/mixing & matching several other recipes, trial & error and modifications until I came up with one we absolutely love. It is always a hit and no one wants to leave without the recipe. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

32 oz butternut squash (peeled and cubed)
3 cups fat free vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/16 – 1/8 tsp nutmeg to taste
2 tbsp butter
1 large red onion
4 anjou or bartlett pears (or a combination of both)
2/3 cups dry white wine
pepper to taste
lowfat yogurt
crumbled, toasted walnuts

Preparation

Peel, seed and cube the squash (or buy pre-cut if your grocery store carries it that way)
Peel and slice the onion
Peel, core and thinly slice the pears
Crumble walnuts, if whole

Instructions
[ul]
[li]In a large pot, combine the squash, vegetable broth, water, cinnamon stick, salt and nutmeg. Bring to a slow boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 40 minutes).[/li][li]Place crumbled walnuts in an even layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for about 5 minutes (until lightly browned). Set aside.[/li][li]Melt the butter in a large pan. Add onions and gently cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to caramelize.[/li][li]Add the pears to the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.[/li][li]Add the wine to the pears and onions, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.[/li][li]Remove the cinnamon stick from the squash and discard.[/li][li]Add the pear and onion mixture (including all the liquid) to the squash. [/li][li]Puree everything in a blender in batches, or use an immersion blender until smooth.[/li][li]Reheat slightly before serving, if necessary. Add pepper to taste.[/li]Serve garnished with a dollop (about a tablespoon) of low fat yogurt and sprinkle with crumbled toasted walnuts.[/ul]

When we’re doing “soup & sandwich” night, we make the above soup with the following sandwiches…

Toasted Spinach Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
½ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup minced green onions
¼ cup salad dressing or mayo (non-fat or low fat works fine)
¼ cup plain yogurt (non-fat or low fat works, as well)
1 tsp hot sauce (the original recipe called for half that, but we found it rather bland – add to your own taste)
½ tsp garlic pwder
¼ cup finely shredded havarti or swiss cheese
8 slices of your favorite bread
Butter or butter flavored cooking spray

Instructions
[ul]
[li]Press the spinach between paper towels until barely moist.[/li][li]Combine spinach, celery, green onions, salad dressing, yogurt, hot sauce & garlic powder in a medium bowl; stir well.[/li][li]Spread mixure evenly over 4 slices of bread, sprinkle with cheese and top with remaining bread slices.[/li]Brown sandwiches on a griddle coated with butter or cooking spray. [/ul]