Vegetarian Recipes

[gonelong]

As my wife and I stroll into our 50's we have decided to experiment with having a "Meatless Monday". My wife has a small stack of recipes she makes that are meatless, but I pretty much can't make jello without putting meat into it so I will need some help.

One hurdle is that I simply cannot stomach broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus in any manner. I will spend some time at allrecipies.com this week and begin building a list of things to try.

If you have a favored recipe to pass along, I'd love to give it a try.

[westofyou]

Well... what do you like? That's the key.

I haven't eaten beef or pork since 1987, chicken and fish the last 30 years. So I'm well versed in this, but the key is find what you like the most and go from there. The biggest pain point in being a non-meat eater is the assumptions from others that you only eat veggies and you eat like someone who got the Whole Earth Cookbook in 1973 and The Moosewood Diary in 81 and haven't eaten anything but hippie food for decades.

My key point is I love Asian and Indian food and I do cheese too.

[dfs]

but I pretty much can't make jello without putting meat into it.

Yeah. Most jellos contain some form of collagen which, of course, means meat.

There are degrees. Are meat by products (like collagen) ok? Can you use cheese? How about Eggs? Is fish ok? It's a matter of how restrictive you want to go.

We had a kid go vegan for a while and found the best vegetarian food does not imitate meals with meat in them. That seems simple in retrospect, but it took us a few years to figure out (at which point she promptly changed course and started eating a semi-regular diet again.) It's a losing strategy and will not make anybody happy.

Many ethnic dishes can be described as chicken and rice. If there's something you like then make the same sauce w/out the chicken and put that over the rice. You can survive on beans and rice and what you add into them. New Orleans red beans and rice is a wonder, but it uses meat as one of it's flavors and the fat adds to the texture of the dish. If you don't like rice, substitute a pasta. Broad noodles with sour cream and cheese, Spaghetti, Ramen....

[gonelong]

Well... what do you like? That's the key.

Dunno, on a journey of discover here. My wife has made meatless dishes off and on for years so we have a few gotos. Pasta, rice & beans, stir fry, sushi, black bean burgers ... that sort of thing. We don't have any designs on moving to full-time meatless - just looking to cut back and eat a little healthier to start.

We are both pretty willing to try new things.

[gonelong]

There are degrees. Are meat by products (like collagen) ok? Can you use cheese? How about Eggs? Is fish ok? It's a matter of how restrictive you want to go.

For our purposes, no fish ... but would be fine with eggs and cheese. Just looking to try something new.

Many ethnic dishes can be described as chicken and rice. If there's something you like then make the same sauce w/out the chicken and put that over the rice.

We make a fair amount of chicken and rice dishes so this is something we can give a go pretty easily - good tip.

You can survive on beans and rice and what you add into them. New Orleans red beans and rice is a wonder, but it uses meat as one of it's flavors and the fat adds to the texture of the dish. If you don't like rice, substitute a pasta. Broad noodles with sour cream and cheese, Spaghetti, Ramen....

Thx.

[Roy Tucker]

When we get a lot of summer tomatoes, I make a no cook tomato pasta dish. Halve Roma tomatoes and squeeze the seeds out. Rough chop them. Add one clove chopped garlic. Cut up a decent amount of basil and add to tomato/garlic mixture. Drizzle olive oil in it. Add sea salt to taste. Spoon the mixture over cooked pasta.

We also make pizza on the grill. Brush a pre made pizza crust (yeah, I’m lazy) with olive oil and chopped garlic. Slice Roma tomatoes and arrange on the crust. Chiffonade some basil and distribute over the pizza. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pizza. Heat one side of your grill and cook the pizza on the non heated side 10-12 minutes.

We do the meatless Monday too. I’ll have to look up more recipes.

[westofyou]

Dunno, on a journey of discover here. My wife has made meatless dishes off and on for years so we have a few gotos. Pasta, rice & beans, stir fry, sushi, black bean burgers ... that sort of thing. We don't have any designs on moving to full-time meatless - just looking to cut back and eat a little healthier to start.

We are both pretty willing to try new things.

Summer is a great time to do this

I’m grilling corn tonight with a impossible burger and potato salad.

I made spinach and black bean enchiladas the other night. We often make a giant pot of beans each week and bullied meals around that. Also a chopped salad too. We build pillars of flavor profiles and plan meals out.

Otherwise it’s chaos

[westofyou]

Summer is what my wife (with southern roots) likes to make this

https://www.southernliving.com/recip...oom-tomato-pie

[Roy Tucker]

Looked through my recipe box and I’ve made these for meatless Monday.

Pasta primavera - I use this to use up whatever veggies we have (peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, carrots, etc)
Potato soup
Veggie stir fry
Bean and rice burritos
Lentil stew
3-bean chili

[dfs]

I’m grilling corn tonight with a impossible burger and potato salad.

The impossible burger is the exception to the rule that veggie meals should not imitate meat meals.

[Red in Chicago]

The impossible burger is the exception to the rule that veggie meals should not imitate meat meals.

I think Beyond Burgers are better. Their meatballs are fantastic.

[dfs]

I think Beyond Burgers are better. Their meatballs are fantastic.

I learned something today. Thank you.

[westofyou]

I think Beyond Burgers are better. Their meatballs are fantastic.

Beyond has great Brats and Italian sausages

[KoryMac5]

Stuffed peppers with rice and beans are always a hit for meatless Monday. Pasta with Mushrooms...Portabella pizzas...all good stuff.

[Bourgeois Zee]

My kids love teriyaki tofu with rice and scallions or bok choy.

Dry your tofu, cut it into cubes, and dredge it in corn starch. Fry it in a spritz of oil on high heat for a nice crisp. Take the tofu out of the pan and add in vegetables with a little vegetable stock to deglaze the pan. Add a little corn starch slurry for a sauce if you want. When the vegetables are cooked down, add back in tofu and a little teriyaki sauce.

Over rice, it's a delicious (if slightly unhealthy) and filling meatless meal.

Homemade eggrolls (mostly mushroom, cabbage, and carrot) are a fantastic accompaniment fwiw.

Filling and sweet. Add some sesame seeds (and oil) for flavor.