Meatless Dinners

My son and I talked about having a meatless dinner 2x/week and did a little brainstorming.  We decided that we could do salads and pasta -- then drew a blank.  Can you share some ideas for a meatless dinner? 

TIA

rice and beans!!

Vegetable stir fry with tofu, burritos with stuffing made from veggie burgers, sautayed mushrooms, and coleslaw.

You could make a vegetable lasagne with spinach & mushrooms.  How about a vegetable chilli 'non' carne?  Stir-fried vegetables with cubes of tofu and cashew nuts is very simple.  Baked peppers or big mushrooms stuffed with rice and vegetables and a little cheese on top is a simple dish.  Beans, chickpeas and lentils are very versatile.... casseroles, curries, bakes, soups, burgers ... and they're good in salads. 

There are quite a few vegetarian cookbooks around... Maybe borrow one from your local library and get some ideas?

I don't know if eggs are allowed, but I love making veggie fried rice with leftover brown rice, peas, brocoli and whatever other veggies are hanging around. You can make it with very  little oil.

If you're in the same part of the world I'm at (it snowed yesterday) I'd go for a nice mexical style vegetable soup (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Torti lla-Soup/Detail.aspx) - though instead of putting tortilla in the soup, make some bean tortilla wraps on the side (for protein).

You could also try exploring different grain options - pasta and rice are nice, but try to find a recipe with quinoa, barley, polenta... And even if you don't want to do that, I don't think you've quite explored the realm of what "pasta" can be. You're probably thinking plain red spaghetti... maybe mac and cheese. Right? Try seeking out some new sauces. I like mini shells tossed with tomato coulis. Try throwing different vegetables into your red sauces (surprisingly, corn is pretty good in spaghetti, in my opinion - so are summer squashes).

haha some brain storming!  Try fatfreevegan.com for some good recopies. 

Lately my fav is baked tofu and butternut squash.  Squeeze the water out of a block of firm tofu, cut into 1 in cubes, marinate in a little low sodium teriyaki sauce and sugar free maple syrup with garlic and ginger.  Peel and cut the squash into 1in cubes, season with salt/pepper (I add garlic too).  Spray a baking sheet with pam and spread the cubes of both tofu and squash out.. roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 min, stir with a spatula, then 15 min more.  Yum!  :)

A favorite of mine - saute onions and peppers, throw in some baby spinach right at the end. Serve over whole wheat penne with feta and walnuts. You can add olives if you like.

PIZZA for sure

An interesting (and delicious) one my mum does is get a marrow and cut it in half then fill with a tomato sauce mixed with flavoured cous cous, cover with a bit of cheese sauce then cover in silver foil and bake on a tray in the oven for about 30mins.

Also when we've got bits of various veg left over we stick them in a pot with some stock and a tsp of marmite and make a veggie caserole type thing - amazing with some nice wholemeal bread to dunk!

Original Post by amethystgirl:

A favorite of mine - saute onions and peppers, throw in some baby spinach right at the end. Serve over whole wheat penne with feta and walnuts. You can add olives if you like.

 Amethyst- this sounds delicious. Just curious if you add any kind of sauce or "dressing" to it? Or is it perfect the way it is?

Also, what's your calorie count on this dish?

Thanks

Baked eggplant parmesan!! crumble some whole grain bread in a food processor, bread eggplant using eggwhites, add some tomato paste, olive oil, and diced tomatoes, some parmesan cheese, bake in the oven (sorry I can't tell you how long or at what temp) and you're set! It's delicious!

Wow, you guys really came through!  There are a lot of interesting ideas there.  I think we are definitely going to have to branch out a little and do some experimenting.  I like a vegetable stir fry idea, and I think I may be ready to try Tofu! 

Thanks again for all of the good ideas.

Original Post by igloogal:

Original Post by amethystgirl:

A favorite of mine - saute onions and peppers, throw in some baby spinach right at the end. Serve over whole wheat penne with feta and walnuts. You can add olives if you like.

 Amethyst- this sounds delicious. Just curious if you add any kind of sauce or "dressing" to it? Or is it perfect the way it is?

Also, what's your calorie count on this dish?

Thanks

We cook the veggies in some EVOO so that ends up giving a little of a "dressing" and I think the feta helps so that you don't need anything else.

I actually haven't done a recipe analyzer for it (plus would be very dependent on how much feta and walnuts you add) but shouldn't be too high, depending on your definition of "serving" ;)

Check out http://veganyumyum.com/ for amazing, delicious, healthful vegan meals.  I also like the NY Time's Health & Nutrition section; they put up great recipes daily which are almost always meatless.

I have started cooking with Quinoa. I made a chili with Quinoa, The Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles, beans, tomato sauce, and spices. I like to eat it in lettuce leaves like a lettuce wrap or boil bell peppers and stuff them with the mix and cook them.

Also I like grilled marinated portabella mushrooms its a great sub for burgers saute some onions and bell peppers and make fajitas.