Monday, June 04, 2012

Vegetarian meal #3

mac and cheese
sauteed zucchini
raspberries

Tonight's meal was tasty but I realize I am relying too heavily on cheese to get protein into the kid. For later this week, the plan is to make a tomato tart and fish and rice with vegetables. I'm looking for good beans and lentils recipes.

6 comments:

Anya said...

Maybe also try some risottos, veggie lasagnas, fish tacos and stuffed vegetables? e.g. tomatoes stuffed with mushroom risotto, or bell peppers stuffed with wild rice pilaf (just made it this weekend - easy to make and tasty). We also like couscous, esp. slightly sweeter version with toasted almonds and raisins. I am not a fan of pasta salads, but I do like the orzo and garbanzo salads from Giada DeLaurentis - with some grilled veggies on the side, it's an entire meal.

I don't have Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything vegetarian", but in the regular "How to cook everything" he has many vegetarian variations - maybe worth a look? He is a "lessmeatarian" after all :)

Christie said...

Thanks for the suggestions. I bet Hen would really like bulgur. We'll have to give that a try.

Dr. A said...

We love tofu stir-fry, and make it often. Extra-firm tofu, cubed and simmered with some coconut peanut sauce. So good! Also eggs. Hummus can be made with just about any bean too. I also saw a good looking recipe for bean-and-rice burgers in MSFood this month.

Rachele said...

My understanding is that Americans often focus on protein when really, we get plenty of protein. Even hardcore Vegans are not lacking protein. At least this is what various headlines would lead me to believe - I haven't really studied it.

That said, for non-meat protein, we turn to beans, nuts, eggs, and whole grains.

Some cheeseless vegetarian things we like to eat (just to give you ideas): hummus, fettuccine with shredded brussels sprouts, "rice and beans your way" on epicurious - also has sweet potato and pumpkin seeds, which makes it all sorts of healthy if you serve it with brown rice. We love pearled/Israeli couscous and pilafs. Jay and I like Indian food but it doesn't fare well with the kids. We also like veggie pizza, which has cheese on it yes, but really you can halve the cheese on a mainstream pizza and my kids are still gaga over the cheese, and you can load it up with veggies. Elise loves quiche for dinner.

I'm wanting to get a good simple stir fry recipe, and also wanting to find a good quinoa salad recipe. I had one with thinly sliced red onions, and other veggies; it was dressed in a vinaigrette -- SO good.

Allrecipes.com has a "Grandma's vegetarian chili" recipe which I have had great success with.

Just some ideas. Maybe one thing in this stream of consciousness will sound good to you. :)

Rachele said...

just had to add -- succotash! Great summer dish, and has lima beans. yumm.

Shawn and Becky said...

We love to make our own Yumm bowls (Cafe Yumm). Black beans, brown rice, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and Yumm sauce - we leave these out at our house but it usually also comes with (olives, salsa, and sour cream). Super easy, good and filling. Good luck