Help us go vegetarian!

[Anonymous]

We may not wind up completely veggie, but DH and I are interested in significantly cutting down the amt of meat we eat, particularly at dinner. We both tend to think of meals as centered around meat and I'm seeking advice, in addition to recipes, for breaking that mindset. Are there any good planning websites anyone knows of? Anyone done this and have tips?

An added wrinkle is that DH is allergic to all nuts, both peanuts and tree nuts, though pinenuts and peanut oil are okay.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I am a vegetarian who is allergic to nuts. You have to really enjoy eating vegetables. I think of something I may make as a side dish, such as roasted Brussels sprouts, as my main dish and then supplement with small amounts of other sides.

I like making things like a big quinoa salad or a big stir fry and then eat it for a few days. I don't know what I'd do if I was someone who craved variety at every meal.

[Anonymous]

I don't know of a meal planning website, but I enjoy a few blogs, including 101cookbooks.

Also, I believe Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" has a section about how to re-consider meals when eating vegetarian.

Good luck and have fun! I have found it pretty easy to cook exclusively vegetarian at home.

[Anonymous]

Lentils and bean chili have been a staple for us. This site has other good recipes too:
http://www.scissorsandspice.com/2011/02/spice-in-kitchen-easy-veganvegetarian.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know of a meal planning website, but I enjoy a few blogs, including 101cookbooks.

Also, I believe Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" has a section about how to re-consider meals when eating vegetarian.

Good luck and have fun! I have found it pretty easy to cook exclusively vegetarian at home.

Bittman's book is invaluable for anyone considering "the change". It's an excellent resource. Get it.

[Anonymous]

We cut back meat significantly over the past couple of years, so not true vegetarians but leaning more that way.

Are you cutting out just the big 3 (chicken pork and beef?) If you're keeping fish, then you can do a shrimp based meal at least once a week and fish filet once a week and never get bored with different recipes. We do some sort of tofu thing every couple of weeks also.

Chili is a great vegetarian meal. As is homemade pizza (unless of course you're going dairy free too.)

We use lots of bean and bean bases - lentils especially. you can make a meal with lentils, nuts, and seasonal vegetables in every season except the dead of winter, when frozen will work fine.

[Anonymous]

I've been mostly vegetarian most of my life.

We eat a lot of stir fry and curry, with and without tofu added. You guys might not be into tofu. If you or your husband considers "sandwiches" to be your standard lunch, you may be disappointed. I've personally never understood people's love of the sandwich lunch, because I've never eaten lunch meat and that seems to be what is usually offered.

We eat a lot of soup, many of which can be adapted to not have meat in them but which is also an easy way to work meat into your diet relatively cheaply as a little goes a long way. We make pasta with chunky vegetable sauces.

I think one thing that is important is moving away from the notion of "main dish" and "sides". When you're eating things like curry and stir fry and enchiladas (with black beans and veggies), it's easier to consider that to just be "the meal" and not worry about the components. If you're trying to replace a steak with a mushroom, it's harder to consider it a full meal.

[Anonymous]

You just have to change your mindset around meal planning, to get rid of "meat and veggies" as the starting assumption (if that's how you tend to think now). There are lots of hearty meatless main dishes. Think veggie lasagna, enchilada casserole, strata, etc. We love to make falafel. We also eat a lot of soups and salads. There are so many great meatless soups: split pea, potato chowder, chili, etc.

I think the hardest transition is if you're used to really simple meat dinners--a pan-fried chicken breast and a couple of veggies. I think the vegetarian equivalent to that dinner is maybe a roasted veggie sandwich. Or breakfast for dinner (omelette/frittata and potatoes). Or a veggie burger.

[Anonymous]

I usually cycle through the following and use whatever veggies are in season:
Risotto
Some sort of soup: carrot, kale and white bean, ginger squash, potato and leek
Pasta with veggies and Parmesan
Quinoa and bean salad with hummus and roasted veggies
Stir fry with tofu
Coconut Thai curry with chickpeas
Some sort of casserole with veggies, cheese, and white sauce with salad
Mozzarella tomato eggplant sandwiches
Veggie burgers

[Anonymous]

Try farrotto instead of risotto - it's cooked in the same way, but using farro instead of arborio rice. Much healthier and more satisfying.

OP, I second the Bittman recommendation and also recommend his book VB6 (Vegan Before 6).

[Anonymous]

My way of a quick veg sauce is to blend whatever vegetables that's around along with the beans and cook all into a sauce to pour over pasta, potatoes, ice. Or you cook them first and blend them all together. I'm not even a big fan of beans but after i break them down, it's ok.

[Anonymous]

I would try to incorporate more tofu, squash, mushrooms, beans, lentils and eggplant as the central components of dinners at first. You don't have to switch completely immediately.

[Anonymous]

Coconut Thai Curry poster with chickpeas - do you mind sharing your "recipe" for that?

I grew up vegetarian for a few years in my youth - our whole family was thanks to mom. Now that our own 2 kids became vegetarians 2 years ago, I've had to spend a fair amount of time finding dishes that everyone likes. A few weeks ago I finally typed up a list to help with cooking planning. I work a lot and from home so this has helped tremendously.

I recommend All Recipes as a great online source. There are many side "casserole" and egg type dishes there that make great main courses and are pretty easy to make.

My basic categories are:

various pasta dishes (tomato, alfredo, lemon/veggies sauces),

soups/chili (tortellini, veggie, lentil, bean etc),

Mexican/southwest dishes (taco bar, echilada and layered "taco" type casseroles (using chili beans and crumbles)

Asian stir frys and curries using Garbanzos, tofu etc

Sturdy side salads - French lentils, Mex corn bean salad, various quinoa, Greek pasta, Italian pasta and pesto salads etc - also these make great leftover lunches

Sandwiches - grilled veggie and cheese, hummos or pesto/cream cheese ciabatta with fresh veggies like cucs, peppers, lettuce, basil etc.

Egg/potato baked dishes - think butternut squash and blue cheese topped with panko bread crumbs, broccoli with potatoes and dill havarti. See All Recipes.

Fruit cobblers and crisps for desserts or fruit smoothies for breakfast w/ Greek yogurt.

Big green salads with beans, sunflower seeds etc.

Hope this helps. There are also veggie threads with recipes here on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We may not wind up completely veggie, but DH and I are interested in significantly cutting down the amt of meat we eat, particularly at dinner. We both tend to think of meals as centered around meat and I'm seeking advice, in addition to recipes, for breaking that mindset. Are there any good planning websites anyone knows of? Anyone done this and have tips?

An added wrinkle is that DH is allergic to all nuts, both peanuts and tree nuts, though pinenuts and peanut oil are okay.

Thanks!

Why do you want to do this OP?

[Anonymous]

We aren't vegetarians, but we cut back on meat years ago. It's not nearly as hard as you might think. Google some recipes and try them. Once you find a few that everyone likes, you just rotate.