Ok, please inspire me - quick and yummy vegetarian dinners

[Anonymous]

I swear I generally like to cook, but it is a very busy time for our family with lots of major life changes, and I am just not at all inspired when it comes to dinner.

We have been eating a lot of pasta. We had breakfast for dinner yesterday.

Please suggest quick and easy dinners...I need to go to the store and am just not feeling it. Two adults and one toddler.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What are the constraints of your vegetarianism? Eggs? Milk?

[Anonymous]

Yes to eggs, milk, cheese etc

No to meat, fish etc

[Anonymous]

Tacos with either soy protein (I like the Morningstar Farms crumbles) or black beans. Guacamole if you can find a soft enough avocado. Mexican rice on the side if you're feeling ambitious.

Stir fry with carrots, tofu, baby corn and broccoli over quinoa. Make a sauce of soy sauce, grated garlic and ginger and a little bit of brown sugar. Spice if you want, or not if you don't!

[Anonymous]

Baked egg cups is one of my favorite when I'm in a hurry. Line muffin pans with cupcake papers. Microwave some spinach and put about 1-2tbs in bottom of cup. Crack an egg in each. Top with chopped peppers, and mushrooms, a little cheese if you want, and some fresh herbs. Bake for about 20 min. Serve with crusty bread and green salad. Almost no clean up.

Red lentils are also amazing she you're in a hurry. I just sauté some garlic and onions, chopped carrot and celery until soft. Add lentils and water. Spice as desired (I usually use coriander, ground black mustard, and cumin). Serve over brown rice with salad. Or, stir in some frozen spinach at the start.

[Anonymous]

Grilled cheese and tomato soup. One of our favorite fallbacks for cold or rainy days. Good hearty thick bread, extra sharp cheddar cheese and Annie's Chunky Tomato Bisque. Sometimes put tomato or bacon in the sandwich (obviously you'll skip the bacon). Yum!

[Anonymous]

Black bean & sweet potato burritos. Microwave sweet potatoes and scoop into tortillas. Add black beans sauteed with a little garlic. Top with salsa.

[Anonymous]

Baked ziti
Eggplant parmasean

[Anonymous]

I made a really good Moroccan veggie stew. It's not super quick but gets better the day after.
Google Moroccan veggie stew. It has butternut squash, tomato, chickpeas and potatoes. For a 5qt Dutch oven I used a table spoon of cumin, teaspoon of cinnamon and coriander.
Serve over rice or cous cous.

[Anonymous]

google peanut pineapple stew. use cooking green of your choice. serve with quinoa.

[Anonymous]

Couscous with chickpeas.

Stir fries--veggies and tofu--learn how to make your own sauce (veggie broth, soy sauce, mirin, garlic, ginger, pepper).

Lentils with cumin and carmelized onion over rice with plain yogurt.

Burritos with rice, blackbeans, guac, cheddar, etc.

Cuban black beans with rice and avocados.

Roasted veggies (lots of olive oil, salt, and pepper) with pasta and parmesan or goat cheese.

Good crusty bread, olive oil for dipping, cheese, salad, soup.

[Anonymous]

Stuffed baked potaotes or potato skins - toppings can be beans, cheese, tomatoes, frozen broccoli, caramelized (or sauteed) onions...

Quinoa with any roasted veggies and a simple dressing like lemon and olive oil. (I'm on a kick of making this with butternut squash and feta cheese). Serve over arugula.

Butternut squash and spinach lasagna and with no boil noodles.

Stir fry - I love trader joes island soyaki sauce.

Lentil soup in the crock pot.

Pasta fagioli soup

One of my few major cheats in the kitchen - a can of black beans, a cup of salsa, some veg broth, some cumin - heat and blend with immersion blender - black bean soup. Throw in some cheese or greek yogurt/sour cream if you'd like.

Cook and add lentils to pasta sauce - the texture is like meat sauce.

Quesedillas - refried beans, cheese, salsa. Can add a veggie, avocado.

(I can find links or give details on any if needed... sometimes I read posts like this and don't quite know how to interpret some ideas!)

[Anonymous]

Frittatas and rice and beans are two of our regulars. Also some kind of soup made ahead of time with quessadillas or grilled cheese.

My favorite lately has been a sort of Udon soup with tofu: sauté some garlic in sesame oil, pour 1+ containers of store-bought broth into a pot, add a splash of soy sauce and sweet rice vinegar (or just a tad of brown sugar), bring it to a boil then add uncooked udon noodles, various veggies (snow peas, mushrooms, peppers, bean sprouts, edamame or whatever) so the steam on top, and cubed tofu. If I'm adding veggies like mushrooms or carrots that need longer to cook, I add them earlier in the process. It's not authentic or anything, but it's warm and delicious and there's only one pot to clean. DH and I add sriracha to it at the end, and chopped green onions a cilantro if I manage to get that on the table.

[Anonymous]

I just posted this on the other "quick and healthy" dinner thread, but I love spaghetti squash with meat sauce. It is really easy to make it vegetarian, just pulse a can a rinsed and drained chickpeas with the other veggies in the first step, or use TVP or other meat substitute for the protein.

[Anonymous]

NP here but Thanks!! YUM!