I'm not vegetarian, but I found this broadcast interesting:
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2014-09-17/putting-vegan-dishes-menu

Start learning to make homemade Indian food, there is a lot of vegetarian options to choose from.

Baingan Bharta
http://indianfood.about.com/od/vegetarianrecipes/r/bainganbharta2.htm

Vegetable Biriyani
http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/recipe/Vegetable-Biryani-KhaanaKhazana.html

Cabbage Thoran
http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/cabbage-thoran/

There are much more Indian vegetarian dishes out there. Plus India is a diverse country so each region will have it's own specialties. That is why Keralite, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and Rajasthani food are all very different from each other.

I was vegetarian for about two years. I agree with moving away from the idea of mains and sides, and get a vegetarian cookbook.

I ate a lot of hummus, beans, salad, yogurt. I love squash and did a squash curry soup and butternut squash tahini dip. I don't have many more ideas right now, but I suggest opening an Instagram account if you don't have one and following some vegetarian pages. So many accounts post full recipes with the pictures-- actually seeing the food can be great motivation, and there's so much variety!

We also eat more vegetarian meals, and one thing I do is try to figure out how to substitute the chicken/beef with beans or lentils.

For instance, instead of Sloppy Joe's we make Sloppy Split Peas; probably the same recipe but with split peas instead of ground beef (my husband doesn't eat ground meat, so I found a lentil recipe and use that).

Think about the texture of the beans when you're cooking. We put dried beans in a crockpot with a bay leaf and a lot of water and let it cook. Then I package up the beans in 1-2 cup containers for the freezer. Black beans are more tough (they don't fall apart), while pinto and roman beans are very creamy.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:Check out the moosewood cookbooks. My favorite.

Moosewood' Simple Suppers is excellent. Vegetarian and fish.

I was veggie for years and loved - and still love - portobello mushrooms as a sub for burger patties and to add a kind of meaty feel to lasagna and other dishes.

Also check out Cookie + Kate, http://cookieandkate.com/. She has some great recipes on her site.