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Hoping this thread will help new and leans vegetarians and vegans.
1. Looking for meals - not involved recipes - that are staples in your home. Things that everyone likes, are easy economical and tasty.
2. The can be veggie or vegan
3. They can involve prepared foods or not.
Not looking for an argument between the soy anti sot, pro meat analog anti meant analog, vegan vegetarian factions. Just some ideas to share.
Not a nutritional debate
Also, qrowing up, what were some default meals in your home? Do you crave any of them and were tou able to successfully transform any into veggie meals?
Tonight we had a Chef Salad and Amy's Chicken Noodle soup.
Chef Salad is pretty retro - in the sping and summer it was a regular at our home, but my mother used cold cuts and iceberg lettuce.I don't. My sister (the anti veg) once asked - "how do you have a CHEF SALAD if you are a vegetarian?" Here's how
(all things I keep on hand)
Lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and any other veggies you have - I used carrots, celery and fresh spinach.
Chick peas, kidney beans, or great Northern.
Strips of Tofurkey roast turkey, ham, roast beef slices. I used all three.
Cheese or Daiya (tofu works well too!)
Pickle chips, black or green olives.
Dressing of your choice.
Added the soup because it's a little cool tonight. Sometimes I add garlic bread.
Absolute last minute fall back staple for my whole family:
Cooked pasta (usually spaghetti) with a tub of fresh shop bought pesto sauce thrown in (the type from the fridge section- absolutely not out of a jar - yuk). My kids love love love it.
If you have veggies in the fridge to throw in it, cooked broccoli or mushrooms go really well, or green beans.
If I'm making a bit more effort, I'll roast some green or red peppers to go in it as well.
Takes 10 minutes to throw together (quicker if you happen to be using fresh shop bought, not dried pasta), could not be easier and is a hit with everyone every time.
I normally don't plan meals ahead of time, because I never know what I'll feel like cooking or eating. However, there are some things that I try to always have on hand. I can throw together as simple or fancy a meal as I like. I won't list everything, but here are some staples:
-A variety of fresh fruits & vegetables, including greens (basically whatever is in season locally or whatever the market has in for organic produce)
-Shiitake mushrooms
-Frozen veggies (I go to Costco about every 6 weeks and stock up on the 5lb bags of organic frozen veggies. They're quick and easy, plus my dogs love a handful of crunchy frozen beans or peas for a snack)
-Potatoes & rutabaga
-Brown rice, red rice, black rice, wild rice (just no white rice)
-Quinoa
-Steel cut oats
-Wheat (mostly for grinding into flour. I always keep wheat, rice and oat flours ready to use)
-Hulled barley
-Beans (black, garbanzo, lentils, mung & adzuki)
-Nuts (raw cashews, almonds, pecans)
-Sunflower seeds
-Tempeh
-Tofu
-Miso
-A wide variety of herbs and spices
-Unrefined sea salt
-Apple cider, brown rice & umeboshi plum vinegars
-Canola, sweet almond & olive oils (important to buy organic, cold pressed oils or you can be sure they're GMO)
-Nutritional yeast
-Whole grain pasta (it's super easy and inexpensive to make your own)
There are many other items that I try to keep in stock, but with the things on this list, I could eat a variety of tasty, nutritionally complete meals.
tdna: What a wonderful, thorough and informative post!
DH and I usually have a Stir Fry of some description about twice a week. I try to change it up a bit (sometimes we have noodles with it, other times just plain rice) but it usually defaults to the same delicious thing ultimately Additionally, I always try to have a few frozen products on hand just in case I run out of fresh produce in between trips to the grocery store. So, therefore I would say the staples that I always have are:
-Rice
-Whole Wheat Pasta (that I also use as 'noodles' when not using them as 'spaghetti')
-Almonds (great by themselves, and fabulous in stir fry! I usually just put them in the pan for a few minutes until they're crunchy then stir them in at the end of the stir fry to add some texture! Pine Nuts are also great for this!)
-Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce
-Garlic
-Onions (fresh and frozen)
-Firm Tofu (lots of it!)
-Baby Corn in cans
-Bean Sprouts in cans
-Water Chestnuts in cans
-Broccoli
-Zucchini
-Carrots
-Red Cabbage
-Salad Vegetables / Lettuce / Spinach (as a side dish on non stir fry nights or as lunch)
-Green Beans
-Asparagus (another side on non stir fry nights)
-Mushrooms
-Frozen Mixed Vegetables (to save me when I'm out of fresh! I always have about 4 bags of Frozen Veg on hand just in case!)
-Potatoes
-Whole Wheat Bread (I freeze it if we don't eat the whole loaf before it expires)
-Oatmeal
-Silk Soymilk
-Granola
-Non-Dairy Cheese (for DH's sandwiches for lunch)
-Tofurky Products (for DH's sandwiches)
-Apples
-Berries (fresh and frozen)
-Canola Oil and Olive Oil
-Vinegars (to make salad dressings)
-Vegetarian Baked Beans (I like to keep a few cans in the pantry, they're a great side dish!)
-Vegetable Broth
-Spices and Condiments... I have accumulated WAY too many spices and condiments! I think it's important though to have a full stocked Spice Rack (and 2 Spice Shelves in the Cupboard in my case!) to add some extra flavor to whatever you're cooking!
-Organic Pasta Sauce (Tomato, Garlic & Basil flavor)
I think that's about it for our 'staples'. Depending on what I'm planning to cook or bake for the week, will dictate whether anything is added to that list, but those are the things I ALWAYS have to have on hand
Another very easy one - Even easier - Large macaroni shells stuffed with tofu, and frozen chopped spinach, seasoned with garlic powder and Italian herbs. Cover with your favorite jarred sauce. If I have Daiya or another type of cheese use that. Bake at 350 serve with a tossed salad - I almost always have salad fixing on hand, or a three bean salad.(to make it easy use canned beans and prepared dressing) Or both.
This works fine on a weeknight, kids and adults both love it, and non vegetarians "eat it up."
Also, great for a crowd !
Unfortunately for me, there is nothing vegetarian that is easy to prepare that everybody in my family likes. But my main quick-fix meal is stir fry. I usually have bok choy, bell peppers, and carrots on hand, and I will add celery, snap peas, or other veggies I have. Fry everything up, push to the sides of the big pan, and make a quick sauce in the middle with ginger, soy sauce, sriacha, and maybe a little sesame oil. I'll throw in a handful or two of cashews at the end, unless I had the foresight to drain my tofu an hour or so in advance. I always have brown rice in the freezer or soba noodles that boil in just a few minutes. Dinner in about 20.
There are a few frozen things from Trader Joe's that I typically have on hand for a quick meal, like if I am stuck at the office and don't want to take an hour or more to cook dinner when I get home. There's a curry rice dish with vegetables and a Japanese-ish rice dish with soybeans, carrots, and shredded seaweed. We had the seaweed one last night because I had to do my grocery shopping.
We also usually have pasta and jarred sauce on hand, but truth be told it's not my favorite thing to eat. It works in a pinch, though.
No, I get Trader Joe's frozen brown rice. I like that it takes 3 minutes to microwave instead of 45 minutes on the stovetop. (I don't have a rice cooker.) But I think you could make it fresh and freeze it.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustJulia
No, I get Trader Joe's frozen brown rice. I like that it takes 3 minutes to microwave instead of 45 minutes on the stovetop. (I don't have a rice cooker.) But I think you could make it fresh and freeze it.
Can't tell a lie, ma'am!
Groovy, lady!
I've never bought the Trader Joe's rice but next time I make brown rice, I'm going to freeze some as a test.
I'm all for dispelling the myth that everything vegetarians eat has to involve a mortar and pestle, a pressure cooker, beans that take hours to cook and brewer's yeast.
It can involve any of those items. And it can be good when it does!
Veg*ns need to exchange some helpful hints - our week day fast menus, kitchen cupboard dinners.
Sometimes it's winter and our food must come from the pantry not the garden. Or sometimes we need foods that are fast.
There is also the myth that Vegetarian and Vegan food is "expensive." It can be, but so is steak every night.
My other criteria is that the meals be inexpensive and readily available.
This is a non issue for omnivores. When I was an omnivore I always had chicken breasts chopped meat, potatoes, rice and the side dish vegetable on hand.
I don't eat that way any more.
I love to cook intricate Gourmet meals - when I have the time. Week nights are generally not the time.
Also with the economy the way it is, it's a good time to think of thrifty staples and meal builders.
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