Vegetarian Recipes, Meatless Monday Meals

Meatless meals are great for stretching the family food budget, on Monday or any day of the week. I've been cooking at least one meatless main dish every week for more than 40 years.

In general, vegetarian cooking provides essential protein nutrients from plant sources plus dairy products, eggs and whole grains.

Site Index Features: Recipes : Vegetarian Recipes

Favorite Vegetarian Recipes

Vegetarian, or just eating less meat?

If you want to serve a meatless meal you might want to start out by altering a favorite meat-based recipe with a sauce.

You may be able to include tofu in recipes such as vegetable lasagna; it's a great protein boost without adding fat, and it's economical and tasty when combined with other foods. Most people don't notice it if it's finely chopped or pureed.

In addition to avoiding animal and fish proteins, Vegan vegetarians do not consume dairy products or eggs. Their diets are more limited than those that avoid meat, poultry and fish.

Many ethnic diets feature vegetarian dishes, including such popular favorites as chili, hummus, vegetable stir-fry, tabouleh and spicy chickpeas.

Try serving a vegetarian meal once a week to your family - you'll discover a flavorful world of dishes while saving money for family fun and encouraging healthy eating habits.

Hot And Spicy Chick Peas (Vegetarian Recipe)

By Stef Glassee

Makes 2 servings in 45 minutes

VEGETABLES / Asian (India) / Side Dish / Stove / No marinating

Much of the Indian population is vegetarian, and they enjoy the most extensive vegetable dishes in the world. This is not only because of the predominant Hindu religion with its respect for all living creatures. Also feeding 1 billion Indian people nowadays can be done much more efficiently by growing vegetables instead of animals.

Last but not least: when a refrigerator is not available, it is much easier to use up small portions of vegetables, in stead of having to slaughter and store 1 big animal.

For vegetarian dishes, you will notice that each Indian region has distinct cooking techniques and flavoring principles to prepare them.

You have probably also noticed that there are many, many "curry"-recipes. Actually "Kari" is the Tamil (one of the many languages spoken in India) translation for the English word "sauce". And "curry" is the western way of pronouncing this word.

Before coming to Malaysia, my simple western recipe for using chick peas was to add them in thick soups. Since Malaysia is the melting pot of all Asian cuisines, I notice that there are as much chick pea curry recipes as that there are people here.

Here is one of them: a home-cooked chick pea curry recipe from my Indian friend Ssussi. She uses a lot of fresh ingredients and her recipe takes a bit more of your time than expected for such a simple yet delicious dish.

Quick Curry Chick Peas

INGREDIENTS

1 can of chick peas (15-1/2 Oz; 439 gr)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped
2 medium well ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
10 g vegetable oil

Spices
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste

PREPARATION

1. Drain chick peas, reserving the liquid.

2. Cook the onions, ginger garlic, chilies and turmeric in the vegetable oil until golden and softened.

3. Add the tomatoes and cook to soften, then add the ground coriander and chick peas.

4. Cook for 10 minutes, add the reserved liquid and cook a further 10 minutes.

5. Add "garam masala", lemon juice and stir in the fresh coriander. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes, adding more liquid, if needed, to make a sauce.

About the Author: The Skinny Cook aka Stef Glassee, is a Belgian chef living in Malaysia : the melting pot of Asian cuisine. Find more delicious home-tested recipes at : http://www.theskinnycook.com Skinny Cooks' Home-Recipes : Eurasian Cooking, Food and Tips!

Source: www.isnare.com

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