low calorie vegetarian recipes

I'd like to reduce my meat consumption but every time I think about going vegetarian, I imagine a pound of cheese for dinner, with another pound of lasagna noodles. I've heard beans are good for you, but do they fill you up? I'd like a sample dinner recipe (or 10!) if you have any.

Wed. Feb 7, 10:27am

Beans are way more filling than you'd think; they have a good amount of protein in them (like, say, chicken). I cook with a lot of beans, but usually I use meat too; I'd be very interested in hearing more recipes.

One that I really liked in college was making a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice, or Black Beans and Rice. That'd be about 2 meals, if I remember correctly. But, that's over-processed, over-salted, etc., and might not be the best veggie meal. Though, it'd be a good small side dish, along with a main course of something with less carbohydrates, like maybe some grilled portabellas or tofu? I love grilled portabellas, but I'd usually make my rice and beans on the side of a chicken breast or fish fillet, so I'm not much use!

Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 10:45 AM

General low calorie recipes

here's a list of the reipes from the calorie wiki here. The black bean, zucchini pancakes look very yummy. needs to be broken down for veggie though.

Link

Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 10:51 AM

Yes! Being a vegetarian does not mean eating pounds of cheese!!

I have been vegetarian for about 8 years now. One thing that I will admit about being veg and restricting calories is that I DO need to supplement protein and iron. (Part of this is that because I'm relatively small, my calories needed are low.) Beans are relatively calorie-dense, although very healthy when eaten in combination with a grain, such as brown rice. But I do supplement with protein powder, which made a huge difference in how hungry I got; after becoming borderline anemic I started taking a vitamin pill w/ iron (hey, there's only so much iron-rich veggie one can eat without going over-calories for the day).

Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 11:43 AM

meatlessmonday.com

I'm also a vegetarian and I rarely eat cheese or pasta. My meals tend to consist of beans, whole grains, fresh fruit and any type of veggie I can find. I do eat 3-5 eggs per week and take a multivitamin to help with the protein/iron issues.

For the beginner vegetarian or for people just interested in cutting back in meat consumption www.meatlessmonday.com is a really useful site to browse thru. Lots of recipes and other healthy living info.

Link

Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 2:34 PM

If you go easy on the meat, please do not substitute cheese for the meat. Try a vegan light approach where you focus on limiting animal foods in general- meat and dairy. Fish is really fine, but you might want to go easy on that as well. Beans are your friend like someone else said. Beans are a fantastic source of iron, and are probably the best direct replacement for meat. I sautee garlic in a little olive oil, throw in some salt, pepper and onions. Get that grilled up. Then I put in one can of black beans. I'll heat that up an usually add rice. I'll eat that with some tomatoes and salad. Really fills you up. Fruit, Veggies, Greens, Beans. Whole grains like Quinoa are a great addition as well.

Saturday, February 17, 2007, 2:25 PM

The other thing is- if you are on a vegan diet or complete vegan diet, don't worry so much about the calories. Just keep the fat to a minimum. There is almost no way to not lose weight if you eat well.

Saturday, February 17, 2007, 2:27 PM

Think tofu, too. High in protein and goes with just about anything.

Saturday, February 17, 2007, 2:47 PM

Many Asian countries have excellent vegetarian foods - Indian, Thai, Chinese, etc.

Other meat subsitutes: textured vegetable protein (TVP, it;'s the soy equivalent of ground beef), tempeh, Quorn, seitan.

Some recipe ideas:
Tacos with TVP
Stir fried veggies with tofu
Sesame "chicken" made with the Quorn "chicken" strips
Tofu loaf
Veggie burgers (you may prefer garden or boca or morningstar brands)
Curry lentils or chick peas
Roasted eggplant

Here's links to some popular vegetarian restaurants to get menu ideas, recipes, etc:

Chicago Diner (AWESOME vegetarian versions of American foods)
http://www.veggiediner.com/

Moosewood Restaurant
http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/

Greens restaurant
http://www.greensrestaurant.com/

Saturday, February 17, 2007, 7:50 PM

Black Bean Stew-crockpot or stovetop

This is a recipe I adapted from the book Hope's Edge. It can be made in the crockpot or on the stove (both recipes below).

Crockpot:
1 pound dry black beans, sorted and rinsed
6 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1/4-3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
salt (optional)
4 cups vegetable stock/broth
water
3 cups frozen corn, thawed
3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Soak the beans overnight in water, rinse, and put in the crock pot. (if you forget, it will still work, but it will need to cook longer and you'll need to add more water) Add the garlic and dry spices. Add 4 cups veg broth and 1 cup water. Cook on high for about 6-8 hours. Add more hot water if necessary during cooking. When the beans are tender, add the corn and cilantro and cook 15 minutes longer until everything is hot.

Stovetop recipe (really fast!)
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt (optional)
veg stock or water

Put beans in a pot with veg stock or water (eyeball it) and heat through. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer until corn is cooked, about 15 minutes.

I serve with warm corn tortillas or rice. This stew also makes a great filling for burritos and enchiladas. I do not use salt and I don't miss it.

Thursday, September 17, 2009, 2:49 PM

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