Vegetarian recipes

[Whitney]

I'm trying to eat a vegetarian based diet to loose weight.  It has actually been pretty effective, but like all diets it doesn't work too well if I get tired of the food and cheat too often....plain veggies get boring quickly.  So, I'm looking for some vegetarian recipes which don't use cheese or bread to make it taste good...basically, light on the cheese and processed carbs.  I've tried looking online but most of what I find either has a lot of cheese or is vegan.  Vegan is fine, my dinner tonight was actually a vegan dish, but apparently most vegan recipie sites are more concerned about telling you what you can't eat rather than creating tasty food.

For anyone that is also interested, here's what I made.  It taste great if you like spicy chili:

2 cans diced tomato
2 cans chili beans
1 yellow onion chopped
1 small can of diced green peppers
1 handful of garlic cloves (whole or chopped)
1 package prepared hot chili mix.
3 shakes onion powder.
1 package of textured vegi protien that looks like ground meat
~8 shakes black and red pepper blend.

Throw all of that in a pot or slow cooker and cook until onions and garlic are tender.  It make 6 to 8 servings and is very filling.

[brainshmain]

I'm vegan, and I find that vegan cookbooks have some excellent options that are far from being bland or just being steamed veggies.  I'd recommend 'The Vegan Family Cookbook'.

http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Family-Cook ... 543&sr=8-1

[Whitney]

Thanks, I'll have to add that to my next amazon order.  I have a vegetarian cookbook but it is based on recipes from around the world and has quite a few that require ingredients I can't get here (that won't be so much of a problem after I'm in a bigger city)...otherwise it's not too bad since most of the recipes that do require cheese can easily have the cheese taken out.

Have you tried soy cheese lately?...I bought some a few years ago and it was nasty, I was wondering if they got any better at making it.

[Tom62]

If you like good tasting vegetarian food, you may want to have a look at indian and arabian dishes (like persian or syrian). The nice thing about these dishes is that that they don't try to imitate meat but nethertheless  taste fantastic.

[brainshmain]

Have you tried soy cheese lately?...I bought some a few years ago and it was nasty, I was wondering if they got any better at making it.

There are some really good soy cheese brands out there and some bad ones.  In general, the best soy cheeses are in the Alternative Food section of health food stores, and taste pretty authentic.  I don't really know any brands to name drop but I'm sure you can find reviews for good ones.

Because you're trying to lose weight, I'd recommend cutting out dairy.  I was vegetarian for 9 years and when I went vegan, I lost at least 8 pounds.  Just be sure to get enough protein by eating soy, nuts, beans and rice, etc.  You can also find some pretty basic well-known food that you wouldn't expect to be vegan but is, like Oreos!