Having vegetarian days once or twice a week is very healthy. Animal products, unlike vegetable products, are harder to digest and take longer to digest. Therefore, it is good to give the stomach a rest sometimes in the form of light dinners without meat or poultry. Vegetarian menu.
Do not think that vegetarian dishes are prepared exclusively from vegetables. The field for culinary experiments remains quite wide, because the vegetable diet includes legumes, mushrooms, soy and even dairy products.
(1) – “The choice of adopting a vegetarian diet can have positive consequences, such as better physical health, positive feelings related to the adoption of a morally correct attitude, an increased sense of belonging (to a vegetarian community) and lower environmental impact. On the other hand, factors that go beyond an individual’s control, such as the environment and social/cultural group in which they are inserted, as well as gender-based differences, economic aspects, and limited access to a wide variety of plant-based foods, can negatively impact the QoL of those choosing to abstain from meats or other animal products. Despite the low number of studies on vegetarianism and quality of life, the existing evidence points toward a more positive impact. It is important to understand all the effects of adopting a vegetarian diet—beyond its nutritional aspects. Not only do studies in this area provide more consistent data, but they may also contribute to mitigating all factors that might prevent individuals from adopting a vegetarian diet, or that may have a negative impact on the quality of life of those who already follow it. Further studies are necessary to understand how strongly these connections between QoL domains and vegetarianism can influence the individuals who adopt this dietary pattern.”
#1. Dinner with quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower and tofu. Vegetarian menu.
There is quinoa in the vegetarian diet. There is a lot of fiber, healthy carbohydrates and folic acid in it. It is these elements that should be in the diet of those who do not eat animal products. We offer to cook quinoa with tofu and vegetables.
Ingredients for 2 servings:
quinoa 7.0 oz
water 2 cups
tofu 5.29oz
broccoli 3.53oz
cauliflower 3.53oz
almonds 1 tablespoon
raisins 1 tablespoon
olive oil 4 tablespoons
parsley 3 sprigs
garlic powder 1 teaspoon
breadcrumbs 3 tablespoons
salt, black pepper to taste
Instruction:
Cooking time 30 minutes
Wash the quinoa, pour boiling water, add salt to taste and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Cover with a lid and steam for 15 minutes. Separately pour boiling water over the raisins.
At this time, chop the tofu into large cubes, roll in a mixture of ground breadcrumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan with oil and fry the cheese on all sides until crisp. Blanch broccoli and cauliflower in boiling water for 5 minutes, cool, disassemble into inflorescences. Lightly knead the almonds with a rolling pin. We put ready-made quinoa, cauliflower and broccoli mixed on a plate. Decorate everything with golden tofu cubes, almonds with raisins and chopped parsley.
#2. Burger with vegetable patty. Vegetarian menu.
For dinner, a burger with a vegetable patty. We will replace the meat patty with a cereal-vegetable one. But we will leave fresh vegetables. This combination of ingredients is balanced in nutritional elements and saturates the body for a long time. You can take a vegetarian burger with you to work or a picnic.
Ingredients for 4 servings:
round buns 4 pcs
zucchini 1 pc.
red onion 1 head
tomato 1 pc.
lettuce leaves 4 pcs.
rucolla 6 twigs
Cutlet:
medium carrot 1 pc.
oat flakes 3.53oz
water glass
vegetable oil 5 tablespoons
semolina 3 tablespoons
salt, black pepper, turmeric to taste
Mayonnaise:
oat milk 6 tablespoons
olive oil 5.29oz
lemon juice 1 tablespoon
mustard 1 teaspoon
salt and black pepper to taste
Instruction:
Cooking time 30 minutes
Soak the oat flakes in boiling water. While they are soaking, cook the carrots and grate on a coarse grater. Mix it with soaked oatmeal, add dry semolina, vegetable oil, salt and spices. Knead the resulting mass and let the semolina soak for 15 minutes. Now we make round cutlets and fry them on both sides.
To prepare vegetarian mayonnaise, you need oat milk and olive oil to be at room temperature. Combine them together and whisk with a whisk until the mass thickens. Then add lemon juice and mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Knead the sauce to a smooth consistency.
It remains to assemble our burger. Put lettuce leaves, a tomato circle and a carrot cutlet on the lower half of the bun. Pour mayonnaise over it, decorate with strips of zucchini, onion rings and arugula twigs, cover with the top half of the bun. That’s how our burger turned out.
#3. Lasagna with vegetables. Vegetarian menu.
Vegetarian vegetable dishes can be delicious. To do this, it is enough to bake them in the oven and come up with an interesting sauce. Let it be a vegetable lasagna. Ready-made test sheets can be purchased at any store. And any vegetables that are in the refrigerator will do. In our case, it will be a colorful lasagna with tomatoes, zucchini and broccoli.
Ingredients for 3 servings:
zucchini 1 pc.
broccoli 10.58oz
carrot 1 pc.
tomatoes 1 pc.
vegetable oil 2 tbsp. l
ready-made lasagna sheets
Sauce:
soy milk 2 cups
flour 3 tablespoons
coconut oil 2 tablespoons
salt, nutmeg to taste
Instruction:
Cooking time 45 minutes
Cut zucchini, carrots and tomatoes into cubes. We disassemble the broccoli into small inflorescences. Heat the oil in a frying pan and pass the vegetables until they become soft. For the sauce, melt coconut oil in a small saucepan. Add flour and mix everything thoroughly so that there are no lumps left. Fry on low heat for about a minute, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour in soy milk, mix well.
Salt and lightly whisk the sauce with a whisk, continuing to cook. Boil until the sauce thickens, add nutmeg. Stir again and remove from heat. The baking dish is greased with oil, covered with thin sheets for lasagna. Thickly smear them with sauce and spread a third of the vegetables. Repeat all the layers two more times. Lubricate the top sheet of dough with vegetable oil and put the mold in the oven at 356F for 30-40 minutes. This lasagna will be good for dinner.
#4. Kohlrabi stuffed with mushrooms and vegetables. Vegetarian menu.
Stuffed vegetables will help bring variety to your dinner diet. You can fill eggplants, zucchini, peppers or tomatoes with delicious contents. There are a lot of variations of fillings.
We offer a non-banal recipe for kohlrabi stuffed with mushrooms and baked in the oven. If there is no oven, put out the cabbage barrels in a saucepan in tomato or cream sauce.
Ingredients for 2 servings:
kohlrabi 3 pcs.
champignons 8.82oz
onion 1 pc.
carrot 1 pc.
green onion 2 feathers
parsley 3 sprigs
oregano to taste
vegetable oil 2 tablespoons
butter 1 tablespoon
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Instruction:
Cooking time 45 minutes
Peel Kohlrabi, cut off the tops. Use a knife to pull out the core.
The resulting blanks are dipped in hot salted water for 5-7 minutes. Then pull it out on a sieve and let the cabbage dry a little.
Cut the mushrooms into small cubes.
Finely chop the onion, carrot and pieces of kohlrabi core.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the vegetables.
Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Add oregano. Simmer until the mushrooms are ready.
Brush the kohlrabi heads with butter and stuff with the resulting filling.
Place in a baking dish lined with parchment and bake at 356F for about 30 minutes or until kohlrabi is soft. Serve garnished with parsley and chopped green onions.
#5. Chickpeas with tomatoes and sweet pepper. Vegetarian menu.
Legumes contain a large amount of vegetable protein and are considered almost a full—fledged meat substitute, so dishes with chickpeas, beans or lentils are the main components of a vegetarian menu.
Ingredients for 2 servings:
chickpeas 5.29oz
bulgarian pepper 1 pc.
tomatoes 3 pcs.
vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
garlic 2 cloves
onion 1 pc.
chili pepper 1 pc.
a mixture of dried herbs 1 tablespoon
curry 1 teaspoon
green onion for serving 3 feathers
salt to taste
Instruction:
Cooking time one hour 15 minutes
Pre-fill the chickpeas with water and leave overnight.
Rinse the chickpeas again, put them in a saucepan, fill with water and cook for about 45-60 minutes (check the cooking time in the instructions on the package). 5 minutes before cooking, add salt to the chickpeas.
Cut onion, bell pepper and chili into cubes. Finely chop the garlic.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, put the chopped vegetables and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cut the tomatoes into medium slices. Add to the pan. Add dry herbs, curry and salt. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Put the cooked chickpeas in the pan, stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
Garnish the finished dish with chopped green onions. If desired, serve sour cream and garlic sauce with chickpeas. Enjoy your meal!
(1) – National Library of Medicine (US); Vegetarian Diet: An Overview through the Perspective of Quality of Life Domains; Shila Minari Hargreaves, António Raposo, Ariana Saraiva, and Renata Puppin Zandonadi; Published online 2021 Apr 12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8069426/
