Help: Changing to plant based diet and need ideas for meals and recommendations for cookbooks.

[KidsHappen]

I already eat lots of fruits and veggies but I would like to cut meat on a regular basis, not vegan but pretty much vegetarian. I would prefer as quick and easy as possible because my hubby prepares all my meals and he is not looking to give up meat right now. I will sometimes eat a very light breakfast and I pretty much have that covered and then dinner which needs to be a little more filling. I need something to add to veggies and fruit. I am also open to plant based meat alternatives if you have any recommendations. I am in the planning stages now as we try to consume what meat we have left in the house that was bought for me (like liver). 

[Rosie_0801]

That's basically beans and lentils, which can be added to anything.

Does your local shop sell tempeh? Quorn brand anything in the freezer section?

[KidsHappen]

18 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

That's basically beans and lentils, which can be added to anything.

Does your local shop sell tempeh? Quorn brand anything in the freezer section?

I will check it out.

[HomeAgain]

One of the best things we did was to get Blue Apron meal boxes when we were trying to add more plant based meals.  I needed to know how to use ingredients different ways and keep it easy until the dishes made their way into our favorites.

[Indigo Blue]

Beans, lentils, edamame, quinoa, brown rice, and oatmeal. Those are my staples, as I don’t care for tofu. I don’t really use recipes much. I just prepare fruits and veggies and add proteins above. Lots of kale. I cook a large pot and freeze portions  and use the rest each day until it’s gone. Usually oatmeal sweetened with mashed banana (I keep frozen bananas on hand and microwave them along with the oatmeal). Top with pecans. 
 

I make sure to get omega 3, b12 supplements, d3, and iodine. Eat enough greens to get calcium and supplement if needed. Lentils are full of iron. 
 

Quinoa or brown rice can be made into a breakfast bowl by adding a portion of either (precooked) one to a bowl, add raisins, cinnamon, a drizzle of maple syrup if needed. Microwave and top with a splash of soymilk or other plant milk. 
 

Dates make a good snack. One kiwi has a full days supply of vitamin c. Lots of berries….cut up a whole box of strawberries and eat some each day on oatmeal or just plain. Keep frozen blueberries on hand. 
 

Quinoa, steamed kale, and microwaved sweet potato is something I make a lot of for dinner. 

Edited May 23 by Indigo Blue

[Rosie_0801]

16 minutes ago, KidsHappen said:

I will check it out.

Quorn brand products vary. Some are good, some not so much.

Don't eat tempeh plain. It'll taste like an old dish sponge. I like it soaked for a while in orange juice before cooking. Unfortunately my local doesn't sell it. 😞

[DawnM]

I do eat meat, but when I am trying to keep things simple, I just do:   Protein, carb, veggie, sauce

So: rice, noodles, quinoa, barley, beans, some sort of base

Then: any veggies, frozen/fresh/canned

Sauce: To me, this makes the meal.  I make some sauces and buy some sauces.   You can even google sauces you can make in bulk and either freeze or keep in the fridge for long term use.   I have several I make with bases like hummus or yogurt.   

Essentially you are making a bowl, but I don't always mix them up.

[Harriet Vane]

I am not vegan, but often vegan alternatives work well for me due to lactose and gluten intolerance. I have really appreciated this cookbook:

Vegan for Everybody by America’s Test Kitchen

 

If you need to keep eating liver for your health, consider chopping into small cubes and then freezing spread out on a tray. You can then put the frozen chunks in a bag and just take a few out from day to day that you swallow with water as a “pill.”

[regentrude]

If you don't go vegan, you can have yogurt and cheese. Grilled halloumi cheese works well in place of meet.

If you need to bulk up vegan food, add nuts. Peanut sauce, or cashew "parm".

Edited May 23 by regentrude

[skimomma]

There is a pretty comprehensive cookbook titled "Vegan Planet" by Robin Robertson that I recommend to people new to plant-based diets.  The recipes are generally quick to prepare, simple, and with readily available ingredients.  There are a million books out there but if I could only have one, this would be it.  It's kind of the Betty Crocker cookbook for vegetarians.  I usually don't cook with recipes much anymore but I leaned heavy on this book when I was still learning how to cook.

[73349]

You'll want to include whole grains, beans/lentils, and a small sprinkle of nuts/seeds.

Here's what I made last night: https://app.plantoeat.com/recipes/19247289/60179323 , very easy if you start with canned chickpeas, and you can use any grain. (Quinoa cooks faster than brown rice.) Chicken could be added to it for others if they prefer.

These cheeseburger wraps can be made with meatless crumbles from the frozen section, but I usually replace them with cooked or canned green lentils.

 

The Esselstyns also have some helpful stuff.

Edited May 23 by 73349

[regentrude]

Rainbow Plant Life has a mealplan subscription where they send you email with vegan recipes including prep ahead instructions and detailed shopping lists. Three meals and a salad; components are planned out to be used in multiple dishes. Great for busy people who meal prep on Sundays. 

[Miss Tick]

If you are shooting for vegetarian, I often will boil a dozen eggs and keep them in the refrigerator. They are great additions or sides to give a protein boost, and last quite long boiled and refrigerated.

I like to peruse cookbooks from the library looking for 1. Vegetable-focused, 2. Familiar ingredients, 3. Ease of prep, 4. Ability to hold over for late arrivals or leftovers. I rarely find whole cookbooks that accomplish all that, but a few recipes here and there makes them easy to try out and add to my collection when I'm in the mood. Many people can do this electronically, I just do better with physical books and recipe cards.

I limit manufactured meat substitutions because they tend to be expensive and make me bloated and gassy.

[Carol in Cal.]

Rancho Gordo beans could be your new best friend.

When I’m on a roll, I cook up a pound of those and then use them in many different ways—refried beans in masa tortillas with chopped tomatoes and shredded sharp cheddar cheese one day, drained and added to a big salad another, mixed with sautéed mushrooms and onions another time, and added to hearty veggie soup yet another.

Coptic or Assyrian Orthodox Christians have a very severe vegan fast for over a month each year, and so their cookbooks are full of great vegan recipes.

[Faith-manor]

Herbaceous soups and stews are a really easy way to fill up and eat several servings of veggies. I make a meatless chili that my family loves. It is light on chili powder, but heavy on garlic and cumin. Lots of cumin. I use both red kidney beans and pinto beans. I use my home canned tomatoes which are sublime, but a really good substitute are the Cento San Marzanos, crushed. That said, Cento is not a cheap brand and you can make a great chili with cheaper tomatoes. The chili ends up being very filling and super healthy.

I also do wild rice in chicken or veggie broth. I carmelize a large sweet onion, and run it through the blender on puree with the broth as a base which fully infuses the flavor which you do not get if you just add diced onion to the soup, and then fine dice three or four large carrots to add to it, some sweet peas, and rosemary and thyme with salt to taste and a gin of garlic. Yum yum. If you need more protein, make it thick like a plate stew (takes some good cooking down to do it), and top with an over easy egg. Some vegetarians do use eggs in order to fill out their nutrient profile for the vitamin E and what not.

[livetoread]

2 hours ago, regentrude said:

Rainbow Plant Life has a mealplan subscription where they send you email with vegan recipes including prep ahead instructions and detailed shopping lists. Three meals and a salad; components are planned out to be used in multiple dishes. Great for busy people who meal prep on Sundays. 

If you like lots of flavor, this is your gal. I make something from her website at least once a week, and I've been eyeing that subscription. She says the subscription recipes are selected for being pretty quick and easy, which is good because I've got to say many of the ones on her website are not. Totally worth it, but not quick and easy. It's like America's Test Kitchen recipes - I start those at least two hours before dinner and it seems like every pot in the kitchen is dirty by the time I'm done.

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian has tons of recipes and many of those are easy.

I'm a lifelong vegetarian, but switching to almost all plant based last year was still an adjustment in terms of cooking and meal planning. There's a learning curve.

Edited May 23 by livetoread

[dsmith]

I will do meals that have a vegetarian/vegan component for some and a meat component for the meat eaters. For example, if it's taco night, I will make regular taco meat and a bean taco filling for me. If I'm really lazy I will buy packaged beans with seasoning (Fillo's or similar) or plant based taco filling. Another one I do is greek chicken kabobs served with pita, cucumbers, onion, lettuce, tomato, tatziki, and for the non-meat version I do chickpeas in the air fryer with greek seasoning/marinade until they are chewy/slightly crispy to fill my pita. That's one of my favorites! If steak is on the menu I will usually make baked potatoes and do some kind of loaded potato for myself. There's so many good vegan loaded potato recipes online. If I'm in a cooking mood I will make some easy mains just for me and freeze them. Turkish lentil soup is one of my standby easy things to always have in the fridge or freezer. I will eat my main and some of the sides that everyone can eat. I don't have a lot of cooking energy, so I prefer easy meals. My husband does most of the hard stuff, I assist. I wish someone would come out with a cookbook with dual meat/vegetarian meals. I think there are quite a lot of households that are a mix of meat eaters/vegetarians/vegans. 

[73349]

Here's my veggie chili recipe. The vegetables are pretty flexible. Spice to taste. It would be easy to brown a little ground turkey or whatever on the side to add to meat-eaters' bowls.

[Indigo Blue]

If you want recipe ideas, Well Your World on YouTube has tons of videos. They are salt, sugar, and oil free, but you could use those if wanted. 

[history-fan]

Christina Pirello has videos with her name and a past cooking show called Christina Cooks. I have her recipe book and always liked her recipes.

[Ali in OR]

Thanks all. Not the OP, but I have now placed an order for a bunch of Rancho Gordo beans and placed library holds on Vegan for Everybody and Vegan Planet. And no, we're not vegan or even vegetarian but dh and I are both reading Ultra Processed People which is inspiring us to tweak some eating habits around here. More beans! More plants!

[Corraleno]

Another vote for Nisha Vora at Rainbow Plant Life. She has multiple cookbooks, including an InstaPot one, and most of her recipes are available for free on her blog or YouTube channel.

If you post what kinds of things you like to eat, I can come back later and link specific recipes.

Do you have access to a Trader Joe's? They have a soy chorizo that many meat eaters actually prefer because it's much less greasy but still has all the traditional flavor, you really can't tell it's not meat. I taught my college kids to make a super quick and easy chili with a lb of soy chorizo, 4 cans of drained/rinsed beans (black beans or mixed), a jar of salsa (+ the same jar filled with water or veggie broth), and a little oregano (the chorizo & salsa already have plenty of spice). Takes 10 minutes, is super flavorful and hearty, and even meat eaters like it.

[Alice]

I use the Nora Cooks website a lot. She is especially good for baked goods which isn't what you are asking really but everything I've made from her is great and non-vegans cannot tell. The other recipes are also very good. And I like that she is fairly simple as far as ingredients and often tells you what you can sub. 

When I first starting using tofu this was the first recipe I found that helped me like it and feel comfortable cooking it:https://www.budgetbytes.com/pan-fried-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli/. I now make some variation on that fairly often, you can vary the veggie (I hate broccoli so I usually use green beans) and use whatever sauce you like. I also often now "fry" it without the cornstarch which make it less crispy but is easier. Budget Bytes (the same website) has lots of other vegetarian recipes that are easy. 

We use the plant based meat alternatives a fair amount. I think they aren't the healthiest but we have one vegan, one vegetarian (me) and two meat eaters in the house so it works to keep everyone happy. I personally like the Impossible brand beef better than others. Beyond is also good. The cheaper alternatives I find not as good so typically only buy those and try and get them on sale. We use them as an addition mostly, like for chili or "meat" sauce for pasta. 

The other things we eat the most for protein are chickpeas (so many chickpeas) and beans and lentils. And a lot of nuts. 

 

[wintermom]

If you like to explore international cuisine, look for places that already have mostly plant-based or vegetarian cuisine such as Costa Rica (beans and rice) and India (just 2 places off the top of my head). Then you would be benefiting from centuries of the culture around the foods, which add so much flavour and interest. 

When I had to go gluten- and dairy-free, instead of buying expensive breads and milks created to more or less "imitate" the products I was used to eating, I saught out recipes from places like India, China and Thailand and explored the amazing spices and ingredients they utilized. It was so much fun and the foods were delicious!

[Lecka]

I like the website cookieandkate.com

 

[Porridge]

On 5/23/2024 at 5:17 AM, regentrude said:

Rainbow Plant Life has a mealplan subscription where they send you email with vegan recipes including prep ahead instructions and detailed shopping lists. Three meals and a salad; components are planned out to be used in multiple dishes. Great for busy people who meal prep on Sundays. 

I like Rainbow Plant Life recipes, too. (I haven't tried the recipe subscription).

Importantly, my non-vegan family members also like the recipes we've tried from RPL

 

[Laura Corin]

I like The Doctor's Kitchen, which is plant based, mostly vegetarian.  I think there might be a few non-veg recipes on the site too? Lots of flavour that my more meat-based husband enjoys too.

https://thedoctorskitchen.com/recipes/

You could batch cook one or two interesting proteins  - dal maybe or veggie chilli - and just eat them in place of the meat your husband serves over several days. You could still eat the sides he prepares.

[Ottakee]

Black bean tacos

 

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can corn drained

1 can petite diced tomatoes mostly drained

1 packet of taco seasoning mix (or homemade)

mix together and heat.  Serve over rice or in warmed tortillas.  Can add sour cream, cheese, lettuce, etc.   meat lovers can add cooked ground beef or chicken.

so versatile and takes 5 minutes.

[wisdomandtreasures]

1. Cook a pot of brown rice. In another pan, cook an onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrot. Crumble in pressed extra-firm tofu. Add rice, soy sauce or whatever your favorite soy sauce alternative is, pepper, chili powder, and a bunch of finely-chopped kale.  Good as-is or with some diced pineapple and cilantro on top. 

2. Pour boiling water over a pack of rice noodles and set aside for 30 min. Cook onion, mushroom, carrot, bell pepper, and celery with minced garlic and ginger. Add peas or broccoli and crumbled tofu. In a bowl, mix soy sauce, an equal amount of peanut butter, a couple tbsp of lime juice, pepper, and chili powder. When noodles are finished, drain and add to stir-fry and pour peanut sauce on top. Top wit cilantro. 

3. This sounds weird but is pretty tasty and even my bean- and mushroom-hating boy likes it. It's also done in less than 10 minutes. Sautee an onion and mushrooms with garlic, a dash of soy sauce, and a little Worcestershire sauce (there are vegan options) until onions begin to brown a bit. Add a quart of cooked pinto, black, or kidney beans, a spoonful of tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika, and oregano. Let simmer for a few minutes. Top with a bit of cheese, cilantro, and serve with chips, make burritos or tacos, serve over rice, or add some corn while it's cooking and eat it like a bowl of chili. 

4. Mix almond flour, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, a pinch of salt, and roll slices of pressed extra-firm tofu in it. Fry tofu and make tacos with it and beans, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and cilantro. 

5. Creamy one-pot broccoli cheddar soup: Sautee onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, and garlic. Add broccoli, water, and salt. Cook until veggies have softened, about 5 min. Add in potato flakes and soy milk until it's the consistency you like. Sprinkle in pepper and a little smoked paprika, then stir in shredded cheddar cheese. 

I like to set aside time each week to chop a bunch of veggies, dips/dressings, hard-boiled eggs, and bread so they are ready to go (part of why every meal starts with sautéing the same things over and over). That's the only way I can consistently eat well and stick to a vegetarian diet without spending all day in the kitchen. 

Edited May 29 by wisdomandtreasures
Numbers were off