S/o groceries.... Meatless meals

[jena]

Several of you mentioned eating meatless meals to lower your grocery budget. What are some of your favorites? Bonus points if it's not pasta or is more exciting than a pot of beans.

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[bunch]

This week we're having a tortellini with Swiss chard soup. Last week was sweet and sour tofu with bok choy. Curries are easy to make sans meat.

[Deleted]

We do huge veggie salads about 1-2x a week. One of my faves is a mixed green salad with your typical salad veggies topped with quinoa and caramalized onions. Oh my heavens...delish!

[imojoebunny]

I make a sort of chicken-less salad, though I often add chicken, may 6 oz, if we have some left over, but you can skip that.

Chick peas - one can rinsed and drained
Chopped carrots 1/2-3/4 cup
Celery 1/2-3/4 cup
Onion 1/2 cup
Toss together with the chick peas

Coat lightly with a mixture of 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 mayo, maybe 1/4 cup each mixed with curry powder, garlic powder, and dried mustard to taste. You can add salt and pepper too if you like. I get my spices at the farmers market, so they are super cheap. Tip: add the spices slowly to the mayo and sour cream to get the right taste for you. Also add the mayo and sour cream mixture slowly to the salad, so it doesn't get too much. Serve with bread, rice, or chopped lettuce.

[Dusky]

We'll sometimes do a crock pot vegetable soup or a meatless chili.

[ribollita]

www.kalynskitchen.com/2013/01/slow-cooker-greek-lentil-soup-tomatoes-spinach.html

www.annies-eats.com/2011/11/02/black-beans-with-roasted-tomatoes-and-feta/

www.bhg.com/recipes/vegetarian/ideas/10-slow-cooker-vegetarian-favorites/#page=10

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lentil-Salad-with-Tomato-and-Dill-232495

www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pot-sticker-salad-00000000000671/index.html

www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-food-newsletter-quick-rigatoni,0,7066913.story

[magdala]

I cook vegetarian meals 4 or 5 times a week.

Last night was black bean sliders and tofu fries with sriacha ketchup.
scarlettabakes.com/black-bean-sliders/ and www.poorgirleatswell.com/2012/03/recipe-crispy-baked-tofu-fries-with-sriracha-ketchup.html

We have quesadillas often:
www.acouplecooks.com/2012/09/apple-and-gouda-quesadillas/ I will add caramelized onions to these.
pinterest.com/pin/180777372514545587/
budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2010/02/chili-garlic-breakfast-quesadilla-061.html I like breakfast for dinner.

This is good with ciabatta to sop up the flavors. www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Beans-with-Roasted-Tomatoes-109537

Soup is another meal that I make weekly during the cold season:
www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/VEGETARIAN-NEW-ENGLAND-CLAM-CHOWDER-1214260
www.nigella.com/recipes/view/minestrone-soup-2908
www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Harvest-Sweet-Potato-Soup

i also like miso eggplant with steamed snap peas and rice www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Miso-Glazed-Eggplant-109748

I also make salads for dinner.
greenlitebites.com/2011/06/20/chickpea-and-tomato-salad-with-fresh-basil/
www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sugar-Snap-Salad-366394
www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestsaladrecipes/recipes/food/views/Spinach-Salad-with-Bosc-Pears-Cranberries-Red-Onion-and-Toasted-Hazelnuts-355430

I will also make homemade pizza almost weekly. Of course, my husbands' favorite food is bread. If I serve anything with hot fresh bread, he is happy.

[changedname]

allrecipes.com/recipe/awesome-broccoli-cheese-casserole-2/detail.aspx

-http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-slow-cooker-vegetarian-chili/detail.aspx 

it kind of is a pot o'beans but it's delicious and you can add some ground beef the next day to jazz it up

If you like fish - I get requests for this all the time and I use frozen fish (salmon/cod/haddock - whatever is on sale - I don't add the shellfish)

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/fish-pie

[My]

We do vegetarian meals 7 days a week at home since I am vegetarian, unless we go out to dinner. Some of our favorites are:



-vegetarian fried rice

-vegetable stir fry

-veggie chili/corn bread

-breakfast scramble (egg, garlic, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts)

-dinner salad(greens, veggies, maybe a hard-boiled egg cut up)

-spaghetti

-cheese torellini with red sauce and a green salad

[aurora]

DH makes a really tasty butternut squash enchilada dish. Stuffed peppers take some time but are really tasty. A lot of our meatless meals are pasta- or bean-based, though.

I actually don't think that meatless meals are usually cheaper for us since they tend to be more elaborate, though.

[Deleted]

Spinach fettuccine with Swiss chard in balsamic reduction
Two bean tamale pie
Quinoa stuffed peppers
Stuffed acorn squash
Sweet potato black bean chili
Baked eggplant rolls
Spinach feta frittata
Pancakes!

[magpie]

curried lentils w/rice

Thai curries (we made these A LOT) with Thai curry paste from the asian market + coconut milk + whatever veggies and/or tofu you want. It's extremely easy if you can find a good curry paste.

veggie fried rice

baked falafel (buy the mix in a box--just add water and bake little patties) w/cucumbers, tomato, hummus and pita

This enchilada casserole (add more veggies if you want): www.myrecipes.com/recipe/vegetable-enchiladas-50400000110381/

grilled veggie tacos

veggie soup

frittata w/leeks and all kinds of yummy veggies

veggie sushi. I usually add avocado, scrambled egg and roasted asparagus and sweet potato, which sounds weird but is delicious!

[Deleted]

This week we're having Pappa al Pomodoro (Tuscan tomato-bread soup) and Quinoa/Sweet Potato/Black Bean Chili. I made Black Bean Tacos for lunches.

Last week I made veggie pot pie with butternut squash, kale, tomato and fennel with a parmesan biscuit crust.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with cranberries and goat cheese, Tuscan Bean Soup, Mac and Cheese, Black Bean Soup, Black Bean Enchiladas are other favorites.

[heygrey]

very seldom do i seek out vegetarian recipes, i just don't include the meat in whatever recipe i'm making.

chili, curries, mexican dishes, pasta dishes... i just kind of eyeball the volume of meat i would have used and replace with beans and/or veggies.

soups and salads of a hundred variations. mmm, potato soup!

just start looking at recipes and subtracting the meat... you usually aren't missing much. i love a good steak or piece of salmon or other things that i consider more treats, but i found i just don't enjoy ground beef and chicken that much to justify the expense for even most meals. i keep it on hand for meals with guests, but for the most part all of our meals are meatless.

[h]

We do meatless dinners about 2-3 times a week. They include vegetable enchiladas, quesadillas, quiches/frittatas, pizza, calzones, and stir fries. Plus pasta dishes, soup and baked potatoes or soup and grilled cheese, breakfast for dinner, and salads. We like eggplant parm a lot, too.

[darkling_glory]

ohsheglows.com/2011/12/13/naughty-nice-vegan-enchilada-casserole/

[pugz]

black bean enchiladas
2 bean bean burritos
falafel w/pita
potato soup
salads

[SusanBAnthony]

We are all vegetarian as well.

Variations on Mexican (tacos, burritos, taco salads, nachos) with beans instead of meat.

We use tofu in stir fry.

Most Indian dishes tend to be meatless and usually have a lot of flavor.

Curry (Thai ones with coconut milk are my preference). Either just veggies with a high protein grain like quinoa, or with chickpeas or tofu or seitan.

Pizza with veggies instead if meat.

Minestrone.

IM(vegetarian)O lentil sloppy joes are delicious and taste newly the same as meat ones. At the very least you can do 2/3 lentils 1/3 meat, or whatever split makes you happy. You can also reduce the meat in meatloaf, meatballs, etc with lentils.

[sporky]

We do a lot of soups, risottos, pastas, Mexican-inspired dishes, and Asian-inspired dishes. For instance, this week, we'll be having vegetarian enchiladas one night, risotto with roasted butternut squash one night, and veggie herb soup with grilled cheese sandwiches one night.

[marshmallowhands]

Our meatless dinners this week are:
1.) Spicy bean burritos- www.annies-eats.com/2011/01/25/spicy-bean-burritos/
2.) Quinoa salad with dragon sauce- catesworldkitchen.com/2011/10/vegetable-quinoa-bowls-with-dragon-sauce/
3.)Penne with vodka sauce (this doesn't meet your no pasta requirement)

We also do a veggie stir-fry probably every other week or some kind of grilled veggie sandwich with soup (winter) or salad (summer). Here's one we tried last week and I've been craving it every day since: www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-veggie-hummus-wraps-50400000120276/

[jena]

thanks for all the recipes and ideas! I think the kids will feel tortured by some of these, but it's good to expand their horizons, right? They actually eat tofu, so you'd think they'd eat more "weird" foods, but they still like very simple and plain things.... Which is why I end up relying on things like a pork chop, rice, and a veg, preferably served on a divided plate so nothing touches. We've got to move past that before I go insane.

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[wanderlustfoodie]

Make your own spring rolls.
Indian curries
This: www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Poached-Eggs-in-Tomato-Sauce-with-Chickpeas-and-Feta-368963

[aspentosh]

Vegetarian chili and you could always add in leftover meat if you have any
Pizza. One of my favorites is "veggie pizza" on all recipes. It's a crescent crust with cream cheese (or yogurt) sauce. Fresh and yummy.

Then there are the easy standbys:
Grilled cheese with tomato soup
Cheese and veggie quesadillas

[dirtyred]

The first two are pasta (sorry)--black bean lasagna and pumpkin lasagna. I also like spanakopita as a meatless meal.
If you eat soy, you can buy soy granules that you can use in place of ground beef--chili, tacos, etc.