looking for vegetarian meal ideas...but low fat

gemmaj

A lot of things which would normally be covered in cheese can be made low fat by covering with breadcrumbs. For variety mix breadcrumbs with porridge oats, a few nuts, sunflower seeds or just a little cheese.

By breadcrumbs I don't mean the bright coloured stuff in boxes - I mean put some bread on the windowsill still it goes stale and give it a quick whizz in a food processor. They freeze well too!

In the winter I love mixing up a load of veg (carrot, potato, courgette, butternut squash, sweet potato, anything really!), cook in a saucepan with water and plenty of flavouring (stock cube, bouillon, veggie-worcester sauce, herbs, marmite...). When mostly cooked tip into a dish, cover in breadcrumb/ breadcrumb mix, pop in the oven! When you get bored of it you can make it more exciting by adding balls of stuffing or topping it with a scone topping (very similar to scones, but it makes a kind of pastry layer!). Of course that will add the calories but its still pretty low fat!

Also tacos/wraps and refried beans are a low fat meal but not cheap :-(

Yoga_Girl

Recently got a book out from the library on Middle Eastern Cooking that had loads of low-fat, vegetarian recipes, also the ingredients are quite cheap - lots of lentils, chick-peas etc.

Found a web-site that has quite a good selection of Greek/Middle Eastern recipes, as you like falafel AT you might like some of the other stuff. I can highly recommend Tabbouleh (in the salad section), we eat variations of this recipe all the time.

The web-site is www.ivu.org/recipes/greek/


Another low-fat meal we eat loads of is red lentil soup, you can vary this depending upon what you've got in as well (ie add tomatoes, potatoes etc). Very simple, fry some chopped onion, add dried red lentils, fry for a minute then add some veg stock, cook until lentils are soft then liquidize.

Badgergal

Stuffed tomatoes can be nice...

You get those big beef tomatoes, cut off the top and hollow them out (save the flesh). Then you mix the flesh with either cooked rice or pasta (the tiny kind meant for soups), and, well, whatever you like! I like some olives and capers etc but it is up to you - you can use any little bits of veg, mushrooms or whatever. A little strong cheese is nice (and it's not bad if you only use a little!) Then you season the stuffing with garlic or whatever takes your fancy, put the stuffing back, replace the "lids" and bake them in the oven until the tomatoes are cooked. Serve with whatever you want...

Sorry, that is a bad recipe with no quantities etc, but it is one of those things that you can adapt to suit yourself so it doesn't really matter if you know what I mean...

Ooh and regarding the tortillas and refried beans etc idea as mentioned above, you could try making the flatbreads like this:

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Cookery/Bread_Making

And then if you make the Mexican Beany thing in the slow cooker thread (You don't need a slow cooker to make this though I reckon) it is also quite nice and cheaper than those expensive tins of refried beans. That with the HM tortillas is a cheap and low fat meal!

competitionscafe

2 really good books (sorry I don't have time to write out loads of recipes) but they both have lots of low fat healthy (and most importantly tasty!) veggy recipes in them: (links to amazon for info, but you can probably pick them up on ebay for a few quid):

Great Vegetarian Food ("Australian Women's Weekly" Home Library)
Great Vegetarian Food, editor: Debbie Quick APC Books (2001)
"These recipes from Australian Women's Weekly are simple and full of the light, fresh flavours of Aussie cooking. It's a sensible volume, with low-fat and super-speedy recipes, stir-fries, nutrition analyses and advice on constructing meat-free menus. What's more, as the recipes are from the AWW, you can be sure they've been tested obsessively."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/186396228X/

and my favourite (from the Covent Garden restaurant of the same name):
Food for Thought cookbook:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/023305071X/

In autumn and winter a nice thick chunky soup served with good bread is a nice light meal. Stir frys are good too any time of year, just use whatever veg is in season, serve with rice or noodles if not filling enough on it's own.

Also veg society has recipes on their site:
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html

As does Viva:
http://www.viva.org.uk/recipes/index.html

tootles_2

Cauliflower and Brocc Gratin

Cauli florets
Brocc florets cook in either the micro on high for about 6 minutes with just a little water, or steam in the steamer until just al dente.....

Grate about 4 ozs of strong chedder, low fat cheese if you want.

Skimmed milk, half a pint half a teaspoon of dry mustard, about half a tablespoon of cornflour, stir together in a pan until the sauce thickens add just over half the cheese , salt and pepper pour over the drained cauli and brocc.

Grate 4 slices of wholemeal bread into breadcrumbs stir in the rest of the grated cheese put on top of the cheese sauce and sprinkle with paprika pepper, put in the oven at reg 5 for about 45 minutes until the top is crisp and browned.

I serve it with baked tomatoes, cut tomatoes in half across the centre, salt and pepper drizzle a little oil over the top and sprinkle with basil and thyme cover with foil and bake in the oven at reg 5 for about an hour, so put it in with a couple of baking spuds 15 minutes before you put in the gratin...... lovely dish for supper or a hearty lunch

Quackers

stuffed peppers, tomatoes and big flat mushrooms are lovely with couscous in them.

Couscous is a nice change from pasta & rice and also goes well with ratatouille.

Murtle

If you are worried about the *frying* element of veggies, heat the pan up, and then add a little water to it. You still get the crispy texture but it cooks without the fat. Hope that makes sense....I'm really tired!!!

bluemoon_3

http://www.fatfree.com/ <--- here ya go. All the recipes on this site are veggie.

You could also look around the recipe directory on https://www.vegweb.com and see what you find.

se999

Hi, just found this link to low-fat vegetable recipes, has 16 on the list currently:

http://www.cookitsimply.com/low-fat-vegetable-recipes-0020-0g502.html

Looks a really good recipe site for all types of recipes