More people are choosing to cook kinder, more sustainable meals, expanding their repertoire of vegetarian dishes.
Here are six mouth-watering vegetarian and vegan dishes that might inspire you in the kitchen.
1. Sweet and Sour Thai Fried Rice
Made from leftover rice and any veg you have in your fridge or veg rack, this quick fried rice dish, created by FullOfPlants food blogger Thomas, is “the kind of food that boosts your mood and cheers you up after just two spoonfuls”. It’s super-easy to make, and has the perfect balance of sweet, salty and spicy, with a subtle tart flavour, he says.
2. Creamy Curry Pasta
This unusual but tasty blend of Italian and Indian by @nourishingalex takes only a few minutes longer than the 10 minutes or so you need to boil a pan of pasta, and contains pantry ingredients that can easily be swapped for other vegie items stashed in your cupboard or fridge.
3. Quick Turkish Pizza
Another amalgam of two (or even three) cuisines – this time Turkish and Italian/American – has made that most unusual of dishes, a healthy pizza! The Happy Pear, the dish creators, says that while Turkish flatbread is traditionally made with a yeast dough, their recipe has been adapted to use a quick and easy dough, so it only takes 25 minutes to make.
4. Pesto Gnocchi
Whether you’re an omnivore, vegetarian or vegan, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of ‘cheating’ occasionally. This recipe by Lauren Toyota, of the HotForFood blog, uses shop-bought pesto on top of gnocchi made using leftover mashed potatoes. If you don’t want to buy pesto, a little olive oil and rosemary works a treat.
5. Easy Potato Cauliflower Curry
This is a super-easy curry from @run2food that takes less than 30 minutes to make, and can use whatever veg you want to throw in!
6. Saucy Vegetable Stir-Fry
There’s nothing better than a stir-fry to get loads of veg in a tasty manner – and it’s usually a dish that even veg-hating kids will eat. This recipe by @plantbasedtraveler includes a homemade sauce and home-prepared vegetables, but if you’re looking for an even quicker alternative, shop-bought stir-fry sauces are quite cheap and tasty, and packets of fresh supermarket stir-fry veg will save lots of time.
Do you eat vegetarian? Are you trying to cut back on your meat intake? Why not share your favourite vegie meal in the comments section below?
Also read: Liven up vegetarian dinners with these meat replacements
– With PA
None of these meals are suitable for those with gluten intolerance or inflammation. White rice promotes inflammation as do potatoes. They are the type of carbohydrate that the body digests rapidly, causing blood sugar and insulin to surge and then dip. So no I wouldn’t make any of these recipes.
Seems to me, with such a wide range of vegetables (and fruits) available you simply adjust the recipe.