What is your go-to quick & easy vegetarian recipe?
August 24, 2020 11:01 AM Subscribe
My current default relatively healthy meal when I'm tired is baked chicken and steamed veggies (broccoli + cauliflower). What is the vegetarian replacement for chicken in this?
When I'm tired my default meal is baked chicken and steamed vegetables (broccoli & cauliflower).
The reasons I like this:
Easy - I just put olive oil & salt on the chicken and bake it. I get frozen cauliflower and broccoli that come in a steam bag, so I just have to put it in the microwave for 7 minutes.
Relatively healthy - It seems I'm pretty sensitive to carbohydrates, but I don't feel too lethargic when I eat this. If I have too many carbs, I crash an hour or two later and need a nap.
Versatile - It's fine as is, but I can put different sauces on the chicken or the veggies to change it up.
I'm trying to move in the direction of more vegetarian meals, but I don't know how to replace the chicken. I'm fine keeping the broccoli & cauliflower, but any recipe I try to replace the chicken with has been a disaster. Maybe I just need a better/easier baked tofu recipe, but it never seems to come out right - either a mushy mess or hard little briquettes.
It doesn't have to be tofu. So far Chana Masala is the best contender, but I'm open to whatever replacement is relatively easy, filling, and healthy.
When I'm tired my default meal is baked chicken and steamed vegetables (broccoli & cauliflower).
The reasons I like this:
Easy - I just put olive oil & salt on the chicken and bake it. I get frozen cauliflower and broccoli that come in a steam bag, so I just have to put it in the microwave for 7 minutes.
Relatively healthy - It seems I'm pretty sensitive to carbohydrates, but I don't feel too lethargic when I eat this. If I have too many carbs, I crash an hour or two later and need a nap.
Versatile - It's fine as is, but I can put different sauces on the chicken or the veggies to change it up.
I'm trying to move in the direction of more vegetarian meals, but I don't know how to replace the chicken. I'm fine keeping the broccoli & cauliflower, but any recipe I try to replace the chicken with has been a disaster. Maybe I just need a better/easier baked tofu recipe, but it never seems to come out right - either a mushy mess or hard little briquettes.
It doesn't have to be tofu. So far Chana Masala is the best contender, but I'm open to whatever replacement is relatively easy, filling, and healthy.
I make a double batch of butter chicken sauce and freeze it (I divide each recipe into 3 portions). Thaw it out (in the pan over moderate heat), toss some paneer/queso fresco/tofu and veggies in, reheat in skillet, serve over rice if you like. Dinner in minutes and five more in the freezer. I don't do the pressure cooker stuff since I'm just making sauce essentially...just one pan and blend, then portion and freeze. If I'm feeling super lazy, I just use tomato sauce and I don't have to blend, just heat everything through. I toast the spices in the pan first. Thai style curries using good quality curry pastes are another quick solution for me.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 11:22 AM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 11:22 AM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Freeze your tofu in slabs or blocks, which makes it meatier. (Don't freeze it whole, it takes too long to thaw.) Cook it quickly, remember it's already ready-to-eat, you're just adding flavor and texture (and it doesn't HAVE to be crunchy, tender tofu is still good as long as it's got some flavor going on). I cube and freeze multiple blocks on parchment and then bag it up in serving-ready sizes.
We also eat a lot of protein plus broc/cauli, and I often add another vegetable for variety. Mushrooms, green beans (I like mine mushy so I go more like 10 minutes maybe with a splash of water), roasted zucchini planks and/or eggplant rounds/planks/halves (bonus: these can be seasoned/sauced in pretty much any genre, for variety). Radishes are delicious roasted, I like them in a mix, something like radishes, green beans, zucchini, mushrooms.
We also watch our carbs but I do often slice up half a small yam or sweet potato per person to add a little flair to our roasted veg mix. If I'm not making cauli rice then I'll roast that, ditto broccoli. I'll cook a whole spaghetti squash early in the week and get 2-3 meals out of it.
If you don't have an air fryer, consider getting an air fryer. It's our Veg Roasting Machine, and we keep the produce drawers filled with bagged ready-to-cook produce (4lbs broc florets, 4lbs brussels, zucchinis and eggplants, mushrooms) to toss in a spritz of oil and seasoning and get going. I have a big fryer with multiple shelves, so I can get 3 racks of stuff going and just shuffle the racks around once or twice to give everybody a few minutes in the hottest/driest spots.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:35 AM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
We also eat a lot of protein plus broc/cauli, and I often add another vegetable for variety. Mushrooms, green beans (I like mine mushy so I go more like 10 minutes maybe with a splash of water), roasted zucchini planks and/or eggplant rounds/planks/halves (bonus: these can be seasoned/sauced in pretty much any genre, for variety). Radishes are delicious roasted, I like them in a mix, something like radishes, green beans, zucchini, mushrooms.
We also watch our carbs but I do often slice up half a small yam or sweet potato per person to add a little flair to our roasted veg mix. If I'm not making cauli rice then I'll roast that, ditto broccoli. I'll cook a whole spaghetti squash early in the week and get 2-3 meals out of it.
If you don't have an air fryer, consider getting an air fryer. It's our Veg Roasting Machine, and we keep the produce drawers filled with bagged ready-to-cook produce (4lbs broc florets, 4lbs brussels, zucchinis and eggplants, mushrooms) to toss in a spritz of oil and seasoning and get going. I have a big fryer with multiple shelves, so I can get 3 racks of stuff going and just shuffle the racks around once or twice to give everybody a few minutes in the hottest/driest spots.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:35 AM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Shredded cheese mixed into the hot broccoli and cauliflower.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:45 AM on August 24, 2020
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:45 AM on August 24, 2020
I'm not sure how widely available these things are, but my solution to this problem is prepackaged vegetarian schnitzels. Where I live, they can be filled with cheese, or you can get vegan schnitzels that are filled with a vegetable-based protein. You just fry them up in a pan while your veggies are cooking.
posted by neushoorn at 11:51 AM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by neushoorn at 11:51 AM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Are you an egg fan? One of my easy/lazy favorites is just an omelet or scramble with sauteed shallots/onions and some good cheese and spinach or other quick-cooking greens. Probably ten minutes, max. (Aesthetically, greens might "match" better than broccoli and cauliflower.)
On the dairy side there's always grilling cheeses like halloumi, juusto, and queso de freir, a very quick pan-fry away from readiness.
And if you want to go outside the box a little, I'm a fan of edamame/soybean spaghetti, which packs a lot of protein for not that many carbs, similar to tofu, and cooks in about 5 minutes. (Also unexpectedly high in fiber.) Add veggies and a jarred sauce, or if you have more hands-on time, cook up some onions and mushrooms and herbs and sauce it yourself. (I'm approaching this from a low carb, high fat place, so for me that means butter and cream, but there's a lot of options )
posted by fountainofdoubt at 12:00 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
On the dairy side there's always grilling cheeses like halloumi, juusto, and queso de freir, a very quick pan-fry away from readiness.
And if you want to go outside the box a little, I'm a fan of edamame/soybean spaghetti, which packs a lot of protein for not that many carbs, similar to tofu, and cooks in about 5 minutes. (Also unexpectedly high in fiber.) Add veggies and a jarred sauce, or if you have more hands-on time, cook up some onions and mushrooms and herbs and sauce it yourself. (I'm approaching this from a low carb, high fat place, so for me that means butter and cream, but there's a lot of options )
posted by fountainofdoubt at 12:00 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
poach an egg and put it over your veggies? a runny yolk hides so many sins. see also: omelet.
for lunch, i also eat a lot of the gardein/morningstar farms chicken strips/chicken nuggets. literally had 4 veggie buffalo wings with some riced brocco/cauliflower for lunch today. it's not zero carbs, but it's not a million carbs.
posted by kerning at 12:07 PM on August 24, 2020
for lunch, i also eat a lot of the gardein/morningstar farms chicken strips/chicken nuggets. literally had 4 veggie buffalo wings with some riced brocco/cauliflower for lunch today. it's not zero carbs, but it's not a million carbs.
posted by kerning at 12:07 PM on August 24, 2020
If you eat eggs, I recommend hard boiled. You can do a bunch and have them sitting in the fridge for adding into your daily meals.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:10 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:10 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Do you mind cooled broccoli? I steam broccoli, drain it with cold water, add cubed firm tofu (raw), place it on chopped cabbage and pour spicy peanut sauce over it all.
posted by biggreenplant at 12:17 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by biggreenplant at 12:17 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think trying to one-to-one replace the chicken with tofu will inevitably lead to a disappointing meal. This is one of the main failure points I have seen when people try to switch to vegetarian meals; the diet lacks a certain heft if you don't account for all the things meat brings to a dish. One way to get around this is processed foods - there are vegetarian chicken replacements that have more substance, and you could retain the rest of the meal that way.
There is no recipe for baked tofu that is both easy and delicious. I wish I were wrong.
Instead, I tend to make some sort of bean dish and use it for several days of quick meals. In the summer, that's chickpea 'tuna' salad, smitten kitchen beach bean salad, or black bean and corn salsa. For example, I'll make the black bean salsa and serve it either with rice and slaw, as part of taco salad, or in a quesadilla. Each meal takes under 15 minutes to prepare as long as the bean dish exists, and I make enough to use for a few days. In winter, mujadarra, curried chickpeas, or chili are treated similarly.
Even if my bean-salad approach to food doesn't work for you (I admit, it's not exciting), I think the best bet is to find your vegetarian equivalent of "chicken and broccoli" the dish and not the equivalent of the chicken within the meal.
posted by Behemoth, in no. 302-bis, with the Browning at 1:06 PM on August 24, 2020 [13 favorites]
There is no recipe for baked tofu that is both easy and delicious. I wish I were wrong.
Instead, I tend to make some sort of bean dish and use it for several days of quick meals. In the summer, that's chickpea 'tuna' salad, smitten kitchen beach bean salad, or black bean and corn salsa. For example, I'll make the black bean salsa and serve it either with rice and slaw, as part of taco salad, or in a quesadilla. Each meal takes under 15 minutes to prepare as long as the bean dish exists, and I make enough to use for a few days. In winter, mujadarra, curried chickpeas, or chili are treated similarly.
Even if my bean-salad approach to food doesn't work for you (I admit, it's not exciting), I think the best bet is to find your vegetarian equivalent of "chicken and broccoli" the dish and not the equivalent of the chicken within the meal.
posted by Behemoth, in no. 302-bis, with the Browning at 1:06 PM on August 24, 2020 [13 favorites]
For low carb, scrambled eggs with whatever you like mixed in. Keep a jar of pesto in the fridge and add it sometimes, or slice a zucchini into the pan and saute it and then scramble the eggs in with some Italian herbs and shredded cheese. Takes two seconds.
If you don't mind carbs, then rice and beans. Make a batch at the start of the week. Spoon salsa and sour cream over. Oh yeah.
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:18 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you don't mind carbs, then rice and beans. Make a batch at the start of the week. Spoon salsa and sour cream over. Oh yeah.
posted by fingersandtoes at 1:18 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Firm (marinated) tofu. Good meaty consistency, the marinated versions have added flavour.
After thawing, frozen tofu takes on a grainy mouthfeel. Some people like it (and it soaks up flavours from any "gravy" in the dish better than sliced tofu), others don't care for it.
Fried tofu puffs (they come in a variety of sizes) when cut in half are fantastic for picking up flavours/ gravy in a dish.
There are vermicelli made from taro root starch that are tied into bundles, or twisted from a rectangle - these are also great for taking up flavours from a dish.
posted by porpoise at 1:49 PM on August 24, 2020
After thawing, frozen tofu takes on a grainy mouthfeel. Some people like it (and it soaks up flavours from any "gravy" in the dish better than sliced tofu), others don't care for it.
Fried tofu puffs (they come in a variety of sizes) when cut in half are fantastic for picking up flavours/ gravy in a dish.
There are vermicelli made from taro root starch that are tied into bundles, or twisted from a rectangle - these are also great for taking up flavours from a dish.
posted by porpoise at 1:49 PM on August 24, 2020
Lentils! If you get red lentils (masoor dal) you can cook them in the microwave. It's my go to lazy protein.
My recipe: 1 cup lentils, 3 cups water, microwave 10 minutes.
Add 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, water if needed, microwave 10 more minutes.
Melt some butter (ghee) and sizzle 1 tsp of panch phoron (a mix of fennel seeds, cumin seeds, onion seeds/nigella, fenugreek seeds, and mustard seeds - you could totally reduce this down to just cumin and fennel and mustard, or just cumin seeds, depending on your pantry). Chili peppers optional. This is called a tadka. Pour in to the dal.
Add some lime or lemon juice (1 tsp? 2 tsp? Juice of half a lemon? depends on taste.) and add salt to taste if desired.
Another good option if you want to just throw things in the oven is a baked sweet potato or two. Oil and salt the outside, right on the grating with something on the next layer down to catch juices.
posted by Lady Li at 1:52 PM on August 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
My recipe: 1 cup lentils, 3 cups water, microwave 10 minutes.
Add 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, water if needed, microwave 10 more minutes.
Melt some butter (ghee) and sizzle 1 tsp of panch phoron (a mix of fennel seeds, cumin seeds, onion seeds/nigella, fenugreek seeds, and mustard seeds - you could totally reduce this down to just cumin and fennel and mustard, or just cumin seeds, depending on your pantry). Chili peppers optional. This is called a tadka. Pour in to the dal.
Add some lime or lemon juice (1 tsp? 2 tsp? Juice of half a lemon? depends on taste.) and add salt to taste if desired.
Another good option if you want to just throw things in the oven is a baked sweet potato or two. Oil and salt the outside, right on the grating with something on the next layer down to catch juices.
posted by Lady Li at 1:52 PM on August 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
This is a pretty ridiculously easy vegan recipe: Summer Stew. We usually eat the curry version, unless we just happen to have pesto. So easy.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:00 PM on August 24, 2020
posted by hydropsyche at 2:00 PM on August 24, 2020
Soy curls are all the rage in vegetarian/vegan cooking right now, and I just tried them for the first time last week. They come dried and shelf stable; you soak them in water (or stock or something for more flavor) for 10 mins and then cook however you'd like. They don't have a ton of flavor on their own but do well with holding spices, sauces, and marinades -- better than tofu IME. They're not super carb-y - a small 3/4c serving has 10 g of protein and 5 g of carbs, not sure if that's in line with your needs. My partner who can be picky about tofu, tempeh, and seitan likes them, so that's a pretty good endorsement around these parts.
If you can find a way to do tempeh that you like, that is the best bang for the protein buck in terms of soy products. I like it, but it really does best with sauces, marinades, and/or spice rubs. Just oil and salt would be pretty bad. I like it with BBQ sauce!
Another option is veggie "sausages." The Beyond brand ones are great but go bad quickly which is hard for flexibility in meal planning. The Tofurky and similar ones that are shrink wrapped aren't as good (they are kind of dry although the flavor is good) but last much longer; you can chop them into rounds and sauté with those frozen veggies and have a meal done in like 5 minutes.
posted by misskaz at 2:36 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you can find a way to do tempeh that you like, that is the best bang for the protein buck in terms of soy products. I like it, but it really does best with sauces, marinades, and/or spice rubs. Just oil and salt would be pretty bad. I like it with BBQ sauce!
Another option is veggie "sausages." The Beyond brand ones are great but go bad quickly which is hard for flexibility in meal planning. The Tofurky and similar ones that are shrink wrapped aren't as good (they are kind of dry although the flavor is good) but last much longer; you can chop them into rounds and sauté with those frozen veggies and have a meal done in like 5 minutes.
posted by misskaz at 2:36 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
My go-to easy vegetarian recipe was a packet of microwave jambalaya rice, heated and mixed with enough hummus to make it creamy; and serve roasted or steamed veggies on the side.
Another easy go-to is to add half a cup of jarred salsa to a can of black beans and heat it up; steam some broccoli, and serve both over a baked sweet potato.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:10 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Another easy go-to is to add half a cup of jarred salsa to a can of black beans and heat it up; steam some broccoli, and serve both over a baked sweet potato.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:10 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Nthing to not try replace the chicken.
One of my favorite dishes involving cauliflower and broccoli is this
Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets (about the size you can easily eat). Put on a baking sheet and cover them with oil and
The chicken spice or rub you usually use.
Bake in the oven until tender but still crunchy.
Meanwhile roast some cubed onion, add salt and curry powder and when the onion is glassy add tomato, either two small tins or one large, ca 600 to 700 milliliter.
Let it simmer and, when the veg is golden and tender add the cauliflower and broccoli and roasting juices to the tomato sauce.
Add 1-2 table spoons lime juice, and serve with rice and fresh chopped cilantro and or parsley.
posted by 15L06 at 3:13 PM on August 24, 2020
One of my favorite dishes involving cauliflower and broccoli is this
Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets (about the size you can easily eat). Put on a baking sheet and cover them with oil and
The chicken spice or rub you usually use.
Bake in the oven until tender but still crunchy.
Meanwhile roast some cubed onion, add salt and curry powder and when the onion is glassy add tomato, either two small tins or one large, ca 600 to 700 milliliter.
Let it simmer and, when the veg is golden and tender add the cauliflower and broccoli and roasting juices to the tomato sauce.
Add 1-2 table spoons lime juice, and serve with rice and fresh chopped cilantro and or parsley.
posted by 15L06 at 3:13 PM on August 24, 2020
The Beyond brand ones are great but go bad quickly which is hard for flexibility in meal planning.
Beyond stuff freezes well though IME.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:00 PM on August 24, 2020
Beyond stuff freezes well though IME.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:00 PM on August 24, 2020
For something easy and vegetarian, I do what you do, but replace the chicken with a veggie burger or some sort of vegetarian "chicken". I like Quorn brand, but so far I've only tried the breaded ones like nuggets and patties. It's super easy because can keep it in the freezer until you're ready to eat, then cook it basically just like you've been cooking your current quick & easy go-to of baked chicken and steamed veggies.
posted by Shadow Boxer at 7:46 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Shadow Boxer at 7:46 PM on August 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
There is no recipe for baked tofu that is both easy and delicious.
Only if "easy" means "requiring fewer than three steps." The trick is to press the water out of firm tofu, then apply any marinade/etc. before baking it. As a carnivore whose issues with meat are mostly ecological, I've enjoyed literally hundreds of meals of tofu cooked thusly.
Not to say that frying the shit out of it doesn't also work.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:30 PM on August 24, 2020
Only if "easy" means "requiring fewer than three steps." The trick is to press the water out of firm tofu, then apply any marinade/etc. before baking it. As a carnivore whose issues with meat are mostly ecological, I've enjoyed literally hundreds of meals of tofu cooked thusly.
Not to say that frying the shit out of it doesn't also work.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:30 PM on August 24, 2020
No tempeh recipes yet?!
Get a package of tempeh and cube it or cut it into thick or thin strips. Fry it with some oil in the pan.
Squeeze some lemon or spread some tahini or hummus over it.
Eat with your veggies, as usual.
That's it.
Or you can make a fancier tahini sauce: lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic and salt. Soooo good. I looove the smokey or maple bacon flavoured tempeh with this sauce.
The downside to tempeh is that it's kinda pricey.
I also make crispy fried tofu: fry oil in a pan. Slice the tofu (firm or extra firm) into squares/rectangles. Cover each piece with soy sauce, then nutritional yeast. Fry each side on medium heat for about 4 mins. Done.
posted by foxjacket at 10:25 AM on August 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Get a package of tempeh and cube it or cut it into thick or thin strips. Fry it with some oil in the pan.
Squeeze some lemon or spread some tahini or hummus over it.
Eat with your veggies, as usual.
That's it.
Or you can make a fancier tahini sauce: lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic and salt. Soooo good. I looove the smokey or maple bacon flavoured tempeh with this sauce.
The downside to tempeh is that it's kinda pricey.
I also make crispy fried tofu: fry oil in a pan. Slice the tofu (firm or extra firm) into squares/rectangles. Cover each piece with soy sauce, then nutritional yeast. Fry each side on medium heat for about 4 mins. Done.
posted by foxjacket at 10:25 AM on August 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Peas are a good source of protein and also of other things that are good for you, like fiber. Maybe make a big pot of something like this vegan stew and divide into portions that you can keep in the freezer and heat in the microwave when you need a quick and nourishing meal. The one in the link is from Egypt, but you get it all around the Eastern Mediterranean, sometimes with potatoes in it. I could eat it every day, and I'm craving a bowlful now, after browsing for a good recipe. Keep the steamed broccoli, but perhaps try making a yogurt-based marinade with garlic and mustard for the cauliflower and eating them raw. Or if they are in the same steam bag, steam them, but make a vinaigrette for them with a bit of mustard. That way you get much more taste with very little effort.
posted by mumimor at 9:49 AM on August 27, 2020
posted by mumimor at 9:49 AM on August 27, 2020
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I slice tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices, season on both sides, drizzle with oil, and bake at high heat (450F or so) for 10-15 minutes. For paneer, I make cubes that are about 1/2 inch on all sides, toss in a mixture of oil and spices, and bake at high heat (450F) for 10-15 minutes. Paneer is also much easier and quicker than tofu to toast on the stovetop in a pan after preparing it the same way; tofu can be finicky and will tend to stick if you are at all impatient about flipping it before it's done.
Chick peas are pretty carb-heavy in comparison, but yeah, if you like, you can always drain a can of chickpeas, throw it in a pan, season with whatever spice powders you like, and roast it right alongside your broccoli.
posted by MiraK at 11:11 AM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]