I'm not a strict vegetarian. I eat fish and dairy. I don't feel well eating no animal products whatsoever, especially as I tend to over-do soy products, which scares me. So here's a veggie meal with sardines: A least a cup of spinach with half can of garbanzo beans, a can of sardines, sliced tomatoes, a light dressing of any kind.
This is a variation of an earlier veggie meal I made. I make brown rice in the automatic cooker. When it's done, I sauté spinach and reduce it. Then I add lentils or beans. I mix the spinach and beans with the cooked rice and wrap it in a tortilla with shredded cheese and salsa or, changing the flavor profile entirely, I put in a pasta bowl and cover with walnuts, yogurt, and chutney.
Of course, one could make pancakes instead. I'm lazy with the soy sausages. I microwave them. I grill one-quarter inch zucchini discs for 8 minutes, 4 per side. I try to go light on the real maple syrup. If my wife makes ginger bread waffles, I might substitute syrup with a light whipped cream. Yeah, I know, we're getting into the dessert realm for dinner. But I like breakfast for dinner, sweet or not.
I toast two slices of jalapeno cheddar bread and microwave a garden burger with veggie "bacon" strips. I slice tomato and use Havarti light cheese slices. I'll add some aioli mustard. Maybe some spinach. Sometimes I'll replace the mustard with pesto.
First I sauté spinach; then add a package of firm tofu. I add chili powder, cumin, salt. Then I add leftover brown rice and pinto beans. Then I add enchilada sauce. Finally, I add green salsa and have with tortilla chips. Very easy.
I cook a yam or sweet potato in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or so. Then I'll broil or sautee a garden burger and cover it with grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms. I'll cover the sweet potato with a plain yogurt and a drizzle of honey.
Variation: Today for lunch I had a garden burger and two strips of veggie bacon over a bed of brown rice and sliced tomatoes. Additionally, I had a yam with plain nonfat yogurt. The yam was so sweet, I skipped the honey. I also had a small glass of vanilla soy milk and fresh strawberries for dessert.
I cook both the lentils and brown rice in the automatic rice cooker. I'll then sauté some chunky canned tomatoes and fresh ginger. I then pour the tomatoes over the lentils and rice. As a final touch, I add plain yogurt with mango or raisin chutney.
This is a dinner to sate the sweet tooth. Get your Thai granite mortar and pestle and crush a half cup of peanuts with a little salt. Once the nuts are mashed into butter, add Adriatic figs, strawberries, and bananas, and mash until well mixed. Put the mixture on artisan sour dough bread, lightly toasted.
I make about 2 cups of brown rice in the rice cooker. While that's going on, I marinate a tofu square in a large glass bowl with teriyaki or ponzu sauce, lemon juice, chopped garlic, and a little olive oil. I sauté mushrooms for ten minutes, then add two cups of spinach in a large skillet until the spinach has lost most of its water. Then I stir-fry the marinated tofu with the spinach and mushrooms.
I put spoon the tofu over the brown rice. Then I add sliced fresh tomatoes and cashews.
Variation: Cook the tofu in a skillet with pasta sauce. You can still use brown rice or substitute with pasta.
I like to crush the pesto ingredients in a large mortar with pestle. My mortar is made of Thai granite. I begin by boiling a huge pot of water for the pasta. Then I start crushing pine nuts, walnuts, or pumpkin seeds with salt inside the mortar. I then crush 3 cloves of raw garlic with basil or arugula. I imagine I could use spinach if I wanted to. Then I use a tablespoon to mix olive oil or grape seed oil with grated pecorino or some other Italian hard cheese.
I mix the pesto in with the pasta of choice. Sometimes on the side, I'll have a couple of soy "sausages" to add more protein to the meal. A side salad is the usual complement.
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