Your best vegetable entrees

[Fubarius]

So after the last appointment with my urologist after a recent kidney stone, I've been instructed it eat less meat. I can do that. I make a mean meatless chili, and had a very satisfying French onion soup tonight (which had beef broth in it, so yeah, it only sort of counts, next time I'm trying it with a veg stock), and once for Thanksgiving I whipped up a full vegan green bean casserole. Had some vegan relatives attending so I challenged myself. Everyone thought it was tasty, even the meat folk.

So while I'm not going full vegetarian/vegan or anything, just cutting back, I could use more recipes. So what are your best vegetable based entree recipes? Not really looking for "meat substitute" dishes. Looking more for recipes that present vegetables in their best form. So, what'cha got?

[Blackmagic71]

Personally I think a lot of Thai foods are excellent, even without meat.

The link below shows it with chicken, but that could easily be left out.

https://www.wokandskillet.com/pad-woon-sen-thai-stir-fried-glass-noodles/

[powpowpaintball]

My go to dish when I'm eating clean is chickpeas, broccoli, and rice. It's a easy dish to make and one bowl is filling. The chickpeas are sauteed with a little bit of honey, ginger, and soy sauce, until they absorb the liquid. Half an oven cooked Japanese sweet potato, broccoli, and half an avocado is also another common meal for me.

I swapped both these dishes in for meat based meals about a year ago and find that I the only meat I buy anymore is a couple chicken thighs a week.

Besides those meals, I use an air fryer to cook carrots weekly and would also recommend baking or grilling squash and zucchini for a tasty side dish.

[Milkstache]

Roast veggies are simple and easy though they’re more of a side dish. Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, potatoes, turnips, beats, sweet potatoes, etc. These are all fine with just salt/pepper. Rosemary, garlic, thyme, oregano, or curry powder also work.

Soups and stews with some type of bean are my go-to’s. Plenty of leftovers for the week too.

Lentils are a good bet along with other beans. They’re more filling and super varied. Indian daals, French soups, Moroccan (cinnamon) style, and Greek salad-esque with mint and feta are all in my rotation. Most of these I throw over rice or quinoa with a handful of spinach. The spinach cooks down a bit and gives another veggie.

Italian tomato/white bean soup is another good one. I’ll throw in a sliced up sausage or two for a big pot sometimes.

French style leak and potato soup works well. I add peas, sautéed mushrooms (white wine and thyme), and barley after blitzing.

Heck there’s also just plain tomato sauce. From scratch with San Marzano tomatoes works well. It doesn’t have to be a bolognese with meat.

[tyronejk]

Szechaun fried eggplant (e.g. https://urbankanteencooks.com/index....ried-eggplant/) and eggplant parmesan are some of my favorites.

Japanese curry with fried tofu is easy (packaged sauce cubes are generally good)

Did you urologist recommend avoiding fish/seafood too? If you can eat those, that opens up a much large range of recipes you can try.

[Grendel]

For snacking Baba Ghanoush and almond flour/parmesan crackers is a go to for me. My wife likes humus over baba ghanoush so I make that as well (pretty similar processes).

Do you know the type of kidney stones you get? Many doctors do not worry about figuring that out and just give the eat less meat speech (this also goes with Gout which I have). For some of the kidney stones dropping meat consumption and upping higher oxalate laden foods increase the chance of kidney stones. If your stones are uric acid based you need to drop purine consumption which are more prevalent in meats but some more then others. If you have Calcium Oxalate stones then you will want to watch what fruits, nus and vegetables you eat as leaf greens, celery, beets,,,etc. are high in oxalates.

I have been dealing with this for years my wife, daughter and son in-law all deal with kidney stones and I deal with gout. For me I do not worry about my meat intact just avoid some seafoods and organ meats and I compensate by hyper-hydrating to keep my kidneys working at peak performance to keep uric acid levels down. Down side to hyper-hydrating is keeping up your electrolytes. If you have not found out they type of kidney stones do so and get educated on them. Hell my son in-law refused to and did the cut back on meats and is getting kidney stones every month or so. I finally convinced him last weekend to make an appointment with my Internist who specializes in treatment of Gout/Kidney Stones.

[Jonnydread]

There are a lot of Indian dishes that utilize lots of veggies and lentils that are delicious. Chilled lentil salad with cucumbers and VERY LIGHTLY steamed broccoli are great. I have been trying to cut back on meat myself so I have been eating all sorts of beans and such.

Another great go to snack to have at the ready is greek yogurt blended with cucumbers, red onion, green chilies, tomato and spices (usually chili & cumin). High protein, light & fresh, contains all sorts of good pre/probiotics.

[Junglepeanut]

Kidney stone? Man that sucks I have had a few.... No fun...... But for meatless, fried rice is easy versatile and always satisfying... Also if you have never tried it Soyrizo (soy based chorizo) is actually really good. I am about as far from a vegetarian as a person can get but I actually prefer it... and is fantastic in chili

[William the Third]

fried rice is easy versatile and always satisfying

[HalfThank]

I recently had to go almost entirely plant-based, so here's three meatless meals which I make semi-regularly:

1. BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes: A good excuse to enjoy your favorite BBQ sauce
2. Okonomiyaki Fritters: savory Japanese pancake/street food. Super quick.
3. Vegetable Pot Pie: This one is vegan but you can obviously use cow milk and butter. Takes awhile to make, but leftovers keep well.

Another random thing I'll say is now that you're meat-free, I'd recommend keeping an eye on your protein intake. When I ate meat, I had no problem getting enough protein on a typical US diet. Now that I'm not, I gotta keep tabs on my protein intake (tofu, beans, leafy greens, soy milk, protein powder to supplement). I suspect this will be less of a concern for you b/c it sounds like you still can still eat dairy and eggs.

[Junglepeanut]

Okonomiyaki Fritters??? I think I am going to try those.... Look fantastic....

[Jonnydread]

Lentils and rice create a complete protein! I am half-assedly trying to eat more plant based protein and lentils have been about the only food that has allowed me to eat enough protein without animals.

[coyote]

For snacking Baba Ghanoush and almond flour/parmesan crackers is a go to for me. My wife likes humus over baba ghanoush so I make that as well (pretty similar processes).

Do you know the type of kidney stones you get? Many doctors do not worry about figuring that out and just give the eat less meat speech (this also goes with Gout which I have). For some of the kidney stones dropping meat consumption and upping higher oxalate laden foods increase the chance of kidney stones. If your stones are uric acid based you need to drop purine consumption which are more prevalent in meats but some more then others. If you have Calcium Oxalate stones then you will want to watch what fruits, nus and vegetables you eat as leaf greens, celery, beets,,,etc. are high in oxalates.

I have been dealing with this for years my wife, daughter and son in-law all deal with kidney stones and I deal with gout. For me I do not worry about my meat intact just avoid some seafoods and organ meats and I compensate by hyper-hydrating to keep my kidneys working at peak performance to keep uric acid levels down. Down side to hyper-hydrating is keeping up your electrolytes. If you have not found out they type of kidney stones do so and get educated on them. Hell my son in-law refused to and did the cut back on meats and is getting kidney stones every month or so. I finally convinced him last weekend to make an appointment with my Internist who specializes in treatment of Gout/Kidney Stones.

Preach!

Kid stones run in my family as well. Knowing the type is really relevant to making the right dietary adjustments.

As for veggie dishes, I lean into the simple;
Roasted broccoli, cauliflower, fennel or potatoes are all in heavy rotation. Finish the with good olive oil and lemon zest. Cold leftovers make an amazing salad with some greens of your choice.

[Ecapnation]

Korean food translates pretty well into vegetarian dishes.

https://www.recipetineats.com/japchae-korean-noodles/

Skip the beef add mushrooms or more peppers and spinach and done.

I'm a huge fan of brussel sprouts that are fresh.... Those sauteed with some olive oil, salt, onions and a dash of a good balsamic or champagne vinegar is damn tasty.

Another regular for me is burnt broccoli in a Dijon mustard, garlic, butter, and red wine vinegar sauce. Adjust those in ratios to your taste.