Five Easy Meals to Become a "Part-time" Vegetarian

By Uloop Archives on January 30, 2016

Everyone can be a part-time vegetarian, even the most meat-loving person out there. People can go vegetarian for a lot of reasons— be it for ethical, health, or religious. However, not everyone can commit to going vegetarian for the long term. That’s okay! Even having a meatless day once a month, or once a week for the adventurous and committed, can have great impacts on the environment and meat industries. Going “part-time” expands the breadth of knowledge when it comes to different types of cuisine; going meatless doesn’t have to be boring!

Going meatless doesn’t mean that you’ll only be eating raw vegetables for snacks and meals. It allows you to expand your repertoire of meals that are healthy and don’t require meat to serve as the “main” part of the dish. While some may feel that a meal without meat just isn’t filling enough, or won’t allow you to get all the nutrients or protein for a balanced diet, that is a misguided thought. If preparing a balanced meal, you can get all the nutrients needed for a balanced diet.

Another positive of taking meat out of your diet part-time (or full time!) is decreasing your chances of cardiovascular issues down the line. Cardiovascular disease kills around one million Americans a year and continuously ranks among the leading causes of death in the United States. Prevention through the decreased consumption of animal fats and cholesterol from a vegetarian diet is one health benefit of trying to reduce meat intake in your day to day life. To up heart protection from disease, it’s important to include thinks like legumes or whole grains which are high-fiber.

Here are a few recipes that are easy to whip up when creating your meatless meals.

1. BBQ Cauliflower and Chickpea Tacos

Who doesn’t love a good taco? Even without meat, Taco Tuesdays can still occur every week! By replacing the meat filling with some different vegetables, you get the same taco flavoring but with added nutrients from a plant based filler. While you can add whatever you would like to your taco, this recipe goes for a coleslaw to complete the barbecue theme! Check out the full recipe at She Likes Food here.

2. Grilled White House Pizza

Pizza is a very versatile meal due to the fact that any toppings can be added or exchanged based on the preference of the consumer. However, creating your own pizza from scratch and being able to add healthy vegetables on top will satisfy any meat eaters appetite! The sweet potatoes that are added as a topping give the pizza a texture that will be sure to please the palate. Visit Country Living to view the entire recipe here.

3. Mini Portobello Burgers

Burgers can continue to be a part of your life, even without meat. Creating a veggie burger, or a mushroom burger like this recipe, gives you even more variety than with a plain hamburger. Mix and match the substance of the patty to create different flavors and themes for the meal. This recipe can be used as sliders and paired with a fried vegetable, like okra or potatoes. To see the recipe, go to Country Living here.

4. Coconut Quinoa and Lentil Curry

Need to warm up during this cold weather? Curry is the perfect way to go about it! It’s extremely filling and can be spiced so you’re able to warm up while eating. Lentils and Quinoa both pack a punch by having high levels of protein and fiber. The curry loads up on vegetables to cover a wide range of nutrients in one meal. To find the full recipe check out Half Baked Harvest here!

5. Basil Pesto Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Pasta is a quick and easy starch to cook up when in a rush! It’s also the base of a lot of hearty vegetarian meals since it is filling and tasty. Why not try adding some vegetables and creating a new pesto sauce to try? Joyful Healthy Eats has the full recipe here!

After trying out some of these meals throughout the week or month, maybe you will want to pursue vegetarianism on a more permanent basis. If not, hopefully trying out the meals will expand your catalogue of dinner options by a small margin. To find out more about vegetarianism and becoming a vegetarian, you could check out a page created by Harvard here.

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