Easy Vegetarian Recipes

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Lisa’s Easy Vegetarian Shrimp Creole

I love shrimp. I love creole and this recipe is a great combo of 2 of my favorite things to eat.  Let’s hear it for our April Easy Vegetarian Recipes Contest Winner: Lisa S. (clap, clap, clap!!!) and her Easy Veggie Shrimp Creole recipe!

She’s totally simplified this recipe and it’s so yummy. By the way, all the recipes mentioned in our April’s contest rates Yummiest on the kids’ taste-ometer.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 26 oz jar tomato-based garden vegetable pasta sauce (any brand)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid crab and shrimp boil salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  3 pounds shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Directions:

Combine olive oil and onion in a large saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook until onions are soft. Add the rest of ingredients to the pan, combine thoroughly. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for approximately 10 minutes, until shrimp are just cooked through. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve over rice.

Substitutes:

Marinara or another tomato-based pasta sauce may be substituted for the garden vegetable sauce. Just add a cup of cooked/steamed veggies. Or simply ramp up the veggie factor by tossing in the vegetables of your choice in addition to the vegetable pasta sauce.

Cooking Tips:

Don’t overcook the shrimp!!

Lisa’s Comments:

This is super easy to make, super quick and is super tasty. For an even more mindless cooking experience use “boil in the bag” rice.

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Esther’s Easy Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Better than real meat sausage rolls? Yep. This is an awesome easy vegetarian sausage roll recipe from Esther S. This is actually great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 sheets puff pastry

Directions:

1. Put the eggs, pecans, onion, garlic, cottage cheese, soy sauce, herbs and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix well with the breadcrumbs and oats.
3. Cut each sheet of pastry in half.
4. In the middle of each half sheet of pastry put 1/4 of the mixture in a sausage shape. Dampen one edge of the pastry with water and roll the pastry around the mixture to make a sausage roll.
5. Place the sausage rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the rolls with beaten egg or milk.
6. Put in the oven at 400 degrees (F) for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let us know what you think of Esther’s easy vegetarian sausage rolls. Email info (at) easyvegetarianrecipesblog.com or leave us a comment.

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Kellie’s Minestrone Soup Recipe – Easy & Vegetarian

Kellie was absolutely right: this is a fantastic recipe to help clean out your fridge before they start to go bad. Do not let the long list of ingredients mislead you, they’re just the veggies you have hanging out in your fridge anyways. Kellie’s Minestrone Soup is a very easy vegetarian recipe that you might find yourself making about once a month or more when you looking at that full fridge wondering what you’re going to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 box container of vegetable stock
  
• 1 ½ C water
• 1 lg can crushed tomatoes
  
• 1 lg can whole tomatoes w/ the juice (break apart into sauce)
• 1 can navy or white Italian bean
• 1 can kidney bean (pour in bean juices too)
• 4 lg carrots sliced
• 4 stalks sliced celery w/ vein removed
• 3 mini zucchinis quartered and sliced
• 4 small yellow onions cubed
• 1 bunch green onions sliced
• 2 handfuls of fresh spinach stem removed
• 7 med red potatoes (med to small cubes)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbs basil
• tsp oregano
• 1 tsp rosemary (fresh if you have it)
• ½ tsp salt
• Ground fresh black pepper
• 2 shakes red pepper
• ½ tsp onion powder

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a lg thick bottomed stock pot and simmer for 2 hours minimum to 6 hours max. Just serve when you’re ready.

Serve over med shells w/ fresh baked wheat or other hearty bread. Garnish w/ Parmesan.

Substitutes:

Play around! This is a great clear out your fridge or pick your favorites from the farmer’s market sort of recipe and sooooo easy. It’s forgiving enough that you can swap out fresh for canned or vice versa too.

Kellie’s Comments:

I love making this on a weekend when I’m bumming around gardening or just relaxing around the house. The great thing is it’s ready when I am and just gets better as it simmers away. YUM!

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Here’s an easy vegetarian potato soup. It’s delicious and pretty easy to make…besides, anything with Tabasco is worth a try.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups potatoes, diced but unpeeled
• 1/4 lb butter
• 2 Cups finely diced yellow onions
• 1/2 Cup flour
• 1 quart warm water
• 1/4 Cup vegetable broth
• 1 Cup potato flakes
• 2 Cups heavy cream
• 2 Cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried basil to taste

Directions:

Saute onions in melted butter for 10 minutes in large kettle. Add flour to onions and butter and cook for four to five minutes, stirring until flour is absorbed. In a separate container, combine water, vegetable broth, potato flakes, and seasonings. Stir until thoroughly mixed and no lumps remain. Add to onion mixture, one pint at a time. Add milk and cream, stirring until smooth and lightly thickened. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. In a separate container, the potatoes should be covered with water, brought to a boil, and simmered for 20 minutes. Combine the potatoes with the soup to  complete.

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Easy Vegetarian Fried Pickles Recipe

I LOVE fried pickles. I tried it once at Nate’s Seafood & Steakhouse many moons ago, and I believe it was the best part of my meal. Here’s an easy vegetarian fried pickles recipe.

Ingredients:

Seasoned Egg Wash:

• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon Tabasco

Seasoned flour:

• 2 cup flour
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• Oil for deep frying
• Klauson Whole Pickles

Directions:

Whip together all ingredients for seasoned egg wash, set aside. Mix ingredients for flour mixture in a shallow dish. Slice pickles 1/8″ thick. Dip into flour mix, then egg wash, then flour mix again. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. Serve with dipping sauce of ranch dressing, ketchup or horseradish sauce.

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Easy Blueberry Lemonade

I love love love making lemonade in the summer time and it’s about to get pretty hot here pretty quickly. Here’s a yummy and of course easy vegetarian recipe for bluberry lemonade!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1−1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about
• 10 big lemons, including pulp but not seeds)

Directions:

First make a simple syrup by combining 1 cup sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Lower the heat and allow the syrup to simmer for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool. In a blender or food processor, puree the blueberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar. In a pitcher, combine the cooled syrup, lemon juice and blueberry puree. To serve, pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of base into a glass and fill with water.

Makes base for 12 servings.

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We live on sauces in our house. I can recreate a meal with just new sauces so this easy vegetarian Benihana’s magic mustard sauce recipe tops my list.

Ingredients:

3 tb Powdered mustard
2 tb Hot water
1/2 c Soy sauce or tamari sauce
2 t. Sesame seeds, toasted
1 Garlic clove

Directions:

In a small bowl, blend mustard and water into a paste. Pour paste into blender container; add remaining ingredients and process about 1 minute or until smooth.

Makes 6 servings, about 2 Tb. each.

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Easy Vegetarian Benihana’s Ginger Salad Dressing Recipe

I love that so many of Benihana’s recipes are easy vegetarian based. This next recipe, the easy vegetarian Benihana’s ginger salad dressing recipe looks like it’s got tons of ingredients, but really, it’s simple after you pull the ingredients together.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1/2 cup peanut oil
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced celery
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ginger is well−pureed.

Makes 1 3/4 cups.

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Easy Vegetarian Benihana’s Fried Rice

We eat mostly plain white rice with our dinners, but every now and then I like to make easy vegetarian fried rice. Sometimes as a standalone dish. Here’s a recipe I found for easy vegetarian Benihana’s fried rice.  Here’s a very simple recipe by the very famous Benihana’s.

Ingredients:

• 1 c Uncooked rice
• 5 T Butter
• 1 c Chopped onion
• 1 c Chopped carrots
• 2/3 c Chopped scallions
• 3 T Sesame seeds
• 5 Eggs
• 5 T Soy sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions. In a large skillet melt butter.
Add onions, carrots and scallions. Saute until carrots are translucent.
Set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place sesame seeds in a shallow pan.
Bake until golden brown (10 to 15 minutes), shaking pan occasionally for
even color. Lightly grease another skillet. Beat eggs. Pour into hot
skillet. Cook as you would scrambled eggs. Combine rice, vegetables,
sesame seeds and eggs. Add soy sauce. Stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: One of the things that we do in our house is add a little bit of ketchup to this recipe. I probably add about 2 tablespoons, but adjust to taste. I know it sounds odd, but it’s really delicious. I also (usually) skip the sesame seedss

Don’t forget to enter our monthly recipe contest! Just enter your easy vegetarian or vegan recipes and be eligible to win a $50 gift card to Ikea or Target. As our contest grows, so does the prize!

We’re sorting through April’s recipes right now and will announce our winner on May 15th!