From dietary restrictions to the animal cause, to religious issues, there are many reasons that lead one to become vegetarian, but one characteristic is common to most followers of this lifestyle: their diet is usually healthier, because it is very rich in micronutrients such as fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Among the biggest advantages of such a diet, which leads to reduced consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol, are the prevention of cardiovascular disease, obesity, digestive problems, type II diabetes and cancer, especially bowel and stomach.
However, as with any type of eating habits, restrictive or not, it is important to prioritize a balanced diet. Simply stopping meat consumption is no guarantee that all these benefits will be achieved. To this end, corporate nutritionist Danielle Fraga, a member of the More Health Program at Sodexo, warns that the elaboration of a vegetarian diet requires a lot of research and, in some cases, professional monitoring, besides not being recommended for growing children and adolescents. .
Even if her goal is not to adopt a totally vegetarian diet, the nutritionist Alice Amaral points out that eating foods of plant origin is fundamental for maintaining health: "it is through them that we acquire nutrients essential to the proper functioning of the body," says .
Mouth-watering vegetarian recipes
The best way to get vegetables into the diet for both convinced carnivores and those who are really interested in becoming vegetarian is still experimenting. Creativity is a great ally in the kitchen and allowing yourself to discover new flavors, combining different ingredients and betting on spices is still the best way to consume everything your body needs.
To spark your imagination, fill your eyes and make your mouth water, the 30 recipes listed below can serve as guides for vegetarian or at least more balanced eating!
Appetizers
1. Appetizer Board: to welcome and surprise friends, to innovate at small events or to accompany a happy hour, the appetizer board leaves the more traditional options like peanuts and cold cuts aside and lends a lot of color and unusual flavors to your table by combining vegetables.
2. Tortilla Pizza: Without a secret, this recipe brings you a quick and practical meal idea, ideal for lazy nights. The pizza dough is replaced by ready-made tortillas and the taste may be the one that pleases you the most. Here, the choice was for mozzarella with tomatoes, olives and basil. The time taken to prepare is just enough to melt the cheese in the oven.
3. Zucchini sticks: A bold appetizer is the zucchini stick, which can be made in less than half an hour and should surely please fans of this vegetable. The sauce used to bathe the zucchini before the oven is quite simple and also allows variations, so you can add or remove ingredients without losing much of the flavor.
4. Mini tomato bruschettas with basil and oregano: as a starter or as an appetizer, the bruschettas are thin and not at all laborious. This recipe uses baguette bread, but you can also prepare it with Italian bread or even reuse French bread. To enhance the flavor, cheese, hearts of palm and olives can also be added.
5. Baked pastel with mushroom and eggplant: To impress at snack time, baked pastries are a good choice. In addition to the eggplant with mushrooms, the pasta can also be stuffed with cheese and tomatoes, hearts of palm; and shiitake can be replaced with champignon. In addition, the recipe is gluten-free and lactose free!
Main dishes
6. Vegetarian Gluten Free Zucchini Lasagna:A creative alternative to traditional pasta, zucchini lasagna created by blogger Fabiana Pinfildi is stuffed with ricotta and gets a special twist with concassé tomatoes, the preparation of which is also taught by her. The recipe can be easily adapted to the desired amount and is great to serve on more intimate occasions.
7. Vegetarian Lasagna: For those who do not give up the good old pasta, this recipe features a super appetizing vegetarian filling, with a combination of pumpkin, spinach and cheese. The preparation has no secrets and the result is very nutritious!
8. Vegetarian Paella: As well as being a meat-friendly dish, vegetarian Paella is also a good alternative for those who don't like or are allergic to seafood.Seafood, prawns and squid are replaced by peas, mushrooms and tofu, but you can also unleash your creativity and try new ingredients to make traditional Spanish rice.
9. Parmigiana eggplants: A healthier version of Parmigiana is taught in this recipe, which is based on slices of grilled eggplants. The vegetable is accompanied by homemade tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. It is recommended that an eggplant be used for each person tasting the dish.
10. Zucchini stuffed with smoked ricotta: forming a kind of rondelli, this recipe shows a different use for zucchini, which has its crumb removed to make a delicious ricotta cream cheese. The hardest part of the process is to cut the vegetable and fill it, after which it takes only 20 minutes to cook.
11. Zucchini Pancakes: With enough income for four people, this recipe requires only two cups of grated courgette. The vegetable is incorporated into the pancake batter, which has an omelette-like appearance, and its flavor is enhanced by the sauce that accompanies the dish, ready in about 20 minutes.
12. Pumpkin and Ricotta Meatballs: A light alternative to traditional ground beef meatballs, this recipe features squash in a unique and creative way. The preparation alloy is provided by the combination of pumpkin puree, ricotta and flour and wheat. With up to 12 servings, the meatballs can still be frozen and baked later. Great option for those who need practicality in everyday life and eventually resort to ready meals.
13. Mushroom and Broccoli Risotto: To serve a mouth-watering, protein-rich main course even without meat, invest in the mushrooms. In this recipe, a mix of shimeji, shiitake and hiratake was used to complete a broccoli risotto. Preparation takes a lot of time, but the result makes the effort worthwhile.
14. Penne with provolone, cherry tomatoes and leeks: a pasta with a drier sauce is proposed by blogger Carola Duarte, who chose the penne type to harmonize with wine. The preparation is very fast, because the combination of provolone cheese, cherry tomatoes, leeks and basil is ready in about six minutes of fire.
15. Stuffed Gnocchi: It may be hard to imagine a gnocchi without the traditional bolognese sauce, but combining the pasta with a simple tomato sauce is completely possible. If you are afraid of the dish losing its fun, then a good option may be to stuff it with cheese, as this recipe teaches, or even with some of your favorite vegetables.
16. Zucchini spaghetti with pesto sauce: If the idea is to take advantage of vegetarianism to have a lighter diet too, it is possible to reinvent the vegetables so that they replace the pasta. In this recipe, the zucchini turns to pasta and, cut into thin strips, is cooked as if it were spaghetti. There are many choices of sauces and the dish can be completed by a white, red or, in this case, pesto sauce.
17. Spinach ricotta gnocchi: Following the massless pasta line, this recipe should catch the eye of people who like to venture into the kitchen. Here, the gnocchi balls are made of ricotta and spinach, the alloy of the dough is the egg and the flour. To harmonize the dish, the ideal is to choose stronger sauces that break some of the strong flavor of the cheese combination.
18. Soy protein character stash: typically prepared with cassava and jerky, the hidden can also be served for vegetarians. In this recipe, soy protein, accompanied by pods, takes the place of beef jerky and is mashed in character, but nothing prevents traditional cassava from being used.
19. Cassava and leek ravioli: usually stuffed with vegetables or chicken, ravioli gets a more striking flavor by having its pasta combined with manioc. To serve, the pasta can be complemented with sauces of your choice or just prepared in butter.
20. Carrot fettuccini to arugula pesto: This version of fettuccini has a mix of very interesting flavors. The carrot used for pasta gives the dish a slightly sweet touch that is broken by the reinvented pesto, which uses arugula instead of basil. The preparation is simple and requires just enough time for carrot cooking.
21. Asparagus Frittata: As an alternative to omelette, frittata can be served from breakfast to dinner: the purpose of the dish is determined by its accompaniment. Made with several eggs, the recipe combines tomatoes and asparagus, but can easily be prepared with other ingredients of your choice, such as zucchini, cheese, palm and mushrooms.
Pies
22. Open Pie: eye-popping, is the open pie stuffed with various vegetables? which can be selected according to your taste? which makes it very nutritious and tasty.The process is somewhat time consuming as the filling needs to be done separately and requires about 30 minutes of baking time, plus the baking time after the cake is assembled.
23. Vegetable Quiche: Stuffed with goat cheese, peppers, broccoli and courgette, this quiche gets a colorful and very attractive look. The recipe yields up to six people, the preparation takes about an hour and the vegetable mix can be increased as you wish.
24. Lentil with mushroom pie: A very simple recipe can make anyone surrender to lentils. Here the pie dough is made with mashed potatoes only, and the very spicy filling can gain different flavors depending on the spices you use to season it.
25. Salted watercress cake with gojiberry: For those who love pasta and bread, an interesting tip is to enrich recipes with nutritious ingredients. In this recipe, the salty cake gets a little color from the watercress leaves, which have their bitter broken by the gojiberry candy.
Soups
26. Broccoli cream with sweet potatoes and gorgonzola: One of the biggest advantages of soups is that you can make them with almost every ingredient and with little effort you can make them with different textures. Broccoli cream is one such case: its preparation only requires the vegetable to be sauteed together with the sweet potato and the seasonings can be added according to your taste. In addition to being served as soup, the cream is also a great accompaniment to other meals.
27. Vegetarian Green Broth: for colder days, Giulia Ciavatta's tip is to replace bacon or pepperoni broth with smoked ricotta cubes, which give a special flavor to the well-seasoned potato soup combined with kale strips.
28. Vegetarian Chili: Another great choice for cold days and also a variation of a typical dish from another country, vegetarian chili is made with red beans, tomatoes and lots of seasoning. The original Mexican recipe also has ground beef, but in the vegetarian version, blogger Joana Macieira chose not to make substitutions, which makes the dish more like a tasty soup.
29. Pumpkin Cream Soup: Divided into two parts, pumpkin cream soup has few ingredients and can be served accompanied by bread or toast. The seasoning is selected according to the taste of the cook and the creaminess of the dish is guaranteed by the cream.
30. Curd cheese curd: traditionally made to accompany the two baião, the pirão was adapted to the vegetarian diet and has the main ingredient curd cheese. The recipe preserves cassava flour and has the creaminess determined by the amount of milk added. The result is a great accompaniment to everyday rice.
Tips and care to maintain vitamin balance
"Some nutrients are found most abundantly in animal foods such as vitamin B12, iron, calcium and zinc," explains medical physician Alice Amaral. Therefore, it is necessary to look for foods of plant origin that are capable of replacing these nutrients, such as legumes and oilseeds. Ingestion of dietary supplements may also be recommended by professionals in certain situations.
The greatest care with feeding balance is related precisely to substitutions. "It is not uncommon for a person who stops eating meat, milk, eggs and their derivatives to replace this group of foods with a higher consumption of farinaceous, roots and tubers such as potatoes, cassava, pasta and cereals," explains Danielle. Thus, neglect of this detail in adopting a vegetarian diet may end up having the opposite effect of the desired, causing other health problems and may lead to weight gain.
How to adapt to vegetarian food
The biggest secret to starting a vegetarian life is in wanting to adopt this type of diet. Although it may seem difficult at first, the process of adaptation need not start with a sharp cut in meat foods. The main tip is to change gradually, "initially increasing fish consumption in their daily lives, as well as abusing colorful vegetables and sauteed vegetables, grilled or in sandwiches and pasta with little sauce or cheese," advises Danielle.
It may be hard to believe, but taste is conditioned, and diversifying your menu to introduce new foods may be the best way to adapt to a healthy, balanced diet.
Meat Lovers Try Vegan Diets For A Week (April 2024)
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