Ivy Manning - Weeknight Vegetarian

Recipes and text Ivy Manning

Photographs Kimberley Hasselbrink

Whether you are adopting a Meatless Monday approach to dinner, or youre a longtime vegetarian, consistently putting a delicious, plant-based supper on the table on weeknights can be a daunting task. I find that many quick cookbooks revolve around meat as the center of the plate; you can flip to the vegetable section of these books and find fine recipes for side dishes or salads, but nothing that you would consider a satisfying meal.

This book is different. In the following pages, I offer 80 quick, complete dinner recipes that will help you answer the vegetarian whats for dinner? question, plus dozens of tips and ideas for more off-the-cuff meals. You wont find dated vegetarian recipes for nut loaf or recipes full of highly processed faux steak cutlets here. Instead, I focus on fresh, homemade food that just happens to be meat-free.

Since vegetarian cuisine is, by its nature, based on vegetables, I group the recipes in this book by the seasons and focus on cooking vegetables when they are at their peak. Cooking this way is inherently quick, because you dont need to do much to the ingredients to make them shinethink comforting sauted leeks and in winter.

In addition to using seasonal produce to anchor meals, I show you tasty ways to utilize plant-based proteins like canned beans, quick-cooking lentils, cheese, eggs, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, so your vegetarian dinners are as nutritious and filling as they are tasty. I also include a all of which will provide you with a palette of incredible flavors so that youll never miss the meat.

I love classic American fare; so Ive developed a host of recipes based on familiar comfort foods like . All of these tasty and creative dishes will help you breathe new life into your everyday dinner repertoire. As a bonus, they are all developed with the busy cook in mind, which means you can get a delicious homemade vegetarian dinner on the table in 45 minutes or less.

Vegetarian cooking can be a smart, healthy way to eat, but this is not designed to be a diet book; rather, it is about putting quick, delicious recipes on the table that are meat-free and full of nutrients. When theres no meat on the plate, there is lots more room for vegetables, fruits, and fiber-rich grains, and those are things nearly everyone needs more of.

With this book, I hope you will find just how easy it is to put a meat-free dinner on the table, even on the busiest nights. Let this book inspire you to eat less meat, consume a wider variety of vegetables, and enjoy cooking any night of the week.

There are millions of people all over the world who consider themselves vegetarians, meaning they consume a diet wholly made up of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds. Sometimes the term ovo-lacto vegetarian is used to indicate the inclusion of eggs and dairy in their diets.

In addition, there are large segments of the global population who identify as vegan, which means they eat no animal products of any kind, including milk, eggs, cheese, and even honey. As awareness of the health benefits and ethics of meat consumption have increased, the notion of vegetarianism has become more flexible and more people are dipping their toes in the vegetarian waters. More and more, people are claiming that they are vegetarian-inclined or flexitarian. This less-strict approach means these people choose to eat a plant-based diet most of the time. Within this casual group there are those who define themselves as pescatarians, folks who include fish in their diet, as well as those who dont eat red meat but do eat poultry, and the witty group who label themselves bacon-atarians. There is room for everyone at the table. This book is perfect for ovo-lacto vegetarians, but can be easily customized to include all types of people who enjoy eating a mostly plant-based diet.

The approach of this book

While I dont personally identify as a vegetarian, I cook vegetarian meals at home because my husband (whom I affectionately call Mr. Tofu) does. When planning a meal like the ones in this book, I start with whatever vegetables are in season as the focus and add ingredients from there, perhaps starch in the form of pasta, rice, or whole grains, a bit of protein in the form of tofu, beans, or cheese or Greek yogurt, and add flavor hits like fresh herbs, hearty mushrooms, and umami-rich condiments like miso to make our meals complete. If you are already vegetarian, the recipes inside these pages will breathe new life into your daily dinner routine. If youre a vegan, youll find a wide range of vegan recipes marked with a v, and I give tips where applicable to make a dish vegan with a few quick substitutions or omissions.

About Protein

The USDA recommends adults consume around 4656 grams of protein a day depending on their activity level. That is about two 3-ounce (90-g) servings of meat or fish. As a point of reference, the average supermarket boneless chicken breast is 56 ounces (155185 g) and most steaks served in restaurants are at least 8 ounces (250 g)! You can get nearly the same amount of protein without eating meat by consuming two (-cup) servings of tofu or two 6-ounce (185-g) portions of Greek yogurt. And that doesnt include the smaller amounts of protein in vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains.

The bottom line? As long as you are eating a varied diet of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, legumes, and nuts every day, its unlikely youll ever be protein deficient. In fact, todays medical community is generally more concerned with the chronic diseases that are related to overconsumption of protein like heart disease, kidney stones, and some types of cancer than they are worried about folks perishing from a lack of protein in their diet.

That being said, the one nutrient vegetariansand especially vegansneed be aware of is vitamin B12. It is an essential nutrient that helps keep nerve and blood cells healthy and is key in DNA production. B12 is available in animal foods like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk. Vegans can get B12 from supplements, nutritional yeast, some fortified cereals, and soy or nut milks, so as long as theyre aware of the issue and eat a varied diet of fresh foods.

Following are a number of ingredients that have helped up my vegetarian cooking game. Some contribute protein to keep me full longer, others serve as vibrant add-ins to make my palate sing, and still others give meatless meals pleasing textures so I dont feel as if something is missing. Have these on hand and youve got a year of vegetarian dishes at your fingertips.