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If you know what you’re doing in the kitchen, vegetarian meals are not only healthy and tasty, but they can be as cheap as dirt and a breeze to prepare. Trust me, you won’t even crave meat—and that can only be a good thing, considering some stratospheric meat prices.

Good vegetarian meals require the simplest commitment—a variety of vegetables in your pantry and fridge (most of which are affordable), creative ways to cook cheap, local ingredients, and a healthy dose of aromatics, herbs, and spices. Let’s look at a few tasty recipes that won’t break the bank.

Vegetarian Pie

Ingredients

  1. Half an average-sized onion, half a green bell pepper, 1 garlic clove, all chopped
  2. Mixed dried herbs
  3. 1 small carrot, chopped and 50g of peas
  4. 1 small tomato, chopped or puréed in a blender
  5. 1 cup boiled and ground/ mashed sugar beans (you can use the food processor or a sturdy fork)
  6. 4 tablespoons of self-raising flour
  7. 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine
  8. Vegetable oil
  9. Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. In a pan, add the vegetable oil, onion, and green bell pepper. Sprinkle in the mixed herbs and grind in some black pepper.
  2. Place on medium-high heat and fry until the vegetables begin to sweat. Add the peas and carrots. Sprinkle in some salt. Stir, cover the pan, and allow to cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato, stir, and cover for less than a minute. When the carrots and peas are cooked but still firm, add the beans and stir until well mixed. Switch off the stove and remove from the heat.
  3. Melt the margarine in a microwave. In the melted margarine, add two pinches of salt, sprinkle in some black pepper, and grate in the garlic. Add the flour and mix with the margarine into a uniform consistency. Add a little water and mix into a loose dough. Divide into two.
  4. In a ramekin, scoop in half of the vegetable mix. Take half the dough, flatten, stretch, and cover the vegetables. Smooth the dough over with a tablespoon, completely covering the vegetables. Repeat for the second ramekin.
  5. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 20 minutes or until golden-brown.

I used two ramekins of about 10cm diameter and 4cm depth. But even one casserole dish will do.

Spaghetti in Mushroom, Veggies, and Balsamic

Ingredients

  1. One onion and two garlic cloves, chopped
  2. Crushed chilli flakes
  3. A handful of chopped green beans
  4. 3–5 cherry tomatoes
  5. A handful of thinly-sliced oyster mushrooms
  6. Vegetable oil
  7. 100–150g of spaghetti
  8. About 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
  9. Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Cook and drain your spaghetti as per packaging instructions. Do not overcook it as you will be adding it into the hot sauce.
  2. In a pan, add the vegetable oil, onion, and garlic. Sprinkle in the chilli flakes and grind in some black pepper. Your pan must be large enough to accommodate your veggies, mushrooms, and the cooked spaghetti.
  3. Place on medium-high heat and fry until the vegetables begin to sweat.
  4. Throw the mushrooms in the pan. Fry them for a few seconds, then sprinkle in some salt. This will draw the water out of the mushrooms, preventing them from getting burnt. Cover the pan.
  5. After a few minutes, and the mushrooms have wilted, throw in the green beans. Sprinkle a little more salt and cover the pan again. Reduce the temperature (go down 1 or 2 levels on the stove dial).
  6. When the green beans are almost cooked, halve the cherry tomatoes and throw them in the pan. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and cover the pan. Give the mushrooms about a minute to absorb the balsamic.
  7. Throw the spaghetti in the pan and fry for about 30 seconds.

Vegan Fried Rice

Ingredients

  1. 1 cup cooked rice (white or brown)
  2. Half an onion, 1 garlic clove, and half a green bell pepper, all chopped
  3. Assortment of veggies—handful of broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and 1 carrot, all chopped
  4. Curry powder
  5. Vegetable oil
  6. Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. In a pan, add the vegetable oil, onion, garlic, green pepper, black pepper, and place on medium-high heat. Fry until the vegetables begin to sweat.
  2. Sprinkle in some curry powder and fry for a few seconds.
  3. Add the broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and carrots. Add salt to taste. Stir and cover the pan for about five minutes. You want your vegetables to be cooked but still crunchy.
  4. Add the rice and fry for less than a minute.

To beef-up the protein level, use brown rice and add a handful of boiled sugar beans before adding the rice.

With Roasted Eggplant or Butternut

  1. Peel the butternut and slice into wedges. Wash the eggplant and slice into wedges. Place them on an oven-safe dish or tray.
  2. Drizzle some vegetable oil on the butternut/ eggplant. Sprinkle some salt, black pepper, and curry powder.
  3. Roast in the oven at 180°C for 40–45 minutes. Make sure to turn them at half the time.

They are both great as standalone snacks, but you can pair them with vegan fried rice.

With Fried Eggplant

  1. Wash and thinly slice the eggplant. Season with salt and black pepper and sprinkle some curry powder.
  2. Preheat oil in a non-stick frying pan.
  3. Fry the eggplant, 2–3 minutes on each side.

For a crispier result, season an egg with the salt, black pepper, and curry powder. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg before frying.

With Fried Cabbage and Eggplant

You begin by wilting the cabbage:

  1. Thinly slice some cabbage—you want it to look shredded
  2. Pre-heat some vegetable oil in a pan or pot.
  3. Throw your shredded cabbage in the oil, add a little salt, and fry until it has wilted—you want it to be cooked but crunchy. Once cooked, remove the cabbage from the stove.
  4. You cook your fried rice as shown in the vegan fried rice recipe, with the exception that you add your cooked cabbage just before the rice. The cubed eggplant is thrown in and fried with the rest of the assorted vegetables (green beans and carrot).

With Mushroom

You cook your fried rice as shown in the vegan fried rice recipe, with the exception that you add your oyster mushrooms before the assorted vegetables (broccoli, green beans and carrot). Make sure to add the assorted vegetables after the mushroom has wilted.

With Egg

You cook your fried rice as shown in the vegan fried rice recipe, with the exception that you crack an egg into the pot before adding your rice. After adding the egg, stir and allow some of the moisture to evaporate. When the egg coagulates, add the rice and fry for less than a minute. Curry powder is optional in this recipe.

Sugar Bean Topping

Ingredients

  1. About one and a half cups of cooked sugar beans
  2. Half an onion, 4 garlic cloves, half a green bell pepper, all chopped
  3. Mixed dried herbs, chilli flakes, salt, and black pepper
  4. Vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil

Method

  1. In a pan, add all the ingredients, except the sugar beans.
  2. Place on medium-high heat and fry the vegetables until they begin to sweat.
  3. Add the sugar beans and fry them for a few minutes. Switch off the stove and cover the pan. Leave on the stove for a few minutes before removing the pan to cool.
  4. When sufficiently cooled, process the beans using a food processor. Liberally add some vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil in order to create a smooth paste. Store in closed containers and refrigerate (or freeze what you don’t want to consume within 3 days).

For more recipes and whole books of tips, check out the PDF eBooks, The Conscious Cook and Living Mindfully on a Budget.

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