Veggies Only? What Else Can You Add To Vegetarian Recipes

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Are vegetables always the highlight of vegetarian recipes? While vegetarian apps, sides, and meals may include everything from eggplants to carrots, veggies aren't always the show-stopper. Take a look at the non-vegetable vegetarian picks that can enrich and uplift this type of recipe.

Fresh and Dried Fruit

How can you use fruit in a vegetarian starter, side, or full meal? Whether you prefer fresh raw, fresh-cooked, or dried fruits, you can use these colorful selections as part of:

• Salads. Add fresh berries, sliced apples, or dried cranberries to a bed of greens, or create a full fruit salad with watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, sliced strawberries, and more. You can also get creative with your next picnic-worthy potato salad, adding in grapes or dried fruit.
• Soups. Use dried fruit as a garnish or make a completely vegetarian summertime cold soup with melons or avocados.
• Sides. Sneak a sweet flavor into mashed potatoes or cauliflower with a sprinkle of cubed dried fruit. You can also add anything from dried cranberries to apricots to noodle sides, couscous, or quinoa.
• Main meals. Top a veggie burger with a grilled peach half, add sliced apples to a tofu-salad sandwich, or sprinkle dried cranberries over a blue cheese pizza.

Along with these ideas, use fruit as a condiment. Set out a small dish of berries, sliced fruit, or dried selections and sprinkle at will.

Beans and Proteins

Vegetables aren't packed with protein. But this doesn't you can't add more than just a hint of protein to a vegetarian meal. Instead of steak, chicken, pork, or fish, keep the recipe fully vegetarian and consider:

• Beans. One-fourth cup of cooked beans is an ounce-equivalent in the protein food group, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Use beans to create a veggie burger, add them to a summer salad, toss in balsamic vinegar and olive oil to create a savory side dish, or mix them with couscous.
• Tofu. Tofu has a seemingly endless array of uses. You can fry it into crispy squares, scramble it, stuff it into potstickers, use it in veggie lasagna, add it to a stir fry, and more. If you don't want to create a meal around the protein-rich food, mix cubes into a salad or quinoa side.
• Nuts and seeds. Sprinkle sunflower or pumpkin seeds onto a salad, create a rich nut loaf, or make your own nut butter spread.

Provided you don't want to go fully vegan, you can also add eggs as a protein source. But if you (or anyone else you plan to cook for) won't eat any animal-based products, leave the high-protein pick out of the meal.

29 June 2021