By Meeta Khurana

Eat those vegetables!

You need to eat your fruits!

How many of us have grown up on those words from our diligent mothers? I for one clearly remember my mother always telling me how important vegetables and fruits are for our health and daily nutrition. However, my mother never shoved these words down our throats. Both my brother and I grew up loving spinach and enjoying our crunchy apples.

Today, I have a son of my own and in the same way my mother did all those years back, I am trying to teach my 6 year old the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

I do have to say this for my part though – I am not a vegetarian. As a matter of fact I am married to a German who loves his meat and both of us will indulge in a chicken, steak or fish whenever we crave for it. What I have learned over the years however is that a mainly vegetarian diet is not only healthier but it makes us feel better. For a major part of the past 12 months I have been consciously cooking more vegetarian meals at home. Looking at our weekly meal plan I would say it is about 80% vegetarian.

Do we feel a change? Yes! My husband says he feels better – more energy and simply “lighter”. I see exuberance in Soeren’s face and his high spirits are all signs that show me, the slight change in our diets is working for the positive. Personally, I have lost a bit of weight, despite all the desserts I make. I feel my skin glow and energized throughout the day.

Vegetarian diets are lower in saturated fats, cholesterol, and animal protein. They’re also high in folate, anti-oxidant vitamins like C and E, carotenoids, and phytochemicals. Overall, vegetarians have substantially reduced risks for obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, and some forms of cancer - particularly lung cancer and colon cancer. Vegetarian diets that are low in saturated fats have been successfully used to reverse severe coronary artery disease.

If you too are seriously considering integrating more vegetarian meals into your weekly meal plans I have a few fantastic and delicious ideas in store for you. First, you will find an interesting introduction to vegetarianism on the Daily Tiffin a great guide to get you started.

Gone are the days when eating vegetables meant munching a piece of celery or a bowl of sorry looking cabbage. Today you will find such a delicious variety of vegetarian meals, one better in taste than the other. The recipes are fun, creative and use a variety of exciting and most important healthy ingredients.

Pasta: We all love pasta dishes and I find myself trying to get away from the usual Bolognese sauce and offering a bit more than a tomato sauce.

I love lasagne and a ricotta pesto and mushroom lasagne is a creative and an especially delicious vegetarian way to serve lasagne. The basil pesto highlighted with the creaminess of ricotta layered with pasta and wild mushrooms bring out a delicious palette of flavors and aromas.

Using the seasons’s ripe heirloom tomatoes, Susan of Food Blogga puts together a delicious penne with fresh ricotta and baby heirloom tomatoes.  The silky creamy ricotta is paired with flavors of tangy lemon and aromatic fresh herbs to make a perfect light summer dinner.

Talking of summer - there is nothing like a fantastic pasta salad to indulge in while you are sitting out on the porch enjoying the warm evening. Ilva of Lucullian Delights packs her simply irresistible pasta salad with vegetables, avocados and capers. She uses all my favorite vegetables - zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant. Perfect!

If you’ve got an abundance of tomatoes right now then let me recommend my caramelized tomatoes on homemade gnocchi. A delicate dish where the tomato is the star. Gently caramelized in the oven to bring out the their sweet aromas and juices. The contrast in taste comes from the peppery red peppercorns giving the whole dish an incredible and explosive combination.

Summer offers such a huge bounty of fruit and vegetables. The stalls at the Farmer’s Market are a rainbow of colors and one simply cannot resist over-buying. Here are a few great dishes using some of the seasons best vegetables.

Eggplant/Aubergine:  A classic dish using eggplants has got to be the aromatic Ratatouille. It’s not an easy dish to make as one has to pay special care as to the order of cooking the various vegetables. I make my ratatouille with aromatic herbs. It’s creamy and full of flavor.

Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen, makes a quick meal before she moves. She grills her eggplant and smothers them with some cheese. Her grilled eggplant with tomatoes and cheese is he right kind of dish for a bit of comfort and a lot of flavor.

After living in the Middle East for about 12 years, I quickly learned to make my favorite dishes when I moved to Germany. Baba Ghanouj with a warm vegetable salad is something I can never get enough of. Baba Ghanouj is a garlicky dip made using sesame seed paste (Tahini) and a touch of lemon, then mashing the aubergine. The vegetable salad also uses roasted eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper and a touch of cumin. Gorgeous with a fresh basket full of warm pita bread!

Corn: Cynthia of Tastes Like Home offers us a coconutty corn! She cooks the corn in coconut milk giving it that lovely tropical flavor. She then spices it up with lots of fresh pepper and minced hot pepper.

I use fresh corn is a tangy corn-coriander salad. Drizzled with fresh lime juice and a large bunch of coriander, this salad is not only a treat for the eyes but wonderfully delectable for the palate.

Margot of Coffee & Vanilla makes a lovely grilled corn with lime and coriander butter. The corn can be grilled in the oven or on a barbecue.

Zucchini: As I surf my favorite blogs I see one vegetable stand out among the rest. The zucchini! It seems there are plenty of these delicate summer vegetables going around and everyone is scrambling to create a variety of dishes from their bounty. If your CSA, garden or as in my case, the mother-in-law is providing you with a huge load of zucchini here are a few great ideas to try out.

Ann of Redacted Recipes simply adds a touch of garlic and sprinkles them with grated cheese and then places them under the broiler. Her cheesy zucchini is a great way to enjoy the abundance of this vegetable!

Deb over at Smitten Kitchen prepares a wonderful crunchy side. By quickly sautéing zucchini strips she adds nutty toasted almonds and sprinkles some pecorino Romano cheese, to give a simply elegant quick saute of zucchini with toasted almonds.

Tomatoes: Sweet, juicy and in various rainbow colors - tomatoes are in full season right now and there is nothing better than to enjoy it in it’s fullest glory. Sink your teeth into delicious crust, creamy spinach and roasted tomatoes with my makeover of the classic tarte flambée - the tarte flambée with tomatoes and creamy spinach.

Jaden’s delectable sweet and sour tomato sauce lovingly kisses the pan seared steak and makes it into a gala dinner meal! What would summer be without those lovely fried green tomatoes presented by the very talented Kevin of Closet Cooking? Reminds me of that wonderful film Fried Green Tomatoes from back in the early ’90s!

Elise suggests using excess tomatoes from your gardens to make a cooling homemade tomato juice. This one I need to try!

There are so many exciting and very interesting vegetarian recipes to indulge in, it becomes hard for me to share all of them. But here are a few I will be trying out in the next couple of weeks.

I particularly like Lindsay and Taylor’s exciting walnut-lentil burgers. They look and sound simply delectable, not to mention the health factor. Eating a burger will never be the same.

Ariela of Baking and Books makes an extremely aromatic butternut squash stew with rosemary and tomatoes. It will get chilly soon and this is going to keep me warm! Hope you

Michelle of Greedy Gourmet makes use of her new potatoes in a wonderful tortilla with courgette and tarragon.

Hope you enjoy these vegetarian specialities. With this much creativity and variety you’ll have a great time incorporating more vegetarian meals into your weekly meal plan.

FoodieView is another great source for great vegetarian ideas. You’ll find several mouth-watering dishes to experiment and try.

Meeta is passionate about food, photography and life. On her blog What’s For Lunch, Honey? she shares her passion for cooking and pictures, all peppered with a good dose of life. Visit her for more vegetarian dishes like this gorgeous Caponata Sandwich or a spicy Indian Paneer Frankies or even this delicious ricotta vegetable pot pie.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.