Three Quick Veggie Meals

Here are some ideas I have come up with for really easy and fast veggie dishes:

1.  Tempeh with Thai Peanut Sauce and Veggies

I used some multigrain tempeh and satay peanut sauce that I found at Trader Joe's for a tasty dinner.  For veggies I used frozen green beans, cauliflower and broccoli.  First I cooked the veggies in the microwave until they were cooked but still firm.  Then I cut the tempeh into bite sized pieces (about 1/2 cup per serving) and stir fried it in a skillet that was coated with olive oil cooking spray.  When the tempeh was lightly browned, I added the veggies (about 2 cups per serving) and enough peanut sauce to thoroughly coat everything.  Once the ingredients are heated through, the dish is ready to eat!

2.  Green Salad with Mexican Style Beans

I started with a nice green salad, including romaine lettuce, bell peppers, cucumber, onion and tomato.  Then I took a can of low fat refried beans and added taco seasoning (to taste) and some diced green chilis.  Once the beans were well seasoned I heated them in the microwave until they were just warmed, and tossed them into the green salad along with some nice salsa.  Sort of like a taco salad, but without the extra calories of  taco meat or tortillas.  For one serving I used about 1/2 cup of the bean mixture over a large bowl of green salad.  You can adjust the amounts depending on how hungry you are.

3.  Mixed Veggies with Lemon Hummus Dressing

We have a new Fresh and Easy grocery store that recently opened in our neighborhood.  I went there for the grand opening and found a few items that were new to me.  One is a salad dressing under their own brand called "lemon hummus vinaigrette".  For me it is a little bit too strong on the lemony taste for a cold salad, but I decided that it might be good with hot veggies.  So tonight I took some frozen broccoli, cauliflower and spinach and cooked the veggies in the microwave until almost done.  For the last minute I poured in the dressing and finished cooking them.  It was quite delicious!  The dressing contains garbanzo beans (pureed), cider vinegar, cilantro, canola oil, lemon zest, lime juice concentrate, garlic and salt.  It is low in calories at only 35 per serving (2 tbsp).  I had a large bowl of the hot veggies with dressing and was very full.  For a heartier dish it would be good served with brown rice.

If you try any of these dishes, let me know how you liked them.

For those trying to transition to a more plant based diet like me, here is an interesting cookbook: