25 Easy to Make Homemade Vegetarian Recipes that Won't Take Forever to Make (and Still Taste Delicious!)

We all know most of the benefits of leading a vegetarian lifestyle, but if you're used to eating meat, it can be tough to incorporate more vegetables into your diet in a way that still tastes good. Here you can find some hand picked homemade vegetarian recipes that won't take forever to make, and are a delicious alternative to your regular meat dishes!


1. You won't miss the eggs in these gooey vegan chocolate chip cookies! Try making them next time!

2. Stuffed bell pepper, lemon cauliflower, or veggie primavera sound appetizing? These veggie sides are the perfect way to boost your vegetable intake in a delicious way!


3. Eggplant parmesan is a great way to go meatless for an Italian meal. You can take it one step further and find yourself some soy based cheese, or local dairy.


4. Want to go dairy free, even with your ice cream? Try one of the many homemade soy ice cream recipes
featured on this page.


5. Emeril Lagasse has cooked up a winning hot, nutritious vegetarian chili recipe that even meat lovers will love!


6. Peas and mushrooms add extra veggies to this traditional fettucine alfredo recipe. Great winter meal.




7. They're fancy enough for dinner, and tasty enough to have at anytime of day. These veggie paninis will give you some creative ways to spice up your dinner.


8. An easy, fresh tasting homemade tomato soup tastes far better than anything you've ever had in the can. Just replace the chicken broth with instant (chicken-free) broth.


9. Sweet potato pie, zucchini brownies, cheddar broccoli soup and other veggie favorites can be found on these easy to make veggie recipes page.


10. Craving some meat? Have that beefy taste without the meat in this vegetarian beef stew
recipe.


11. Fried Zucchini is really simple to make, and goes great with many Italian recipes. Especially good when it's in season, in the peak summer.
12. Another great summer recipe is blueberry rhubarb pie. A good (albeit slightly sugary) way to boost your fruit intake a little.


13. Spinach is a pretty versatile vegetable, full of Vitamin K. Try out these healthy spinach recipes listed here.


14. Mushroom, pesto, sundried tomato... there are hundreds of way to go vegetarian with your pizza.


15. Authentic chinese food already has many vegetables in the recipes. Try out these vegetarian chinese food recipes next time instead of ordering out!


16. Sometimes, the appetizer is the best part of the meal. That's why these vegetarian appetizers are such a great choice. They're healthy, yet still have that delicious hour d'oeuvres taste.


17. Ahh, meatballs. It's tough to get a meat-free version right, but this recipe manages to make a great version of vegetarian meatballs.


18. Love a BBQ, but just don't eat meat? This vegan BBQ video will teach you that you don't need beef to have a smokin' barbeque!

19. There are a few dozen tasty vegan slower cooker recipes you can make at home in a snap on this page. Slower cookers reduce fat, and have loads of taste!


20. Lacking on fruits? These healthy fruit smoothie recipes are one of the best ways to squeeze more fruit into your diet.


21. Mexican food is one of the toughest things to try and make healthy. Try these vegetarian enchiladas next time you're craving some authentic Mexican food and cut some calories.


22. If you're in more of a Chinese mood, check out this page for some simple vegetarian fried rice recipes.


22. Back to Mexican! You can find a few dozen tasty vegetarian Mexican
recipes on this page. The veggie quesadillas sound delicious!



23. Start your day the right way! Tofu and soymilk make excellent replacements for eggs in this vegan omelette.


24. When everyone else is eating their hamburger, you can be eating your vegetarian hamburger. These versions are more "meaty" than "tofu-ey".


25. Stuffed bell peppers can easily be made vegetarian. They're usually meat-free anyways!

Why You Should Start Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

The benefits are numerous, but do you really have time to squish in all of those fruits and vegetables into your diet? In a world of processed food, fast food, and hard to pronounce fillers that are taking the place of real food, the real question is, can you afford to not eat more fruits and vegetables? It doesn't take a vegetarian to know that eating plants is good for you, and you don't have to be a vegetarian or vegan to have some of those same benefits. Simply by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet, you'll be doing a few of the following:

• Losing weight (it's impossible to gain weight on fruits and vegetables alone)
• Gaining control of your finances (you'll be grocery shopping more, eating less expensive meat, and maybe even skipping fast food more often)
• Best of all, you'll feel better.

Not fully convinced yet? Read the new lens featuring 30 reasons to eat more veggies, and see if a few of them convince you that you should up your veggie intake. What could you lose? Only pounds, inches, and maybe some debt.

Growing your Own Spices and Herbs Indoors

Picture by Galant on flickr.
If you're an avid cook, you know the importance of herbs and spices in dishes, especially fresh ones. Unfortunately, fresh spices often cost much more than dried, and don't last nearly as long. If you could take the spices as you need them, fresh off the plant, this would be ideal.

Not everyone has the luxury of a fresh herb garden in their backyard, or the time to keep up with one. There are a few solutions to this problem that make it possible to enjoy fresh spices in your home all the time.

Grow your Own Herbs Indoors.

This is easy enough to do. Get some seed packets from your local store, along with a container (reuse one of your old plastic containers to be extra green), add some soil (or even some coffee grinds from your old coffee), and place them in a sunny area according to the directions. The key is to put give them plenty of sun year round, so if you have a skylight, that's perfect. A sliding glass door also gives plenty of light.

The AeroGarden.
Yes, you've seen it on TV, you've seen it in the stores, but these really do work. You can grow your own lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and spices from these small machines. While not as green as growing your herbs in the window, over time, you could be saving some cash, as well as enjoying fresh greens all the time.

Get Local with your Produce.
Last May, we wrote a post on supporting your local farmer and buying locally to get fresher produce. Some of these co-op farms also allow you to work on the farm (that actually sounds fun!) for a share of the crop.

Five Ways to Make your Life Greener with Vegetables

Vegetarian lifestyle might sound like it only benefits the person who is eating it, but there's much more to it. The benefits for your body, like potentially preventing cancer by increasing the intake of antioxidants (found in many fruits), or increasing the body's immunity through consumption of natural vitamins, have been well documented. Besides the personal benefits, eating veggies as opposed to meat has a number of benefits for the environment.
Here are a few of those benefits...

• Vegetables use less energy to transport. Vegetables are lighter in weight, don't require feeding (like livestock), and can be stacked much more efficiently for transport than animals.


• Buying locally saves even more energy. Transporting vegetables from a local farm as opposed to a farm 2000 miles away will results in less energy consumed, and a fresher product from less transit time.


• Growing your own vegetables, like buying local, will eliminate much of the transportation energy used. If it's in your backyard, your cutting out that transportation for you to go to the store, for the vegetable to get to you, and potentially pesticide use (and ingestion).


• Livestock are responsible for 28% of global methane emissions, which greatly speeds up global warming. Vegetables don't create this massive amount of methane emissions that destroy the atmosphere. Opting for vegetables instead of meat can reduce the overall production of livestock.


• Vegetables do not require excessive preperation before being sold. With livestock, there's the added process of slaughter, preparing the meat, cutting the meat at grocery store/butcher shops, using packaging to wrap the meat, and cooking the meat (which uses energy). Vegetables can be consumed raw in most cases with no cooking. In fact, the benefits of raw vegetables also have a positive impact on the body.