Mar 23, 20205 min read

Vegetarian home cooking

As our time at home continues, many people are cooking meals at home far more than they normally would. I enjoy cooking for myself, and for friends and family, but I also love going out to restaurants to eat with those loved ones. As much as I miss seeing all of my amazing students and the other teachers at school, I know it's for the good of everyone else that we stay home right now. Also, all of this extra time at home is giving me a chance to (and forcing me to) make home-cooked meals more often.

For those of you who don't know, I am a vegetarian - this means that I don't eat meat. I also don't eat dairy products (food made from milk, like cheese, yogurt, and butter). Many people ask me what foods I do eat, when they find out that I am vegetarian and dairy-free. Others ask me if I get enough protein, and other important nutrients, since I have cut some things from my diet. I decided to share some of my favorite easy vegetarian dishes with you here!

Vegetarian tacos, burritos, and wraps!

You may remember that I grew up in Florida, in the United States. In Florida there are many people from Central American and South American countries, like Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. This means that some typical dishes from these places are also very common in Florida. One example of this is tacos! I have had so many amazing tacos at various restaurants around the Tampa Bay Area. One famous taco "restaurant" around Tampa is called Taco Bus

I also have some very special memories of making tacos at home with my mom growing up. Tacos are a great meal to make at home because they can be made relatively cheaply, AND can be customized with different toppings - so everyone in the family can be happy even if they like different things. When I make tacos or burritos at home, I usually have some or all of the following ingredients:

Rice
Black beans
Pinto beans
Corn
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Avocado
Onion
Salsa

Meat-eaters can also include ground beef, ground turkey, diced chicken, pork, or any other meat they'd like! Although my tacos don't include meat, there is actually a good amount of protein in beans. Plus - the combination of black beans and corns actually provides all the essential amino acids humans require for their bodies. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and we need different types for our bodies to work properly. We can get different kinds through different kinds of food that we eat. Black beans have some amino acids, and corn has different amino acids, and eating the two together gives you a really important combination! Pretty cool, right?

You can also include shredded cheese or even melted nacho-style cheese on your tacos if you'd like! Some people add jalapeños and/or hot sauce to give their tacos a little kick.

See what I mean about being able to make your tacos exactly the way you want?

You can also choose what kind of wrap you want to use - hard shell or soft shell, flour or corn tortilla - so many options for customizing your meal exactly the way you want it!

Chickpea salad!

In the United States, there are some popular dishes with "salad" in the title that aren't salads in the traditional sense. Things like chicken salad, egg salad, potato salad, and macaroni salad. These dishes have the main ingredient listed (chicken, egg, potato, macaroni) mixed with mayonnaise and other ingredients. Egg salad, for example, is made by hard boiling eggs, mashing them up, and mixing in mayonnaise, any spices you'd like, and sometimes other ingredients like celery, onion, etc. This is another dish that can easily be customized depending on your tastes and what you like!

As a vegetarian, I don't eat chicken salad, but if I want to have something similar, I can substitute chickpeas, also called garbanzos, or garbanzo beans. When I make chickpea salad at home I always include these ingredients as a base:

Chickpeas,1 jar/can, drained and rinsed
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Salt
Pepper

When the chickpeas have been drained and rinsed, I mash them - you can use a potato masher if you have one, or just use a fork to crush the beans! Then I add the mayo, a little bit of mustard, and some salt and pepper.

Usually I add 1 or 2 extra ingredients! Like:

Onion
Cucumber
Carrot
Avocado

Sometimes, I even add some hot sauce or buffalo sauce.

But again, you can customize your chickpea salad however you like!

You can eat chickpea salad (or chicken salad, or egg salad..) on its own, but a very popular way to eat it is to use it as a sandwich filling! This is usually how I choose to eat it. Most often I will toast the bread, and spread chickpea salad over both pieces. Sometimes I also add lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion - any sandwich topping you like can be used!

Tofu scramble

If you remember my breakfast food post, you know that scrambled eggs are a very popular and common breakfast item in the United States. Scrambled eggs are made by cracking an egg into a bowl, breaking the yolk and mixing it with the egg whites, and then pouring this mixture into a skillet/frying pan. Some people add a little water or milk to the mixture before pouring it into the pan to make "fluffier" eggs. You can season the mixture with salt, pepper, and any spices you choose. Some people also add other ingredients, like peppers, tomatoes, ham, etc.

For people who don't, or can't eat eggs, a good substitute can be tofu! A tofu scramble is made in a very similar manner as regular scrambled eggs. If you buy tofu from the supermarket, it is usually stored in blocks/cubes in water. The block of tofu is drained and, if necessary, wrapped in a towel and pressed, to get extra water out. Then you can mash it up in a bowl (again, use a potato masher, or even just a fork!) and add any seasoning/spices you desire. This mixture is also cooked on the stove, in a frying pan or skillet. Again, you can add other ingredients into the pan if you want! You can also add other ingredients on top after you have cooked the tofu scramble.

Sometimes I add some of the following:

Tomatoes
Onions
Avocado

I also usually make breakfast potatoes with my tofu scramble! (Breakfast potatoes are also mentioned in my breakfast food post! Feel free to go back and read that part again to remind yourself).