Good (preferablly low sodium) vegetarian recipes About This Page:

[Huntermom]

I am trying to cut my seafood consumption down to 2-3 times a week and have tolf DD I will make chicken once a month. I am looking for good vegetarian reipes that are low sodium or that I can make low sodium.

Just made Sakana's Thai Noodle Bowl. It was excellent. I cut sodium by using low sodium vegetable broth, low sodium tamari and unsalted peanuts.

Any good ideas. I don't need to replace meat but do like lots of seasoning to replace salt.

[sakana]

I am not sure about low sodium, but I really enjoy The Moosewood Cookbook. The new Moosewood is lower fat than the original...one of my favorites in there is a recipe for Indonesian rice with spinach, veggies and peanut sauce. Scrumptious.

Many, many years ago, I cooked in a kosher dairy deli, making, among other things, two soups a day. Moosewood was a go to resource then and, even though I am not a vegetarian, is a go to resource still!

PS I just remembered the name of that dish: Gado Gado, but really, there are a lot of good recipes in that book.
Here's a link to the Gado Gado recipe:

http://www.culinate.com/content/1706/gado_gado

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[Huntermom]

Thanks Sakana. That looks great. I have some reduced sodium tamari soy I can use.

I had the Moosewood cookbook many, many years ago. I'll have to see if I can find it or at least borrow it from the library.

[JerseyDad]

....how do you feel about pasta & grain dishes?

....my youngest daughter (17yr old) is a vegetarian ...and a favorite of hers is Kasha with Bow Ties (Kasha Varnishkas) ...and though it's traditionally made with chicken stock ...we found some decent alternatives to make it taste almost like the 'real thing'.

[JuliB57]

Have you checked out any of the DASH cookbooks? I have been trying to eat less sodium also due to blood pressure issues and have 3 of those types of cookbooks. Got some good recipes in there.

[Disneybine]

I have a vegetarian recipe that I absolutely love but I have no idea if it is or can be made low sodium. It has peanuts and sour cream in it...

2 zuccinis
2 bell peppers (red and yellow)
1 can of roasted peanuts
1 can of pineapple pieces
2 onions
10 oz sour cream
salt, pepper, curry

Cut the veggies into pieces, dice onions. Sautée onions and peanuts in a large frying pan. Add veggies (including the juice from the can of pineapple pieces) into the pan and let steam for about half an hour (with the lid on). Then season with lots of salt, pepper, and curry. Add the sour cream and heat. Serve with rice.

[Huntermom]

Thanks everyone. I've been to the dash site, but not yet tried any of the recipes. Sabine, the recipe you posted in low sodium. I love pasta and have switched to Barilla Plus.

I have a couple of medical issues and are trying to balance everything. for me the hardest is the dietician wants me to up protein and down carbs. She also wants me to consider nuts a fat, not a protein.

I could live on fruit, nuts and pasta but am really trying for more protein. My go to cook just for me meal is 7-8 ounces of sea scallops, pan seared. At $22.99/lb I try to limit it to once or maybe twice a week.

[Her Dotness]

Stir fry an assortment of fresh veggies and eat them atop spaghetti squash strands sprinkled with garlic powder and a drizzle of olive oil.

I use kosher salt on such things, no more than a pinch. Easy to keep from oversalting that way.

Spaghetti squash is easy to prepare by stabbing the rind several places and then setting it in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 mins. to an hour until a knife easily pierces the rind. (You can microwave it, but I prefer baking.) Let cool before cutting in half and scooping out the seeds. Then use a regular fork to separate the strands. I like to saute those with olive oil and some minced garlic or just do the lazy and sprinkle garlic powder over the strands. Tasty on its own, I think.

You can also make "linguine" with a veggie parer and zucchini which is low-fat and low-carb.

[krisk11]

I read this post because I desperately want off my high blood pressure meds. I'm going to have to try linguine with zucchini and spaghetti squash. I use Morton lite salt and have been even using that less and less in hopes of it helping.

[Her Dotness]

If you find you like zuke linguine, you might want to buy a spiral-slicer. One of those will turn a zucchini into a pile of curly strands similar to spaghetti with just a few cranks of the handle.

I actually prefer zucchini "pasta" raw.

You might also look into some raw foods recipe books. There are some delicious low-sodium recipes in those unless you load on the salt. There are raw foods books now for one or two people. Really, you don't need a recipe to eat raw. Just grab a combination that appeals, slice or chop as seems necessary and dig in. One of my favorites is chopped tomato, celery, carrot and avocado with a splash of fresh lime juice or balsamic vinegar.

Much of our feeling we need to add salt can be overcome by getting used to eating plain steamed or raw veggies. Adding salt is often more a habit than anything else, I found.

[lauriep]

I do the same as Dot with the spaghetti squash. I just pretend it's pasta and usually saute some veggies and make a VERY low calorie, low fat, low sodium yummy "pasta" primavera. I also do the zucchini strips-- just be careful not to over cook them. Another thing I do is use eggplant or portobello mushrooms as "steak" and serve grilled with sides of veggies or a salad. The large portobello mushrooms also make a great "pizza". Just fill the scraped-out caps with a little cheese and tomatoes and other veg and grill or roast.

[sakana]

If you're wanting to lower your BP try the book "Lower your blood pressure in eight weeks." It worked wonders for my mom and uses a dietary approach. Her last email said she was 116/90.

Also, here's some interesting new info about salt: http://m.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/1402/salt-how-much-is-too-much.html

Lastly, humans cannot digest cellulose, and cooking food revolutionized things in the world of humans. Eating raw fruits and veggies is great for adding fiber to a diet, but cooking is often what makes the most nutrients bio-available.

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[Huntermom]

Kris, I do not have high blood pressure but heart issues and I was told not to use salt substitutes. I have found it is much easier to cook low sodium once I got used to it. I no longer miss salt.

Thanks to everyone. I have lots of good and tried ideas.

My older son said he had read that 2014 will be the year of the vegetarian, when more people avoid m eat than eat it. I loav3e raw fruits and vegetables, but good, tasty ones are hard to come by in Northern NewEngland Winters. I love just going out to the garden and nibbling.

[Huntermom]

I wanted to add, Laurie, we used portabellos as "hamburgers". My DD, a mushroom lover, likes to top hers with more mushrooms. I am looking for a low sodium bean burger. I know I can dramatically decrease the sodium in canned beans by rinsing and soaking, but I still worry about them being high in sodium.

[Her Dotness]

Cook your own dried beans rather than using canned ones. They are ever so much better tasting!

Simply put whatever dried beans you like in at least a 2-qt. pot for one cupful of beans. Cover with plenty of water. I generally start with a half-potful, checking occasionally during the cooking phase in case more is needed. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat, covering. Let stand for one hour then put back onto medium heat and return to boiling. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about an hour until beans are very tender by taste-test.

This method works just as well as soaking beans overnight and then cooking.

I honestly prefer them salted only a wee bit. Not more than about a 1/2 tsp of kosher salt which has bigger crystals than table salt.

P.S. To prevent gas, never eat beans and breads or other very starchy vegetables together. This DOES work.