Need Vegetarian Freezer Meal Recipes

A vegetable soup is always nice and they freeze well. If she eats eggs you could always do an egg/veg bake (ie quiche, fritatta).

You're a good friend for doing this. How about vegetarian chilli, eggplant parm, frozen cheese or veggie pizza, quiche (spinach or veggie), or some muffins for on the go breakfast or snack.

This freezes pretty well - just undercook it a bit so that when it's reheated the rice isn't mushy:

LEBANESE LENTIL-AND-RICE PILAF
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
3/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed, picked over
3/4 cup long-grain white rice

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and next 4 ingredients; sauté until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Stir in rice; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes longer.

Season pilaf to taste with salt and pepper.

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My mom loves this recipe (I haven't tried it yet):

Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
5 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 (14 ounce) cans vegetable broth
12 cups swiss chard, chopped (about 1 bunch)
1 lb red lentils (or 2 1/4 cups)
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained (chick peas)

In a large soup pot or saucepan, saute the onion in oil over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes or until onion is golden.
Stir in curry powder and cayenne.
Add the broth and chard and increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium and stir in lentils and garbanzos. Cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes or until lentils are tender (if you use brown lentils it will take longer for lentils to be tender), stirring occassionally.

I found an amazing recipe for middle eastern beans and rice. I will cut and paste it here. Just omit the ground turkey. I have done it a few times vegetarian and I love it!! I omit the cilantro, but the fresh parsley is a must. This makes a ton, so use a big pot. Sub out the chicken stock for water and vegetable bouillon. Everyone I know loves this recipe!!!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked basmati rice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 quart chicken stock
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 bunch chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Stir in rice, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, then pour in chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Place the turkey in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown.
Gently mix cooked turkey, garbanzo beans, black beans, cilantro, parsley, and pine nuts into the cooked rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Hi S.,
My family is vegetarian and though I never really get time to freeze meals, because my husband eats like there's no tomorrow! I would recommend cooking and freezing beans, even making a chili to freeze. Greens can always be frozen and thawed while cooking on the stove(i.e. collards, cabbage, string beans). If you can purchase some of the mock meats for her too that way she can just microwave or heat them in the oven(like the burgers, mock chicken..) hope that helps in some way. Let me know if you need anything else
Dani

Soups & stews & chili! A regular grocery store(although Whole Foods groc store is the BEST) will carry vegetable stock/broth to substitute any 'stock' additives in soup or stew. Shoppers Food Warehouse has recently bumped up it's selection of Vegetarian fare/products, as well as, the international aisle-where you can also find lots of vege' stuff. Anything along these lines will freeze well in a good freezer ziplock. A good multi-bean & vegetable chili is always a hit.
I always cop out on new recipes and GOOGLE it! There's a site that always comes up recipezaar.com that I have found to be pretty good. They have lots of reviews on each recipe from folks who have tried them and also a info box-with all the pertinant dietary stuff.
Good luck - your a good friend!
A.

ps- also- burrito's is an easy freeze also- I use a basic(& cheap!)wrap,load w/ vege's, beans, cheese and a GOOD QUALITY salsa(the key!), lightly spray it w/ olive oil, wrap it up tight in tinfoil and freeze individually. These can be popped out of the freezer and heated up in the oven as is, serve W/ that good salsa -individually or as a family meal. The olive oil is so they don't stick. **Whatever is leftover from the filling(vege's beans salsa etc), I usually add to already cooked hot plain white rice-instant 'mex' rice, the hot rice will 'cook' the vege's just enough. Mmmmmm. SO EASY and you can fill the burrito's with vitually anything-I've done it w/eggs,cheese, & fried potato's for breakfast burrito's. It's usually my 'empty the leftovers/fridge' meal! good luck!

like everyone says good job, i wish i had a friend like you when i had my son.

you can do stuffed bell peppers rattouli (sorry spelling)

also if you decide to make lesgna for your family one night. make the meat sauce but dont put the meat in just yet
and the chease sauce (cook meat seperatly) and fry up some vegetables like obgien zucini tomatoes carrots oakra and then use the meat free sauce and the cheese sauce and layer them together with the vegetables then add the meat to the meatsauce and make the other lasgne for your family.

kills two birds with one stone. I also cook it and then let it cool so that i can cut it into portion size pieces and wrap it up and put it into the freezer (sounds like a lot of work but it isnt.)

also just do some stirfrys just dont cook them mix them together in a bag put the seasoning inthem shake them up and the write on the bag what it is. trust me she can stand over the stove top for a few minutes and cook the vegetables
failing that ask her what she likes.

hope this helps

Hi There:

I've written about this and given a couple of recommendations in this blog post:

http://www.myessentia.com/blog/2010/06/09/organic-frozen-...

You can have a lot of fun with vegetarian chili. Add all the veggies and beans you want. Freezes very well. You could give it to her in small freezer bags so they could defrost a couple of servings at a time.

You could also look into Mexican casseroles -- like enchiladas.

So sweet of you to do this for her. A friend of mine did this for me, and it really came in handy!

I do a mexican lasagna. Use beans, tortillas, salsa, cheese, sauteed onions, peppers, etc. Layer it like you would a lasagna. Also there are lots of veg recipe websites like vegetariantimes.com. I did a search for vegetarian pot pies one time and came up with a lot to choose from. My favorite was a cauliflower curry pot pie.
You are a very thoughtful friend. I had friends cook for my family when I had my babies and it was WONDERFUL, especially knowing that most went out of their cooking comfort zone to accommodate to my family's diet. She's gonna love you! Good luck!

Soups are a great thing to freeze and so healthy since you can put anything in them! Having been on bed rest for my first child, having someone bring over food for 2 months was a blessing! You are doing something so worthwhile - good luck. T. White

Hey,
This is an excellent idea!! I am a new vegan (was Veg for 3 years) so I think you should be clear first if she is veg or vegan. Second Most organic stores (I like MOMs My Organic Market) have a great line of both vegan and veg packaged meals. Depending on your budget you may just want to go that route since they are already package for storing. MOMs has everything from main courses to side dishes to snacks and teas.

Good Luck

Hi S.,

Amy's is a brand of organic vegetarian freezer meals.

Farm Fresh sells them.

Her web site is www.amys.com

Hope this helps. D.

Here are some recipes I've made when I went on a vegetarian diet in the past: Veggie chili(substitute the vegetarian meat or use all veggies),veggie stir-fry w/ tofu(firm), and veggie or cheese enchiladas, or Lentil w/ vegetables soup. Hope this is of some help. God bless!

I freeze vegetarian soups and stews with good results. Lentil soup, stews made with beans instead of meat, vege curries all freeze well.

Hi S. -

I always find the favorites you mentioned work well as well as homemade spaghetti sauce and soup. If you can find a good health food store they have things like wheat meat (seitan) that's like a beef substitute and may also be able to give you some ideas of stuff that can freeze well.

Good luck to you and your friend.

R. A.

You are such a great friend to do this! What a great gift!

Not really a recipe, but my family loves an enchilada casserole. In a 9x13 pan... dip tortillas in enchilada sauce and put on bottom. Layer corn, black olives, beans, cheese, then repeat with another layer or tortillas etc. End with cheese and pour more enchilada sauce over the top and freeze. Defrost and bake until bubbly. Serve with rice so that she gets the protein of the beans/rice combo.

Believe it or not, you can cook rice and freeze it in a ziploc bag!

I am a vegetarian Mom and I just want to say thank you for doing such a wonderful thing! You are being so thoughtful, and wonderful to consider doing that for her and her family!

I would say if you have a favorite dish that you like to make with meat, just make it using the meat substitute. There are many different brands sold at any grocery store. Some are made from Soy and they're very good. I like to use Morningstar, Boca, and Quorn brands. They are found in the freezer sections of most grocery stores. We use the Morningstar burger substite just like you would hamburger in any recipe. That way she gets her protein from the Soy product substitutes to keep her strenth up too.

But if you have any questions I'm here to help!