inexpensive vegetarian dinner recipes

Question
Hi Evelyn,

I would be very grateful if you could share a few inexpensive vegetarian dinner recipes with me as I'm tired of boxed mac and cheese, frozen pizzas and baked sweet potatoes.  I know I should be eating healthier but I'm stuck for easy and inexpensive meals.  I'm cooking just for myself but don't mind leftovers.

Answer
Dear Laurel,

This is not really the Expert's corner for recipes or vegetarianism. But I often give out recipes, because I feel special dieting is nothing other than eating healthily and living a holistic life which is respectful of individual needs, locations and the environment in general.
So, it's "No" to Mac on more than dietary accounts! And my recipes take wholesomeness as the fundament. But by all means do have a go, bearing however the following in mind: I have no tricks for cheap vegetarian meals as alternatives to junk food or traditional sluggish cuisine. However, in health food stores (and sections in supermarkets) there are many quicker fixes than the ones I personally can afford to adhere to. The cheapest food, however simply takes
a) time to prepare and purchase (careful selecting, planning ahead so as to buy in bulk and raw products rather than the more costly pre-packaged or semi-prepared stuff)
b) an acquired taste (which also takes time to develop; although it is actually a matter of refinding your original taste-buds which have been sensorially corrupted - also by media advertising and other aspects of poor eating habits, like "grabbing a snack" or "picking", or surrogates and supplements.)
First the base: carbohydrates, which fill and contain minerals/vitamins which complement the vegetable-part.
Rice offers a great base from which to build  up a wide variety of recipes. It can be prepared fast (parboiled wholegrain). But it's cheaper to buy the stuff that takes at least 1,5 hours from soaking to serving, if you want it tasty enough to love as a staple food.
Once you have mastered the art of making a couple of base sauces/vegetable stews and soups, you can try millet, quinoa and progress onto other grits and grains of which the health benefits are untold. Otherwise, don't forget your more familiar couscous (very fast but bland and not so nutritious) or bulgur (a great alternative of cracked wheat) and the many types of pasta (also ones made from rice, millet, spelt, kamut, buckwheat, with chestnut, garlic, chili, spinach flavourings). Pasta, of course, gives the most guaranteed success to stick to a new vegetarian diet for bad-food junkies like yourself. But try to progress a.s.a.p. for the best results (if you feel better and healthier for eating this diet, you'll feel more rewarded and become more disgusted with food that can ultimately cut your life a lot shorter, according to current medical reports).
Think of tomato based sauces which can start off with onions and garlic and an ever changing selection of dried or seasonally fresh herbs. You might add fried mushrooms for something Italian. one day, diced carrots and courgettes with ground hazelnuts or almonds for a more Andalusian feel, sweet and sour flavourings (honey/a pinch of sugar, vinegar, or Chinese rice wine, or Japanese "mirin", five-spices), or dash some Worcester sauce into a leek and pumpkin sauce, add some chillies and sweet bell peppers for a Mexican feel. Roast aubergine/eggplant in the oven, or make a vegetarian moussaka (layers of potato, aubergine, tomatoes, cheese, tofu for mince meat, or ground nuts, with an optional white sauce to top it off); oven dishes can last 2-3 days. Lasagna can be simple and more exciting than its reputation gives it credit, as long as you vary the veg in between the sheets of pasta. Try different flavoured cheese (smokey mozzarella if you can find any or gorgonzola if you like it).
Quick and easy proteins are in eggs (not too many) or beans. Bake some regular potatoes and fill them with black eyed, adiku, mung, kidney or butter beans,  you've spiced up with some ready bottled (organic, no E numbers) flavourings (curry, Mexican, Indonesian, Thai, Mediterranean, etc) or tomatoes, pesto, rocket, olive or horseradish pastes. Creme fraiche aiolis (garlic mayonnaise) go well with various steamed, grilled or wokked veg, served with scrambled, fried or boiled eggs on a thick slice of wholegrain freshly baked bread (think of various types of grain here too) spread with top range real butter (finest ingredients in moderation make for delightful eating and help you stick to a great diet).
Have a soup day (also covers 2-3 days if you make at least a litre). Discover pulses and beans (tinned is simple, but dried is cheaper if much more laborious). Try not to buy pre-flavoured (you'll miss out on nutrients and they are expensive). Tacos, falafel,and omelets are quick. Quiche, moussaka, lasagna and vegetarian shepherd's pies are investments of time and ingredients which can last you several days. Use (ground) nuts, the many varieties of tofu, Tempe and seitan with these sauces/soups,and not as a starting point, to avoid getting stuck on vegetarian meat-substitutes (= also junk food!). Above all become a mixed salad lover. Think of spinach, endives,water cress, chard, rocket, witloof/chickory, radicchio, batavian, crispy, babyleaf). You could make a different salad every day of the month if you think of adding, grated carrots with avocado and an orange dressing with pinenuts; sugarsnaps and sesame oil and radish; pecan nuts, goatscheese, cranberries; husks, green beans, olives, bell peppers and feta; celery, apple and walnuts and sunflowerseeds.
Flip through cookbooks just to get the juices flowing: the main thing is to become inspired and work up a real appetite for using great ingredients to prepare meals that will improve your digestion, your breath, your hair,complexion, stamina and zest for life.
Have fun on your adventure.
Happy eating,
Evelyn.

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