Vegetarian Recipes Low in Calories but Tasty

Here are some vegetarian meals to add to your weekly menu. Losing weight can be a little easier when eating foods made up of mainly vegetables or fruits. However, it's important to make sure you're getting good protein sources when attempting to lose weight. You can do this from eating dark green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach, beans and pulses and soya products such as tofu, as well as buckwheat and quinoa.

All the recipes below serve two people. If you are going to cook for more than two, just adjust the amount of any particular food and enjoy a vegetarian and low calorie dinner with friends and family.

• Stir Fry Vegetables

  1 tbsp olive oil
  1/4 cup of water
  1/4 cup shallots or purple onion, chopped
  1 cloves garlic, chopped
  1 medium-sized carrot, sliced
  50g cauliflower, cut into florets and halved
  50g broccoli, cut into florets and halved
  1/2 red pepper, sliced into strips
  2-3 cups baby bok choy, or other Chinese cabbage
  100g baby sweetcorn
  5-6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  1-2 thumb-size pieces ginger, sliced into thin strips
  1 small fresh red chili, or 1 tsp chili flakes
  handful fresh thai basil
  Soya sauce, to taste
  Sesame seeds, to serve

  Heat oil in a large pan, add shallots and garlic, and fry until soft. Add the carrot along with the water, cook until soft, and most of the water has evaporated. Then add the rest of the vegetables in turn, leaving the mushrooms until last. Take ginger, fresh chili, thai basil and sprinkle into the stir fry, giving it one last stir. Top with sesame seeds and add a dash soya sauce. You can serve this with a small portion of boiled brown rice.

• Summer Pea Pasta

  1 tbsp olive oil
  1 fat garlic cloves , finely chopped
  1/2 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped
  zest 1/2 lemon
  200g whole wheat pasta
  100g fresh or frozen peas
  10g basil

  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic and chilli for a couple of mins until very lightly golden. Stir in the zest. Then cook the pasta, adding the peas for the final 2 mins. Drain, then tip everything back into the saucepan. Tip in the garlic, chilli and lemon. Add the basil and season. Stir well.

• Spicy Root and Lentil Casserole

  1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  1/2 onion , chopped
  1 garlic cloves , crushed
  300g potatoes , peeled and cut into chunks
  2 carrots , thickly sliced
  1 parsnips , thickly sliced
  1 tbsp curry paste or powder
  1 pints vegetable stock
  50g red lentils
  a small bunch of fresh coriander , roughly chopped

  Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 3 minutes until softened. Add potatoes, carrots and parsnips, turn up the heat and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste or powder, pour in the stock and then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the lentils, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the coriander and season.

• Mushroom & Thyme Risotto

  1/2 tbsp olive oil
  180g chestnut mushrooms , sliced
  50g quinoa
  1/2 pint hot vegetable stock
  80g risotto rice
  handful thyme leaves
  50g bag rocket , to serve

  Heat the oil in a medium pan, fry the mushrooms for 2 mins, then stir in the quinoa. Add a ladle of the stock and stir until absorbed. Stir in the rice and repeat again with the stock, until all the stock has been used up and the rice and quinoa are tender and cooked. Stir in the thyme leaves, then divide between 4 plates or bowls. Serve topped with rocket leaves.

• Spicy Moroccan Chickpea Soup

  1/2 tbsp olive oil
  1 small onion , chopped
  1 clove garlic, chooped
  1 celery sticks, chopped
  1 tsp ground cumin
  300ml hot vegetable stock
  200g can chopped plum tomatoes
  200g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  50g frozen broad beans
  juice 1/4 lemon
  a handful coriander, to serve

  Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then fry the onion, garlic and celery gently for 10 mins until softened, stirring frequently. Tip in the cumin and fry for another min. Turn up the heat, then add the stock, tomatoes and chickpeas, plus a good grind of black pepper. Simmer for 8 mins. Throw in broad beans and lemon juice, cook for a further 2 mins. Season to taste, then top with chopped herbs.

• Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup

  1 small onion , roughly chopped
  1/2 tbsp olive oil
  1 small potato , peeled and cubed
  1/2 pint vegetable stock
  1 head broccoli , about 200g, roughly chopped
  50g blue cheese, crumbled

  Fry the onion in olive oil in a large pan for about 3 minutes. Add the potato and stock and simmer until the potato is soft. Add the broccoli and cook until just tender but still bright green. Add half the cheese. Use a blender to turn it into a soup. Season then top with some cheese.