Becoming vegetarian is a healthy lifestyle that beats a carnivore diet any day. The one dilemma that vegetarians often run into is: where to find good vegetarian recipes? In our culture's meat-centered diet, most recipes contain chicken or beef. Here are some great places to turn for meatless recipes.
The first place you should look is in your own recipe box. There are bound to be a few meatless recipes in every home cook's repertoire, and many others that are easily adaptable to be meat-free. You'll be surprised what you can find that you are already making that you can just continue eating, either as is or with a few small alterations.
Another source is your vegetarian friends. What do they like to prepare and eat every day? There's really no need to reinvent the wheel when there are thousands of vegetarians who have built up an impressive accumulation of new recipes that are tasty and time-tested. What if you don't have any vegetarian friends? Then make some on the Internet! The Internet is a great tool for meeting other vegetarians who are more than happy to share some of their best vegetarian recipes with you.
Vegetarian cookbooks are often really valuable resources in making up a vegetarian meal plan. Various authors who are vegetarians themselves have done the work for you, compiling years of trial and error, wisdom, and research into a compilation of tasty recipes to try at home. They often come packed with other helpful information about living a vegetarian lifestyle and ideas for meat-free substitutions and ideas for more cooking.
When you're perusing cookbooks, don't forget the ethnic cookbooks shelf at the bookstore. Many other cultures are largely vegetarian and have a much bigger selection of meat-free meals. Besides, eating meals from around the world opens up your taste buds to an entirely new variety of flavors. Try Chinese stir fry, Mexican bean dishes, Italian pastas, and Indian curries and soups.
And as always, let's not underestimate the power of the Internet. You can go to your favorite search engine and look for "vegetarian dinner recipes" to see what comes up. There is a wealth of information out there. The recipes you look at don't even need to necessarily be "vegetarian" recipes. As we discussed above, a recipe containing meat can often be adapted so it's completely vegetarian-friendly. Replace meat with mushrooms, beans, dairy-free cheese, tofu, or mixed veggies. Don't be afraid to get creative.
