When most people think of a meatless meal they think of a big blank spot on the plate where the meat
used to be. Maybe filled in with "side dishes." That's not even close to how it has to be.
Try stuffed winter squashes, potato recipes, beans (there are a lot of different types, so
experiment with different recipes/soups). It's even tasty to take some chick peas (garbanzos)
from a can, slip off the seed coats, mash them up, mix them with some olive oil and onion, and
fry them in a pan.
Sandwiches are easy to make vegetarian too. You can put almost anything in a sandwich, from peanut
butter, to pickles. Try different grains like breads and pasta and cous cous and things like that.
Eat stir fries. Eat stuffed bell peppers. Casseroles are good too.
Don't get stuck in the rut of thinking that you'll never have anything good to eat anymore. It might
be fun for you if you go to your produce section and look at those plants you've never tried before
(Maybe a jicama, or a butternut squash, kabocha squash, roasted pumpkin/squash seeds, Texas ruby red
grapefruit, papaya, or plantains, or cassava) and see if you like them. When you find a food you
like, try to think of recipes you could use it in, or do a search for them.
I know tofu is considered yucky by a lot of people, but try marinating it in different things (Soy
sauce, barbecue sauce, etc.) and then using it in different ways. One of my favorite vegetarian
dishes with tofu is to saute onions and bell peppers together along with soy-sauce marinated tofu
and make "Fajitas" by roling the mixture up into tortillas. Tofu is also good for rissotos and
adding "meat" to pasta dishes, especially with cous cous. Mock fish is easy to make by marinating
tofu in something tasty overnight and then coating them with fish fry mix and frying them up. That's
good with ketchup. 🙂 Also you can make a sort of scrambled egg breakfast with tofu by getting out a
skillet, and frying up the tofu in oil and tasty sauces. Don't eat tofu plain, make sure it's
marinated or seasoned, as it doesn't have very much flavor on its own.
Try vegetarian soups. You can make hearty delicious soups and chile with pasta, vegetables, beans,
and other plant sources that will fill you up and taste great too. Eat some corn bread on the side!
If you're a vegetarian but not a vegan, then ice cream is still on the menu, as well as cake, etc.
Even vegans can make or buy versions of these foods suitable for them. Eggs and cheese and honey can
be eaten by vegetarians and vegans can often find suitable substitutes for these foods.