Many soups are actually vegetarian in nature, so you should really explore some of the great recipes that you can find for a lovely soup that contains nothing but vegetables. Of course, you won’t be able to use beef stock in your vegetable soup, but there are many different ways to adapt soup recipes to be vegetarian friendly. Here are two to get you started:

Fresh Asparagus Soup
* 1 pound fresh asparagus
* 3/4 cup chopped onion
* 1/2 cup vegetable broth
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 pinch ground black pepper
* 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
* 1 cup soy milk
* 1/2 cup yogurt
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place asparagus and onion in a saucepan with 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until the vegetables are tender. Reserve a few asparagus tips for garnish. Place remaining vegetable mixture in an electric blender and puree until smooth.

Melt butter in the pan that was used for simmering the asparagus and onions. Stir while sprinkling flour, salt, and pepper into the butter. Do not let the flour brown. Allow the mixture to cook only 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth and increase the heat. Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.

Stir the vegetable puree and milk into the saucepan. Whisk yogurt into the mixture, followed by lemon juice. Stir until heated through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with reserved asparagus tips. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Vegetarian Tortilla Stew
* 1 (19 ounce) can green enchilada sauce
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 1 cube vegetable bouillon
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/2 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 cup frozen corn
* 1/2 cup vegetarian chicken substitute, diced (optional)
* 4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn into strips
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
* salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, mix the enchilada sauce and water. Dissolve the bouillon cube in the liquid, and season with garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin.

Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Mix in the beans, tomatoes, and corn. Simmer until heated through. Mix in vegetarian chicken and tortillas, and cook until heated through. Stir in cilantro, and season with salt and pepper to serve.

Really think about incorporating a lot of soup into your vegetarian diet. They are amazingly filling, easy to make, and delicious in the process.

There are many, many vegetarian recipes that are easy to prepare and delicious to eat. You might be surprised at what you can find when you take the time to look for vegetarian recipes that are easy to fix. In a busy society such as the one we live in, easy to make recipes are almost essential for the weekday vegetarian cook. Here are a couple that can get you started:

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

INGREDIENTS
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
* 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1/4 cup salsa
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 2 tablespoons butter, divided
* 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in beans and corn, then add sugar, salsa, and pepper flakes; mix well. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.
2. Melt 2 teaspoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the skillet, sprinkle evenly with cheese, then top with some of the bean mixture. Place another tortilla on top, cook until golden, then flip and cook on the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

INGREDIENTS
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/8 cup olive oil
* 1 cup sliced red bell peppers
* 1 small zucchini, sliced
* 1 red onion, sliced
* 1 small yellow squash, sliced
* 2 (4-x6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the grill for high heat.
3. Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
4. Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don’t burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

Pesto with Arugula

INGREDIENTS
* 1 1/2 cups baby arugula leaves
* 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
* 2/3 cup pine nuts
* 8 cloves garlic
* 1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained
* 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 1/2 lime, juiced
* 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Place the arugula, basil, pine nuts, garlic, and olives in a food processor, and chop to a coarse paste. Mix in olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Process until well blended and smooth.

These are only a few recipes to get you started, but take a good look around at various resources, and you will find many, many easy vegetarian recipes that are quick to make and delicious as well!

Chili is a great vegetarian meal as true chili connoisseurs believe that a good chili recipe shouldn’t contain any meat at all. Original chili recipes like that made in the Old West on the chuck wagons contained beans, tomatoes, and a lot of spices that made it more than delicious and a very filling meal for hungry cowboys.

There are a lot of recipes for vegetarian chili, and we are pleased to give you a couple of our favorites to try out in your own kitchen. The first recipe was found at www.allrecipes.com which is a great place to find tons of meatless recipes. They call this recipe the Best Vegetarian Chili in the World:

INGREDIENTS
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 medium onion, chopped
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 tablespoons dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 2 green bell peppers, chopped
* 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained
* 2 (12 ounce) packages vegetarian burger crumbles
* 3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
* 1/4 cup chili powder
* 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
* 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
* 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Mix the tomatoes into the pot. Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in the corn, and continue cooking 5 minutes before serving.

From our own kitchen, we bring you the following recipe for vegetarian chili that is a bit less complicated than the one above, but which is just as good (we think) and very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS
* 1 large can whole tomatoes or 12 fresh tomatoes peeled and quartered
* 1 can diced tomatoes
* 1 can kidney beans
* 2 cans chili hot beans
* 4 large jalapeno peppers minced
* 2 cans tomato sauce
* 2 cans tomato paste
* 1 large onion chopped
* 4 tablespoons chili powder
* 2 tablespoons red pepper
* 3 tablespoons garlic salt

DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients into a large pot and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring frequently so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

There are many more vegetarian chili recipes, but these two are great places for you to get started! Bon appetit!

Perhaps you have chosen to switch over to a vegetarian lifestyle because you want to lose weight and need to find some low calorie vegetarian recipes to help you in your weight loss goals. The good news is that just be switching over to meatless eating, you will be eating low calorie already. The secret to cooking low calorie vegetarian recipes is to cut out the extras that make meals fattening in the first place.

To begin with, when you are cooking low calorie vegetarian recipes, you will want to shy away from using too much oil. You can, however use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for flavoring and salads. EVOO (as Rachel Ray calls it) is low in calories and provides some of the “good fats” that our bodies need.

Stay away from fried foods when you are cooking low calorie vegetarian recipes. Even if you do use the extra virgin olive oil to fry in, fried foods are classically higher in calories, so you should avoid these as much as possible.

Steam your vegetables instead of boiling them. Boiling them will cause a lot of the important nutrients to be lost. Grill vegetables for a great change. Use a no calorie or low calorie cooking spray to give them a little moisture or even spray on a little diluted lemon juice.

If your diet allows you to eat seafood, broil fish instead of frying it and, again, grilling is a great way to add flavor and uniqueness to your foods. Spices can make the difference toward a full-flavored low calorie vegetarian recipe that is satisfying and delicious.

Many low calorie vegetarian recipes can be found on the Internet. You can also buy vegetarian cookbooks with low calorie recipes in them. Another great option for low calorie vegetarian recipes is to simply modify regular recipes by using low calorie substitutions like low-fat cheeses or substituting plain yogurt for sour cream.

If you are creative, you will be surprised to find that you can find low calorie vegetarian recipes are plentiful and able to be implemented into your diet that will complement your weight loss goals. All you need is a little education into where you can make substitutions that will make high calorie foods into low calorie foods with a little alteration and a lot of imagination. Implement low calorie vegetarian recipes into your diet and realize that you can have delicious foods while supporting your meatless lifestyle.

When you are converting your eating habits over to a vegetarian lifestyle, you may want to go out and buy a good vegetarian cookbook that can provide you with a variety of recipes you can try for meatless meals. Making the switch over to a vegetarian lifestyle can be a difficult transition. Having an arsenal of recipes at your disposal is the first tool toward the successful switch.

You can also find a plethora of vegetarian recipes on the Internet as well. There are tons and tons of websites that are dedicated to the vegetarian lifestyle that will give you some great recipes to try out as you try and figure out how you are going to cook without meat.

If you’re like a lot of people who are just switching over to vegetarianism, you are probably used to cooking with meat like beef and chicken. However, there’s a reason why you wanted to become a vegetarian. So keeping your eye on that reason can make cooking vegetarian recipes much, much easier.

Here are a few of the websites that we found that feature vegetarian recipes:

www.allrecipes.com - this website contains regular recipes but it also features a vegetarian section that can spark some great ideas for meatless meals.

www.vegweb.com - dedicated to the vegetarian lifestyle, Veg Web not only has vegetarian recipes, but it gives a lot of advice on how to stick with the vegetarian way of life and deal with some of the adversities you might face during the transition.

www.vegcooking.com - this great website has hundreds and hundreds of vegetarian recipes in all categories including grilling, appetizers, and much more. There is a section that will suggest menus and provide you with an online shopping list that you can print out off your computer and take right to the grocery store.

www.vegkitchen.com - not only does this site have hundreds of vegetarian recipes as well, it helps you stock your kitchen with vegetarian essentials and gives advice on how to begin making your kitchen a vegetarian paradise.

Keep in mind that you can also adapt your favorite recipes to be vegetarian recipes. Either you can cut out the meat in your recipes altogether or you can find alternatives to use in place of the meat. You will find that vegetarian recipes are versatile and even regular recipes can be converted over to become meatless. Vegetarian recipes abound if you know where to look. We hope that you can get a start with the information we’ve been able to provide you in this article! Happy cooking!