Healthy Vegetarian Recipes

Love the idea of eating vegetarian more often? Looking for healthy vegetarian recipes? You're in the right place.

The reason I serve my family vegetarian food three or four times a week, is quite simply because it tastes so good. And I love the idea of using fresh vegetables to their full potential in delicious main courses, and not relegating them to side-dish status too often.

Browse through these healthy vegetarian recipes, and you'll find suggestions using rice, polenta and pasta – with many more to come, as the collection grows.

Even adding a couple of vegetarian suppers to your week's meals will make a healthy difference, so let yourself be inspired by this collection of Healthy Vegetarian Recipes.

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes: Sauce

DEEPLY DELICIOUS ROAST TOMATO SAUCE

The sharp tang of balsamic vinegar lifts this vibrant tomato sauce way above the ordinary. Of course you can use a ready-made sauce – buy an organic one in a health shop, or look for manufactured sauce that doesn't pile in the additives. The Lloyd Grossman range is good in the UK. But when tomatoes are cheap and in season, at the tail end of summer, double up the quantities, make a big batch of this sauce and freeze some. You'll come back to it time and time again.

1 kg (3 cups) ripe tomatoes, halved crossways,1 large onion, sliced, 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced, a scattering of fresh or dried thyme, or torn fresh basil leaves, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.

Makes approx half a litre (1 3/4 cups): Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Oil a roasting tin, and spread the onion, garlic and herbs over the base. Fit the tomatoes snugly into the tin, cut side up, so that they cover the onions beneath. Season, scatter the sugar over the top, then pour the vinegar and oil evenly over the top. Roast for approx 1hr, checking after 45 mins. The vegetables should be nicely browned, but not burned. Cool slightly, then process in a blender to the consistency you need.

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes: Gnocchi or pasta

GNOCCHI AND LEEK BAKE

Here's a delicious way to use the tomato sauce above. This dish works well with tortelloni too, but check what's in the filling before you buy, as cheap tortelloni are often filled with unidentifiable bready paste. Best to buy fresh from a deli that makes its own.

3 large leeks, 2 tbsp olive oil, 500g (3 1/2 cups) fresh gnocchi, half litre (1 3/4 cups) tomato sauce, 150g ( 1cup) mozzarella cheese, cubed, bunch of fresh basil, salt and pepper.

Serves 4: Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Wash the leeks and slice finely. Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add the leeks, stir well, cover and leave to cook down slowly over a fairly low heat. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, or following instructions on pack. Drain. Grease an ovenproof dish and spread the cooked leeks over the base. Cube the mozzarella, then put the cooked gnocchi on top of the leeks, with pieces of mozzarella in between. Pour over the tomato sauce. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbling.

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes: Polenta

POLENTA WITH SPICY BEANS AND MUSHROOMS

I love polenta, it's a beautiful buttery yellow, and there's something very comforting about its warm solidity as the base for a well-flavoured sauce. Buy the grain and cook it yourself. It's very quick, but take care as it comes to the boil, as the mixture plops and bubbles like a mud pool, and it's easy to get splashed.

175g (1 cup) polenta, 1 litre (4 1/2 cups) water or vegetable stock, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 onion, chopped, 250g (2 cups) mushrooms, sliced,1 can black-eyed beans (or use dried, soaked overnight and boiled until tender), chilli powder to taste, 2 pinches cinnamon, 1 tsp dried mixed herbs, or 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, 1 can chopped tomatoes, or half litre (1 3/4 cups) of home-made tomato sauce, above, 75g (1/2 cup)Cheddar cheese, grated/shredded

Serves 4: Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease an ovenproof dish. Bring the water or stock to the boil in a large saucepan. Start stirring the water with a long-handled wooden spoon, then pour the polenta in, in a steady stream, stirring all the time. It's easiest to do this if you put the polenta in a jug first. Lower the heat, and keep stirring to stop lumps from forming as the polenta thickens. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Pour the polenta into the dish and leave to cool while you make the sauce. Soften the onion in the olive oil, add the mushrooms and beans, the spices, herbs and then the tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 mins. Pour the sauce on top of the polenta and sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes: Risotto

BUTTERNUT RISOTTO

'Very nice, tasty dish,' I've noted in the margin of my recipe notebook. It's easy, too, and children like it. A food processor is a must for grating the squash though, otherwise it takes forever!

2 tbsp olive oil, 1 large onion, finely chopped, 330g (2 cups) risotto rice, medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and grated, 1 litre (1 3/4 cups) vegetable stock, 2 tsp dried oregano or marjoram, 50g (1/3 cup)Taleggio cheese, grated/shredded, salt and pepper.

Serves 4: In a large saucepan, soften the onion in the oil. Add the rice and stir round to coat with oil. Add the grated squash and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes to heat through. Sprinkle over the herbs. You can add a glass of white wine at this stage to add flavour, in which case stir until it has evaporated. Then, over a medium heat, start gradually adding the hot stock, stirring continuously, and letting all the stock be absorbed before you add more. Continue to add stock and stir like this until the rice is cooked and tender – about 10-15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, stir through the grated cheese, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

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Click here for more recipes: a versatile Stuffed Pepper recipe and a tasty Stuffed Mushroom recipe.