Vegetarian meal ideas

[vigilant20]

I'm looking for some frugal meal ideas.

My hurdles: I'm vegetarian. I cook for myself, but enjoy having some leftovers. I can't do once a month cooking because my apartments freezer burns everything within 2 weeks.

I'm thinking of figuring out the cost of the ones I try and posting them in case they help anyone else.

[StaceyS]

I'm in the same boat. Do you know how to can? I make batches of dried beans and pressure can them in small jars, so I can open one at a time. It's rather convenient. I chose to have a smaller fridge and find canning helps me a lot.

[lwlynch]

I made a great eggplant pharm.. I peeled the eggplant, and cut in thin disks, breaded and fryed in a small layer of olive oil. Layed them in my crockpot, then sauce, a bit of cheese until the top and put just sauce on it. Left it on low for an hour or so.. It was already cooked, more or less to keep it ready for dinner. It was very good. I saved the leftover and put on top of a pizza crust. mmmm If I think of any more I will let you know.. I love to cook...

[Judi Dial]

Anna Thomas' Vegetarian Epicure, vol. 2. We make the chiquales a lot, but that uses eggs and milk. See if your library has her books, or the Moosewood cookbook, if you haven't already.

If you don't mind cheese, here's one of ours standards:

Chop a tomato (or two) or cut it up in a bowl to catch all the juices.

Saute a minced clove of garlic and/or chopped onion or shallot in a little oil (I usually use olive oil.). If you use the onion/shallot, saute them first, then add the garlic. You want the onions to be transluscent before you add the garlic.

When you add the garlic, stir it into the hot oil for a very short time, then add the chopped tomato. Cook until the tomatoes "melt" and give up their juices.

Stir into hot pasta* so to coat lightly with the sauce. Serve with generous portions of fresh grated parmesan cheese.

The most expensive part of this is the cheese. You can us Asiago or Italian Grating Cheese if those are available cheaper.

*I usually use spaghetti, spaghettini, but I've used angel hair, orzo, almost anything that isn't a really large pasta.

Recipe serves 2 adults 1 main course. We usually eat salad with it.

Judi