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No one can deny that consuming less meat, especially the intensive farming kind, is a positive habit. If we were to skip eating meat just one day a week, not only is it healthier for you, it’ll help out the planet a whole lot.
While you’re out smashing deadlines and meeting quotas, we’ve found delicious and healthy meat-free recipes for you to try. And who doesn’t like having Asian food for dinner? Chinese, Cantonese, Indian, Indonesian, we’ve got your back. Here are ten delicious Asian-inspired green recipes to help you eat delicious dinners AND reduce your carbon footprint.
1. Vegetarian Pho
Given that pho is eaten for breakfast, it’s sort of like Vietnamese cereal, right? But really though, who is going to deny themselves a delicious bowl of pho at any given hour of the day? Pho (pronounced fuh, not faux) is traditionally made with beef broth but the folks at Vegetarian Times swap that out with vegetable broth instead made with onion, garlic and spices. Throw in noodles, herbs and tofu and you’ve got yourself a delectable dinner.
Get The Recipe: Vegetarian Pho
2. Veggie Tofu Stir Fry
Jazzing up a basic dish like stir fry, our fave Minimalist Baker gives us some helpful hints to avoid cooking soggy tofu (yuck!). After letting the tofu dry, bake it at a high temperature to brown it and then dry it some more. This will allow the bean curd to soak up the delicious sauce you’re cooking in.
Get The Recipe: Veggie Tofu Stir Fry
3. Vegetarian Mee Goreng
A traditional Indonesian noodle dish normally made with meat and shrimp, we love this plant-based Mee Goreng from Oh My Veggies made especially great thanks to the author’s awesome tip: squeeze some lime juice on your noodles before serving to balance out the sweetness from the sauce!
Get The Recipe: Mee Goreng with Tofu and Bok Choy
4. Chinese Chive Frittata
We absolutely love the recipes from The Woks of Life and this Chinese take on Italian frittata is a great way to break up the monotony of noodles or tofu. PSA: garlic chives are easy to find at any wet market or grocery store around the city, and they are super crunchy and delicious. Quick, easy, and ho fai, pair it with some rice and you’re good to go.
Get The Recipe: Chinese Chive Frittata
5. Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Crispy Baked Tofu with Honey-Sesame Glaze
Cookie and Kate makes this awesome vegetarian dish, combining caramelized brussel sprouts with extra crispy tofu and brown rice, smothered with an amazing sweet-and-spicy glaze for a perfect weeknight meal.
Get The Recipe: Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Crispy Baked Tofu with Honey-Sesame Glaze
6. General Tso’s Tofu
General Tso’s chicken gets a lot of love from menu takeouts, but this sweet, piquant meatless version from the folks at The Kitchn will win hearts. Just substitute tofu, throw in veggies and stir fry with some sauces (and a touch of ketchup!) and you’ll see!
Get The Recipe: General Tso’s Tofu
7. Chickpeas in Turmeric and Peanut Butter Curry
We are loving this Indian curry from Vegan Richa’s vast vegan recipe index. Switch things up with a peanut or almond butter sauce with Indian spices, seasonal veggies and turmeric, and you have yourself some lush curry teeming with freshness and flavor.
Get The Recipe: Chickpeas in Turmeric and Peanut Butter Curry
8. Shiitake Mushroom Brown Rice with Crispy Ginger
This simple recipe of rice and shiitake mushrooms is a popular East Asian dish but we love how Season and Spice uses fresh ginger cut into thin matchsticks and then fried to add as a garnish. The oil from the ginger is then used to flavor the entire dish. Paging our childhood!
Get The Recipe: Shiitake Mushroom Brown Rice with Crispy Ginger
9. Sweet and Sour Cauliflower
Not gonna lie, sweet and sour pork is our guilty pleasure. Arguably the most well-known Chinese recipe in the world, we are all about The Veg Life’s vegan take on this classic dish using a vegan version of buttermilk (almond milk + vinegar). This is a must-try!
Get The Recipe: Sweet and Sour Cauliflower
10. Quinoa Fried Rice
This gorgeous dish packs quite a healthy punch – in addition to being gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian, all the ingredients used from Girl Makes Food are a great source of magnesium, namely soybeans, spinach and quinoa.
Get The Recipe: Quinoa Fried Rice
Lead image courtesy of Vegetarian Times.
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