Black bean tacos. Whatever you do with beef, use a can of black beans instead

This is not my native language and I’m too lazy to translate whole recipies, so here are just a few tips:

• Cook yellow lentils with vegetable stock to make a creamy sauce, add more stuff and seasoning to taste
• Red lentils stay a bit harder and replace minced meat very well
• Brown lentils with smoked tofu, leek, potatoes, celery and carrots make a great German lentil soup
• Find a recipe for bean chili
• Look for potato and pumpkin-curry
• Throw lentils and chickpeas or beans into tomato sauces and see what you like. There are no rules, I put beans or lentils in every meal!
• Make a fresh salad and toss in cold pasta and beans for a real meal

I really like misr wat. If you can find the berbere spice mix and red lentils I highly recommend it.

I like emerald dol.

Rinse, then soak 1.5 cups of dried lentils for at least 20 mins.

Bring to boil then cover and simmer for 15 minutes in 3.5 cups of water (I just soak them in the pot and turn on the burner). Add 0.5 tsp of salt, turmeric, and chili powder at start of simmer.

Add 1 lb of chopped spinach (I use the frozen blocks for this, basically leave it simmering while they thaw, stirring occasionally to break up the blocks quicker).

In a separate pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter (or whatever equivalent butter-like substance), I add a bit of coconut oil also because I don’t have coconut milk and generally use almond milk instead, so the oil gives it some if that coconut flavour. Chop up an onion and add it to the butter. I also add some fresh garlic and pickled minced ginger, but these are modifications I’ve made to the recipe.

Add 1 tsp of mustard seed and cumin (I use whole cumin seeds but powdered also works).

When the onions are done to your liking (recipe says when they are translucent, but I personally like fresh onions so don’t always cook them that much), add in 0.5 cups of coconut or almond milk (or whatever, even dairy milk would probably work well if we weren’t avoiding it), plus 1 tsp of garam masala and mix all that in to the lentil/spinach pot.

It’s pretty much done at this point, but I’ll keep the (low) heat going for a bit. Watch the moisture level, it should have a consistency of a thick stew.

Put some naan bread in the oven @400 F for ~10 minutes or to however cooked you prefer it. I like to break off pieces and spoon some dol on top as I eat. You can dip it, but it’s too runny to pick up a lot that way.

All measurements are suggestions; pretty sure I use more than that for the spices and one package of frozen spinach blocks is a bit less than a pound (500g).

It scales up pretty well (I usually do a double batch) and freezes well.

India has a lot of vegetarians and a lot of foods that don’t just try to be vegetarian versions of meat dishes, so I suggest checking out more Indian recipes if you’d like more options.

Chicken broth + lentils + whatever veggies you got lying around = tasty as shit soup

Just make sure to wash the lentils first

And to REALLY up your game use a mirepoix as the base.

I love hummus, too!

• Try black beans and edamame, they are more crunchy.
• Try different brands and put small amounts in every meal until you get used to it.
• Buy a pressure cooker and cook dried beans yourself. The are cheaper und the texture is so much better! You can cook more than you need and put them in the freezer for later use.

You can roast them in an airfryer. Chickpeas in particular come out well that way.

Whole chickpeas do have a disagreeable texture. Black beans and edamame don’t squick me the same way, so maybe give them a try if you haven’t already?

There are several recipes that call for mashed chickpeas. Especially sandwishes.

You can make burger patties with mashed beans or mashed chickpeas, and another ingredient that holds it together such as crumbled bread.

When you have cooked black beans, you can blend them, with onions, garlic, salt, and romarino, and use them as filling for soft maize tacos, with spicy sauce. I’ve also been meaning to try them as a dip for maize chips, haven’t done that yet.

There’s also something weird that I sometimes do, in that I’ve never heard of anyone else doing that or seen any recipe for that, it’s just something I do: I blend romano beans into a pizza sauce. I put a generous amount of sauce on my pizza, and lot of vegetables. I love my pizzas like this and it makes for a complete meal with protein.