Last week, one of my friends that is married to a diabetic told me his doctor has recommended he eat a vegan meal twice a week. He must keep his calorie intake at 1800 calories and she asked me for ideas. I know the first thought is probably pasta but that isn’t a good choice because of the carb allowance each day. I immediately thought of my mexican salad that I like to make for us in the summer and I recommended it.
However, fellow bloggers and readers, do you have any suggestions as far as combinations that make good vegan meals? I do prepare a meatless meal once a week and it usually is some type of beans or pasta with vegetables. I always measure out portions with my pasta and never serve bread with the meal for my diabetic husband.
The Mexican salad I am sharing with you today started as a weight watchers recipe years ago and I have fine tuned it into a meal that is substantial because of the beans and the corn. We have been sweltering in the South for the past week so the best part about this salad is there is absolutely no cooking involved.
Mexican Bean Salad
This will serve two people for a main dish meal and as I did, you can adjust according to your tastes.
Start with a layer of mixed greens including lettuce and romaine on chilled plates.
Add: cucumber, tomato, onion, green pepper or sweet red pepper that has been cut into bite size pieces
The next step:
I drain and rinse a can of black beans and a can of whole kernel corn and add one half cup of each to the plates of greens
I add 4 ounces of cheese (monterey jack or cheddar) divided between the two salads (2 ounces per salad)
My next layer is salsa and that is my dressing for the salad. We also add a small amount of sour cream to our salad as a garnish.
I serve this with a toasted tortilla or tortilla chips.
We really enjoy this and it is very filling. It is a great treat on a hot summers day and you can use some of those wonderful fresh tomatoes that we love to eat this time of year.
Any other comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Happy Monday Everyone!
So Does That Mean I'm SOUTHERN? 
You could make suffed bell peppers with black beans and corn instead of meat. Bake or steam in tomatoe sauce and serve over cooked rice. Beans and rice complete the protein for the meal.
Thanks for a wonderful suggestion. This also helps with what to do with an abundant supply of bell peppers during the summer growing season. I will definitely try this!
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Great suggestion!
I decided to try my hand at cooking my own black beans to freeze……we use alot of black beans. I was very surprised to see how much water the beans soaked up before cooking. I froze the beans in quart containers. After thawing they cook up and taste just like the canned…..just a whole lot cheaper!
Thanks for that great suggestion. I had never thought of that. Dale loves stuffed peppers and I had never thought of using black beans and corn instead of meat but I am going to give that a try too.
I eat a mostly vegetarian diet with at least two vegan meals per week and it’s easier than one might think to cook up a delicious meal with no animal products. I’m a pescetarian (I eat fish but no meat) but my brother is a vegan and I like to cook vegan meals sometimes anyway. :)
A vegan diet includes no animal products whatsoever, so no cheese or eggs either.
Some ideas for simple vegan meals include:
Rice with stirfried vegetables and marinated tofu
Vegetable soup (made with veg broth) — all kinds of variations, including carrot and coriander soup, sweetcorn chowder, sweet potato and butternut squash soup…..
French onion soup — veggie version
Butternut squash risotto
Eggplant roasted in the oven with a sauce made from chopped onions, garlic, oregano and canned tomatoes, served with rice or millet.
Bean stew (something like this maybe: http://culturallife.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/blog-challenge-recipe-3-honduran-cuisine)
Roast potato wedges served with a simple tomato coulis.
Vegan chili — this one is good: http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/soupschilistews/r/3beanchili.htm
Indian red lentil dhal (such as this one: http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/soupschilistews/r/lentildahl.htm) — this is very simple and takes about 25 minutes to make. The red lentils provide protein and I serve it with basmati rice and some lightly steamed veg on the side.
Hope that is helpful and gives you some “food for thought”. :)
Grace: Thanks for your input and these are great suggestions and are very helpful. I try to make a meatless meal at least once a week and you have certainly shared some great options.