Hapari’s Favorite Vegetarian Recipes

Today we’re featuring a few of our favorite vegetarian recipes for delicious and healthy meals. Now, in full disclosure, I eat a vegetarian diet myself, so I love vegetarian recipes and fully advocate eating more veggies. A well-planned vegetarian diet doesn’t just mean excluding meat from ones diet; it means eating healthy  and nutritious meals utilizing natural protein sources.

According to an article in Women’s Health Magazine, Dr. Rachel K. Johnson, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association and professor of Nutrition and Medicine at the University of Vermont, also advocates eating less meat saying, “ Fatty red meats and many processed meats are high in saturated fat, which raises LDL (bad) cholesterol and increases risk of coronary heart disease.”

Ready to try a veggie recipe? If you haven’t had a vegetarian meal in a while, try these three recipes - you might be surprised by how delicious (and healthy) they are!

Crispy Quinoa Patties

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 3 large scallions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup steamed spinach
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pan. Add 1 cup washed and uncooked quinoa once water is boiling. Cook quinoa for 20 minutes or until the grains are soft and tender.

Combine eggs, parmesan cheese, scallions, garlic, salt, spinach, bread crumbs and olive oil into a large bowl. Mix together and add cooked quinoa. Let sit for a few minutes. Once the mixture is pliable but not runny, pack together patties on a cooking sheet. Fry patties in a skillet for 8-10 minutes on each side.

Baked Zucchini Sticks

Ingredients

• 4 zucchini
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp parsley leaves
• ½ cup parmesan
• ½  tsp thyme
• ½  tsp oregano
• ½  tsp dried basil
• ¼  tsp garlic powder
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of ground black pepper

Directions Rinse and quarter zucchini lengthwise. Combine parsley, parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix until blended thoroughly. Place zucchini on a sprayed cooking sheet and drizzle olive oil onto each stick. Sprinkle mixture from the small bowl onto zucchini stick. Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

Parmesan Spinach Balls

Ingredients

• 20 oz. frozen spinach
• 2 onions
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 6 eggs
• 2 ¼ cups stuffing with herbs
• ½ cup butter

Directions Combine all ingredients, mix until well combined. Pack together 1” balls or size to liking. Spray cooking sheet with non-stick spray and place spinach balls on sheet 2” apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until edges are slightly crispy and center is thoroughly cooked.

We hope you enjoy these recipes for healthy, nutritious meal ideas! Have a favorite recipe you’d like to tell us about? Write in ideas and tips via our comments section, we’d love to share it with the Hapari community. Also, we put together an article on the 5 super foods that everyone should know so be sure to read that as well.

Want more recipe ideas like this? Check out these similar blog posts: Homemade Popsicles, Delicious Kettlecorn Recipe, and Easy Three-Course Brunch.