Low[er] Carb Vegetarian Foods
Let me start by saying that I’m not suddenly promoting some low carb/no carb diet thing. I love my carbohydrates and I’d never ever give them up, but a common pitfall of vegetarianism is eating nothing but carbs. It’s happens. I’m totally guilty of it because I think bread/pasta/granola/crackers are delicious and because sometimes that’s just the easy thing.
So I started poking around the internet for some low carb vegetarian dishes but I couldn’t find much. As soon as you search for “low carb foods” you either get a link to the Atkins diet or a huge list of meat. Bummer.
After some extensive research (hah) and lots of cauliflower-substitute recipes, I put together a list of foods and recipes that can help you balance out a vegetarian diet with protein and fats. (I also found an “oatmeal” substitute that used chia, flax meal, and coconut instead of oats… which ended up being over 800 calories. What?!) The thing is, every food is made up of 3 things: Carbohydrates, Protein, or Fat. So if it’s high in carbs, then it’s lower in protein and fat. Make sense?
Here are some of my personal favorite low[er] carb vegetarian foods:
My goal is to make some new recipes containing some of those ingredients, which means more (healthy) fats and lots more protein!
If you’re interested in these types of recipes, I actually have a few on the blog already:
Avocado Egg Cups– high in healthy fats, protein, and deliciousness.
Spaghetti Squash Bake– my very favorite spaghetti swap and an easy way to use up fresh veggies.
 Parmesan Tomato Soup– A super easy recipe for grilled cheese’s best friend.
Stay tuned for some high protein, higher fat recipes coming soon!
I was thinking by reading the title that most low carb are so high protein. Those avocado egg cups look fabulous. I would love to try them.
It’s funny, I am neither low carb or vegetarian…but I love eating all the things on that list. 🙂 All good healthy choices. Yummy!
Ohhh, I’m liking the looks of that tomato soup. That would be a great way to use my garden tomatoes. I’ll have to check that out.
I highly recommend this cauliflower ‘alfredo’ sauce! It’s amazing! You can omit any butter or cheese if you want to make it healthier. I’ve used it on pasta, pizza, meats, veggies, and more! http://www.oursemiorganiclife.com/2013/07/cauliflower-sauce.html
Yum!! I’ll definitely try this one out! (Great seeing you this weekend!)
Great common sense here. Wish I’d thgouht of that.
Oh, I need to try that spaghetti squash bake! I already love spaghetti squash.
Spaghetti squash bake… YUM! I will definitely need to try that recipe!
I eat a lot of carbs and find I do better on them versus a diet higher in protein. However, the majority of my diet is complex carbs so I don’t pay much attention to the grams of carbohydrate I consume. It works for me. I made cauliflower rice though a week or so ago and it was good!
I’m sure with all the running you do, your body need them!
I’ve never seen a more divine looking spaghetti squash bake photo before 🙂 Thanks for sharing the list, Liz.
Great list! I especially love spaghetti squash and avocado. I love veggie frittatas as a low-carb meal!
Great list, Liz! I hate that the mention of low-carb often comes with a taboo- sometimes low carb meals are needed to balance out the rest of the day of eats! One of my favorite low carb veg meals is a sesame tofu stir fry with crushed nuts- lots of protein, fiber & healthy fats to kepe you full!
Yummmm!!! That sounds so good!!
I actually include a lot of these in my meals, because I love a lot of my carbs, but sometimes I need something that is not going to sit so heavy in my stomach. Lots of my meatless mondays use these recipes (by the way I am doing a linkup for meatless monday this monday 28th, if you, or any readers want to join in?)
Here are two recipes I love 🙂
http://www.tinamuir.com/2014/04/meatless-monday-mango-and-sweet-potato.html
http://www.tinamuir.com/2013/11/goats-cheese-spaghetti-squash-pasta.html
Oh awesome!! Thank you for sharing these recipes!! I love carbs so it’s nice to have recipes that balance things out a little more!!