Healthy, easy vegetarian recipes I can make ahead and freeze?

Do you have a crockpot? I do crockpot meals every weekend and we always have enough for another night's dinner (2 adults, 1 child) and it is super-easy. You just throw whatever vegetables you like into the crockpot along with some spices, and then set it on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Couple recipes I like: Veggie stew: carrots, zucchini, black beans, chard, onion, kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, turmeric, oregano, salt, pepper -- add a bit of jalapeno or chili powder to bump up the hot. Yummy stew: black beans, sweet potatoes, chik'n (I use actual chicken but I bet you could do some kind of TVP or even just tofu), onion, garlic, allspice, paprika, black pepper, salt.

Seconding what somethingsomething said--I make a variation of this all the time but use white cannelini beans and add either spinach or swiss chard (I like rainbow). The chard in particular--and I don't know what it is about it--is really savory and I've found it to be a really good, filling alternative to meat in these types of recipes. Chop up the stalks and sautee it with the onions (it takes a while, and you want it nice and soft), then chop up the leaves and add them towards the end. Soups/chilis in general are your best friend in this scenario. You should also check out this piece on The Kitchn (love that site)--sounds right up your alley. http://www.thekitchn.com/ideas-for-vegetarian-meals-that-freeze-wellrecipe-questions-167265

Try http://thestonesoup.com/blog/. I made http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/05/how-to-stock-a-minimalist-pantry/ chickpea dish with rooster sauce instead of crushed pepper (scroll for recipe). First time I made it, I forgot to add the almonds. It was really good anyway and with a side of microwaved frozen broccoli florets, it made me two meals. It took about fifteen minutes, but that was long because my stove is slow to heat. (I also really like it with the texture and crunch added by the almonds--if you can tolerate peanuts, I bet they would be delicious substitutes with the sriracha. Edamame out of the pod might be tasty, too. She always has a lot of variation suggestions. My current kitchen/pantry set up is suboptimal for cooking/clean-up, I have severe ADHD, and I share with two other people.)

Since you like Indian, make up some dal. Super easy to make and freezes very well. The recipe I have is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran. I've typed it up for a friend, so I have it handy. I make this A LOT. 1 cup pink lentils, washed 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon salt or to taste 4 cups water add these ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil and skim off the foam once it starts boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 30 minutes. Add water if you like a thinner dal later in the cooking. When you have about 10 minutes left to cook, start making the tempering oil: 2 1/2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 whole dried red chilies 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 fresh hot green chile, minced 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper heat the oil with the cumin seeds in a small pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring until it turns a light brown color, about 1-2 minutes. Add the dried chilies, ginger, garlic, green chile and cook, stirring, until the garlic no longer smells raw, about 30 -60 seconds. Remove from fire and add the cayenne and sprinkle some water in to stop the cooking. Stir this into the dal pot and add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and 1/2 juice of lime or lemon and you're all set. I play around with this recipe a lot by adding more cilantro, garlic, ginger and chilies. Usually I need a bit more salt, too.

I've brought this up so many times here on the green but chili is great for this (especially if you have a crockpot). Soak about a pound of beans overnight, in the morning add in some canned tomatoes, diced green peppers, onions, maybe mushrooms, whatever veggies sound good, along with some seasoning (I'm lazy and just use one or two chili seasoning packets). Cook in low on the crockpot all day. Freezes great, and you can also make a box of macaroni to add in for chili mac when the plain chili starts driving you batty.

I'm also a fan of soups. Mark Bittman has recipes for http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06eat-t.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage. I'm also obsessed with this http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/sweet-potato-ancho-chili-soup. It's also easy to cook up a bunch of black beans, season them (cumin, cilantro, onions, garlic, oregano) and freeze them and make rice the day of. Oh and then you can use any leftover rice the next day to make stir-fried rice with ginger, garlic, onions, any frozen veggies you have that are appropriate, and soy sauce:)

Cabbage and Lentil Dall 7oz red split lentils 2 pints water 1/2 tsp turmeric 5 tbsp veg oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 2-4 cloves garlic 3oz onions - sliced 8 oz shredded cabbage 1-2 fresh green chillies 1/2- 1 tsp salt 4oz tomatoes 1/2 tsp fresh ginger - grated Boil lentils in water - remove scum, add turmeric and stir, simmer with lid ajar for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Heat oil in frying pan, add cumin, few seconds later add garlic, brown slightly then add onion, cabbage, chillies, fry 10 mins till brown and slightly crispy, add 1/4 tsp salt, remove from heat. When lentils are cooked, add salt, tomato, ginger, stir. Cover and cook for 10 mins more, add cabbage mixture, simmer for 2-3 mins more. Serve or freeze.

Step 1: Get a slow cooker. BUT WHY?! - It's so much easier to make large quantities and freeze them the recipes are typically straightforward - if it's not "chop everything and put it in the slow cooker" - - it'll probably be "chop everything, brown the onions and put it in the slow cooker". - freeze well since they're mostly in the stews/soups/curries genre

I should mention, with that Dall, we often double up on everything and its fine, any more and you will struggle (i) to get all the cabbage into brown in one go and (ii) will need a huge pan for the final mix.