I went vegetarian when I was in high school, and I learned how to cook vegetarian while in college.
I think the best purchase I ever made was a food processor. You can make pesto for pasta or pizza (pesto > marinara, but you can probably make your own marinara sauce too). You can make your own hummus or babaghanoush (you could also try making your own falafel, but I usually go for the mix). You can make your own salsa, which I think is way better than the stuff in jars, and way cheaper than the stuff in plastic tubs. All you need is a can of beans and some tortillas and you have tacos.
Basically, you can make tasty stuff to put on boring stuff.
I tried making a margarita in it when my blender died. I don't recommend this.
If you like Indian or Thai food you should look into Tasty Bite. If your supermarket doesn't have them, you can order them online. They're pretty good for $2 to 3 each, and most of their stuff is vegan.
http://www.tastybite.com/