Teen wants less meat more plants but so fussy!

[ArabellaPilkington]

Family of four, DC aged 12 & 15.

15 yo watched film at school and finally ready to cut down his protein intake. We currently eat a lot of chicken based meals, usually very flavourful and or spicy as both DH and DS have indelicate taste buds.

I'd love to eat more fish but DD not keen. Don't want to get into situation where I'm making more than one meal.

Apart from stir fries and pasta, can anyone recommend any great family vegetarian favourites?

Here's what one or other won't eat:
Mushrooms
Aubergines
Avocados
Olives
Goats cheese
Blue cheese

DS not a big fan of tomato based pasta sauces but suspect he'd run with an arrabiata type flavour.

[Veterinari]

Plenty of veg curry recipes
Mutter panneer
Dahl
Veg chilli
Lentil strews
Shakshouka
Look at Asian and Mexican cuisines

[ArabellaPilkington]

Thank you! I'll def look at more Asian

DS also won't eat pulses so no lentils, chickpeas, black beans etc

Or squash/pumpkin

[Ricekrispie22]

Egg fried rice
Frittata/quiche
Toad in the hole with veggie sausages
Veggie pizza
Greek filo pie www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4540/crispy-greekstyle-pie-

[TeaForDad]

We just had aldi cauliflower sausages and they're really nice

[SunnySomer]

We are doing similar. Sunday we had leeks baked in a cheese sauce with mozzarella on top. Yesterday we had griddled halloumi and asparagus with salad and new potatoes and a minty/garlicky/spicy dressing. Tonight we had ratatouille with baked eggs and sourdough toast.
It’s a bit cheese heavy at the moment- DS is trying to come to terms with the absence of meat.

[PineappleTart]

At 15 I'd encourage him to cook his own meals

[CountFosco]

At 15 I'd encourage him to cook his own meals

This, but actually get him to find recipes that he likes the look of and get him to cook for the whole family once a week.

[RangerLady]

Sweet.potato and sage risotto
Risotto with tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket if cheese is allowed!
Shame about the aubergine as Hugh FW vegeree is nice.
Cous cous with peppers, broccoli, Moroccan spices and halloumi. It's from one of those little BBC good food books, meals for 2 maybe.

[Baloonphobia]

We're trying the same here. I've come to the conclusion that aubergine is the devil's vegetable. Just no redeeming it.

[ArabellaPilkington]

He's not a bad cook and does cook for us sometimes but don't want to encourage anything that takes him away from revision atm!

DH & I love aubergine. I made a fabulous baba ganoush the other day but man what a faff. Kids won't touch it tho.

Just made a stir fry and had way less chicken in it and more veg, which seemed to go down well.

Halloumi is a good call, he loves that. And any Korean or egg fried rice type thing.

[winterisstillcoming]

My husband is an fussy vegetarian and he likes

Most curries
Veggie fajitas/burritos/enchiladas
Stir fries
Halloumi wraps
Veggie pizzas/lasagnes/cannelloni
Homemade veggie burgers
Falafel
Veggie shepherds pie.

[Lahlahfizzyfizzydoda]

I’m not a vegetarian, but what about:

Cauliflower curry, served with roti’s/chapatis (I use the frozen ones and dry fry them when needed) and salad.

Cauliflower pasta cheese bake. You could top this with spicy breadcrumbs and have with a salad.

Puff pastry tarts with salad

Oven roasted veg (carrots/Red onions/parsnips) Toad in the hole. Served with mash and veg (you could even use vegi sausages and bake the meat ones separately).

Homemade pizza (then everyone can choose their own topping)

[wineymummy]

Have a look at Anna Jones's recipes. A Modern Way to Eat is my bible. Black bean, lime and chipotle tacos are delicious. And her recipe for dahl made with coconut milk and served with spinach and sweet potato. You just don't miss the meat and it's easier to be low-cheese with her recipes because they're so flavoursome.

[AntheaTrifid]

@wineymummy is the book good for families? I'd love a family veggie cookbook, there's 5 of us so need recipes that stretch quite far without costing a lot more!

[wineymummy]

Yes I think so - lots of recipes with beans etc which adds bulk, there's not many I can think of which are tofu/quorn/cheese heavy. Lots targeted at vegans too. By the way I am not a vegetarian but really don't miss meat when we eat these meals. She has a weekly column in the Guardian/Observer so you could find lots of her recipes online and try them out before buying the book.

[NHSPension]

Sam Stern has written a vegetarian cook book. So far our family have loved all his recipes.

[Taffeta]

Ooh Sam Stern veggie book sounds interesting. What recipes have worked for you from it?

[EvaHarknessRose]

Same situation here.

I would really recommend the original Bosh cookbook which I have just bought (reduced to £8 on Amazon) my teen is salivating over it and they have teen friendly videos online.

Also have a look at the website Forks over Knives it is an amazing recipe resource.

Both have facebook groups too.

[hopefulhalf]

Dd is veggie;
Hm veggie burgers
Spicey cauliflower pasta
tomato rissotto
veg lasange
omelette
veg pad thai (with peanuts)
veggie sausages with mash

[ArabellaPilkington]

Bosh! Looks FAB, thank you and a bargain!

I've ordered it and will give to DS once his exams are over so he can cook for us from it

[AdaColeman]

Pasta Primavera
Vegetable Paella
Asparagus and pea risotto

[NHSPension]

@Taffeta Sam Stern’s spanakopita is heavenly - way more garlic than I would have used but teen followed recipe to the letter and it was delicious. Will have to look at book to recommend other recipes but that one stood out.

Have been cooking spanakopita for years and never made it so good.

[NHSPension]

Also I find if I chop veg to a similar size it’s better received by teens. So for example pepper, courgette, onions, carrots chopped to the size of a pea with black beans and sweetcorn, tinned tomatoes and stock. Add to pasta or rice / quinoa or in wraps.

[stucknoue]

Quorn enchiladas are a firm favourite here, do lots of veggie curries (I cook 3-4 so one meat/fish/panneer rest veggie), but my advice is everyone learns to embrace beans, so versatile, cheap and nutritious!

[Coronapop]

Compromise as much as possible and encourage teen to cook, say 2 or 3 times a week. You could also allocate a budget for the meals they are cooking, and ask them to shop for those meals.
IME teenage expectations are significantly reduced once they go to uni.