Vegetarian ideas

[shish]

Ds now ii months and definatley not liking steamed vegies anymore!!! Can't blame him really. Quite happy to eat pasta, rice and daal/ curry, sandwiches. Not getting so well with jacket poatatoes and eggs(especially as eggs seem to go quite rubbery as they start to cool).. Any other vegetarian ideas?? I want him to be ably to eat a variety so he doesn't get bored

[Brangelina]

My DD loves falafel with yogurt or a tahini and lemon dip.

Ditto tofu o bean burgers.

I serve hoummous with breadsticks, DD fins them easier to handle and chew than veggies.

You can make your own breadsticks and/or cheese straws and add some ground nuts and seeds to make them more nutritous.

I also make rice rissole type things, with left over risotto shaped into croquettes, with or without egg, or rolled around some cheese, and pan fried.

For the eggs try an omelette - my DD won't touch eggs any other way. You could either make it like a Spanish tortilla, thick with potatoes, or an Italian frittata. I cut mine up in strips and serve it with marmite (or reduced salt Natex) on toast. Another option is eggy bread, which can be made sweet or savoury.

I'm sure I've made loads of other things but DD's going through a fussy stage at the moment and my repertoire is now limited.

HTH anyway.

[bitzermaloney]

brangelina - how do you make breadsticks please?

[Brangelina]

This recipe's from Veggie Food for Kids by Sara Lewis (great book). I've modified it a bit as hers contains rosemary which I can't stand and don't think DD does either (though she's never got to taste it, poor mite) and I found that adding ground almonds or cashews makes a nicer texture. You can experiment with loads of flavours (herbs, cheese, olives, spices, flours).
4 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds, ground
2 tbsp ground almonds (or cashews)
2 tbsp olive oil + some for brushing
750g. strong white flour ( or half white half wholemeal)
1 sachet dried yeast
500ml warm water

Mix the ground up seeds and nuts with 2 tbsp oil to make a paste. Put the flour in a bowl, add seed/nut paste, yeast and gradualy add water to make a soft dough. Knead well on a floured surface, then break off between 40 - 60 pieces, depending on how chunky you want your breadsticks. Roll out the pieces into 20cm long sausages, place on large oiled baking trays spaced well apart, brush with oil, cover and leave somewhere warm for 20mins to rise. When risen place in oven preheated to 220° for about 10 mins, then turn out to cool on wire racks. When cool keep some out for immediate consumption and place the rest in large freezer bags and freeze. I usually take a couple out just before I go and pick up DD from nursery and they're defrosted by the time I get back.

A word of warning - if you decide to do without the nuts or seeds, then you'll have to up the oil a bit to maintain the fat content otherwise the sticks won't rise. If you substitute with cheese you should be OK as Cheddar's quite fatty, depending on how much you use.

[bitzermaloney]

Great, thank you. Will make some of those!

[SpawnChorus]

There are some brilliant fingerfood type recipes on Aitch's blog here

The vegetable nuggets, lentil cakes and cheesy lentil wedges are highly recommended by DS

potato scones (minus the salt) are quite yummy. You can smother them in jam or almond nut butter.

Home made pizza is a big hit here.

DS adores houmous with pitta bread. Other lunchtime ideas are bagels with cream cheese and cucumber, french toast (eggy bread), cheesy omelette.

It's easy to make yummy pies with puff pastry. e.g. spinach and ricotta.

Home made chunky oven chips are easy and popular.

Hope that helps

[shish]

Thanks for the ideas..