Vege Meal Planners PLEASE HELP

[saywhatwhatnow]

I'm stuck in a very dull loop of meals and need some inspiration. Family of 3, 1 16month DS.

We only eat vegetarian, no quorn though as it gives DS tummy ache annoyingly, we ate it a lot before he came along. Please help with your top ideas/meals/recipes. The easier the better as I'm pregnant with DC 2 and working so time is tight.

If anyone's got a simple roasted veg lasagne recipe they recommend that would be helpful too.

I use the bags of frozen Mediterranean veg from Tesco and cook them in the oven then add to slow cooker with a home made Bolognese type sauce and loads of lentils or veggie mince (But you can omit this). I make a huge batch and freeze it as lasagne filling/spag bol or layer slices of sweet potato on it like a pie type made up dish.
Also Google falafel bake, it's a cauldren recipe and uses their falafels. Its epic. Again I make loads and freeze it. I use frozen peppers for ease or fresh if they need using up.

Veggie tray bake - aubergine, courgette, red pepper, red onion, squished garlic with a dash of red wine vinegar, big pinch of oregano and salt and pepper. Bake with foil for 35 mins at gas 6/7, take out put in some cherry tomatoes and goats cheese dotted around and a bit of balsamic glaze. We have this with homemade potato wedges.

Veggie tart - ready made puff pastry sheet, tuck in the sides to hold the items in. Brush with garlic oil. Asparagus, courgette, veggie sausage, tomatoes and bit of balsamic again and maybe some goats cheese too. Bake potatoes, half and scoop out middle, mix with creme fraiche and chives, put back into the potato skins and back into the oven for a while.

Nigella’s Mexican Lasagne recipe is fab, really easy to make and freezes well too:
www.nigella.com/recipes/mexican-lasagne

We also love Mary McCartney’s recipe for black bean burgers, again I tend to make a big batch of these and freeze some after shaping them for another time:
www.meatfreemondays.com/recipes/black-bean-burgers/

I’m a veggie who has managed to marry a s raise hardcore meat eaters! My life is an on going struggle of finding mutually agreeable meals!
Roast veg and haloumi is a new favourite. Veggie toad in the hole (Cauldron veggie sausages are much kinder to the digestion than Quorn).

I haven't tried this one yet but I'd pinned this savory vegetarian mince recipe which looks pretty quick and easy to make.I quite like her site actually for quick, comfort food type meals. This creamy three bean stew is lovely on a winters day.

My DH doesn’t like mushrooms either but you can’t taste them in the bean burgers so he’s happy!

I also use tinned green lentils in place of mince in shepherds pie, bolognaisse etc.

@saywhatwhatnow I usually use fresh but I've used dry too I just prefer not to have the faff of soaking them. Cos I'm lazy .

DS recently turned veggie and I made a list of all the dinner we can eat. I never spend more than 30 mins on school night food so most of these are that easy:

Pasta dishes:
Pasta pomodoro with roast peppers and grana padano
Pasta all'arrabiata with salad
Mixed macaroni & cauliflower (or Romanesco) cheese with grilled herb tomatoes
Mozzarella, sundried tomato and olive pasta bake
Blue or creamy cheese and walnut pasta with salad
Pumpkin tortelloni or ravioli with friend sage leaves and salad
Chilli and garlic pasta with broccoli or cauliflower

Veggie chilli made with mixed peppers, onions, courgettes and kidney beans, in a red wine and dark chocolate sauce with brown rice.

Veggie goulash (mixed peppers, shallots, carrots in smoky paprika and sour cream sauce)

Wraps with spicy sweetcorn and black turtle beans and brown rice, guacamole, salsa and sour cream or grated cheese

Egg (poached or friend) and sweet potato oven chips with peas and beans

Baked potatoes with various toppings: blue cheese and walnut or home made coleslaw or beans and melted cheese with salads

Stir fry with baby corns, sugar snaps, spring onions, cashews, soy, sweet chilli, ribbons of carrots and egg noodles.

Coconut satay curry: baby corns, sugar snaps, red and yellow peppers etc in a spiced peanut butter and coconut milk sauce with rice

Saag aloo, dahl and rice

aubergine curry and paratha naan breads

butternut squash, chickpea and smoky paprika risotto

mint, baby broad bean and pea risotto

ratatouille and garlic bread

I think with mushrooms it's often the texture people don't like whereas chopped up and with other ingredients and flavours they're fine.

I think it's "gosh" brand do really tasty sweet potato pakora, quinoa and sweetcorn bites and so on - theyre nice veggie sausage substitutes, and they taste nice for their ingredients, not because they're trying to be something else iyswim.

My go to is tins of chickpeas, butter beans or red kidney beans in place of meat in stews etc. I do a lot of curries and chillies.

If you're up for making your own veggie burgers this formula hasn't let me down so far. (Click through to the actual website not pinterest)

pin.it/3vhs3lu2xhga24

The Shroomdogs don't taste of mushrooms at all.

Re the 'Gosh' products, Aldi do their own range of similar items too which are pretty nice.

Chickpea tagine www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/healthy/moroccan-veg-and-chickpea-tagine/
Chilli bean con carne
Lentil ragu with vegan Parmesan www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1139652/lentil-rag
Falafel www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5605/falafel-burgers
Chickpea curry
Satay curry www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/satay-sweet-potato-curry
Lentil dhal
Bean stew www.madeleineolivia.co.uk/blog/easy-bean-stew
Tofu stir fry www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/simple-veggie-tofu-stir-fry/
Tofu fried rice www.cauldronfoods.co.uk/recipes/scrambled-tofu-fried-rice
Bean burgers www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/veggie_bean_burgers_for_53280
Shepherds pie realfood.tesco.com/recipes/vegan-shepherds-pie.html

Alas, I'm not much of a cook and not a veggie. However, I'd like to reduce meat consumption and love a good book, so recently bought The Garden to Kitchen Expert.

It isn't completely veggie (fair enough, it doesn't claim to be) but is v. v. veggie- centred - most of the recipes don't include meat. No subs either, which I don't like. Just packed to the brim with a wide selection of everyday recipes - soups, stews, curries, pizzas, bakes... Fruit section is full of sinful puds and nice short sections about herbs and edible flowers and weeds.

Lasagne

Preheat oven to 180/160fan/gas mark 4
Small oven dish

Heat olive oil on frying pan over medium heat
Crush garlic clove, add to oil with asparagus
Cook for two minutes
Stir in frozen peas and broad beans
Cook for another minute until peas and beans have thawed

Take pan off heat and chuck the greens into a bowl
Mix through pesto, lemon zest, 100g mascarpone, half the grated cheese, salt and pepper

Spoon a third of the mixture into oven dish
Top with two sheets of lasagne
Repeat process until all filling and pasta used up
For final layer, mix the remaining mascarpone with the milk
Pour over the top of the lasagne sheets and sprinkle over the remaining hard cheese

Bake for 35-40 mins

This also looks really nice.

The satay curry that RiceKrispie posted below is really lovely.

Roast beef

Two Autumn - Winter ideas

Bean casserole with casserole / root veg and dumplings

Vege cottage pie made using beans or lentils

Butterbean stew is a quick and easy one. I add either feta or a poached egg in at the end and you could serve with flatbreads.

Have you tried vivera ? It's lovely and great in fajitas and enchiladas etc ..

@Vikki69 that's my kind of meal! Unfortunately DH is a raised vege, didn't consider the lack of roast dinners when I married him.

Jamie O's veggie book is half price in lots of shops at the moment. It's got some nice things in, although relies too heavily on tinned tomatoes for my liking.