Veggie recipes your kids love?

[Proustianmoments]

We recently became vegetarian as a family and are trying out lots of new recipes - we've got loads of books (Green Roasting Tin, Jamie Veg, World Vegetarian...) which are great but one or other of the kids (primary age) turns their nose up at maybe 80% of the dishes, which is obviously not great. They prefer Quorn nuggets etc but we obviously can't live on those.

What are your favourite veggie recipes that your kids love? Midweek/quick/easy would be great but more involved recipes welcome too. :)

Another fan of the burnt aubergine chilli here! There’s also a recipe in Jamie Oliver’s Veg book for green pancakes... a basic pancake mix with spinach blended in to make it green, topped with cottage cheese and a tomato/avocado salad which I imagine would go down well with kids.

We’re veggie so it’s all toddler DD knows but her favourite meals are:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pesto-courgette-pasta-bake

Tapas of homemade hummus, carrot rappee, butter beans in tomato sauce, dolmades (tinned, incredible!) and halloumi

www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2013/10/spinach-and-coconut-dal.html Ditch the chilli powder and add garlic granules and it’s not spicy but very flavourful, so easy to make, freezes a dream

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/vegetarian_sausage_69628 We use Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages and I add an extra tin of beans. It’s so versatile. We’ve had it with rice, roast potatoes, naan, flatbreads.

www.talesfromthekitchenshed.com/2016/06/easy-bombay-potatoes/ These go with most things. Mild curry powder makes it tasty but not spicy. Lovely with dal.

We have homemade tomato soup about once a week. It’s from a book but there’ll be similar recipes around. Onion, carrots, garlic, tinned toms, stock, tomato purée, dried herbs, simmer for as long as possible then whizz.

Veggie spag bol - I use Morrison’s own brand veggie mince which is top notch. The bol is great with all sorts of things including lasagne

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cauliflower-egg-potato-curry This looks bizarre but it works! Use a mild curry paste

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spicy-falafels With pitta, hummus or tzatziki

I still haven’t made the chilli @PurpleDaisies

Whenever these threads pop up I remember it and how much you love it and how I have to finally make it! I’ll be eating it for weeks as DH has never liked aubergine, wouldn’t even eat babaganoush I slaved over, the philistine, and my mum is boycotting the deadly nightshade family…

Pizza never needs a meat topping.
Pasta never needs meat with it.
Soup never needs any meat, substitute any recipe with a non meat alternative.
Baked potatoes and cottage cheese is a good one for kids, or in fact any non meat topping.
Veggie bangers and mash with veg gravy.
Linda McCartney veg pies served with mash and gravy.

For special occasions we sometimes have whole roast dinners, roast potatoes, carrot, parsnip, peas and have a veg burger or nut roast with it. Bung it all in the oven and serve with sauces and extras. lovely.
People frown on nut roast a bit, but Holland and Barrett do a lovely one really quick and easy to make.

Family favourites that my 3 year old will eat:
Lentil Dahl with rice and chapatis
Mushroom risotto
Mushroom stroganoff with broccoli and rice
Jacket potatoes (especially with beans and cheese or cheese and coleslaw)
Veggie Richmond sausages and mash or toad in the hole.
Mousakka or Shepard’s pie with lentils instead of mince
Quorn chicken nuggets, sweet and sour sauce with stir fry veg on the side and boiled rice.

Following

Have a look on Facebook for Tasty- they do all kinds of great meals, vegetarian, vegan and with meat. They’re great for everyday. For chilli, I’ve found if you add a little grated dark chocolate it really helps deepen the flavour (and who doesn’t love chocolate)

So many great ideas thank you all! I should add some meals that have worked well for us:

foodism.co.uk/recipes/rukmini-iyer-vegetarian-gado-gado/ (a bit spicy but kids can take/leave the sauce, is really delicious)

Chickpea pancakes from world vegetarian (not spicy, really fun)

Bangers and mash with veggie sausages, always a winner :)

Incredible burgers from co-op - cheap and delicious

Jackfruit burritos: www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/v/vegan-jackfruit-breakfastburritos.html

@lavenderlou

I have one quite fussy DC and I search high and low for healthy things she will eat, especially vegetable-based. She will eat most things that come in a wrap, so I make vegetable fajitas or burritos/tacos with black bean chilli (not very spicy). I also make a type of vegetable pancake - it is a thick, American-style pancake batter with sweetcorn, grated carrots, grated courgette and cheese in it. Then ladle spoonfuls into a frying pan or griddle and serve with a poached egg/baked beans.

Also, most pasta-based dishes. Sometimes I add pureed butternut squash to macaroni cheese which ups the vegetable content without seeming to affect the flavour too much!

Homemade soup - vegetable/lentil/tomato/minestrone also usually gets eaten if there is plenty of bread to dip in.

Any chance you could bung us the recipe for your vegetable pancakes they sound great

Nigellas watermelon/ feta salad ...omg sensational! dont know if feta is suitable for vegetarians but you could just tweek the cheese bit to suit.

Quick midweek dinners that we enjoy are:

Scrambled egg on toast with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes
Sausage and mash (Richmond meat free sausages) with onions and gravy
Quorn curry
Fajitas with mushrooms and aubergine instead of chicken
Pasta and pesto

One of our regular lunches:
Homemade hummus with pita bread or just normal white bread and extras of choice like olives/carrot/tomatoes etc.

The secret is "Lazy Garlic" so you don't have to muck about with garlic pressing etc, and the jar of it lasts forever.

1 tin of chickpeas, 1 teaspoon of Lazy Garlic, juice of one lemon, 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, tsp salt, bung it all into a liquidiser and voilà perfect fresh hummus in an instant.
Can't go back to shop bought now.