I need ideas for healthy, quick vegetarian meals

[allhailtheaubergine]

I am in a total rut.

I really need to eat more healthily. I rarely have time to cook at the moment.

I find most of my meals are either quick and not that healthy, or require lots of time and effort.

I could make lots of something and freeze - but what?

Thai curry with a bought paste (check for fish sauce) is really quick. I use lots of veggies, beansprouts for padding, then either tofu or cashew nuts or omelette strips for protein.

Pasta and pesto with salad.

Mattar paneer and rice and a minty yoghurt dip.

second colonel ideas , also spaghetti bolognese made with quorn mince is quick and easy.

vegetable curries are really quick and if made with minimal oil and no cream etc then healthy too. Have with rice, pitta bread & salad.

Roast veg (peppers, onions, courgettes, new potatoes, fennel are all good) with baguette

satay stirfry - make a satay sauce with peanut butter, coconut milk and sweet chilli sauce thinned down with vegetable stock and cook with vegis and noodles

risotto - mushroom/leek and blue cheese/tomato

make a huge batch of vegi chilli with mixed beans, chilli powder and tomatoes add quorn mince to bulk it out. Quorn mince is also good for cottage pie and bolognaise/lasagne

slow cook sliced peppers in pasatta

Pataks curry paste cooked with onions, tomatoes and spinach with yoghurt added at the end - add quorn, paneer or tofu

Stirfry veg with tofu or quorn pieces and sauce of choice (or just soy sauce). If you are really in a rush those ready made noodles can go in the same pan.

Pitta pizzas - spread pitta bread with red pesto, top with sliced veggies, garlic and mozerrella and bake for about fifteen minutes. Eat with salad.

Thank you for all these.

There isn't really a vegetarian equivalent of grilled fish with rice and steamed veggies, is there?

that'll be the time for the humble aubergine.

slice it into 1cm thick slices (diagonally is easiest)
brush olive oil and seasoning of choice (i usually throw some mixed herbs on it)
put under the grill, turning often until it looks cooked (that's my guideline - should be about 15 mins?)

rice and steamed veggies are the same whether meat-eater or vegetarian

If you are craving fish then Quorn make fishfingers

I'll try the aubergine thing.

Not craving fish. Just thinking wistfully how much easier it would be to eat healthily if I weren't veggie.

DH, FIL, and I just had fritatta for tea. DS (9 months had some too).

Fried chopped red pepper
Tinned sweetcorn
Boiled potatoes, chopped into small cubes
Chopped baby plum tomatoes
6 eggs

Mix everything together, pour into a frying pan with a little olive oil, cook over a low heat until most of the egg is cooked, then add a small sprinkle of cheddar cheese, and grill until completely cooked and the cheese is brown and bubbling.

Yum .

Oops, cheddar cheese might not technically be vegetarian .

Anyway, fritattas are better the more random ingredients that they contain, and are great for using up leftovers.

I had sweet potato aubergine and kala channa (brown chickpea) curry for tea it was lurvely

Onion, garlic, mustard seed, turmeric, garam masala, chili, fry til golden, add veg,, channa and coconut milk, stew til cooked, add coriander

Drool drool drool

I cook almost any veg as a soup and then serve with a tearable soda bread to go with it. (15 minutes, no yeast!)

The kids are so busy with ripping and dipping the massive chunks of bread that they don't notice the strange broth!

You could get the kids to help make the (really easy) bread.

The soup can be anything based on: 15 minutes slow fry of onions and chopped hard veg, then add the softer veg and pt and a half of stock. Low simmer for 20 minutes. Use a hand whizzer to eradicate any sign of vegetables.

When my kids were pre-school and toddlers we used Baby and Child Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Timperley. TOTALLY LIVE-SAVING!

Tortillas are so messy and fun that kids forget what's inside them!

My favourite is: salt some sliced courgettes & aubergine. Leave them to allow the bitter juice get drawn out by the salt for about an hour, then rinse. This might seem like a hassle, but it makes all the difference.

Super-slow fry courgettes & aubergine. In another pan, cook a basic onion and tomato sauce. When courgettes & aubergines have gone a bit mushy (20 mins), add it all together.

Get kids to put it in tortilla wraps with sour cream and or grated cheese.

Yum yum, what a mess! Another load of weird veg inside kids without them noticing !

oooh nearlydone - bread recipe please!!!!

Nearlydone - what was so terrible about your soda bread?

Bean wraps/burritos-

Fry an onion, add cumin and ground coriander, then 3 tins beans (I use borlotti, kidney and cannellini), and a tin of tomatoes and a splash of water. Cook for about 15minutes then eat in wraps or do as I do, spoon into wraps, fold up, arrange in tin with grated cheese on top and bake for about 15mins. Serve with sour cream. Yum yum.

Do you really think it'd be easier to eat healthily not being veggie?
What about all the fat and heart-attack that comes with meat?

I am more likely to get my 5-a-day as a veggie than as a meateater - (this is going back a long way, mind) i never used to eat my veg....