14yo dd has decided to be a vegetarian-help me feed her

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I'm a meat with everything kind of gal .

So far I've cooked the poor girl beans on toast, pasta with tom sauce and pasta with pesto. Not a veg in site!!

My mind is blank.

Any ideas and recipes will be much appreciated as really don't want to go down the supplements route.

She's a good eater who will try most things, although nothing spicy.

I have quorn mince and chicken pieces in freezer.

quorn spay bol

in most large super markets there is a veggie fresh and freezer section with some nice ideas

will she eat fish?

ideal opportunity she learn to cook own meals.at 14 id expect ability to cook meal
buy veg cook book, vegetarian society web page.let her do the looking
it's pretty easy to be veg and eat well

She loves shell fish, not fish fish iykwim.

She does love cooking, great idea about getting her a cook book and leaving her to it at weekends.

Its me who needs ideas and recipes. It's hard enough thinking of new ideas for our meals....I don't, always eat same!!!

I went veggie at 7. I eat Tofu stir fried with veg, aubergine parmigiana, spag bol with quorn, cannelloni with spinach and ricotta, roast dinner with nut roast, cauliflower cheese bake.

Sainsburys website is good for recipe ideas.

good thing is most veg food can be frozen.prepare in bulk and freeze

this is my favourite recipe at the moment.

Sorry to be pedantic but if she eats shellfish then she is pescetarian not vegetarian.

Risotto, you can throw lots of different things in it depending on what veg you have in. Beetroot risotto is particularly yummy.

Veggie chilli, vegetable tangine, tofu based stir fry's

Veggie sausage casserole (beans/lentils)

It's important she gets enough protein.

I turned veggie as a teen and lived on cheese pasta for a while. I am no longer veggie but still tend to cook meat free when DH away.

This is a good starter cookbook for a vegetarian teenager, written by an actual teenager. Or if she eats seafood and wants some recipes for that, one of Sam Stern's other cookbooks, like his student one, might be good. They are very straightforward and easy to follow.

The BBC Good Food website also has lots of good vegetarian recipes.

I turned vegetarian as a teenager, the first one in my family (my older sister later joined me) so had to learn to cook sharpish.

river cottage is a good book,easy to follow

Mexican bean burgers are a good, quick meal. You can get them in Tesco and Morrisons freezer sections. It may say spicy bean burger but if it does they're not really, I'm, not keen on spicy stuff and like them.

Sometimes I have them in a sandwich, or with salad or with chips/potatoes and sweetcorn.

BBC food website is pretty good.

IMHO the best thing is not to try to replace the meat per se (though a quorn sausage sandwich isn't so bad!) but to pick food that isn't meant to be meaty. There are lots of Italian, Indian, Thai dishes that don't have any meat in that are great.

Sunday roasts can just be all the trimmings and Yorkshires (make with veg oil or trex not dripping) with a nice onion gravy. Btw normal red bisto is veggie- just don't add the meat juices. Or do a mini toad in the hole with veggie sausages.

For quick suppers how about omelettes, jacket potatoes, stir fry (can do a meaty one for the rest of the family)?

I turned veggie at 14 and my mum made me cook all my meals. Taught me loads. I used a cookbook called The Single Vegan by Leah Leneman quite a lot as it gave recipes for one (plus a weekly shopping list) so was a great way to get going. River Cottage recipes are a lot nicer though.

This is our current favourite. The good old "Cranks" cookbook is good if you can get one second hand from Amazon. Also Good Food and Rose Elliott is a classic or this one

I went veggie at 14 - my mum said she would not be cooking two meals at any point but would cook a vegetarian meal for the whole family once a week (usually something like macaroni cheese) and the rest of the time it would be my responsibility.

I would make simple things in big batches at the weekend and freeze them in single portions. I had a repetoire of about 4 things, but I got on fine.

These were: a tomato & onion sauce with cut up bits of veggie sausage, a cheesy mushroom sauce, a lentil and/or nut burger (I followed a recipe for a lentil/nut loaf but cooked it in individual-sized-pie-trays), and a chickpea dahl. These I would have with whatever carb and side vegetables the rest of the family was eating, substituting my thing for their meat. Occasionally I would cook something for the whole family (a speciality was walnut and mushroom quiche).

My fourteen year old dd went veggie on New Year's day this year, this is the thread I started complete with useful replies. (You can see I've had a nc since ).

She's doing very well. We've added a few new recipes to our regular dinner's list. Aubergine pilaff has been very popular with everyone. Meals which work for everyone include Curry Feast, where she eats everything except the meat curry, so she has bhajis, raita, tarka dhal, vegetable korma, rice, naan. Baked potatoes, she has sour cream and chive dressing and lots of grated cheese.

Quorn is excellent, and I no longer bother to make meaty versions of anything like chilli, curry, or bolognese, as the chicken style chunks and beef style mince taste exactly the same once coated in sauce.

She does her own cooking at weekends and sometimes feeds everyone. She's turning into an omelette goddess!

The Aubergine Pilaff is in the Good Housekeeping Family Meals for a Fiver cook book.

Am adding this thread to my Watch List - lots of handy ideas - thanks everyone!

Anything with beef mince (except burgers) you can do as easily with Quorn. Easy.
Quorn stir fry is nice.
Veg and lentil curry.
Some of the breaded 'chicken' style burgers are yummy. Nicer than chicken ones. They also do hot dogs.
Risoto, pasta (tuna in tom sauce or prawns and peas in creamy sauce), paella, special fried rice with egg. You can even get quorn bacon which makes and acceptable (not) chicken and bacon pie.

I have been vegetarian for over 20 years and I would say avoid quorn (and most other things which pretend to be meat) as they are nasty and not very nutritious.

Nuts are great for protein. Lentils, beans, eggs and cheese should figure.
Quinoa is very proteinous but its flavour needs to be hidden enhanced.

I agree she should be encouraged to cook for herself or perhaps you could both learn a couple of the recipes on here together.

Well done, by the way, for taking her seriously. My family were quite scornful of me when I went veggie and it was hurtful and alienating.

In order to make a great vegetarian sauce for pasta ... make a nice tomato sauce then add some puy lentils (which have been boiled until soft) and maybe some olives and/or capers.

I also use this as a sauce for veggie lasagna.

In recipes like spaghetti carbonara, sundried or sunblushed tomatoes can take the place of bacon.

Veggie stews and curries are really good. Cashew nuts in curries.

She also might need to get her iron elsewhere. Spinach is great for iron.

Brilliant. Thank you all for your help. Have ordered a couple of veggie books but in meantime dd is looking through my
Recipe books for veggie ideas.

Apart from 2 mins from me pointing out all the things she used to enjoy but won't have again (mmmm, bacon buttie),I'm really very proud of her for making this decision on her own.

My baby is growing up!

it's an exciting change,so much delicious veg food out there

It's difficult if you're cooking for a pescatarian in a meat-eating family. One tip is pretty much anything you're cooking with meat, make a portion where you substitute the meat with tofu. Cauldron foods do a good range of flavoured tofu. You can fry, bake or steam it, it's really easy.

I'd recommend the Broccoli and Ricecakes blog, regularly recommended on here for vegetarian toddler meals. But they're definitely suitable for older people too... I've made a few and they're delicious!

In your position I'd give her the River Cottage Veg Everyday book and let her cook for herself (or all of you) . DS1 (12yo) makes at least one meal per week from it and even resolute carnivore DH has had to admit he's enjoying the meals.

Thanks for the recommendation Aunt. I'm glad that you have enjoyed the recipes. Here is the link to my Broccoli and Rice Cakes blog
I would also recommend the HFW Veg cookery book as this has recipes that everyone can enjoy and they are usually quite straightforward to make.

I turned veggie at 12 and remember my mum struggling to adjust her cooking. My brother then also turned veggie and so now our family get togethers are often exclusively veggie food. Hopefully you can find some dishes that everyone enjoys. This lentil bolagnese is normally enjoyed by meat eaters and veggies too.
Good luck!