So bored of everything we eat. Please inspire me!

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I'm veggie, dp and dds are now meat eaters but since I do most of the shopping (online), meal planning and cooking (though dp is v good at doing prep etc) we eat veggie 99% of the time at home.

I tend to do lots of curries, chillis etc but we're all getting a bit bored of them tbh. It's also hard because dd1 won't eat anything in a creamy/cheesy sauce and I won't eat anything with tinned tomatoes, so that rules out a lot of pasta dishes for example.

Please inspire me!

Any good recipes with tofu maybe? Or something Thai-esqu? Or something with sweet potatoes which isn't a curry or a chilli? Or an exciting pie of some sort?

Pizza, pizza and pizza again. I make pizza using part flour, part semolina. Any toppings you can think of. My favourite is green pesto, tons of garlic, onion, cooked potato slices, rosemary, lots of mature cheese...

My DS's absolute favourite is a sweet potato stew, I do use tinned tomes but you could easily use passata or just veg stock if you want to
I?m no good with amounts as I usually just make it up as I go along so you?d have to just do it to your taste?

Fry some onions, fresh ginger, garlic
Add some coriander powder and about half that amount of paprika.
Add cubed sweet potato, stir around for a bit till coated in the spices.
Add tomatoes/passata/veg stock and let it simmer for a while till almost cooked.
Add spinach and chickpeas (also nice with some mushrooms but you need to fry them a bit first to release some of their juices before adding to stew)
Remove a ladle full of the saucy bit into a bowl and mix into it a dollop of peanut butter (the whole earth stuff with no sugar is best) ? return this to the stew.
Cook until sweet potatoes are cooked through properly

Lush served with either brown or white rice, or a nice lemony cous cous

On the subject of cook books ? can?t recommend Hugh FW?s Veg cookbook highly enough ? we use it a lot Madhur Jaffrey?s World vegetarian is also a winner? loads of good, easy and cheap recipes in here

Been reading for inspiration, nothing more to add right now (will think on) but Remus - you need to break your no more cookbooks rule for this beauty

It is amazing! Plenty is a good too!

Is homity pie too cheesy for your DD? The Hairy Bikers add spinach to their version. Tasty, but not very 'exciting' though, I'm afraid.

Is nut roast to much of a veggie cliche?

I do quiche quite a lot - leek, mushroom & cheese - but you could change the veg to suit what your DD's like.

Falafel in a pitta with salad?

We do a kind of do-your-own sushi. Sushi rice for everyone, then lots of bits to put inside in the centre of the table (sliced peppers, gr. onions, lightly cooked carrots, avocado, toasted sesame seeds, a tube of wasabi paste, a sesame oil/soy sauce dipping bowl) and some nori sheets. This = less stress for me and everyone can put in what they like. Similar principle with tacos.
What about spanish omelette?
With buckwheat, I tend to cook it and let it cool a bit. While cooling I fry onions, garlic and some rosemary or sage and add the buckwheat in and fry gently. Good with soy sauce.
This book is really good for Californian vegetarian food - good recipes and doesn't use meat replacements. tinyurl.com/mwfz8yx

Hmm. tinyurl.com/mwfz8yx

Another vote for Hugh F-W's 'Veg Everyday' Book. Absolutely fantastic.

speaking of Indian cooking - I bought this cookbook last year and cooked from it quite few veg recipes, they are v.simple and non fussy
www.amazon.co.uk/India-The-Cookbook-Pushpesh-Pant/dp/0714859028/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1370258529&sr=8-7&keywords=indian+cooking

such as Heeng Jeere ke Aloo (Asofetida&cumin flavoured potatoes) and Moolaghotal (Moong daal with vegetables)

I also love Sambhar with Upuma - that is very quick and unusually tasty combination of food?

If you have Sri Lankan Tami shop I reccomend you go and buy (fresh are bet) string hoppers. You just soak them in boiling water and a pinch of salt and serve with Sambhar or any watery curry. I prefer white to red.
Fresh one's freeze v.well - you need to reheat them dry frying.

When you shop in Indian shops have look around their freezers - there are Parathas which you just need to reheat in a toaster and IMHO are v.tasty. I also buy chapatis and reheat fresh one's dry frying on a frying pan.

www.amazon.co.uk/India-The-Cookbook-Pushpesh-Pant/dp/0714859028/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1370258529&sr=8-7&keywords=indian+cooking

CheckpointCharlie - I love the sound of your mum's lentil/peanut butter slice - can you go badger her for the recipe and post it...?

Another vote for Hugh Fearnley Whittingperson's book [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Cottage-Veg-Every-Day/dp/1408812126 Veg Every Day]

I like it, because unlike a lot of vegetarian cooks, he goes easy on the dairy

Sorry

linking again Veg Every Day

I am the same as the OP - veggie but DH and dcs are not. We eat mostly vegetarian and occasionally DH will cook meat for himself and the dcs and I'll cook something different for myself.

Off the top of my head:

Quiche - many varieties....lentil & veg, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus. Also pasties which are similar to make.

Thai noodle soup - throw in any veggies, rice noodles, curry paste and coconut milk.

Pancakes - we often make them with chickpea flour adding red onions and spices to the batter. Or some chopped pumpkin/squash.

Fried rice with veggies and topped with a fried egg if you like.

Peppers/courgettes/aubergines/cabbage leaves stuffed with rice or cous cous, veggies, nuts, raisins, spices.

Simple stir fries with lots of Asian greens, garlic, ginger and chilli, with rice or noodles, sprinkled with chopped roasted peanuts or cashews.

Lentil moussaka or would that be too creamy?

Hope this gives you a few ideas!

You could get any recipe book you fancy out of the library. I generally only ever make one or two things out of each book i own, so it's often not worth buying them. And if one completely grabs you then you can buy it then.

Gougere?

Roasted/stwed veg, chickpeas and rice/pasta?

Lentil and halloumi salad.

Lentil shepherd's pie.

Had a rather nice bubble-and-spueak cake with poached egg on top and hollandaise sauce in a restaurant recently - really yummy.

Winter veg hotpot.

Any good?

CharlotteBronteSaurus What could I use instead of egg (DH is allergic) to bind those courgette and potato cakes?

Hugh veg book! It's great, DP and I live off of it.

Thanks for all of these - will have a proper look later.

I have and love, 'World Vegetarian' so any specific recs from that would be brilliant.

You can't convince me re HFW's Vege book though - I still hate it.

This Ottolenghi Roast butternut squash recipe is gorgeous (from Jerusalem) NOT the lamb and also the rice with chickpeas from this article, also from Jerusalem
with an Ottolenghi-ish salad if you like

I also do potato and leek bake (layer with grated cheese, salt and pepper, dot with butter, bake), Jansen's temptation sort of thing (leave out the anchovies) Pan Haggerty.

Spanokopita - spinach and cheese pie using filo pastry. Have with baked new potatoes (in roasting tin, splash of water, splash of olive oil, cloves of garlic, sprig rosemary) or tabbouleh, plus salad

roast cherry tomatoes with courgettes, in pan gently cook chopped garlic & chillies in olive oil and butter, add juice and zest of a lemon, add roast veg. Have with pasta, parmesan and fresh basil.

Gougere - choux pastry ring, fill with whatever you like, I like fennel in cream

Puff pastry with whatever toppings you like, crumbled feta and v thin sliced red onion good, as are roasted peppers, artichokes from a jar.

cheesy millet burgers, need a strong cheddar and plenty of seasoning as millet is a bit bland.

Stirfries. Egg fried rice. Couscous.

Keftedes.

Carrot soup with cumin and coriander

I like to do the odd falafel evening with some pita, roasted vegetables and a nicec mint and yoghurt dressing.

Cranks fast food by Nadine Abensur is great. If you don't want to buy it maybe you could get it out the library. I usually get a cookbook a month from the library and try to make one new thing. My favourite things out of it are saffron braised carrots with broad bean pilaf; roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash, baby potatoes and shallots with mango; peppers stuffed with cannellini beans, feta and black olives; chickpea casserole with spinach and red peppers; potato, spinach and fontina pie; cherry tomato and feta tart. I could go on!

Our go to easy tea is ready rolled puff pastry with the edges turned up and scattered with an assortment of roasted or griddled veg (aubergines, peppers, squash etc), pine nuts, olives and some cheese.

No fancy suggestions I'm afraid . . . .quiche, filo pastry tartlets filled with anything really, we eat loads of salads with avocado, egg, 'chicken' strips, various rices ie egg fried frice, (non evil) vegetable rice, mushroom risotto, 'meatballs' and spagetti, carbonara, homemade burgers in rolls as a treat, pizza on pitta bread.

Some good ideas, and lots we do already. Thank you all. I've lost track of whohas said what now, it's got so big - so apologies for not making 'personal' comments now. :)

Have got the Cranks books; have got lots of books but still bored!

Never heard of Keftedes so will deffo look into that/them/whatever!

The dds love broccoli so sticking that in a soup is a v good idea. Does anybody have a t&t broccoli and stilton soup recipe? Although tbh I doubt dd1 would eat it with any cheese, let alone stilton!

Thanks for the Hairy Bikers Hommity pie recipe - will deffo try that.

Have never made savoury pancakes, so that is a brilliant idea and I'll certainly investigate some Indian style ones (oh how I love dosas but I think they a faff to make at home).

The Japanese-esque ideas are great too, and v different to our 'usuals.'