Inspiration needed for vegetarian meals for playdates

[VenetiaLanyon]

I'm looking for things like macaroni cheese, that I can bake the night before and just stick in the oven on the day. Have to be dishes with a good protein content that will be fallen upon gratefully by visiting children. Am trying to avoid pizza if possible.

Any thoughts appreciated

My DD (fish eating but no meat) will happily eat pasta with tomato sauce (cooked in advance and frozen in portions) or pasta with olive oil and parmesan, rice and dalh (not all kids would go for that one though) wraps with hummous and salad, jacket potatoes and cheese and or hummous.
If fish eaters - add fish fingers, frozen or home made (v quick to make),
polenta strips/cous cous also work with tomato sauce, sweetcorn fritters, I've also made a red lentil and cheese rissole which would probably freeze ok.

We had a birthday party recently and I made small cheese and tomato quiches which went down a storm and can be frozen. How about vegetarian sausage rolls?

Thanks Beamur and sharond101

Have contemplated the pasta and tomato / pesto sauce option, but with added mozarella for protein, and jacket potatoes is a good thought, as I could bake them properly the night before, and have an array of interesting toppings.

I like the idea of quiches; just getting DD into these, but good to hear that other kids like them.

Meant to add, veggie sausage rolls also a good idea - what do they put inside them?

After checking with the parent for preferences I almost always do the pasta option....most kids will eat this and I like to give them food they will eat within reason, rather than food I perceive to be healthy.

Thanks snoworneahva; it's just nice to have alternatives.

We sometimes have a couple of playdates in the same week, so I'm trying to think up some ideas to balance DD's diet so she doesn't end up living on cheesy pasta!

Pizza spirals have been enormously popular - sheet of puff pastry - spread with tomato sauce, sprinkle mozzarella, roll up and slice. Cauldron sausages are pretty good, I'd serve them with home made oven chips - we've had a few kids not keen on mash.

For oven dishes, what about lentil lasagne? The lentils bring the protein.

The chickpeas in thisTurnip and chickpea cobbler are a good source of protein. Little ones tend to love the cobbles too so should go down well.

Thanks snoworneahva, spirals sound fun.

Drladybird,I love the sound of the lentil lasagne. I make a few things with chickpeas but did wonder whether they were generally child-acceptable; DD likes them, however, so will perhaps just throw caution to the wind...

Has anyone successfully made an oven-baked risotto in advance?

home made veggie burgers - I think this originated from a Lorraine Kelly weaning book years ago!

Finely chop and sweat an onion. Add washed red lentils, a sprinkle of curry powder or garam masala (omit if not liked but it does help the flavour) and salt. I know it's a kids meal but it does need a bit of salt. Add boiling water but not too much and boil till the lentils soften. Keep an eye on - you want a thick mush so keep adding splashes of water.

Let it cool a bit then stir in brown breadcrumbs. mix. you should have a fairly stiff mixture now, which you can roll into balls then squidge down to make burgers. Cook on an oiled baking tray. They also freeze well, freeze before cooking.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/pastry/vegetarian-sausage-rolls.html

WilsonFrickett, the burgers are a good idea; I made some spicy kidney bean burgers with a mango salsa the other day, and they went down well with DD. Might replace mango salsa with ketchup, however...

Sharond101, I like the look of those, even as a meat sausage roll afficionado...

pitta, cruditees and dips
spanakopita (puff pastry, feta and spinach)
peanut butter sandwiches with chopped fruit and veg on the side

You could do the risotto in advance and microwave?

Thanks BlueChampagne, I looked it up and like the look of the spanakopita.

I never think risotto is quite as nice on day 2; am still seeking the perfect oven-baked, DC-friendly veggie risotto...

courgette and sweetcorn fritters
fried halloumi cheese, pitta bread and hummous
veg lasagne
potatoes dauphinoise
cannelloni with cream cheese and spinach stuffing
vegetable cobbler
chestnut and mushroom loaf
cauliflower cheese
veg casserole with dumplings (great for a freezing June night)
oven baked brie with bread sticks and cranberry sauce
cheese and onion pie
frittata
mexican bits/heuvas rancheros

Thanks forall the ideas, JanNan; yes, we could have have the cobbler as we huddle round the fire with our jumpers on - only 1 week to midsummer now...

highly acclaimed baked risotto,
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2818/

Thank you; looks good, apart from the bacon! Perhaps I could replace with sun-dried tomatoes.

Carrot and chickpea/sesame seed burgers worked well here, from the good food website I think.
Tofu fajitas also went down well with my kids, not a night before thing but only took about 5/10 mins to make max.
Baked beans are vegetarian, with eggs for protein.
What about soya mince as a substitute (better than quorn) then make any mince dish with rice/pasta/mash as you fancy.

Thanks Temporary; I like the look of those burgers. I had thought that soya mince was just as bad for you as Quorn?

There are some lovely ideas here (I'd like to eat most of them!) but (and I hope I don't sound too grumpy) not many children are good eaters on play dates. Learned this the hard way!

I love cooking and my dcs eat all sorts but for playdates I have pretty much given up on cooking and stick to offering fish fingers/sausages (veggie if required)/pizza. Even pasta I find hit and miss

I take your point re what DC eat on play dates, Shoewhore, but if DD is to have one play date a week, or even more, I want to make sure that I'm not just serving her pizza every time. I'd rather try out a few things that they might possibly eat.

I find some kids get quite upset and embarrassed when they don't like what you have cooked, I don't feel like I've been a good host and the play date's parent then have to feed them when they get home - it doesn't work - there's so much emotion bound up in food...which is why I take the same approach as shoewhore. It's only one meal out of the 21 your dd will be fed a week - it's not a big deal. Make pizza from scratch - it's not too bad. Make a fresh sauce for the pasta - it's only one meal.

Thanks for your thoughts, snoworneahva. In my experience DC will sometimes not eat something that you think that they're fairly certain to like, like pizza, if it's different from what they have at home, so I think I'll charge ahead with my more varied approach.

Stuffed jacked potatoes: bake potatoes, cut in half and scoop out flesh, mix with sour cream/creme fraîche, chopped cooked spinach and grated cheese then stuff back in the skins and bake again. You can prepare them ahead and just bake to reheat. My mum used to do half with spinach and half with just the creme fraîche and cheese. They were pretty popular with friends and one of our favourite childhood meals! You can vary them by adding different veg if you fancy, or pesto etc.

Another thing our friends always loved was lots of crudités and various homemade dips (sour cream and chive, bean dip, houmous, tomato salsa). My mum usually did that as a snack rather than main meal but if you did a beany dip and provided cubes of cheese to dip as well it could be more substantial.

Fajitas go down quite well with children too as they like making their own - big bowl of tomatoey spicy beans, more like a barbecue flavour probably as some children don't like spice, then bowls of sweetcorn, chopped cucumber, lettuce etc., sour cream, grated cheese...