The quest for wholesome, tasty, fast, faff free vegetarian family meals

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I'm planning for my returning to work FT. Have a family to feed and want us to be healthy but ideally want meals to take no longer than 1/2 an hour. Even better if they'll do for two nights. So far I have:
Spaghetti Bol, red lentils substituting meat
Veg chilli

Everything else seems to be shop bought, quiche, pasta sauce etc. Anyone have an good recipes that fit the bill that you're willing to share please?

Also vegetarian chilli, filled tacos - make in advance and freeze.

This sweet potato, lentil and coconut curry is a doddle to make and goes down well with the kids. I use Quorn pieces instead of the chicken, water/veggie stock instead of the chicken stock, and however-spicy-you-like curry powder rather than curry paste. I've served it with noodles, rice, chappatis or poppadoms.

My kids have finally come round to macaroni cheese, so that's a current fave and only takes 15-20 minutes. Serve with broccoli and garlic bread, and toasted seeds for extra crunch sprinkled on top.

I love Mushroom and halloumi burgers.

We do a lot of Mexican stuff as well (vegetable fajitas, quesadillas, enchiladas) you can use a range of veg, beans and cheese depending on what you've got lying around.

Veg curry is also great for using up odds and ends, I especially like a chickpea based curry.

I picked up that Laska recipe card! Good to know it worked!

Spanish chickpeas is easy. Fry onions, carrots cubed and garlic add chopped tomatoes and smoked paprika. Add drained chickpeas, chilli powder and spinach. Cook. Serve with sourdough or something crusty to mop up.

Daal is dead easy. Cook lentils in stock with a bay leaf and turmeric. I find channa daal or toor daal best. 10 minutes before they are ready frying ones, garlic, ginger, chilli, garam masala and any other spices you like. Add to the lentil mix just before serving. Check the consistency and add water as needed. You can add a handful of fresh chopped tomatoes if you like.

Might think of a couple more!

Oh, huevos rancheros is dead easy too! Fry onions and garlic and loads of sliced peppers. I mean loads. Add paprika and smoked paprika and chopped tomatoes. 10 minutes before the dish is ready add herbs like thyme or whatever you like and crack in eggs. Let the eggs cook to how you like them. Great served with wraps.

Make a big batch of pomodoro sauce (onions, garlic, courgettes, peppers, mushrooms, celery if you like it all chopped and slow cooked together in olive oil until soft then add tinned toms or passata and herbs and seasoning, bring to a simmer. Then blend if you like a smooth paste.

Can freeze half the batch and use it for a chilli or a quorn spag bol. But if you stir some into cooked pasta, slice mozarella cheese into it and bake for a while it's heavenly. Add chillis and black olives if DC will eat them.

Lentil and buckwheat slice is yummy hot or cold.

I also roast veg and garlic and mix through cous cous.

At the weekend I also make big batches of various salads to have in for packed lunches or for tea if I am lazy with a veggie burger thrown in the oven.

Tabbouleh is easy enough. Soak bulgar wheat in boiling water for half an hour. Drain. Season and pour over plenty of olive oil. Add chopped mint, celery and cucumber. Done.

Bean salad. I boil up shelled soya beans and peas. Drain and refresh. Add sliced radish, red onion or salad onion, halved cherry tomatoes and anything else you like. Season and cover in oil. I usually add cubed avocado just before serving.

Oh, I also make a cauliflower and broccoli cheese to serve with jacket potatoes and salad.

Easy white sauce: melt butter. Add the same weight of flour to butter, eg 50 g butter is 50g flour. Mix flour into melted butter over low heat for 2 mins. Pour in milk in small amounts stirring until yo have the desired consistency. Can use for loads of stuff, takes 10 minutes!

If you are happy to batch cook and freeze:
-chick pea burgers ( really just falafel) served on pitta and sweet chilli sauce or a yog sauce and salad.

• broccoli and cheesy pasta

-spicy tomato sauce with baked eggs .

The falafel freeze well individually and defrost overnight then bung in the oven and assemble on the night you are eating? The pasta bake freezes as a complete meal in those tinfoil cases so just defrost overnight and bung in the ovn with a bit of extra cheese and tomato. The tomato sauce is easy and freezes so just heatit up and the eggs take about 5 min when it is hot when cracked on top of simmering sauce. They are all on the good food website.

Other quick one is a couscous salad with feta eggs tomatoes olives cucumber sweetcorn and a nice salad dressing.

You beat me to the huevos rancheros - my CBA dinner.
Pasta is always quick - blue chesse and brocolli is my kids fave. Mixed rice with bits/veg/egg and sweet and sour sauce h/m with value pineapple from morrisons. (enough left over for them to have desert)
If you're not too fussy about quorn/veggie sausages you could do toad in the hole with roasts and veg in 1/2 hour. Or mashed pots, onions and baked beans which is one of my fave dinners. Linda Mccartney do a passable red onion and rosemary sausage which is £1 a box in Morrisons at the mo. And that's from a carnivore.

Thanks for further updates. I'd never heard of bular wheat and lentil slice. It's in oven as I type. If it tastes as good as smells I think I'll have a happy family! I'm making with roast potatoes and an apple and cheddar salad.

I love it but the rest of my family do not! It's fab with cauliflower cheese or cold slices in a packed lunch.

Roasted veggies
Pasta/noodles
Vegetable lasgna
Daal
Vegetable curry
Omelette
Okra
Green beans
Spinach and potato curry
Chickpeas with couscous
Stuffed peppers (stuff with couscous / mash / rice)
Homemade veggie kebabs
Tomato Soup with rolls

Faff-free Veggie Stuff

Moroccan chickpeas: onion, garlic, red & yellow pepper softened in olive oil, add chopped tomatoes, tin of chickpeas, generous amount of ras-al-hanout spices and maybe a bit of tomato puree. simmer for a bit... I also add mushrooms. I think it would freeze ok.