Meat free, easy, tasty, family friendly meals?

[discordia]

Any ideas, I'm trying to cut down on meat based meals a) to save money b) cos get bored with same ol' chicken and mince c) must be healthier?

Two that I like and kids will eat (even if they moan a bit)

Chilli:

1 onion
1 tsp each coriander, cumin, chilli powder, garlic
2 tins tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin canelini (sp?) beans
1 tin butter beans
1 tin baked beans (to appease kids)

Fry onion with spices.
Add tomatoes (chopped) and cook for 15 mins
Add all the beans (rinsed) and cook for 10 more mins

Serve with wholegrain rice and grated cheese on top.

This amount makes two good sized meals for four of us (eat one meal, keep remainder in freezer until needed).

Curry:

1 onion
2 dess spns curry paste (korma for us!)
1 tin campbells condensed lentil soup
4 potatoes (peeled and diced)
half cauliflower (chopped up)
Frozen peas

Fry onion and curry paste
Pre-cook spuds/cauli for a few mins in microwave
then add to onion along with soup and a soupcan of water and some frozen peas
Cook until veg are soft.

This does enough for four of us plus a portion over (nice with a jacket spud next day!)

Hungry now. Must get lunch.

PS - curry very nice with chopped up apple added during cooking.

sounds good - just printing out now to try later this week!

My fav is veg mixed in cheese sauce topped with potato,then grated cheese and tthen potato crisps - baked in oven - yum. Bit calorie laden!

My fav is mashed potato, then add cheese to taste (i like lots) onion, mushrooms mixed in the put in an oven proof dish slice toms on top and grate some more cheese then pop in the oven for 1/2 an hour until its crisped up a bit - I like to have basked beans with it. Very cheap and tasty but quite fattening!

Going to try your curry, discordia - it sounds yummy.

One of our favourite veggie recipes is dahl.

2 medium onions, chopped.
Splash of oil
clove of garlic, crushed
8oz (225g) orange lentils
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. garam masala
1 large can chopped tomatoes
1/2 pint veg. stock
S&P

Fry onion til soft (large lidded fry pan is best), add garlic, lentils, spices and cook for a few minutes to allow flavour of spices to cook out. Add tomatoes and stock, cover, simmer 25-30 mins til stock absorbed and lentils soft. Season with S&P.

I serve this with rice (or sometimes piled on chips!) and curry trimmings - poppadums, raita, tomato chutney etc. Plenty for 2 adults, 2 kids and some left over.

i do a potato based thing as well - sliced cooked potatoes, layered in oven with cooked leek and onion and slices of tomato with cheese sauce and topped with grated cheese.
(can add bacon for a change)

also, most kids like pasta don't they? pasta with tomato sauce and cheese on top is so easy - can add courgettes, peppers, parsley, spices etc to sauce, and cubes of mozzarella mixed in at the last minute is nice too.

jacket potatoes with cheese, tuna and salad is easy peasy

Could try this chana dhal, only I always call it chickpea stew, which is the best thing I have left from my first marriage? Great with rice and like most of these things if you can bear to make it the day before/freeze it it matures well.

Chana Dhal - about 1 hour total cooking inc 10 mins preparation
For 2 fat people or 4 normal people:
Veg oil
2 tins chickpeas (sorry, can't be bothered soaking)
2 tins chopped toms
Bunch fresh coriander
Onion
about 2 tablespoons Ground coriander
about 2 tablesppons Ground cumin, or cumin seeds.

Put aside a stalk of coriander. Strip leaves from fresh coriander and discard stalks - or if short of time, just chop the whole bunch including the stalks (not the roots). Chop the onion as finely as you can be bothered to.

Heat a good slosh of oil and soften onion over a low heat until transparent. Add the fresh coriander and stir well to combine, then cook for a minute or so.
Add the ground coriander and cumin and turn the heat a little higher, stirring to prevent burning.
Add the chopped toms, stir and leave to cook for 10 mins.
Add the chickpeas and leave for about 30 - 40 mins.

Pile onto a bed of rice and stick the coriander garnish on top.

darn! sorry, drain the chickpeas. And I mean the 410g tins, not the small ones.

Thanks, all, these sound good! We are a skinny family so the more calories the merrier!

We all love spicy lentil soup - fry onion, diced carrot, diced green pepper and whatever other veg you've got knocking around. Add spices - turmeric, cumin seed, bit of chilli powder, then add carton of passata, tin of coconut milk and red lentils and a squeeze of lemon juice - cook it until it's mushy then add frozen peas and corn for last few mins - it tastes much nicer than it sounds!

Cranks' Homity Pie - yummy

Wholemeal short crust pastry 10 oz (300 g)
Potatoes 3/4 lb (350 g)
Onions 1 lb (450 g)
Oil 3 tbsp (45 ml)
Butter or margarine 1 oz (25 g)
Parsley, chopped 1/2 oz (15 g)
Cheese, grated 4 oz (100 g)
Garlic cloves, crushed 2
Milk 1 tbsp (15 mi)
Salt & pepper to taste

Roll out the pastry and use to line six 4" (10 cm) individual tins or foil dishes. Boil or steam the potatoes until tender. Chop the onions, then saute in the oil until really soft. Combine the potatoes and onions, add the butter, parsley, 2 oz (50 g) cheese, garlic, milk, and season well to taste. Cool, then use to fill the pastry cases. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in the oven at 220oC (425oF/Mark 7) for 20 minutes, until golden.

Alternatively, use to make one 8" (20 cm) flan. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

DELISH!

This is yummy, curried chickpeas on naan toast.
Peel, chop up and fry one onion, a medium potato, and a garlic clove. When potato is cooked, add cupful frozen peas, small tin chickpeas, 1 reg tin tomatoes, and as much curry powder as you like. Simmer till sauce reduces a bit, 5 minutes or so, then spoon over toasted naan bread, top with plain yogurt if you like. Sorry this just makes enough for 2, so you'd need to double everything!