Ideas for increasing vegetables in our diet please.

[Quooker]

I love vegetables, as does my family. However the teens seem to live on sandwiches and bowls of cereal during the day and I am trying to lose weight. Therefore I am looking for ways to up the veg in dinner dishes. We eat mostly vegetarian anyway, only 2 omnivores.

So for example I have made a bolognese sauce today with Quorn mince, but added a tin of lentils and an extra tin of tomatoes. I will freeze half for another day.

I also blitz a cauliflower each week to serve with or instead of rice.

Does anyone have any ideas like this that they care to share?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

These fajitas are tasty.

[SapatSea]

I add contrasting veg on the side, so if I put mushroom and carrots and celery etc in a lentil bolognese I'll also serve broccoli and kale or spinach on the side as well. My DC like corn on the cob which is a good "starter" . I've started adding half courgetti into cooked spaghetti.
I've also starting cooking smaller portions of the main carb ( still the recommended amount) such as rice, bulghar, pasta etc and cooking more vegetables, the DC eat it as it is there and they can't choose to heap on more stodge.

[MrsTerryPratcett]

Yum!

[Mmmhmmokdear]

You can stick almost anything in a pasta sauce. Mine usually contains:

Onion
Grated carrot
celery
peppers
mushrooms

I add peas & sweetcorn to macaroni cheese.

We have a side salad (or the DC like "leaves with leaf sauce" for a starter) with pretty much every meal.

[Quooker]

Love egg fried cauliflower rice. @MrsTerryPratcett

Blitz one head of cauliflower - microwave in covered bowl for 10 mins. Chop carrots and green beans to the size of a pea and steam with some peas.

Beat 4 eggs with a good pinch of five spice. Pour into a hot skillet and immediately pour on cauliflower and cooked veg. Stir, a lot. Finish with a tblsp of soy sauce.

I often serve this with satay tofu. It’s also really nice with mushrooms and edamame beans.

[RaspberryBubblegum]

I make homemade bolognese and blend in carrots, celery and spinach with it

[MrsTerryPratcett]

I cook spiralized courgette by lightly frying.

I want the egg fried cauliflower recipe!

[JRMisOdious]

Have you riced cauliflower and done egg fried rice with it? Ist delicious, I’d defy anyone to tell the difference, gave it to my lot with a Chinese chicken dish and they didn’t even notice. Will post the recipe if I can work out how to

[notnowlater]

You can top soups with roasted chickpeas instead of having bread/croutons. Just drain and roast on a tray with oil, lemon, honey, S&P and whatever spices you like.

[notnowlater]

Also, use layers of grilled aubergine in lasagne instead of/in addition to the pasta sheets.

[JRMisOdious]

Cauliflower mash is delicious and we love homemade vegetable soups, curried parsnip and apple, mushroom and leek, beetroot and coconut. There are so many, give it a google. Very filling and satisfying without too many calories.

[notnowlater]

I make a bolognaise with lentils, onion, carrots, celery, leeks, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes etc. You can also add aubergine, courgette, peppers.
I serve either in a halved and pre-roasted red peppers, or inside a sweet potato jacket, or with sweet potato wedges, and green beans and/or brocolli.

This veggie pie is great, and I top with half sweet potato/half carrot mash. Also serve with brocolli and green beans. (I don't bother with the breadcrumbs topping bit)
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/vegan-shepherd-s-pie/

Another good tip is to do butterbean mash instead of potato. Just semi-drain butterbeans, leave a bit of the liquid in the tin. Tip into frying pan with dried thyme, garlic, lemon juice and heat through, then mash. Can enrich with butter/cream etc if you like.
Or do swede or sweet potato mash with any recipe instead of normal white potato.

[ivykaty44]

Madaunt- thanks 😊

[trendingorange]

I order a veg box then whatever is in there I design meals around them.
Can be a bit of a chore though!
At the moment I am having a lot of roast veg.

[Quooker]

That’s interesting about broccoli, we do eat that quite a bit.

I do have a spiralizer, but it’s not very good. Is it worth investing in a better one do you think? How do you cook courgette noodles?

[MadauntofA]

Ivy, the artichokes in oil in jars are amazing on their own, mixed into salad, and no faff

[MrsTerryPratcett]

Spiralizer. I love mine. Then courgette or carrot is 'noodles or pasta'.

[ivykaty44]

I don’t use fake meat substitute, so will make cottage pie using tinned lentils & vegetable - courgette/frozen peppers/spinach or kale

Chilli will be three different beans, chunks of aubergine, peppers, tomato

Artichokes is something I’m in the process of trying to incorporate into our diet - if you have any good ideas

Ratatouille is a great main dish served with sweet potato and broccoli ( which I just found out today has enormous amounts of protein)

[MadauntofA]

I make a large batch of Mediterranean veg baked in the oven on a Sunday, then split into pots for a single serving size, fridge and microwave a pot when needed - often use instead of rice/ potatoes with meat, or just add some chickpeas etc for a quick meal.

[Quooker]

Sweetcorn and black beans perhaps.

[daffydowndilys]

Its lovely, I use an old El Paso fajita seasoning mix. You could probably add other veggies too.

[Quooker]

@daffydowndilys that’s sounds nice, what seasoning do you use?

I never notice there is no meat because I am vegetarian

[daffydowndilys]

I make a nice fajita pasta. Chop up courgette, onion and peppers fry them off in a little bit of olive oil and add a fajita seasoning sachet. Add to pasta. 'Tis delicious and you don't notice there is no meat. You can add chicken if you like.

[Quooker]

Ooo, fab Ricekrispie, can always rely on you for good ideas. I hadn’t eaten thought of desserts. That crumble looks good as well.

[Quooker]

Current favourites are

Chickpea, butternut squash, paneer and spinach curry

Courgette, pepper and carrot cooked with tomatoes and mixed grains topped with cheese

Veggie burger and sweet potato fries

Wraps with salad / protein

Pasta with spinach sauce / lasagne

Cottage pie with sweet pot mash