Vegetarian / Pescetarian family meals

[tasmaniandevilchaser]

I'm looking for recommendations for veggie / fish meals for picky eaters. Please no obvious veggie lasagna / jacket potatoes / veggie Bolognese recipes, I can already do those. DH and DC are very picky and I'm more adventurous, it's driving me mad. I have a pescetarian who won't eat veg and a meat mad DH so recipes where you don't miss the meat would be great. I have a reasonable store cupboard of ingredients.

Over the last few days I've done squash and feta filo pie (0 stars from the family) and parsnip and cauliflower soup ("bottled farts" apparently)

Any actual links to recipes much appreciated.

No suggestions for fish as we're a vegetarian & vegan household.

Toad in the hole using meat free Richmond sausages with mash & veg.

Sausage casserole using tin of tomatoes, tin of beans, onion, carrots etc

Vegetable & lentil stew with dumplings- use red lentils that dissolve to nothing but add thickness (& protein & 1 of your 5 a day).

Quiche, new potatoes & salad. Sometimes have baked beans with this instead of salad on cold days. Quiche could be cheese & onion, mushroom & onion, roasted vegetables or sausage & onion.

Enchiladas using butter beans (or quorn pieces), tomato paste, peppers & mushrooms. Cheese on top & bake in the oven.

Risotto - peas, mushrooms etc

Spicy chickpeas served with couscous

Cashew nut stir fry with rice or noodles

Vegetable curry with rice & quorn nuggets on the side.

Creamy vegetables with some quorn pieces & mash on top.

Thanks Phantom Eric, some of those could work... Definitely quiche, toad in the hole

Have you got a recipe for the creamy veg and the veg lentils and dumplings please?

I'd love all those ideas but spicy chickpeas and couscous would cause a rebellion I think even risotto wouldn't get eaten

Pasta arabiata
Tuna pasta bake
Pasta with smoked salmon, cream cheese, peas and sweet corn.
Fish cakes (tuna, sweet potato and chilli are fab)
Cod marinated in a mix of yoghurt and curry paste, baked and then topped with mango chutney before caramelising under the grill.
Falafel in pita
Fritata (chuck in whatever veg is deemed acceptable.)
Shakshuka
Stilton stuffed field mushrooms
Mushroom risotto
Haloumi skewers
Root veg casserole served in giant Yorkshire’s

. Burrito bowls (black beans, rice, avocado, salsa, cheese, chipotle Mayo and a meat substitute like fried tempeh)
. Fajitas (I use sliced peppers, mushrooms or tender stem broccoli) I serve with sweet potato fries or tortillas with dips
. veggie burger with all the trimmings or home
Made pizza
. Risotto with mushroom and/or asparagus and I serve it with a tomato and red onion salad on the side
. 3 bean chilli severed on a slow roasted sweet potato
. Veggie roast with pan fried veggie haggis (piss easy and so delicious it should be criminal)
. Bangers and mash with an onion gravy
. Thai curry or Indian paneer curry
. Gnocchi cheese and tomato bake
. Stuffed butternut squash

These are some of my regulars, they can be made as healthy or as naughty as you want and all either quick to make or can be prepped and put away for when you're ready

Black bean burgers.

Spinach and feta spanakopita

Thanks @AtleastitsnotMonday they might eat the pasta and the fishcakes (though probably not the sweet potato, see what I'm dealing with here!) And I like the sound of the cod

@Qwertyguerty that all sounds delicious to me, sweet potato fries cause a lot of moaning, in fact most of that wouldn't be eaten.... Though they love pizza so I can go back to homemade pizzas, haven't done them for years and it gives me a bit of variety
@Caspianberg I love black bean burgers, I made them once, didn't get eaten.

I'm starting to realize how picky they are!! They'd be happy eating pizza, burgers, sausages but I need a lot more variety

Veggie sausages with cous cous
Gnocchi with pesto, spinach and halloumi
Falafel and pitta breads
Quiche with any veg and/or cheese

@Caspianberg feta is a definite no no for the DC, apparently it's disgusting

@Ploughingthrough apparently couscous is like eating sand but I'm going to try gnocchi again and falafel

Gnocchi is a winner in my house, pesto and halloumi as above, or tomato and mozzarella baked in the oven.
As for falafel, when my kids were little and even more fussy, i used the recipe from a website called 'my kids lick the bowl', her falafel blends the onion and garlic so no bits but you get the flavour and also uses less cumin and coriander than the bbc recipes to ease them into it!

For quiche, my children love courgette and sweetcorn. Grate the courgette so you cant really taste it but it looks good! 4 eggs and 500 ml of milk for a 25cm quiche dish gives a non offensive consistency...hth from vegetarian mum of major fusspots!

@tasmaniandevilchaser

I'd love all those ideas but spicy chickpeas and couscous would cause a rebellion I think even risotto wouldn't get eaten

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roastedbutternutsqua_67878/amp

This risotto is absolutely delicious. If your family don’t like it you’ll have to sell them I’m afraid.

Tuna burgers flawlessfood.co.uk/easy-tinned-tuna-burgers/

Cheese bread and butter pudding recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/leftovers/cheese-and-tomato-bread-and-butter-pudding

Tuna meatballs www.john-west.co.uk/recipes/low-fat-tuna-meatballs/

Egg fried rice www.greengiant.eu/sweet-corn-fried-rice/

Salmon and cauli fish cakes recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/healthy-eating/salmon-and-cauliflower-fishcakes-with-dill-yogurt-dip-and-smashed-peas

Tuna enchiladas www.oldelpaso.co.uk/mexican-recipes/tuna-pepper-enchiladas

Black bean wraps, fish tacos, chickpea chana masala (Gousto recipe - gorgeous!) Chickpea spinach mushroom curry, leek and potato gratin are a few we have all the time. I tried Gousto and Hello Fresh for inspiration.

Stir fry with tofu and/or cashews and rice or noodles. You could do prawns separately for the pescatarians, and use Chinese, Japanese, or Thai flavours and make it as spicy (or not) as you like.

Tomato, minestrone or vegetable soup with cheese toasties.

Taco soup - basically a runny bean chili base loaded with nacho chips, avo, salsa, sour cream, cheese, and whatever other toppings you like.

Mac 'n' cheese with pureed butternut squash mixed into the cheese sauce and extra broccoli, baby tomatoes, spinach, or whatever veg your DCs will eat. You can also stir through tuna for the fish eaters.

Roast dinner with cheese souffle or cauliflower cheese instead of meat for the veggies.

Sauteed gnocchi with pesto, mushrooms, baby tomatoes and spinach - if you buy ready made gnocchi and pesto this can be on the table in 10 minutes.

Lentil shepherd's pie with either mixed root vegetable or regular potato mash.

Linguine arrabiata with baked or fried breaded aubergine slices. You can also add quorn meatballs.

If they like aubergine you could also do Imam bayaldi, lentil moussaka, or aubergine parmigiana.

Have a look on the BBC good food website, they have loads of ideas!
Also quorn website is good, the cottage pie recipe is yummy!

I don't really use recipes but I make a simple stew starting by frying onions, carrots, potatoes in a little oil then adding a cup (ish) of red lentils & coating them in oil then add a kettle full of boiling water & 2 vegetable oil cubes. Cook them until the carrots are almost done. Add more water if it's a bit thick. Give it a good stir & chuck in a good handful of frozen peas.

Then I cheat by using 2 packets of dumpling mix from Tesco! Make the mix up then put dollops on top of the stew & put the lid on. Leave to cook for 10-15 minutes. I like black pepper on mine but the kids don't.

Creamy vegetable I first as an alternative to fish pie. I make a white sauce then add in casserole type veg (baby onions, carrots, leeks, cut green beans) put in a dish, add mashed potato & some grated cheese & put in the oven or just under the grill if the vegetables are already cooked.

A dish my DM always used to cook was savoury pancakes (crepe style) with condensed mushroom soup spooned straight from the tin then rolled up. Put 10-12 in a dish & cover with cheese. Then bake in the oven until the cheese is golden brown & serve with green veg.

Vegetable Oxo cubes not oil cubes!

Have a look at Hairy Bikers veggie book

Fajitas work well for my family of.picky eaters. I do vegetables with spices, plain protein such as prawns (or we have chicken) prawns, cucumber, sweetcorn, grated cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa with wraps and everyone can build their own. One DC might only put sour cream in his whereas I would put everything in mine.

We're having this chowder tonight (again)
www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/curried-smoked-haddock-chowder
I use unpeeled new spuds chopped up - take longer than recipe to cook, also add some fish stock cube to the water.
Change the veg to things your family like - my DH is not keen on peas so I use blanched fine beans instead

We take a side or half a side of salmon sat on a sheet of foil (enough for the portions you need) and rub it with oil then add a ton of spices eg a blend of cumin, coriander, ginger, chilli, turmeric, salt , pepper and thyme. Fold on the foil then oven bake at 180c fan 200 ordinary oven until cooked. 40 minutes, unless the salmon is very large. Just unfold the foil to check. It's delicious and my most unvegetarian ds will happily eat it.

I mentioned this on another thread the other day - Fried cod fillets. I just coat them in egg and flour and fry in shallow oil. Usually serve with new potatoes and vegetables (although your non-veg eater may not be so keen on that?).

Any chance they'd go for roasted cauliflower? It's popular around here and seen almost as a meat substitute as quite chunky. And DS friends have eaten it too when here for a spontaneous supper - and came back for seconds (one of these friends has refused everything else I serve so I consider this a good sign!).

I assume you do pasta sauces of various types, particularly with hidden veg? I don't particularly enjoy seafood type sauces but smoked salmon with peas/courgettes etc and a slightly creamy sauce often comes up on these threads. Tuna bakes too? I do occasionally do prawns fried in butter and garlic, bit of white wine and lemon and a handful of frozen peas was in the spaghetti (for me - DH doesn't eat shellfish).

DD, also fussy, won't eat this anymore but used to eat "red pesto" on pasta - huge pile of roasted vegetables with at least 1/3 tomatoes. Then blitzed up with a bit of cream cheese (suspect creme fraiche/yoghurt would work) and, for protein, some walnuts (optional). Use instead of pesto on pasta and I would freeze portions for quick use. Haven't done it recently because of DD's annoying new refusal to eat red pesto due to her commitment and love of regular green pesto.

Thanks for all the suggestions, some of them are definitely possibilities. The fajitas could work as everyone chooses what they want and it's an extension of a meal everyone likes (' nachos' made with baked crispy wraps cut up)