Throw me all your creative vegetables ideas!

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So - generally needing to up vegetable intake BUT - (1) both work FT with a baby and a 5 yo creating havoc at evenings so need speedy ideas and (2) we like adventurous spices, flavours and similar - so boiled/steamed probably won’t go down well.

Need to also plan the groceries for the one online shop a week. So fresh salads first third of week, followed by canned and frozen - so all your ideas welcome - nice salad dressings, creative ideas with frozen and canned - all good!

Also veggies that don’t need fridge are extra good.

Examples of things we tend to like -

1. Lime chilli and garlic dressings
2. Asian inspired stuff
3. We are a half Indian household so Indian flavours all great.
4. Veggies that can go into one pot dinners or alongside ovens already cooking dinners great.
5. We make doner kebabs at home and love the diner salads we make too

We’ve found from experience that vegetables that need steaming/boiling to be served as a side just don’t tend to end up happening .....

And PS have started watching doctors kitchen for some ideas too!

The Green Roasting Tin is full of easy and very tasty veggie one-pot recipes. Lots of spice, garlic, herbs and citrus. Chop up your veg, mix with your spices/oil, roast with the timer on while you see to the kids. Stir, chuck in the spinach/greens or coconut milk and roast for another 10 mins (or pour on dressing) and eat.

Half of the recipes are vegan and half vegetarian, and they are further sorted into quick (30 mins), med (45 mins) and slow (1h).

We love the fact that there is no pot watching or need to time multiple elements, and no last minute mashing/frying etc. There's also much less washing up!

Oooh thank you! Going to check now :)

I know it's not ideal to recommend a book that you have to buy, but I don't want to be naughty and copy recipes out. However, here's a list of our favourites from the book:

Roasted tomato & bay orzo with black pepper
Roasted cauliflower with chickpeas, spring greens, lemon & tahini
Sweet potato & parsnip tagine with dates & coriander
Beetroot, chickpea & coconut curry
All-in-one sticky rice with broccoli, squash, chilli & ginger
Caponata style aubergines with olives, capers & tomatoes
Cauliflower steaks with harissa & goat's cheese
Leek & puy lentil gratin with a crunchy feta topping
Butter roasted harissa leeks & beetroot with bulgur wheat & feta

Roast vegetables as sides. Can be done with most veg- carrots, sweet potato, peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, aubergine etc.

I vary the flavours eg chilli, garlic, paprika, thyme.

Sometimes make veg skewers with chunks of pepper, onions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, brushed with oil and sprinkled with spices. Can add a homemade satay sauce.

Cherry tomatoes are good roasted with basil.

Add the dressings you like to steamed or boiled vegetables.

Wok fry pretty much anything in ginger / garlic / chilli / soy / whatever you like!

Thank you! We are VERY fond of garlic - in all forms - fresh, dried whatever - so things featuring garlic are always a winner. We quadruple (!) the advised garlic in recipes at times and I don’t think the baby has been weaned on to any dish that did not contain garlic! So some of these ideas lend we to garlic actually and will try out :)

Currently DS - off reception for Inset day is eating lunch with me which is poached salmon, new potatoes and green beans in finely minced garlic marinated for ages in lime juice and zest. The beans have rapidly disappears!

I started a similar thread a while back here, lots of good ideas posted. I'll be watching this thread too!

I roast loads of vegetables - a fave is red peppers, red onions, garlic, courgettes and cherry tomatoes with a big chunk of feta on top. Drizzle with olive oil and fresh thyme on top then bake.serve mixed through hot drained pasta. Or as an accompaniment to grilled chicken.

Mine have always gobbled up roasted cauliflower florets in breadcrumbs and parmesan. They also love a salad of grated carrot with finely sliced spring onions dressed with a little oil and lemon juice that I learned on MN about a yer ago. They say it tastes like cheese and onion crisps....

@Londonmummy66 do you dip the cauliflower in anything before coating ? Sounds lovely. Or do you par-boil and use the steam to make the Parmesan and breadcrumbs stick (like Delia's Parmesan parsnips which are gorgeous too )

Oooh splendid and thanks for links to the other threads too. I think fundamentally if we can move vegetables to not being an add on extra but a fundamental part of the main meal itself that’s easiest - plus a huge added draw for me is spice and flavour - so something with fancy dressings and marinades is great. I have a very well stocked pantry that I fondly add to weekly (largely African and Asian ingredients alongside staples) that helps

Ooooh whilst you are here (if you are) any top tips for canned beans? Outside of stews and chilli?

@NavigationCentral this chickpea shawarma recipe was enjoyed by meat eaters (just use any oil ! )
excellent no-yeast flatbread recipe to go with it.

We love meat but are trying to eat less of it, often add beans to mince for shepherd's pie or any casserole that doesn't normally have beans.

Cannellini beans mashed with a little oil (and lots of seasoning) makes a change from mash with eg pork chops. Lots of recipes for dips made from cannellini or butter beans.

@RockingMyFiftiesNot - just a bit of olive oil if I can be bothered. Sometimes I just sprinkle over

So I made an amazing Mushroom and Bean curry! (Well - curries are by no means foreign to me - they run in my blood and origins!) but this was different as entirely vegan it turns out.

This is what I did - (tone down the spices if need be!)

1. Finely minced a clove of garlic and steeped it in lime juice, salt and crushed frozen coriander leaves and left to one side: forget this till very end.

1. In a pan Dry roasted (fry light) - curry leaves, cardamom, cumin seeds, paprika, crushed dried chillies and 3 whole green chillies and when fragrant put in finely sliced onions and a sliced pepper

1. Fried till nicely coloured and added tomato purée, garlic powder, ginger powder, hot chilli powder, Garam

Masala, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder with a splash of water and fried till nice and fragrant

1. Added frozen sliced mushrooms and can of beans and when looking nice and dry put in cup of veggie stock and 1/2 can of leftover coconut milk

1. When all done and curry nice and thick - took off heat, put in long marinading crushed garlic and coriander mix in lime from step 1 above and curry leaves.

AMAZING!! Meat loving spouse is amazed!

Needless to say don’t use three different kinds of chillies if that’s not your style :)

The paprika is meant to go with the other powders sorry!

Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s veg book is good - roasted Greek salad (lovely), dry roasted veg currry (ditto)

Also Lakeland sell veg preservation bags for the fridge which will help veg last to the end of the week

Aubergine lasagne. Love it. Layers of aubergine with pasta and béchamel and cheese. Amazing.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/triple-cheese-aubergine-lasagne

Roasting broccoli makes it so much nicer.
It’s also really nice stir fried in garlic, chili abd soy

Whole roast cauliflower coated in Indian spices is lovely too

@NavigationCentral Could you give me an idea of quantities for the various spices you used in your curry? Thank you.

Oooh I just use eye and hand estimates! I realise that snot helpful but that’s how I cook..... sorry! Garlic always involves an entire bulb, all powders involve a solid tablespoon id say (tone down chillies if need be). Note the value of paprika and tomato purée for the red colour and only use chillies for the Level of spice you need...

I love pickled veg as an alternative to salads in the second half of the week. We always have a bottle of ‘quick pickle in 15mins’ liquid about and it’s a great way of stretching the life out of fresh stuff. It would go great with your kebabs.
Radishes last bloody weeks in the fridge and are nice pickled with Asian dishes.

My DH makes massive batches of pickled carrot and fresh turmeric which is divine as a side to Indian dishes. I will look for a recipe

In terms of tinned, I love a broad bean and artichoke pasta. The Jack Monroe tin can cook book is good for creating something out of nothing the night before a shop.

Hey @BeastOfBODMAS Please oh please tell me about this!! I need to know how to do that picking stuff? It is like how I make red cabbage for my doner kebabs? Vinegar etc to soak them in?

@NavigationCentral pickling vinegar is white vinegar that comes pre seasoned and normally in massive jars. I do a quick pickle of all kinds of things to bring out the flavour, sliced fresh chillis are really good.
If we’re eating it same day I just stick it in a bowl for a few hours. If making enough for a few days I will sterilise a glass jar with boiling water then keep it in the fridge. I think it would be very similar to your red cabbage, a coleslaw mix of carrots, white cabbage and onion also works well.

The carrot pickle we make is very similar to this recipe, we add curry leaves as that’s how our favourite restaurant does it. This is a very good explanation of the method. www.ruchiskitchen.com/instant-carrot-chili-pickle/

Another thing I made recently which you might like was a cauliflower and celeriac soup. I roasted a whole head of garlic until caramelised and blended that in so it was essentially creamy garlic soup! All veggies that last for ages and are happy enough out of the fridge.