Vegetarian meals

[blondie87]

Hi there,

I’m currently trying to reduce our meat intake whilst also feeding three children under 6. Whilst they aren’t vastly fussy, they differ in what vegetables they like. Also, from a time perspective, I find it easier to batch cook things like chilli (they aren’t fussed by mixed bean chilli instead), lasagne, casseroles etc and find they tend to freeze better than veggie versions. I personally would happily be fully vegetarian as I love vegetables/interesting dressings etc but I’m not prepared to cook two different meals!

So I’d be really grateful if anyone could suggest some crowd-pleasing veggie recipes suitable for a toddler and two young children. I love cooking so happy to be a bit adventurous!

Cheese and tomato bread pudding recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/cheese-and-tomato-bread-and-butter-pudding
Veggie burgers www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/yummy-veggie-burgers/
Naan pizzas realfood.tesco.com/recipes/naan-bread-pizzas.html
Pasta bake www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/broccoli_and_cheese_42991

Vegetarian curries freeze great and you can control the spice level to suit dc tastes. There’s a huge variety on BBC Good food

I also like this site for lots of child friendly veggies recipes. Her creamy 3 bean stew is lovely.

Spinach & ricotta cannelloni
Macaroni broccoli cauliflower cheese/pasta bakes
Various vegetarian quiches/frittatas/tarts
Extra veggie fried rice
Pizza rice bowls
Shakshuka
Ratatouille
Veg & halloumi wraps
Vegetarian tray bakes

Fried rice www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/eggfriedrice_89260
Vegetable or cheese and onion quiche
Tagine www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/butternut-squash-chickpea-tagine
Cheese, leek and potato pie www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheesy-leek-potato-pie

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/oven-baked-risotto
^ very easy, and I just leave out the bacon

www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/recipes/aubergine-lentil-walnut-ragu/
^ easy to scale up for batch cooking, freezes well, we don’t find we need the walnuts at the end. Great with pasta, polenta, mashed potato.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/burnt-aubergine-veggie-chilli
^ another fantastic batch cooking recipe full of flavour. It’s my meat-eaters’ FAVOURITE chilli! We add more chilli powder because I like it spicy, but as is it’s both rich and not very spicy. I’d reduce the liquid by a little though.

Oh, and this paneer curry with spinach and cherry tomatoes is dead easy and delicious. Also freezes.

meerasodha.com/spinach-and-paneer/

I know it's a bit old school but how about Cheese & Potato Pie with baked beans. It's usually a cheap and cheerful crowd pleaser for little ones

Can’t wait to try these; thanks!

@NeedNewKnees love the look of the curry!

In fact it all looks great! Many thanks for the contributions.

You can’t beat chilli - big bowl with chopped up lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, grated cheese (or sour cream) and tacos or wraps. Yum.

For dd I make veggie lasagna, curries, chilli, beans with paprika etc and freeze portions for days we are eating meat.

[quote blondie87]@NeedNewKnees love the look of the curry![/quote]
Meera Sodha’s recipes are so, so good! She has a 20 minute fish curry that is wonderful too (in case you fancy cutting down on meat rather than going full vegetarian. I recommend her Made In India book - I just ignore the meaty ones (or substitute aubergine) and make at least 15 of her recipes regularly.

Check out this lentil daal recipe - I tend to roast whatever vegetables I have in my fridge drawer too and add them to it to mix it up. Its great for batch cooking too. I use much less of the spice than the recipe states (just 1/4 instead) and my kids love it!

www.spicepots.com/blogs/recipes/spice-pots-goan-daal-1?_pos=1&_sid=6013af148&_ss=r

I make lots of soups. Lentil with a squeeze of lemon juice is nice.

@NeedNewKnees I made the spinach curry and it was great! Definitely going to be a regular.

@blondie87 - it’s a corker, isn’t it! So glad you enjoyed it.