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My daughter has decided to become veggie

69 replies

REignbow · 17/01/2023 16:12

Hi,

My 12 year old daughter, has decided to become vegetarian. I am not happy feeding her quorn/impossible meat substitutes all the time.

So can anyone recommend any good kid friendly recipes please?

Just as a side note, she is quite texture adverse so is not keen on mushrooms (although will eat if cut very very small like breadcrumbs), aubergine, courgette etc. She is also not so keen on soups.

Some ideas I have had are

bean burgers
veggie bites
bean and cheese quesadillas
cauliflower curry

thanks in advance

OP posts:
Chewbecca · 17/01/2023 16:14

Delia’s vegetarian shepherds pie is lovely. The roasted veg lasagne is good too.
BBC good food’s lentil bolognaise is pretty good.

Qualculator · 17/01/2023 16:15

Pasta sauces are easy. If she's decided to go veggie, I'd expect her to do a lot of the veggie cooking herself?

Stockcleandemon · 17/01/2023 16:16

I have a veggie teen who doesn’t like mock meat or mushrooms - I’m just commenting so I don’t lose your post but will have a think and come back later with some suggestions

uhOhOP · 17/01/2023 16:18

Qualculator · 17/01/2023 16:15

Pasta sauces are easy. If she's decided to go veggie, I'd expect her to do a lot of the veggie cooking herself?

This made me laugh! Why would you expect that? I understand a 12-year-old can be expected to do some of the family cooking, but your post makes it sound as though you'd expect that because she's now vegetarian.

Twillow · 17/01/2023 16:19

Great ideas so far OP.
Does she like chick peas? You can make curries with them, add them to salads, mash them for burgers, oil them and crisp up like chips. Pasta with hidden veg in the tomato sauce and cheese on top. Jackets with cheese/beans.
TVP (textured vegetable protein) aka dried soya mince is great, cooked like a chilli or cottage pie even adults don't notice the difference. Add a spoon of marmite to it for flavour and whatever else you usually add.
Lentils - if she likes curries then dal is good and easy, with rice or flatbread.

Tiffan · 17/01/2023 16:19

Does she like pulses/ beans?
Vege chilli made a few different types of bean. Can chop up the veg super small or pulse in a blender.
Frittata (potato, cheese, green beans, peas)
Jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw or cheese and beans
Thai curry with various veg.

I wouldn't knock quorn too much. The basic stuff is fairly okay from a processed point of view, as it's a type of funghi mixed with egg, the pieces are good to put in a curry etc which the rest of the family will eat.

Quartz2208 · 17/01/2023 16:20

I had a veggie 12 year old who is now a vegan 14 yr old. She helps a lot with cooking though.

my concern is the texture - beans and pulses are definitely your friend. Jackfruit is a good meat alternative. Lentils also work well. Root veg soups are also a favourite. Bulk out with rice etc.

and herbs and spices - they are the difference between a bland meal and proper tasty food.

karmakameleon · 17/01/2023 16:20

My children have the same aversions. We have the below regularly:

  • River Cottage pinto bean chilli (swap the courgette out with sweetcorn) with either tortilla or nachos
  • Various vegetable curries (chickpeas, kidney beans, aubergine but roasted and mashed to avoid textural issues, cauliflower, cabbage, sweetcorn and pepper, dhal, etc)
  • Pasta with various sauces
  • Stir fries usually with cashew nuts
Novella12 · 17/01/2023 16:22

Have a look on mob.co.uk- they have some amazing vegetarian recipes. Easy to make too, I cook them all the time. Perhaps you could filter by veggie and your daughter could save ones she like the look of?

Otherwise:
Spinach and feta filo pie
Fajitas/burritos (use Mexican rice pouches and some peppers, beans, cheese, soured cream, avocado)
Cheese and tomato gnocchi
Veggie bolognaise (use lentils instead of mince)
Tofu and pak Choi noodle soup

gogohmm · 17/01/2023 16:26

I would negotiate - if she wants to be veggie she needs to stop being fussy. My asd dd would barely eat any veg and wanted to go veggie - I said that unless her diet improves she has to eat meat - her vegetable intake improved dramatically including mushrooms and also started eating beans

Lcb123 · 17/01/2023 16:30

In the kindest way, she needs to be less fussy if she wants to be veggie. And gain knowledge of how to have a healthy, balanced diet as a vegetarian, and look at recipes. Esp to make sure she has enough iron as many teenager girls are deficient.
I like bean chillis, and lentil bolognese. And fajitas with halloumi and loads of veg.

curlymacv · 17/01/2023 16:31

She can also eat pizza :)
Wraps/burritos are good, you can use chickpeas, tofu, beans, tempeh, grilled veg, whatever really.
Salads for when it's warmer, of all and any forms.
Curries with veg, or beans, or tofu/tempeh
Pasta! I LOVE gochujang hummus pasta, so quick and easy - think it was a tiktok recipe? Anyway easy to Google.
Dhal.
Stirfries.
Omelettes.

I'm vegan (not veggie) and I love using mobkitchen for recipes, also YouTube is your friend: FitGreeMind is a good one off the top of my head. lots of Asian food is veggie so I am heavily inspired by that when I cook. Indian/Japanese recipes will be good inspo.

Quartz2208 · 17/01/2023 16:35

Firm Tofu done properly is lovely - we coat ours in nutrional yeast cornflour and spices and it’s lovely and crispy.

soft tofu I really like as a sauce base with veg as it’s creamy without being too rich

noodles are lovely as well

Soproudoflionesses · 17/01/2023 16:36

I love the BBC good food nut roast recipe

DRS1970 · 17/01/2023 16:41

Vegetable curry, vegetable risotto, pasta with a vegetarian sauce...

HiccupHorrendousHaddock · 17/01/2023 16:46

So many curries! Matar paneer and chana masala are two of my favourites but there are hundreds of options. They can be as mild or as spicy as you like.
Here are a couple of very, very easy and delicious recipes from Meera Sodha:

meerasodha.com/recipes/workers-curry/
meerasodha.com/recipes/daily-dal/

Also Cauldron sausages are good with mash, onion gravy and peas - you make the same thing for everyone, just separate the meat and veggie sausages.

MetaDaughter · 17/01/2023 16:46

This is a useful resource@REignbow

Hodmedod’s

Not only more pulses, beans, artisan flour and other wonderful stuff than you could ever come to the end of, but also endless recipes. All the non-meat eaters I know rely entirely on this company, and a weekly veg box - and are extremely well fed.

toastofthetown · 17/01/2023 16:51

Having a cookbook to look at recipes and bookmark ones she likes the sound of is much easier than you suggesting any meal you can think of. And while she’s possibly too young to do her own cooking (assuming she’s not interested in it) she’s not too young to find recipes and meal ideas that appeal. Personally I find Meera Sodha’s East one of my favourite vegetarian cookbooks. The meals are based from all across Asia, simple and healthy enough for weekday cooking, not too many specialty ingredients and the food is delicious. She also has a column in the Guardian called The New Vegan which I also enjoy.

SpaceOP · 17/01/2023 16:56

I have to agree with other posters - she can't cut out all meat AND be fussy about vegetables. So she's going to have to work on that with you.

A few favourite veggie meals around here:

Vegetable curries of various types. A thai red curry as a basic base is quite useful as you can do whatever vegetables, to whatever size/texture you like. eg butternut and mange tout, or cauliflower (add aubergine for me) etc. Also chickpea or lentil based curries although I don't do a lot of those (ironically, doing a chickpea, pepper and tomato curry tonight for first time in months). I also regularly roast cauliflower and carrots with cumin and fennel seeds and serve on a sort of cheat's pilaf. Always goes down well. Another version is cauliflower satay curry - basically just a peanut butter, red curry paste and coconut sauce!

Pasta with vegetable based sauces although our favourites might not work for her: Arrabiata (I serve with feta as otherwise we're all still hungry after), tomato and aubergine (cut chunky but could be done small), slowly sautéed courgette slices with lemon, garlic and chilli topped with feta or goats cheese, slow roasted tomatoes served just on spaghetti with avocado and goats cheese (you can do this with some pesto too if she prefers).

No cook pasta sauce - cook penne. While cooking, mix tub of ricotta, zest of one lemon, garlic oil, some parmesan, pepper. Just before pasta is done, remove a cup of the water and add a bag of spinach. Drain pasta and spinach. Mix the ricotta through the pasta, adding a bit of pasta water if necessary. Top with pepper and parmesan cheese.

Stuffed peppers. Could be stuffed with just cheese and served on rice or potatoes. I used to do a slightly sweet version which I made by slow roasting the peppers firs then stuffing them with a mixture of cooked rice, raisins, toasted pine nuts, a bit of cinnamon all mixed up then added haloumi and back in the oven.

Fajitas - I do onion and pepper slices with the spices, then add fry halloumi separately.

Potatoes with beans and cheese and salad.

Vegetable lasagna. My version is a pain in the butt to make but I bulk prepare it and freeze in individual portions as I can pop in oven from frozen and we eat 45 minutes later. I roast butternut, peppers and other preferred veg (we like aubergine or courgette but you could just add onions). Separately, I roast a big tray of small tomatoes or chopped tomatoes. I make a tomato sauce to which I add the roasted tomatoes so it's deep flavour and also chunky. Cheese sauce. Sometimes, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll wilt some spinach too. Layer all up with the pasta sheets and done (I tend to mix the spinach in with the cheese sauce or replace cheese sauce with ricotta an dmix up).

Chargrilled green veg with fried halloumi in wraps/pitta breads. I create a little warm sauce with the halloumi by adding some paprika and garlic, then lemon juice and honey and letting it caramelise.

SpaceOP · 17/01/2023 16:57

Also, I'd get Jamie Oliver's vegetarian book. It's good for day to day family recipes.

Stockcleandemon · 17/01/2023 16:57

My son eats the following favourites :-
Mezze with falefel and humous pitta bread and crudités of veg
Tofu and veg stir fry with rice
Curry made of carrots parsnips cauliflower onion and chick peas in a patak curry paste with rice
A lasagne made with tinned lentils ( or quorn ) and Passata and a pre-made cheese sauce
Jacket potatoes beans and cheese with a salad
Fajitas made with veg and tinned black beans with cheese salsa and sour cream
Roast potatoes with veg and a pre-made nut roast , green bisto is veggie
Peppers stuffed with rice cheese and nuts and roasted
Homemade pizza
A pie made of a piece of Camembert or Brie folded in a puff pastry parcel

Ihatethenewlook · 17/01/2023 17:00

uhOhOP · 17/01/2023 16:18

This made me laugh! Why would you expect that? I understand a 12-year-old can be expected to do some of the family cooking, but your post makes it sound as though you'd expect that because she's now vegetarian.

I’d certainly expect my 12yo to cook for herself if she decided to become vegetarian. I’m not running a restaurant with multiple daily meal choices. If I’m cooking a dish that she couldn’t just pick or leave the bits out she didn’t want, then she’d be fending for herself

SummaLuvin · 17/01/2023 17:17

I have to agree with other posters - she can't cut out all meat AND be fussy about vegetables. So she's going to have to work on that with you.

hard disagree, all adults I know have foods they don't like and won't eat, so why are children not permitted to have preferences, providing they do try new things with an open mind. The textures mentioned - aubergine, mushrooms... - can be pretty divisive among adults, it's not exhaustive or niche.

A PP suggested looking through a recipe book with her, great idea, and I also love Meera Sodha. Another place to look could be Gousto, I regularly look at what recipes are available each week and then google them, most are written up online in full. They tend to be balanced, simple, quick, and with limited specially ingredients.

piedbeauty · 17/01/2023 17:21

Check out the BBC Good Food website. Loads of veggie meal ideas.

SpaceOP · 17/01/2023 17:23

Well, I'd say most adults have a small number of things they won't eat, true. But as a vegetarian, she's already removed a wide range of items from her list of things she can eat so she has a bit less leeway in terms of vegetables than she might otherwise.

It will be important that she gets enough protein and iron so at least the aubergine, courgette, mushroom issue is less of a problem from that perspective.

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