Veg ideas

[Cuwins]

I'm after some new ideas for veg to try to interest my dd1.
My partner and I are pretty boring where veg is concerned either we have a meal with veg in it like bolognese/risotto/cottage pie etc or we do frozen veg on the side of a meal (normally peas/sweetcorn, mixed veg, broccoli or green beans) or sometimes a salad bag. We have been quite happy with this and on weaning so was dd. However in the last month she has got quite fussy and is now eating next to no veg. If it's in a meal she might eat some but often picks round it, if it's separate she won't eat it at all- except baked beans which she loves!
We realise our way of having veg is quite boring/repetitive (although we were happy with it) so looking for ideas for either different ways to cook veg or different veg to try her with.
However neither of us enjoys cooking so needs to be low effort (hence our choice of frozen veg) and also not expensive.
She is dairy free so things like cauliflower cheese are out- needs to be things we will all eat and neither my partner or I will eat dairy free cheese.
Any ideas?

Have you tried roasting veg? Cauliflower and broccoli are much nicer when roasted - add olive oil and sea salt and roast for around 15-20 minutes till starting to brown.

Thank you. We did actually roast some peppers and mushrooms yesterday but have never tried broccoli or cauliflower.
I wouldn't want to add salt but I'm sure it would be ok without. Thanks will add this to the meal plan for next week.

Probably a silly question but what sort of temp would you do them on?

I'd do them at around 170 or 180 fan - just check after 10 minutes and give them a stir.

Add salt when you serve yours, if you don't want your DD to have the salt. It really does taste better though!

I also sometimes chuck in some slices of onion too. They are lovely when they start to brown.

Thank you very much for your help and for not making me feel daft!
I may add a small amount of salt depending on what else she is eating that day. She does like a salty taste and I guess it's a balance of veg versus salt!

Just keep offering it with meals, don't be disheartened if she goes through a phase of not eating it, she'll start again eventually.
Both of mine went off the veg at around 1, at 2&4 they mostly eat all if it now.
I always do one green and one other colour so they get a bit of variety. I balance veg on the side with 'hidden' veg throughout the week so that they are still getting exposed to the taste and textures of veg.
I have a steamer that I chuck it in so not very interesting I'm afraid!

Yes that's what we are doing really but it just occurred to me that we shouldn't assume her tastes are the same as ours and where we are happy with the same boring veg she might not be.

What about veg in an omelette or frittata? Or savoury pancakes?

My kids really like this pasta sauce with aubergines - we make a big batch and then freeze it

https://www.kidspot.com.au/kitchen/recipes/slow-cooked-pork-mince-eggplant-pasta-sauce/gss4kvwi

Would your DD like to try raw veg, E.g sliced carrot, cucumber, tomato and peppers? Celery filled with a little peanut butter?

Yes she will sometimes eat a little in eggs (she loves eggs!) but if I put too much in that puts her off and she picks round it. Never made savoury pancakes

Unfortunately pasta is something we are off at the moment but she will eat small amounts in a meal like cottage pie etc

She has never been fond of raw veg (too much effort I think)- we do offer tomatoes/cucumber and peppers regularly. Haven't offered celery- might try with the peanut butter as she loves that

Maybe try something like sweetcorn pancakes? They are nice with a fried egg

Or potato pancakes (add spinach) / bubble and squeak

@Theelephantinthecastle thank you, I will have to look up some recipes

I’ve just noticed your DD is dairy free, mine was too when she was little. So her calcium intake was always a priority for me. Unfortunately I don’t think many kids would eat kale willingly, so I always just blended it a bit before adding to our bolognaise sauce! Still do 🤣 and she’s 12!

We used an Annabel Karmel recipe book and just adapted it to the needs of our family, we found it had a good variety. As PP have said, just keep offering, model the desired behaviour to your DD (oooooh, yummy peas! Etc) and hopefully the phase will end soon!

I think her calcium is not too bad as she still drinks fortified oat milk and also dairy free yogurt with calcium in it.
But will try kale- I like kale but never do it

@Cuwins thats perfect, my DD would only drink Koko and it wasn’t great for calcium, from what I can remember!

DD has barista oat milk as that's what the HV suggested. And she likes the dairy free petit filous (although my bank account doesn't!)

@Cuwins the price of ‘free from’ food is scandalous!!

What about steamed mixed greens/veg? We’ve just got into doing a mixed veg side (like a side salad) using peas, long stem broccoli, spinach, edamame beans and anything else leftover. We just throw in a sieve over a pan of boiling water (no fancy steamer here!) then add a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe a few chilli flakes. The other day we made a pan fried side of chopped butternut squash, cavalo nero and onion and that was amazing. Hungry now!

I used to make mine green eggs, so frozen chopped spinach stirred into eggs and then cooked as an omlette or scrambled. Also this Annabel Karmel recipe is delicious.

Also butternut squash simmered in a little stock and then puréed makes a great sauce.

She used to love frozen chopped spinach on its own. Will try adding a small amount to her eggs. I don't think she quite has the understanding of 'green eggs' being funny yet- she is only 14m

Interesting one. How long would you cook it for?