Veggie diet - v time consuming!

[MammaMia12345]

Am really keen to get more veggie dishes into our family repertoire.

Issue that I have is that as someone who prefers to cook whole food from scratch, but is also limited on time, it takes me about 2 minutes to put a lump of meat and baked potato in oven plus another minute to boil some green veg, all of which will also feed us for at least a couple of days.

Is it possible to bulk prepare healthy plant based meals without either resorting processed food or hours spent chopping, frying, assembling etc??

If budget allows then you could buy ready chopped veg (fresh or frozen) I use the ready made stir fry veg packs from the supermarket 🤷‍♀️

Try hello fresh.

I used that to expand my range of veggie dishes.

Me too.

Much more appetising than a "lump of meat" and a jacket spud.

Do you like tofu? Takes less than ten mins to fry.

Pasta with chickpeas or beans and pesto can also be thrown together in 20 mins.

Stir fry.

Many, many other quick ideas out there, I'm vegan and often manage to cook with a whining toddler in the background so I often don't have long!

It's easier than you think. Buy a range of food cuboard essentials, spices, jar tomatoes, coconut milk, pulses,frozen spinach, cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers, beans, GF pasta, rice, noodles, curry pastes, vegan pesto, jar artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, stock cubes. Grated vegan cheese, dairy free spread, oat based cream, You can make soups, curry, ramen, stew, lasagne etc etc. Dairy free sauces usually vegan too. My dd has been vegan for 12 years, I just cook the same for her in separate pan substitute a chunky veg for meat or sometimes we all eat vegan. The meat substite stuff can be really salty.

Hairy Bikers Veggie Feast book was great when dc2 decided to become veggie. They didn't really like stuff like Quorn or the fake meat substitutes but were happy with tofu/lentils/chick peas etc.

Can bang the ingredients for a chick pea curry in the slow cooker and ignore it.

Gusto are great for Veggie meals.

Takes a few mins to do omelettes, stir fry's etc

Not hard, you could just fry an egg or make an omelette and sauté some veg. When I’m pushed for time I use frozen veg with some sliced shallots, takes minutes. It grilled halloumi/other cheese.

or tinned chickpeas in a quick tomato curry, or else I use tinned pulses in a Middle Eastern style one pot dish with rice/cous cous/bulgur wheat. Sometimes I chop and prepare the veg, sometimes I use frozen.

I make a very rapid chili sin carne in the pressure cooker. Also great for vegetable and pulse soups.

Stir fried I use tofu, but usually marinate it first, fry separately coated with rice flour, then add to the rest of the stir fry.

you just need a bit of imagination, most meat eaters are used to the meat plus side combination and find it hard to think outside that.

I buy the bags of frozen sofrito, butternut squash, sweet potato etc in Sainsbury's. I wouldn't choose to eat them on their own but in a curry,stew or soup they are absolutely fine. Microwave pouches of rice are also handy. I make curry pastes in bulk and freeze so that reduces time significantly. In a real hurry fresh pasta and a simple tomato based sauce eg arabiata is super quick, as are omelettes, haloumi, stir fries or grilled field mushrooms topped with Stilton.

Tempeh or Tofu stir fry is quick and you can make a big load then refrigerate. I buy big bags of stir fry veg, and throw in some (tinned) pulses too when pushed for time

If you still want to cook from scratch, take a look at The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer, lots of easy traybake type recipes.

Pasta dishes and stir fries don't really take much difference in time, in my experience, and sausages or pies with mash are good convenience foods.

We like the Quorn Swedish style meatballs with mash and veg, or in a tomato pasta sauce. I think it gets easier over time 😊
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For bulk cooking, a bean chilli or lentil ragu is usually my way forward, you can make a big pot and then freeze in portions.

Dal is my go to for a quick vegan meal, all ingredients are in my store cupboard bar onions which I always have (fresh chilli and coriander also good but can make without) only thing that needs chopping is an onion!

Stir fries.

Veggie chilli

Chick pea and veg curry

Dal and rice

Roast Mediterranean veg and couscous

Stuffed peppers with a feta filling!

Veggie curries and dals are delicious and freeze really well. I also make soup and freeze portions for lunches. You can freeze home made Hummus (very easy to make using tinned chickpeas and great in a pitta bread with roasted veg). I've just done roast veg and cutting up the veg can't have taken more than 5 minutes.

Chucking cannellini or butter beans & various frozen veg into a frying pan with a bit of oil, adding some passata or soy sauce & stir frying them takes barely any time.

Also marinated tofu is really versatile & there’s a huge range of recipes for marinades.

Thanks all - lots of brilliant ideas!