inspire me with your favourite meat free family meals!

[elliott]

Feel like we are drifting into eating too much meat because it is easy and quick. And anything without meat tends to have lots of cheese.
Can anyone recommend good meat free recipes that kids like? Ds1 can be fussy and doesn't like cooked onion (major PITA - I do still give it him but he can spend forever picking through the meal to remove it..)
Lentil/bean recipes particularly welcome!

Mine are mad for dahl at the moment, and the easiest way to make it (and a bit of a cheat) is to get hold of some Indian oxo cubes (bit salty, so don't use a whole one). Boil up the lentils (red ones are quick), put some of the stock cube in. Throw in a cube of frozen chopped spinach and a chopped tomato towards the end of cooking. Stir in yogurt/cream/cream cheese once it's done. Stir in a bit of oil so it doesn't dry out.

Serve with rice and nan (Waitrose new recipe ones are very good!)

Another thing they like is Ebly wheat (takes 10 mins to cook) with mixed beans stirred in. I cook chopped veggies with the Ebly (brocolli, carrot, green beans etc). Little bit of butter stirred in. That's another favourite.

I make what we call lentil bolognaise but I think any Italian would probably rofl as I don't think it resembles anything Italian except the spaghetti!

Anyway, lentils in place of mince, as dd is vegetarian (and we are happy to go meat free some of the time). Then soften onion, garlice, and any other veg you have (we chop in all sorts as it's the easiest way to get veg into ds), eg, courgettes, carrots, pepper, green beans, mangetouts, mushrooms...
Then bung in a tin of tomato and/or passata, depending on how tomatoey you like it. Dash of Worcester Sauce, S&P, simmer 30 mins or so and serve with spaghetti.
I make big batches as it freezes very well.

thanks - what is ebly wheat?
they like red lentils but I only have about 3 recipes for them (dal, lentil and cheese bake and lentil and tomato soup)

this is DELICIOUS, it's half old-school delia and half me. seriously, dd whines for moussaka when she sees aubergines. there are, if i say so myself, also some other rather good veggie recipes on my site.

Ebly wheat is durum wheat. The grains are bigger and fatter than rice. You'll find them in the shops with the instant risotto and suchlike.

thanks posey, aitch. I am coming to realise that a big barrier to eating more veggie stuff is ds1 being so fussy. As well as the onion issue he won't eat cooked peppers, aubergine, mushroom, parsnip, butternut squash, tomatoes (unless pureed), isn't too keen on carrot but will eat if forced, ditto courgette...This all kind of puts me off making things that require a big mix of veg and makes it very easy to slide into always doing meat/fish plus separate veg. On the plus side he will eat broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, sweetcorn, raw pepper, green beans, spinach. So he does ok, but it does cramp out style somewhat...

ah that is a pisser. pea risotto? and you've a lovely stir-fry in the making there.

and i Loathe cauliflower but have to admit that it is nice in a curry with potato and chickpeas (although i'd rather have baby aubergine ).

Yes I do risotto (though that involves the onion-picking-out ritual). I should try a stir fry but really it needs onion, no? And what kind of sauce - would prefer not a bottle.
Until I wrote it out just then I hadn't realised quite how bad his fussiness had got - he used to eat lots of these things. sigh. I really miss peppers/mushrooms/aubergines.

can't you just use garlic in place of an onion? or even [cunning emoticon] grate the onion with a microplane grater thing? that's what i do in tuna mayo cos i don't like biting into onion but i do like a bit of the flavour.

stir fry, i just blob some grated ginger and grated garlic in a wok and then in go the veggies along with soy sauce, sesame oil and some mirin or dry sherry. sometimes i add some lime juice and chillies if i want a hot and sour, or coriander if i have it in the house. it's a moveable feast, i admit. then mix with noodles, toss and serve with sprinkled spring onions and coriander that could presumably be left off your wee boy's.

oil in pan

teaspoon of thyme

large pinch if chilli flakes

sliced courgettes

chopped up sun dried tomatoes from jar

steam broccoli and mix into pan for minute

cook pasta

when drained add teapsoon of lemon zest

mix altogether with parmesan and fresh parsley on top

mmmmmmmmm delicious!

ooops forgot two cloves of garlic!!!!!! very important!!!

My children love falafel, although if yours don't like onion you might need to process it really finely.

do you fry them, miss daisy steiner? i want a falafel recipe that isn't fried but still tastes good.

chikpea and potato curry -

chop up an onion ( my dd1 like your son so i process onnion to pulp in food processor once cooked and hten add back in) cook in a littel olive oil until very soft , add about 4-5 mushrooms finely chopped up, cook a bit longer, add a big teaspoon of curry paste , then add uncooked potato diced into 1 cm ish squares and a can of drained chickpeas ( amounts depend on how hungry you are) add some vegetable stock and cook for 30 mins ( or until potato soft but not disentergrating) then add chopped dried apricots and sultanas and stir in cream or youghart.

my kids like coconut cream stirred in as sweet flavour and really creamy but this adds a lot of fat to meal - fine for my very active girls but not my waistline.

I'm afraid I do There are loads of falafel recipes on allrecipes.com, perhaps there's one on there which can be baked or grilled?

oh no, don't blush cos you fry them. i would too if i could be arsed, it's just i hate dealing with hot oil, even shallow frying. that's why i buy my felafels from teh lebanese cafe, so they do the hard bit for me.
but no, i've tried supposedly oven-baked ones, they're yuck.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'd probably buy them too if I could but given that we don't even have a pub or post office within 4 miles, a Lebanese cafe is looking unlikely It's not the oil I dislike so much as disposing of it afterwards Can I ponce and tell you that I make the pittas from scratch too?

not to take anything away from you, my spaced chum, but i'm told they're not that difficult. still far too much like hard work for a woman with an M&S round the corner...

yes, it's the disposal that gives me the creeps too. bleh.

grating the onion! [lightbulb moment emoticon]
Thank you! (I'd thought of putting it into the food processor but resisted such faffery as too indulgent. Its a fine line isn't it, trying not to be too indulgent but also wanting him to actually be able to enjoy eating his food!)

delia's tuscan bean soup is nice
I use canned beans not dried

My dc enjoy vegetable biryani. I use a small amount of pataks tikka masala paste, stir in finely chopped onions, stir in rice, cover with veg stock, put lid on and bake in the oven. 5 mins from the end throw in some mixed frozen veg and return to the oven. The good thing with the paste is you can make it as strong or mild as you like. I even add coconut milk sometimes in place of some stock and that is nice.

Also, just because the dc dont like certain veg I would NEVER stop using it. I just ignore their moans and carry on putting all veg on their plates

I made a lovely lentil stew last night: fried up some onion (which I suppose you could leave out or replace with leeks maybe), chunks of parsnip and carrots. Then added some cumin, ginger and cinammon and a big glug of port. Red lentils, about a third of a tub of passata and a little bit of honey and cooked it until the lentils and vege were soft. DD1, who is the fussiest eater the world has ever known (allegedly) had two helpings!

Veggie soups always go down well here, especially when pureed.

Other faves include:

chickpea curry

lentil chilli (nigella's recipe is good but I don't tend to bother with a recipe)

lentil and coconut milk soup

noodles with soy beans, soy sauce etc

baked potatoes with easy peasy homemade baked beans or homemade coleslaw

Veggie sausage casserole (I usually add tinned lentils or cannelini beans to this).