Plant-based family meal inspiration please!

[blondie87]

Hello,

Whilst we are not going fully vegetarian, I would love to move a bigger proportion of our family meals being plant-based/vegetarian/vegan.

I have young children who vary from eat-anything to quite fussy, so I’m looking to be inspired with your go-to crowd pleasers, plus some more ‘special occasions’ dishes.

Thanks!

Hi, personally I steer clear of vegan food for children purely as its low value nutritionally and not balanced enough (for me), especially the UPF vegan alternatives.

Veggie recipes such as quesadillas with grated veg into the cheese. Also veg manchurian with a dipping sauce is a really tasty and easy dish can also taste very "special occasion".

You can make a really tasty veggie burger too either like an aloo tiki (potatoes) or with blended veg and beans to bind it and add all the usual toppings that make burgers fun (cheese, lettuce, sauerkraut if your kids are willing).
Pasta bakes are always a great opportunity to pack in vegetables, aubergine can be a great thing to put in.

Hope that helps, if you need more specific details just message me.
B 😊

Vegetarian curries
Risottos
Things using cheese/halloumi eg halloumi fajitas
Roasted veg on flatbreads with hummus and feta
Butter beans/canelini beans that I make a sort of "stew" with using some fresh tomatoes, some water, spinach, creem cheese, lemon setc served on jacket potatoes

Halloumi fajitas, or anything that can be self assembled goes down well in our family. Use black beans to fill burritos. Dahl, paneer curry, chickpea curry. Avoid any of the meat substitutes as they are all Ultra processed. Lentil bolognaise, bean chilli.

Since I've started experimenting with vegan food, I have more protein and meals are more nutritionally dense - because I'm being mindful I guess - instead of my same old same old veggie food. There are lots of fab recipes if you have a little Google.

Roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic white beans and spinach all blended up makes a fab pizza/pasta sauce or soup. Tinned lentils are an absolute staple in my cupboard and are used in curries, soups, bolognese etc.

My favourite and one I really recommend is making pesto/salad dressing with a bag of any salad leaves, some basil, a big handful of cashews and other nuts and seeds if you have them, some nooch, a veg stock cube, a clove or two of garlic, oil, lemon and water. I bung it all in a tall container and whizz it with a stick blender.

It's delicious poured over roasted veg and quinoa, over a hearty salad, or as a pasta sauce.

Another family favourite is some kind of Mexican bean and veg mix we have at least once or twice a week.

These are all great, thank you! I love the sound of your sauces/salad dressings @Tharshe

Halloumi fajitas sound delicious @Peonies12; thank you for the suggestion.

I love anything vegetarian but it’s much harder to find something all the kids will eat, so I’m grateful for inspiration.

Red lentil (or other) Dal seems to go down a treat even when ours are feeling fussy. I serve it with rice or naan, and offer some plain yoghurt with it. There are some good recipes on the BBC Food website, I just leave out any chilli. Freezes really well.

And the aloo tikka burger sounds amazing @Boo9

Quinoa burgers!

Burritos - either in the wrap or as a bowl type meal. Refried beans (I just make my own as the tins always seem a bit meh), rice, veg, cheese and toppings (salsa/sour cream/guac/jalapeños) and let everyone build their own. My kids are 2 and 5 and I usually do taco sized options or quesadillas with the rice and some veg on the side rather than a full sized burrito but it’s essentially the same meal and really adaptable.

Singapore style noodles with tofu and veg (unexpectedly a hit with both kids)

Marry me beans (I’ll admit my fussy bigger one won’t touch it but the other one would have this every day given the choice)

I’ve just taken The Doctors Kitchen out of the library and it’s got amazing plant based recipes with some fish and chicken. It also has nutritional advice backed by science. Worth a small spend or a trip to the library.

Falafel in pitas go down well here. I make oven baked ones and use a mix of sweet potato and chickpeas.
I also use Just Roll filo pastry (it's vegan)to make a very unauthentic samosa which again I just bake in the oven

A second vote for the DOotors Kitchen - lots of good recipes on the website too. This is a favourite https://thedoctorskitchen.com/recipes/spicy-mushroom-and-lentil-lasagna/ maybe leave the chilli out if the children are fussy.

Also Cookie & Kate is a veggie website - mine will eat her chilli if it is served with wraps, guac, cheese etc https://cookieandkate.com/vegetarian-chili-recipe/

We just got this new cookbook. I've tried 3 recipes already and all brilliant. Dinner

Chilli with jacket potato, lentil bolognese with spaghetti and veggy burger and sweet potato wedges go down well with my family.

Also Meera Sodha has a recipe for kale miso butter pasta that my dd really loves even though she wouldn’t eat kale otherwise.