Anybody fancy inspiring me?

[janeite]

Am trying hard to stick to the old menu-planning lark. However, I do find we seem to be eating the same things on a loop and need some inspiration for new family meals.

Restrictions = two of us are veggie so we all eat veggie most of the time
The dds don't like mushrooms, aubergines or courgettes.

Otherwise we're up for trying most things.

Our usuals include -

pasta, pesto, roasted vege
veggie chilli
veggie curries
soup
veggie sausage and mash
veggie soz casserole
baked potatoes and something - probably a casserole or cauliflower cheese
pizza and salad

I work full time so they need to not take forever to cook.

Cheers!

Grilled tuna steak wrapped in parma ham with herb potatoes (a la marks and spencer) and green beans. It takes 20 mins for the potatoes, 5 mins for the tuna steak.

Butternut squash soup/ veggie soup/ mushroom soup (my DC's are not fond of mushrooms but will have soup)
Risotto
Falafel in pittas with salad
Cheese and potato pie (make the night before)
Veggie lasagne
Veggie mousakka
Veggie kebabs on a stick (with Halloumi cheese)
Egg fried rice, (with added veg and soy sauce)
Welsh rarebit
Potato cakes with beans, egg, tomatoes.
Couscous with roasted veg/halloumi
Quiche

and our absolute favourite.....toad in the hole with veggie sausages.

Thanks both.

Don't eat fish, so tuna out.

Had forgotten about toad in the hole - yum.

Veggie kebabs a great idea too. DD1 won't eat cheese though; any suggestions for how to get protein on a kebab/with a kebab for her?

I make refried beans with two cans or three cans of different beans and wizz them with some cumin, paprika, in the food processor and then gently heat them in the fry pan and then pop them in the flour tortillas and roll up like cigars, sprinkle over the chees and bake in the oven.

The bean mixture keeps well in the fridge.

Do you make dahl? I like this as it can be made well ahead and kept in the fridge or frozen.

They sound lovely.

Yep, I do dahl - both dds love red lentils.

Green lentil lasagne is a big fave in my house - and noe of us are veggies, but we love our lentils!
Just make up the sauces as per normal but in the tomato one add a tin of drained green lentils! Voila! (And it can be a bolognese sauce for pasta)
I've put this on other foody threads too, so probably sound like a total lentil luvvie, but green lentils on top of scrambled eggs really makes it a superior experience!!

Oh yes - I do lentil lasagne. Made a fab one a couple of weeks ago with puy lentils.

Your mentioning lentils and eggs has just reminded me about lentil curry with hard boiled eggs - one of dd2's faves and I haven't made it for ages.

I know what you mean about going round the same loop! I try and make what I call 'the big salad' at least once a fortnight, as this ensures that we all get a good 'dose' of veg. Sometimes it's totally vegetarian, occasionally I have some protein component.

We had this last night:

Homemade coleslaw (thinly sliced white cabbage, grated carrot, thinly sliced shallots, dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper)

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil

Green bean salad (boil green beans, then fry half an onion in olive oil till soft, tip in beans and heat through, then add white wine vinegar and cook off - then leave to cool before serving)

Red and yellow pepper salad (Thinly sliced peppers pan fried with an onion till slightly browned; served warm)

Baguette (I bought the ready-to-bake ones, so that they were served warm)

We also had griddled chicken strips, but I guess you're not so interested in those! (if you are, they were made from boned chicken thighs, which had been marinated in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and oregano - then griddled till nicely charred on the outside but still soft on the inside)

Asaparagus risotto is also a favourite here.

And another one - halved hard boiled eggs, on a bed of spinach, covered in cheese sauce and baked in the oven till the sauce is bubbly and browned.

Am liking "the big salad" idea - dd1 would love that, especially if she thought she could get away with no protein! But she could always have hoummus with lots of different salads - great idea.

Yes, I vary it sometimes - might do a big green salad, or pitta with dips. Boys always love it!

Taboulleh is good too - haven't had that for ages either - taboulleh, tsatziki, pitta, falafel etc. Better at the weekends though, when I've got more time to make all the separate bits and pieces - bought tsatziki in England is gruesome.

Stuffed cabbage leaves - I make this with diced pork, but you could obviously omit the pork. Finely diced onion, pork, mushroom, carrot, celery, garlic (and frankly, anything else you like!) all fried together till soft.

Separate savoy cabbage leaves and drop into boiling water for a couple of minutes (you should remove the thick stalk), then drain.

Put about a tablespoon of the filling onto each leaf, at the bottom, then roll up, tucking the sides in as you go.

Put each cabbage roll into an ovenproof dish and then cover with cheese sauce, and bake until the sauce is nicely browned.

This is a breakfast/brunch recipe, but would be yummy anytime, it's called pyatt il platti.

Slice an onion, coat with olive oil and gently heat.

Peel and dice(1cm square) potatoes, and shallow fry, until golden brown, then add to onion.

Fry a lovely runny yolk egg.

Add chopped parsley to the potato and onion, place on a plate then put the fried egg on top. So yummy.

I love fried potatoes!

Because I'm worth it - unfortunately dd1 doesn't "do" cheese, so no cheese sauce. Tis a bloomin' pain, as I really like cauliflower cheese, macaroni cheese etc.

Could do it in tomato sauce?

Yum - any chance of letting me know the rough recipe for lentil curry with hard boiled eggs? Sounds yummy!

Agh - don't use a recipe really! If you're feeling lazy, use a Lloyd Grossman balti sauce, onions, carrots, green peppers, red lentils. Serve with hard boiled eggs and fresh coriander plus chapatis.

If not feeling lazy it's something like - fry onions, diced carrot, maybe green pepper, other vege if you want. Add about a teaspoon each of turmeric, cumin seeds, ground cumin; half a teaspoon if dried chilli flakes (you can use a fresh one instead) and fry a bit more. Can add ginger and garlic if you want/have got/can be bothered. Add a tub of passata and some water, plus some red lentils and cook, adding water if it looks a bit dry/more spice if too mild.

I'm in the same boat, & tend to rely on passing off the same veg chilli for 3 nights as 1) chilli with rice 2) enchilladas & salad 3) basis for shepherd's pie, with boring (dc-friendly) veg - peas & carrots.

I can recommend a veg box as a way of FORCING yourself to meal-plan & google ways of making kale palatable!

Stir fry is good? Base it on supermarket no-frills bag & add whatever else is knocking around, a lazy sauce & serve with noodles.

Oh & frittata - left over cooked veg, chuck into frying pan, add eggs & cheese, finish under grill to brown top.

Thanks janeite. That's my evening meal sorted for tomorrow then!

I tryed a new recipe potato quiche - instead of pastry you use mashed potato and flour a little butter all mashed up and spread over the base of a quiche tin, then bake for twenty minutes on gas 4.

Then three eggs whisked with 100ml of milk and whatever topping you like.

We had tunna flaked, chopped peppers and sweetcorn - you choose three - spread around ove the potato, pour over the egg and milk and spread some grated cheese over the top. Bake again for 20 minutes and serve. We had with bake beans.

I am not keen on pastry so liked this better than normal quiche.

Thanks all. I love quiche - unfortunately it is another thing that dd1 won't eat.

Stir fries are always a goodie.

Enchiladas = great: haven't had those for years. What's the difference between enchiladas and burritos - is it that enchiladas are baked?

Any more folks?

I told my dd it was upside down potato and tuna pie