Lunch ideas

[janeite]

What could I cook for lunch for four adults, two teenagers and a toddler? Am out of inspiration. Must be veggie.

Have done before for these people -

• soup and nice bread
• puy lentil lasagne
• tagine, cous cous, salads,
• quiche, new potatoes, salad
• stuffed peppers

And I have forgotten what toddlers eat! Thanks.

Italian antipasti so:

grilled peppers in olive oil, artichoke hearts, tomato and mozzarella salad, grilled and marinated courgettes, foccacia. Some lovely italian cheeses. white bean and onion salad with good olive oil (leave out the tuna, unless they eat fish). bobs your uncle.

toddler will eat bread and pick bits.

Spinach Pie

Puff pastry (packet) 1 layer on bottom, one above cheese
Frozen chopped spinach - steam to defrost
Gruyere cheese on top

Pine nuts in the mix with the spinach is yummy too

Rice on the side and/or a nice carrot and sultana salad with seeds?

Would that work for toddlers?

Thanks both.

Sophable - sounds good but would prefer to cook, rather than assemble.

Raggie - sounds v good, except none of us like spinach except in salad. Sorry.

Ah well ;)

Sorry am being fussy. Any more please?

Message withdrawn

who said you weren't cooking it all

Sorry - it sounded like a Waitrose meal and I mean that in the best possible sense.

Risotto sounds like a contender - or I may just do a vast pan of pasta, salad etc.

Can toddlers eat penne and cheese, or would it need to be smaller? It is such a long time ago that I had a toddler! If he could eat penne and grated cheese, plus cucumber sticks etc would that do - or does it sound like a copp-out for him?

i always cook a load of pasta spirals at the same time.
Then you can use for hot and cold dishes.
one of my sons favorites is pasta.red onion,sweetcorn,chopped toms, mayo, chopped iceberg and red peppers. We are not veggy so we put tuna, prawns or ham with it. Then if someone wants a hot meal my son puts a tin of tomatoes, prawns,double cream, 1 tbsp pernod,parsley...yummmy

these are much nicer than they sound. We serve with tabbouleh and flatbread. My toddler approves.

Thanks Alypaly.

Martha - they look gorgeous.

sorry forgot the garlic with the pernod recipe

my son also takes the tuna and sweetcorn to all his badminton tournaments with him. It is really tasty and lightand travels well

Can you taste the Pernod? I don't like aniseed.

not that much as its only 1 tbsp,it just gives a bit of depth to the sauce once it is cooked,Sorry i forgot to put finely chopped onions in the sauce. If u dont like it u could always omit it or put even less in whilst cooking

the tomato based sauce is
olive oil to fry
finely chopped onion and garlic.sweat down
add tin tomatoes
sweat down,
Add tbsp pernod at this stage plus S+P
add 2- 3 tbsp parsley
add double cream to make to correct consistency
then add prawns or fish if required.
looks lovely with rice or pasta,
you can always add white wine at this stage to thin down sauce

Cheers. Nigella has a similar recipe with vodka iirc.

oops...never read nigella...cant stand the woman...but i do love cooking. Its a recipe i created years ago

Or what about a spanish omelette? Again, very toddler friendly. TBH as long as you plenty of nice bread available most toddlers would be happy.

I love Spanish omelette but my daughters don't. Think I'll do some sort of pasta, salad, good bread.

Now - pud?

Sorry - forgot to say thanks.