We eat too much meat, need some veggie alternatives!

[descendingintomadness]

As a family, we eat far too much meat - pretty much every main meal!

I need some tasty veggie recipes that my brood won't turn their nose up at (i have a fussy 4 year old, a 7 month old, and me and DP), that aren't too time consuming (I work long shifts as a nurse 3 days a week), and aren't too expensive to make/hard to find ingredients etc.

I use my slow cooker loads, and i'm not averse to experimenting

Thanks

Pasta with red pesto and roasted vege?
Pasta with green pesto, rocket and cherry toms?
Risotto?
Lentil soup?
Beany chilli with rice, or wraps, or baked potatoes, or sweet potatoes?
Egg, homemade wedges and peas?
Omelettes, homemade wedges and salad?

You can do chilli, soup, veggie sausage casserole, chickpea curries etc in the slow cooker.

We had the same realisation a few months ago - month for health and financial reasons! Some of our new faves are:

• Cherry tomato spaghetti
• Vegetable fajitas with nachos
• Tagliatelle with asparagus and lemon/herb/butter sauce
• Pizza with lots of peppers, onions etc on top
• Puff pastry tart with red onions and goats cheese/brie

We've also been trying to eat more fish/shellfish but I'm not sure if that's what you're after?

You could use the slow cooker to make some nice veggie soups as well - Scotch broth is a nice one and really filling.

Well as DS and I have just had stir-fried vegetables with noodles I would recommend that! I made a quick sauce for the vegetables using soy sauce, chicken stock and cornflour to thicken, and had lots of garlic and ginger in with the vegetables too.

It's one of my failsafe options whn I have literally no time.

Another great one is chickpea and carrot casserole or curry with either naan bread or rice.

Also, don't forget fish as a great alternative to meat.

Fish pie is something everyone loves.

Or fish cakes

or kedgeree

or just tuna and sauce with pasta

Roasted veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, red onions) - roast them with plenty of olive oil for 40 mins or so and then slice some halloumi cheese on top for 10 mins more or so. Very yummy even for my non-veggie family, we have this at least once a month!!

Or mushroom stroganoff - with rice or pasta

Plus the usual omelettes, pizza, pasta, veggie lasagne with lentils....

Ooooh yes to the two pasta dishes suggested - yum and easy!
Lentil soup is very easy (made with red lentils) - make loads and freeze

I make tomato-based sauces with green lentils as they are very 'meaty' and substantial - need a bit more cooking but you can easily make a large batch and then re-heat / defrost. I tend to serve those with rice.

We also have tried to cut down on meat for main meals and one thing we do is to add 'homeopathic' bacon to a mostly tomato-and-veg sauce - enough to flavour the sauce / stew without it being a big main ingredient, if you see what I mean. Chorizo works too, as it is very flavoursome indeed.

Also I sometimes buy pre-prepared Napoletana pasta sauce and just fry up a bit of extra fresh veg to go in it - leek or courgette type thing. With a bit of pesto on top it is filling and really tasty.

and then there are egg-based meals:

spanich omelette served with salad and crusty bread

Quishe

fried eggs with beans on toast

lentil dahl served with rice and topped with chopped hard boiled eggs. This is one of DS's favourites.

baked potatoes with a variety of fillings...

or potato and sweet potato layer bake. Just slice up potatoes and sweet potatoes really thinly, slice up onions really thinly, and layer in a big pie dish with grated cheese in between the layers and on top, add milk, salt and pepper and a grating of nutmeg and bake about 45 minutes until cooked through and brown on top. Serve with salad or baked beans. Lovely.

Or vegetable pies or tarts

or pizza (home made)

or stuffed pancakes baked with a white sauce in the oven. Best stuffing is spinach and feta cheese.

PS it also depends on what reasons you have for cutting down on meat as to what else you might like instead. If there are any environmental / eco factors in that decision then dairy is not a fantastic alternative, as it is still a very intensively-produced foodstuff with lots of carbon implications; and sadly fish is not unproblematic either, due to typically only having the choice between large-scale unsustainable fishing or fish farming (also very intensive and not in any way 'happy' for the fish themselves).

Not that I'm into going vegan myself - the best alternative that is promoted if eco consciences are the main motive - but it is a part of the reason behind us reducing our meat consumption in our house.

Ooh - dd2 would LOVE dhal with hardboiled eggs: brilliant idea!

Pitta bread pizzas with salad are dead easy and nicer than using bought pizza bases, if you can't be bothered/don't have time to make your own.

Dp makes cheese, onion and potato pie, which is basically mash with grated cheese and cooked onions baked until brown and crispy. The dds love that.

I do a lovely vege and barley soup, which is really cheap and easy.

Cous cous and veggie/chickpea tagine is nice - and the taginey thing could be made in the slowcooker, I bet.

Falafel and salad in pitta.

It is hard to find veggie food that they will actually eat. the dhal is one of the few things ds would eat. I made a steamed polenta savoury cake thing today but it was v fiddly. Aubergine recipes are worth trying as they are quite meaty in texture as are shitake mushrooms with say, spinach and ricotta tortelloni. try spinach and feta pies, or spinach, ricotta and egg pies (italian), ratatouille, tofu terayaki (but not easy to get right).

Muffin pizzas or naan bread pizzas are easy and a hit with my 2. Quorn is a great meat substitute for lasagnes/moussaka etc.

Wow! Thanks for all your replies. There are some brilliant ideas here that i'll certainly try.

Not particularly an eco reason for wanting to cut down on meat, more of a cost issue, and certainly for me, a health issue - i have gut problems that are aggravated by red meat. I would like a healthier way of living!

My dds also love rice noodles, with Birds Eye soya beans, tofu, soy sauce, sugar snaps, chilli flakes - dead easy and quick to make.

I make my own tomato based sauce and my own pesto every week and we use a lot for veggie dishes - home made pizza and dough balls, cheese and pesto quesadillas, pesto jacket potatoes, cheese and tomato penne etc etc. DH normally has a few chillis added and occasionally the odd anchovy.

Not esp adventurous on the veggie front, but cheese/tomato/pesto always a winner here so supplement with extra raw or cooked veggies on side.

We are having a veggie dinner - pasta with about 16 cloves of garlic slowly cooked in olive oil, thyme and goat's cheese. No vampires tonight.

I have been making this Black Bean Chilli recently and it is delicious and easy. Freezes well too.

uptoapoint - that sounds delicious. do you cook the goats cheese or just crumble it in at the end?

taffetacat - just crumble. Whole cloves of garlic cooked really slowly for about 1/2 hour till just golden. Really nice. But VERY GARLICKY.

This recipe is easy and cheap. It does take a tiny bit of prep and a while in the cooker, but you don't have to be stood over the stove iykwim.