Veggie main meal inspiration

[realitychick]

Hi

just looking atour menu for the week: lamb, chicken, spag bol, salmon - it's v heavy on meats and fish (and pocket!) I'd love our kids to eat veggie food but don't know where to start. We love it - roast mediterranean veg, tortilla omelettes etc but the kids just won't even try that sort of thing. The nearest I get is making them a quorn mince spag bol or chilli-free chilli (quorn bol with rice not pasta!)

They don't eat pastry and one won't touch sauce of any description except tomato-based. I need some new ideas.

What are your fave veggie recipes for the family that the kids really like?

thanks

pizza

quishe and salad

jacket potatoes with egg mayonaise and salad

chickpea curry with naan bread and mango chutney

lentil dahl served with rice and boiled eggs

ratatouile served with pasta

vegetarian lasagne stuffed with veg and lentils

moroccan vegetable tagine with couscous

also, chinese stir fries made just with vegetables and served with rice or noodles. Your kids may be more inclined to eat it if you give them chopsticks to use!

You can make really nice sauces for stir fries using coconut milk, soy sauce and a little bit of chillie if your kids wil eat this. Also nice with coriander chopped up into it

potato, onion and cheese pie always a hit. Thinly slice enough potatoes to feed all of you, and half that amount of onions, grate loads of cheese. Layer the potato and onion and cheese in a deep pie dish, salt and pepper it and pour over some milk. Top with more grated cheese and bake in the oven about an hour.

I use a mixture of normal potatoes and sweet potatoes and serve it with baked beans.

and I'm sure if you didn't give any other alternative the child who only eats tomato based sauces would eventuqlly start eating other sauces too.

Same goes for pastry.

Remember that children (and adults) generally need about 15 exposures to a new food before it stops tasting 'new' and 'strange' and they accept it as a 'normal' taste. So persevere, they are unlikely to starve themselves.

Yes, my two love potato, cheese and onion pie - we have it with spiced peas.
Macaroni cheese?

Try making a tomato pasta sauce but then varying it eg with peppers, mushrooms (my tow won't eat mushrooms though - grr), making it into arrabiatta if they like spice.

A pasta sauce can be made by melting a tub of garlic and herb boursin too.
Will they eat pasta and homemade pesto?

Bake potatoes, then scoop out the skin and mash it with some gently cooked leeks and grated cheese plus s&p. Pile back into the skins and pop under the grill to crisp up. eat with salad.

If they like quorn, you could do fajitas.

Thai veggie curry always goes down a storm: I use cashews or tofu or omelette strips for protein.

Sorry for mistakes - am trying to do four things at once!

Hi,

Thanks - some great ideas here. I love the sound of potato and cheese pie - will definitely give that a go. And stir fry made with coconut milk - brilliant. Thanks for the leek topping for baked spuds too - sounds great.

I do sneak other veg into tomato sauce, and make own veg puree for pizza toppings, so I guess that's five veggie meals to mix in with all the meat and two veg they love.

Thanks.