OT: Kid-approved vegetarian meals?

[elw_miller]

I would like to start cooking more vegetarian meals for our family, particularly more legume/grain dishes. My husband and I like quite a few vegetarian dishes, but my kids (ages 5, 2.5, 1) do NOT like most of them. My pickiest child also disdains most vegetables. I did have pretty good success hiding red lentils in my marinara sauce.

 

I love trying new recipes, but at this point I want to try things that already have a good track record with kids.

 

What are some vegetarian meals that your kids have enjoyed?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

:bigear:

[gingersmom]

My kids have grown up eating vegetarian foods.

 

My son prefers "fake" chicken nuggets to the real thing. He also eats veggie bacon and sausage. Also fake chicken patties and veggie burgers.

 

My daughter has recently discovered the joy of pinto beans (aka refried beans) and loves making her own wraps with them.

 

Stuffed baked potatoes or potatoes of any shape/color/variety.

 

There are a ton of vegetarian cookbooks. We hang out at the library and check out a ton (Moosewood cookbooks are really good).

[LibraryLover]

In winter, my kids love veggies, rice, noodles etc with peanut, curry, and conconut milk sauces. My family also enjoys loves soups and stews. (veggies, brown rice, lentils, quiona, millet, various beans, esp garbanzo etc) We also do a lot of mexican foods, esp with beans.

 

Ravioli and such are good transition foods a lot of children like.

Edited March 8, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Momling]

Our family's favorites are:

 

Black beans and rice

Vegetarian chili and cornbread (kids make the cornbread)

Spinach w/ tofu (I cheat and use a premade package of palak paneer and add tofu cubes and fresh spinach)

Spaghetti

Macaroni and cheese (I like to use Barilla plus noodles because they have a lot of fiber and protein in them)

Eggs and toast (sometimes I just make this for dinner...)

 

These are all pretty quick meals.... so I like them too.

[MeaganS]

My husband tried these yesterday: Black Bean Brownies. They actually turned out pretty good. A very fudgey consistency and if you follow what the comments say and chill them over night, they are WAY better. There are lots of similar recipes if you don't like the looks of that one. You could probably make these and your kids wouldn't even know!

[Peela]

Pasta with tomato sauce with lentils and vegetables snuck in

Pasta with pesto- my son LOVES this- he likes the bottled stuff but I often make my own- it is basil, olive oil/water, garlic, parmeson cheese, and nuts, blended together.

Home made potato chips. My kids dont lke potatos- I didnt think that was possible but they don't, except as chips or baked potatoes cut into chunks.

Avocado and/or tomato on toast

My kids have never liked cooked vegetables much, but will happily munch on carrot sticks, baby cos lettuce (they LOVE caesar salad), celery, red capsicum.

Fruit.

Green smoothies (fruit blended wth water and a handful of greens).

[elw_miller]

My husband tried these yesterday: Black Bean Brownies. They actually turned out pretty good. A very fudgey consistency and if you follow what the comments say and chill them over night, they are WAY better. There are lots of similar recipes if you don't like the looks of that one. You could probably make these and your kids wouldn't even know!

 

That does look like a good recipe! Thanks!

 

I will try my vegetarian chili again. It was rejected last year, but maybe my kids' taste buds have matured in a year. (I can hope!!) :)

 

Thank you for the great suggestions! I'll give them a try!

 

The green smoothies also sound like a great idea. I may have to add some food coloring, though, because my dd is suspicious of anything 'green'.

Edited March 8, 2010 by elw_miller

[Quiver0f10]

Some of my kids favorites:

 

mac n cheeze

pizza

pasta and sauce

veggie soup

black bean tacos

black bean burritos

black bean or lentil sloppy joes

gardener's pie ( shepherd's pie but with chunky veggies instead of meat)

potato soup

Stiry fry with chick peas

quesadillas

Ramen noodles ( once a month or so as a treat on those crazy busy days lol)

chili & corn bread

Edited March 8, 2010 by Quiver0f10

[Mergath]

My daughter loves lentils with caramelized onions and lots of evoo, those veggie "buffalo wings," tofu sauteed with a little soy sauce, brown rice mixed with veggies, and pappa al pomodoro.

[Cindy in C-ville]

Don't add food coloring to your green smoothies. Just make them with blueberries. Fresh pineapple makes them particularly yummy, and we also like a chunk of fresh ginger thrown in. Sometimes I add bee pollen for the energy perk. Oh, and always a frozen banana. Happy smoothing!

[freerange]

The green smoothies also sound like a great idea. I may have to add some food coloring, though, because my dd is suspicious of anything 'green'.

 

Pretend the green is food colouring.;)

[Cera]

My kids love the sweet potato/black bean enchiladas from vegetarian mother.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Cera
spelling

[LauraGB]

Tacos are always easy and well received. I totally cheated tonite and used a can of black beans, a can of refried beans, 1/2 jar of salsa, some cumin and a pinch of oregano. Once its in the tortilla and loaded down with the toppings, its all good.

 

Another fav of my dc are potato soup or split pea soup with "salad" sandwiches: a ciabatta loaf, split, topped with dressing (italian, ranch, whatever you all like - I like Asiago Peppercorn from Marzetti, personally ;)), provolone, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, shredded carrots, red onions.

 

They also like eggplant parmesan subs: bread (dipped in egg, then dipped in a mixture of equal amts grated parm and bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper) and bake the sliced eggplant first, then layer it in a 9x13 with pasta sauce, the breaded eggplant, mozzarella cheese (usually 2 eggplants will generate 2 layers), then bake that for about 20 min or so more. Slice it and layer it into sub buns - it's kind of like a meatball sub. The eggplant recipe is supposed to go over cooked spaghetti, though, with is also really good.

[LittleIzumi]

My kids LOVE beans, soups, and curries. And veggies in any form. Today dd4 had 3 bowls of veggie curry (broccoli/green beans/corn/potatoes/garbanzo beans/tomatoes/curry spices/rice milk) on rice and will probably have more while I'm at work. (I was sick or I would have insisted on more variety, lol.)

[DarlaS]

That does look like a good recipe! Thanks!

 

I will try my vegetarian chili again. It was rejected last year, but maybe my kids' taste buds have matured in a year. (I can hope!!) :)

 

Thank you for the great suggestions! I'll give them a try!

 

The green smoothies also sound like a great idea. I may have to add some food coloring, though, because my dd is suspicious of anything 'green'.

 

Not all green smoothies are green. Add blueberries and they tend to turn out more purple.

[Nan in Mass]

Have you tried edamame? I buy it frozen in the pod. Mine would have like squirting it out of the pod into their mouths when they were younger. How about roasted vegetables served with toothpicks? (Cut potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, and carrots into chunks, add some whole mushrooms and a can of chickpeas, toss the whole thing with olive oil and lots of rosemary, spread in a shallow baking dish and cook about 3/4 hr. in a very hot oven.) Mine littles would eat lots of things with toothpicks that they refused to eat otherwise. They also liked to dip things. Mine dipped cut up veggies and chips in hummus. How about sweet potato french fries? I added peas to Annie's mac+cheese. I make shell bean and corn souffle (yum). What about bubble and squeak? (Cut up and onion and some vegetables fine, mix them and an egg or two into mashed potatoes, form into patties, dredge in flour, and fry. The Irish friend who taught me to make this said it was a traditional way for mothers to disguise vegetables.) We cook rice in broth with peas and parmasean (sp?) cheese. Or we cook it with an Indian spice mix, yoghurt, and a package of frozen vegetables. Or we fry rice with an egg, mixed frozen vegetables, ginger, onion, and soy sauce. Pizza is popular. I make the dough in the breadmaker. So is French toast for supper. I used to make alphabet soup with TVP, alphabet noodles, broth, rosemary, and frozen mixed vegetables. Vegetarian baked beans are good, especially with johnny cake or brown bread. In general, I have been able to get my family to eat chick peas, orange lentils, edamame, shell beans, frozen or fresh peas, peanutbutter, and baked beans, but not other sorts of beans. These are all mild, less beany sorts of beans. I tended to fill out supper with a handful of nuts, some carrot sticks, some fruit, and a glass of milk, if it was something especially simple. With years of gymnastics, I got pretty good at fast-food-at-home.

-Nan

[aggieamy]

Pretend the green is food colouring.;)

 

Awesome suggestion. Green ... you know, for St Patrick's day!