Veggie recipes

[Alice]

My 6 year old has recently decided to become a mostly vegetarian. ( I say mostly because he’s only 6 so he isn’t always fully consistent in his ethical positions. :) He’ll still eat tacos and occasionally he’ll eat bacon or sausage. I think he might eat hot dogs but we don’t eat them much. Basically the less it looks like meat the more likely he is to eat it.). He’s made this decision for ethical reasons so we’re trying to respect him although the rest of the family eats meat. I’m not interested in tricking him into eating meat, I tell him if I cook something and it has meat in it. 

 

He’s also a pretty picky eater. I’m ok with not catering to the pickiness but I’m trying to find more veggie recipes he will eat and really like just to make our lives easier. Plus, I feel bad that often his dinner is something like rice and salad if the rest of us are having some kind of meat. 

 

He doesn’t like tomatoes so things like veggie lasagna or pasta with any kind of tomato sauce are out. He likes eggs ok but doesn’t love things like veggie quiche or frittata. He does seem to really like beans so we’ve been doing a lot of bean enchiladas or a bean and rice bowl with toppings. I have a recipe for lentil tacos I want to try soon. 

 

I’d love to find other good, time-tested, kid-friendly recipes! 

 

Thanks! 

[happi duck]

My kids have always liked hummus.  Even though it is beans the consistency is so different.  We dip veg and crackers in it and also eat it spread on toast or in veggie sandwiches.

 

Hummus is chickpeas but you can also just blend up a can of any type of beans and season to taste.  Maybe add some olive oil.

[HappyLady]

What about mac-n-cheese with peas or broccoli?  Does he like alfredo?  Quesadillas are good with just beans and/or hummus with cheese and guacamole.  Veggie roll-ups are good.  You can take a tortilla, spread some cream cheese or hummus and add a ton of veggies and cheese.  Could you make a soup with a lot of veggies and beans and freeze it to use on nights where it would be hard to eliminate the meat from your meal?  Loaded baked potatoes are always good.  My family and I are vegan so my kids eat pretty much everything we do, but on those nights I know they won't like something they get rice and lentil burritos with veggies and such, or something simple like grilled "cheese" and tater tots along with some sort of veggie.  I would suggest looking up some websites for vegan/vegetarian children because you'll find a ton of recipes and it might be easier for you to find something your son likes.    :)

[Stacia]

Also, if you're doing tacos, you can get the 'veggie crumbles' (fake meat), add taco seasoning & he can use that in his tacos as a meat replacement.

 

Does he like avocados? Here is a recipe (from Whole Living) that ds & I love. (You could just leave out the tomatoes for your ds. I leave the garlic out of mine because I can't eat garlic.)

 

Avocado w/ Bell Pepper & Tomatoes

Serves 1

• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• Pinch cayenne
• Coarse salt
• 1 ripe avocado, halved and seeded
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, diced
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro, plus leaves for garnish

 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, garlic, and cayenne. Season with salt.
2. Scoop out meat from avocado halves and chop. Transfer to a bowl and add bell pepper, tomatoes, scallion, and cilantro.
3. Drizzle with dressing and season with salt. Gently stir to combine. Spoon mixture into avocado shells. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

[K&Rs Mom]

 

My 8yo did this a while ago, I think it lasted about six months.  I wasn't cooking a separate meal for her, but we're meatless on Fridays anyway, and I tried to add in at least one more day each week that was totally meatless.  On days we had meat, I'd try to find a way she could eat most of the meal and maybe sub in an extra protein.  If I made a chicken stir-fry, I'd just scoop hers without any chicken in it; if I made a stand-alone meat, like pork chops, she just wouldn't get one but still get all the side dishes.  I kept baked beans & black beans on hand for her, in individual-size cups in the fridge/freezer, so she could just pop one in the microwave, or scramble an egg, or cut up some cheese cubes, to replace whatever she wasn't eating.  I did find some great vegetarian/vegan recipes that we're still enjoying and got a semi-vegetarian cookbook from paperbackswap that has ways to adjust the same meal with or without meat. 

[OrganicAnn]

My DD did this too.  The key is always not to make too big of a deal about it.   We eat meals without meat about 5 days a week anyway.     One thing that I did is look about the required protein for kids.   I found a chart that told how much a kid needs based on their weight.   Then look at things you might typically serve your family.   It really didn't take much adjusting to get the required protein for us.   We do eat a fair about of beans.  My DD likes re fried beans and baked beans (both of which you can buy vegetarian).  Also some cheese has more protein that others.