HELP! Vegetarian Recipes needed!
Hi Everyone--
I am involved in a kids cooking program (6th graders) and we are looking for different kid-friendly (both in making and in eating) recipes from different categories of food. I am in charge of the vegetarian category, and I'm looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack menus. Because the program consists of numerous groups each making food, the recipes do not have to be full meals (i.e, for lunch some type of sandwich would suffice, versus a sandwich, side, and drink).
I would appreciate any suggestions, either from personal vegetarian recipe collections or links to good websites!
Thanks,
Lorie
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
16 Comments:
Lorie,
Definitely check-out: epicurious; you can search recipes by category.
I would also suggest searching right here at SE by selecting 'recipes' from the top navigation and then searching for 'vegetarian' or 'kids'?
Good luck!
hungrychristel at 5:48PM on 10/07/08
For breakfast, you could do homemade granola and yogurt. Granola is really easy to make with kids. Just have all the ingredients pre-measured, dump them together in a bowl, stir them around, and bake on a sheet pan until golden brown. There are plenty of good recipes floating around, but I like this one: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/02/consider-it.html
Another good breakfast food to make with kids is muffins. They're easy to mix, and there are tons of healthy varieties. Plus, kids generally like when they have individual servings of food, with its own wrapper, and things like that.
For lunch, you could do some kind of individual pizza assembly line? I remember making pita bread or english muffins pizzas all the time when I was a kid. Just get either of those for the crust, then top with good store-bought marinara sauce, cheese, and a couple vegetable topping options.
For dinner, there are so many easy and delicious pasta dishes, that it's hard to go wrong. A baked pasta dishe might be especially good, because it all goes into one pan, often includes a cheesy crust, and is easy to serve to hungry kids.
As for snacks, ants on a log is the classic, but there are plenty of other good options, like apples and cheddar cheese, or carrots and hummus or peanut butter.
ChristineB at 5:49PM on 10/07/08
For lunch or dinner, why not veggie tacos, a quiche or fritata (can you use eggs?), veggie chili... all of those are easy to sneak extra veggies into and you're not over doing the carbs.
nalega at 6:10PM on 10/07/08
The food section of our blog has more than half the dishes that are vegetarian. Scroll down for the vegetarian chili, in particular.
http://stlouiseats.typepad.com/st_louis_eats_and_drinks_/whats_cooking/
lemons at 6:27PM on 10/07/08
If you can find the cookbook The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and then the recipe for The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, it could be interesting. Basically, it's a bed of rice with broccoli trees, and I forget what else. Its an interesting-looking dish, it tastes good, and kids can get creative with it.
dbcurrie at 6:34PM on 10/07/08
Not really focusing on a particular meal. Just some thoughts.
The little Caprese salad skewers on toothpicks. Or fruit skewers -- cantaloupe chunks, grapes, strawberries, blueberries.
Half a banana, frozen on a popsicle stick, dipped in melted chocolate, rolled in chopped salted peanuts.
Oven baked sweet potato wedges with salt, pepper, cumin.
Guacamole with oven baked tortilla chips.
Tomatoes stuffed with pasta salad (orzo or one of the other tiny pastas)
Minestrone soup (utilizing canned beans, ready-made cheese tortellini)
Potato or cheese pierogi made with square won-ton skins or round gyoza
Baked potato with broccoli-cheese topping
zucchini at 7:14PM on 10/07/08
It's wide open for you. Breakfast is perhaps the easiest meal to make "meat free." (I'm sure bacon and sausage lovers will forgive me this one offense.)
Baked goods, yogurt with lots of fruit and/or jam, granola, the sky's the limit. Might be a tougher job to try vegan but veggie should not present you with that many challenges.
Pancakes! The universally loved kids' favorite breakfast! (Not to mention pretty high on my list...)
therealchiffonade at 7:52PM on 10/07/08
^definitely pancakes--I bet you'll be surprised how many kids have never made them from scratch (I hadn't at age 11).
To add to others' great suggestions: simple buttermilk or cream biscuits and/or omelets for breakfast. For lunch--homemade hummus, homemade veggie burgers, homemade protein bars, artichoke or spinach dips. Even the 'perfect' hardboiled egg. For dinner--capitalize upon the film's name as well as the greatness of the dish and make ratatouille if you have the time and equipment!
If the kids seem game, you might want to experiment with some baking vegan style--vegan cookies, like simple vegan peanut butter cookies or something from the Post Punk Kitchen.
HeartofGlass at 8:21PM on 10/07/08
Smudgies - graham cracker, peanut butter, and a dollop of fat free or low fat cottage cheese. Add cinnamon or a touch of honey. Can be used for breakfast or a snack.
Scrambled eggs (1 whole egg to 2 egg whites) plus salsa, stuffed in a pita pocket.
Roasted veggie sandwich or panini - roasted onion, squash, zuchinni, mushrooms, whatever is available. Whole grain bread with a smear of hummus or avocado. Pile veggies on, piece of cheese if wanted, and toast or grill.
Crudite or salad - you would be surprised what veggies kids will eat with a small bit of dressing on the side.
That's all I got right now, forgive the spelling, it has been a long day :)
erinlovestoeat at 9:56PM on 10/07/08
Thank you all for your suggestions! I will definitely look into the websites you guys posted and the ideas you suggested. I really appreciate it :)
luswim06 at 9:59PM on 10/07/08
You can't go wrong with blueberry pancakes or a veggie breakfast burrito.
For lunch peanut butter and sliced bananas sandwich. If no one has a peanut allergy. If they do they make sun butter, it's a peanut butter substitute.
For dinner how about homemade Macaroni and Cheese with diced tomatoes or chopped broccoli. Or a creamy potato soup in a bread bowl, the kids can make bread bowls for the soup.
For a snack my kids like fruit kabobs. They take bamboo skewers and add cut melon, grapes, strawberries, cut apples and kiwi. All fruits work well and then they dip it in vanilla yogurt.
These are what my kids like and we are vegetarian.
twcaac at 8:53AM on 10/08/08
Check out:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com
Great recipes BY CATEGORY.
Brownie at 9:28AM on 10/08/08
I am writing a vegetarian cookbook for kids with over 80 recipes
It is coming out this October.
I will keep you updated and let you know when sample recipes will be available
http://www.veggieteenscookbook.com/
Veggieteen at 12:10PM on 10/08/08
we love pita bread with a bit of hummus. mayo mixed with a little frank red hot. tomatoe lettuce and cucumber. kids love things that drip.
dearrie at 9:06PM on 10/08/08
How about Bean and Corn Pizza?
Bean and corn toppings turn pizza, a family favorite, into a healthy, high-fiber meal.
Ingredients
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 lg. thin-crust pizza crust (such as Boboli)
1 can (16 oz) fat-free refried beans
3/4 C. thick and chunky salsa
1/2 C. drained canned corn kernels
1/4 C sliced scallions
3/4 C. reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
2 Tbs. chopped cilantro
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 F. Sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal, and place pizza crust on top. Spread crust with refried beans, then with salsa. Top with corn and scallions. Place pizza stone with prepared crust on oven rack. Bake 10 minutes, sprinkle with cheese, then bake 2 minutes longer, or until cheese melts and bottom is crisp. Sprinkle with cilantro, and cut into 6 wedges. Makes 6 servings.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:10PM on 10/10/08
I am vegetarian, and I love to cook. Here are some ideas I love:
Breakfast:
Any type of egg, fake bacon or sausage, toast with PB or jelly, oatmeal, or cereal. Again, pancakes are wonderful with some peanut butter.
Lunch:
Mini Sub ingredient buffet, salad bar, vegetable soup, pizza, pasta salad
Dinner:
Any type of casserole, lasagna, spaghetti with marianara sauce instead of meat sauce, large salads, fillet of fish, soup or chowder
Snack/Sides:
Dried fruit, apple sauce, dry cereal or granola with low-fat yogurt, crackers with cheese or guacamole or dip, fruit sweetned cookies, bagel with crem cheese quarters, fresh or frozen fruit, fruit salad, veggie plate, tuna salad, bread sticks, mini flavored rice cakes.
I hope this is helpful to you and others. :)
VegetarianGirl at 6:08PM on 09/05/09