We recently asked veg scheme members with children living at home for their favourite family recipes. This is what you said.
Find loads more family-friendly suggestions in our recipe section. Just look for 5 Family Friendly in the Ingredients filter. For recipes that work with a range of different vegetables, search 6 Versatile.
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Hidden veg tomato sauce
This is a favourite with lots of parents, whether the veg are whizzed, grated or in bigger chunks. Some people recommend roasting the veg first. "I make a pasta sauce with lots of veg (tomato, aubergine, courgette, onions, garlic, some oregano, some olives), blend it to a purée and freeze it into cubes. Then I can pull out five, six cubes when I need them, mix it with for example pasta, peas and carrots and we have a happy veg-eating child!" Another says: "We add unfamiliar veg - they often get picked round but this slowly builds up her willingness to try them as they become more familiar."
Ditto veggie burgers…
"Try chopped greens or mashed broad beans."
And pancakes…
“Mashing or grating veg to mix with pancake batter - 'pink' pancakes with pureed beetroot, 'carroty' pancakes with grated carrot.”
And cakes…
“Beetroot and chocolate cakes go down well.”
Veg pakoras or fritters recipe here
Kale chips here's our recipe
Green pesto recipe on our website
Frittata and quiche frittata recipe here
Beetroot and aubergine dip here's one version
Cheesy veg muffins here's the recipe
Carluccio’s spinach balls "They’ll eat their own body weight in spinach or chard this way!" Find the recipe on bbc.food.
Roasted veg
"Cut up root veg, such as beetroot, carrots, potato, leek, fennel etc. Add a clove of garlic, thyme, salt, and a little smoked paprika and chilli flakes (to taste)."
Filo pastry triangles or rolls filled with veg (mushroom, spinach/chard). "They like to cook these."
One banana one egg pancakes The recipe's in the name! Mash, mix and fry small-sized pancakes.
“Boom haloom”
This is one veg scheme family's go-to versatile dish. "We start with a good mix of any root veg we’ve got, tinned tomatoes (or a load of fresh), a couple of tins of chickpeas/kidney beans/black beans and we add halloumi, but you could do it without for vegan goodness. It works with most veg dependent on the season; we often add greens and always onion and garlic. Also lentils are a good addition. Our son loves it and it’s very simple to make."
And one last piece of advice…
“A good grating of cheese never fails!”