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Anybody know of any fast weeknight vegetarian dinners that are 4-year-old-friendly??? (besides pasta).


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  asked on Nov 14, 2008


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comments and reviews

Hi Shari - I'm trying to cook more vegetarian meals, and often make soup. There are a ton of online recipes for minestrone, squash/pumpkin. I make my own veggie broth from the ends of onions, tomatoes, etc. and keep it in the freezer. Then just add the ingredients du jour.


I also do stir fry with rice or soba noodles (I add nuts for protein) and one dish meal of rice, beans, tomatoes and greens.


A great website... www.care2.org. They have all sorts of pro-environment content, including vegan/vegetarian/organic recipes.


Bon appetit!


#1 - posted on Nov 14, 2008 (12:10 pm)


Thank you , I will check it out!


#2 - posted on Nov 14, 2008 (1:00 pm)


Hi Shari,


Not quick in total, but quick on the weeknight: Every two months or so I make a spinach quiche (recipe from Joy of Cooking, I think... could look it up if you're interested, super easy crust). I make four at a time, and we eat one that night and then freeze the other three. It takes 50 minutes to reheat, but no effort, and it's a full meal all at once. My kids (6 and 3) *love* this quiche and scarf it down every time.


Emily


#3 - posted on Nov 15, 2008 (6:17 pm)


spinach quiche, I love it! I am trying to make one tonight.


#4 (reply to #3) - posted on Nov 16, 2008 (2:46 pm)


I just made some today. Turns out it was the Good Housekeeping cookbook, pg.294. Crust is just whole wheat flour + butter (or margarine) and water. Let me know how it goes!


#5 (reply to #4) - posted on Nov 16, 2008 (3:02 pm)


Do you guys have trader joes? They have a bunch of stuff in the frozen section that my kids like (some of them took a few tries)
spanikopita
mushroom pastries
3 cheese pizza
quiche - much easier than making it, although I am sure not as good :)
they also have the standard soy products there too. We keep the freezer stocked and do that once a week.
have fun!


#6 - posted on Nov 16, 2008 (9:44 pm)


The spinach quiche was a success! Camille said "Thanks mom for making this", and Leah said she wants me to add ham. Can't really blame her, although that kind of defeats the whole vegetarian thing. I used "Madame Quiche's Quiche au fromage" at epicurious.com as the template. Tonight we will have leftovers with squash soup as per the other suggestion. I can't wait to try a whole wheat crust next time.


#7 (reply to #5) - posted on Nov 17, 2008 (2:05 pm)


great idea,
I need to go to Trader Joe's and try that. I simply can't be cooking every night, and my friend here at work is also always raving about the Trader Joe's frozen stuff.


#8 (reply to #6) - posted on Nov 17, 2008 (2:08 pm)


Do your kids like mexican-ish food? If so, we often have 'haystacks', a tostada-style dish that my 6 and 3 yr olds love.


The base is corn chips, piled on top with refried beans, grated cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, onions, mild salsa, sour cream, guacamole.


The fun part is that they get to build it themselves, selecting the toppings to their own liking.


Almost all the ingredients can be purchased pre-cut or pre-prepared. For the chips I like Fritos (Trader Joe's has their own version), but you can go with tortillas instead, or taco shells.


For the beans I mix a can of refried black beans and a can of whole black beans, also from Trader Joe's.

Hope this works for you.


#9 - posted on Nov 18, 2008 (11:22 pm)


Ricotta Gnocchi
Gourmet | April 2008


by Lillian Chou


2 cups whole-milk ricotta (1 pound)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 ounces), divided
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 (2-inch) rosemary sprigStir together ricotta, eggs, 1 cup cheese, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.


Add flour, stirring to form a soft, wet dough.


Shape dough on a well-floured surface with lightly floured hands into 2 (1-inch-thick) ropes.


Cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces with a lightly floured knife. Put in 1 layer on a lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet.
2 of 2Ricotta Gnocchi (continued)
Cook gnocchi in 2 batches in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water), adding a few at a time to pot and stirring occasionally, until cooked through (cut one in half to check), 3 to 4 minutes per batch.


Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain in colander.


Meanwhile, cook butter with rosemary in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes.



Toss gnocchi with brown butter in skillet and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.


Season with salt.


#10 - posted on Dec 9, 2008 (1:21 pm)


Also, I make a frittata, which is even easier than the quiche suggestion.
Mix one half bag of frozen corn, several sliced up corn tortillas, one can of mild diced chiles, three finely chopped green onions, one cup parmesan cheese, 6 or eight eggs, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and tabasco sause to taste in a large bowl.
Pour into buttered oven-friendly skillet, and cook on medium high for eight minutes or so on the stove. Transfer to broiler (not too close) for another five minutes or so.
Let it rest for several minutes before serving after taking it out of the oven. Serve with mild salsa and/or premade guacamole. My kids love it.
Clean up is easy, too -- especially if you use a non-stick skillet.


#11 - posted on Dec 9, 2008 (1:28 pm)


These ideas sound great, thank you.


#12 - posted on Dec 9, 2008 (6:50 pm)



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