Useful Tips in Cooking Vegetarian Meals For Kids

By David H Urmann
Vegetarian meals are healthy nutritional supplements for your kids. Most kids prefer meats and sweets over vegetables. Experiment on cooking meatless recipes for kids for better nutritional value.

Vegetarian meals entails are meatless. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and fibers. Find ways to incorporate vegetarian meals in your children's diet to make them grow healthier and stronger..

Kids are generally picky and refuse to eat vegetables. Prepare meals with vegetables subtly included to make kids enjoy eating vegetables.

Vegetables can be cooked through stir frying, steaming, and sautéing, without losing the key nutrients. They are good sources of Vitamin A, B and C. Some minerals found in vegetables are iron, iodine, zinc, calcium and selenium. Children who regularly eat dark green vegetables and beans develop more red blood cells in their bodies.

Here are some tips when preparing vegetarian meals for kids: * Modify the kid's favorite recipe. Use soya-based meat equivalents for a meat-free meal. * Let your kids pick vegetables in your backyard and let them wash it. Getting them involved in cooking is positive reinforcement. * Have fun making designs of boiled veggies on a plate with your child. * Add vegetables to burgers. This is similar to one of the fastfood joints which provide "vegeburgers" and bean burritos. Also try making patties out of vegetables. * Cook oven-baked fries instead of fried.

Sample recipe- Veggie Burgers: Mix the following: o 1 grated carrot o ½ cup collards o 1 tbsp. sesame seeds o 1 beaten egg o ½ tsp. black pepper o 1 tsp soy sauce o 2 ½ cups of cooked rice or millet

Thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Shape it into small sized patties. Fry this until it becomes golden brown. Bake at 400 °F on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes per side.

* Use herbs, spices and seasonings to add flavor to the veggies, especially when the taste is bland * Incorporate vegetables subtly. Mince them in a food processor or blender and add to soups, sauces, or pasta. * Melt butter or olive oil into breadcrumbs and sprinkle it over steamed veggies. * Add minced vegetables in baking breads, cakes, muffins, and pizzas, along with honey and maple syrup. * Make a refreshing drink using pureed vegetables. Kids would not even know that it has veggies. * Prepare pasta salads along with diced vegetables and veggie mayo or dressing. * Grill some veggies such as mushrooms, carrots, and cucumbers.

Meal Samples: Breakfasts o Banana soy milk smoothie with almond and tahinis o Granola-type cereal with dried or fresh fruit and soy milk o Pancakes with maple syrup, walnuts and slices of

fruits o Muffins made from whole grains having honey spread, tahini and fruit juice

Lunch o Tabouli salad with hummus in pita pocket o Tofu burger with vegan mayo and whole wheat bun o Lasagna with veggies (cauliflower, carrots, olives and mushrooms)

Salads o Potato salad o Avocado salad o Bean salad o Marinated tofu salad

Dinner o Stir fried vegetables with canola or olive oil & nuts o Pasta dish of pesto sauces (made of basil leaves)

Children's repulsion to vegetables is often seen as just psychological. Find ways for children to enjoy eating vegetables. Cook meals that children normally like, and incorporate veggies without losing the meaty taste. After all, children who eat veggies are healthier and develop stronger immune systems.

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Classic Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

By Werner Wichmann

If you're a new vegetarian or just want to get back to basics, you should learn how to cook several classic vegetarian dinner recipes. These recipes are classics for a reason, they taste great, they're easy to make, and they're full of the nutrition you need to be a healthy vegetarian.

One great dish when you're looking for classic vegetarian dinner recipes is a delicious lentil soup. Take some dry, uncooked lentils, and rinse and clean thoroughly so there is no dirt on them. Then, place the clean lentils in a stockpot or Dutch oven along with some water or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, partially cover the pot, and cook, for about half an hour. Then, add some salt and cook until the lentils are tender. While you're waiting for the lentils to cook, in a second pan, heat some olive oil and sauté some chopped onions. Then, add some minced garlic cloves and soy sauce, and sauté a bit longer. After the lentils are cooked, stir in the onions, along with some cumin and paprika, and cook a little bit longer to allow the flavors to combine. Lentil soup can be pureed with an immersion blender or served as whole lentils in the broth.

Another option when you are searching for classic vegetarian dinner recipes is to make a simple Portobello mushroom sandwich. Remove the stem from the mushroom, and cut the mushroom in half. Brush the mushroom with some olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill the mushrooms for a few minutes on each side, or until brown. Place the pieces of mushroom between two pieces of bread that you have brushed with some olive oil and minced garlic and toasted, and top with your choice of wonderful fillings, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. Also, if you want, you can also melt some cheese over the mushroom while it's still on the grill before transferring it to bread.

A third option for classic vegetarian dinner recipes is to make some wonderful stuffed shells. While this isn't the healthiest recipe, it's great as a special treat. Boil large pasta shells in water until done. While you're waiting for the shells to cook, mix together parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and ricotta cheese, along with some parsley and nutmeg. Take a baking dish and spoon some tomato sauce into the pan and spread with a spoon or spatula so it covers the bottom of the dish. Then, carefully fill the cooked shells with the cheese mixture and place in one layer in the pan. Pour the remaining sauce over the stuffed shells, cover with foil, and bake until the cheese is oozing out of the shells and the sauce is bubbling. Serve this dish with a side salad so you at least have something that is healthy on your plate. Also, if you start your meal with a fresh garden salad, you'll eat less of the main dish, which means you'll have enough to serve as leftovers the next day, without having to cook a whole new meal.

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Vegetarian Recipes For Meat Eaters - 2 Simple Recipes For A Green Meal

By Abhishek Agarwal

For people who have been eating meat and have very recently switched over to being vegetarian would certainly find it difficult to getting used to eating only greens. For these meat eaters who have converted to vegetarianism, there are many vegetarian cooking recipes that will make them want to continue being a vegetarian. Here are a couple of vegetarian recipes that meat eaters would like to try out.

Meat eaters would certainly like to try out this tasty recipe called Vegetarian Chili. In this recipe there is no meat products used and that's why it is called vegetarian chili.

Vegetarian Chili

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil preferably in a pan to which you can add 2 to 3 coarsely chopped medium onions and 2 teaspoons of garlic which has been finely chopped and stir fry well till they are cooked. Add 2 cups of frozen whole sweet corn and sauté well. Also add a bagful of a mixture of broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, a can of red kidney beans that have been washed and drained, a can of chick peas, and 2 whole cans of tomatoes which have been diced along with green chilies. To this add a can of tomato sauce and 2 teaspoons of chili powder,3 spoons cumin powder, salt to taste and also a dash of ground red pepper. Leave the mixture to boil for at least 20 minutes over medium flame making sure that you stir the ingredients once in a while. Cook till you find the vegetables to be crispy and yet tender and the chili hot.

Vegetable Lasagna

Vegetables Needed

Olive oil cooking spray 2 medium bell peppers, which have been cut into 1-inch pieces 1 medium onion, slit into 8 wedges, and separated into pieces 2 medium sliced zucchini, 1 package fresh whole mushrooms, which have been sliced 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Tomato Sauce 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 1 can (28 oz) Progresso® tomato puree 3 tablespoons freshly chopped or 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves 3 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Lasagna 12 uncooked lasagna noodles 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Start by having your oven pre heated to 450 degrees F. Use the cooking spray to oil a 15x10x1 inch pan and inside the pan place the bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini evenly in a single layer. Also spray on the lined vegetables and sprinkle using salt and pepper. Have this baked for 20-25 minutes making sure to have the vegetables turned at least once and cook till tender.

Take a 2 quart saucepan and have it sprayed with oil, add the onions and garlic and cook over medium flame for at least 2 minutes making sure to stir occasionally. Add in all the remaining ingredients for making sauce and leave to boil and then reduced the flame. Allow to simmer for at least 15 to 20 minutes till it thickens considerably.

Take the packet of noodles and have them cooked according to the instructions on it. Drain the excess water and keep aside. In a separate bowl mix the cheeses well and keep aside.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees F. In a glass baking dish spray some oil and a quarter of the sauce spread at the bottom. Over this spread the 3 different noodles. Again pour the remaining sauce and spread evenly till the noodles are fully covered. Over this ad the cooked vegetables and over this mixture spread the cheese mixture. Have this baked without any cover for at least 25 minutes or till done. Allow to cool before you serve.

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