Quick vegetarian meals to leave you time for exercise
Tapas night…Not all veggie!
Enjoy cooking but not as much as you love to be outside for a walk or run?
These weeknight dinners are family favourites - easy, balanced, vegetarian and most importantly, quick. From pan or oven to table in under 50 minutes.
Spinach Lasagne
While the mention of spinach may result in turned up noses at best and vomit sound effects at worst (and that’s just from some of the grown ups!) . I promise you that this is a great way to benefit from this vitamin rich veg while cunningly disguising it!
What you will need:
Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium/large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Basil/oregano dried or fresh
Dash of red wine (optional)
I veg stock cube
seasoning to taste
lasagne sheets
2 tubs of cream cheese
3-4 handfuls of spinach
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
grated cheese
brown breadcrumbs
medium sized sweet potatoes (enough for each member of the family
Method:
Chop onion, red pepper and crush/chop garlic and then fry until onion is soft in the olive oil. add red wine (if using) and simmer until reduced. Add tin of tomatoes, stock cubes, herbs. Turn heat to low and leave to simmer.
Prepare sweet potatoes and part bake in microwave for 5-10 mins depending on size/number of potatoes.
While sweet potatoes are cooking, melt 2 tubs of cream cheese in a pan and add nutmeg and black pepper. Add handfuls of spinach into the cheese mixture and wilt until leaves are all stirred in.
Starting and ending with the tomato and onion sauce, layer tomato and cheese and spinach mixture separated with lasagne sheets in a family sized lasagne dish (if the cream cheese mixture is on the top, it splits in the oven).
Mix brown breadcrumbs with enough grated cheese to cover the top of your dish sprinkle on top before putting your lasagne AND part baked sweet potatoes in the oven at 200 (180 for fan assisted) , gas mark 4 for around 40 mins or until dried lasagne is soft and topping is golden.
Serve with green veg of your choice
Sweet Potato, Chilli, Lime and Coconut Soup followed by Apple and Peanut Butter Crumble
A slightly spicy but ever-so-tasty soup followed by a hearty but healthy crumble for an Autumn evening. Get started on the crumble while the soup is simmering.
What you will need for the soup:
tablespoon coconut oil
small red onion
3-4 large sweet potatoes
small cup of dried red lentils
dried chilli flakes (or fresh chilli if you have it)
1 lime
500 ml approx. veg stock
I can coconut milk
Method:
Peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes, red pepper and dice red onion. Melt coconut oil in a large pan and add the sweet potatoes and onion, fry until onion is soft. Add chilli flakes, zest and juice of the lime, stock and lentils and simmer until sweet potato is soft. Remove from heat, blend soup until smooth, Add can of coconut milk (remember to shake vigorously!) and return to heat until at suitable temperature to serve.
What you will need for the crumble:
4-5 eating apples or 3 cooking apples
tablespoon or fruit juice - anything from the fridge will do - orange, apple, pineapple, cranberry
honey or maple syrup
1 - 2 cups of porridge oats
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon butter/butter substitute
handful of granola
Method:
Slice apples (peel if you prefer, I don’t bother) and add to small saucepan with fruit juice and dash of honey or maple syrup. Cook on a low heat until apples are soft.
(If making this in berry season, I will throw in some berries that I have foraged locally for the last couple of minutes of cooking time)
While apples are softening, put porridge oats, flour, peanut butter, butter drizzle of honey or maple syrup and handful of granola in a big bowl and mix with wooden spoon or your hands until mixture forms small lumps. Set aside.
Put apples into an ovenproof serving dish, top with the peanut butter crumble and bake in oven at 200 (180 for fan assisted) , gas mark 4 until topping is golden brown (approx. 20 - 25 mins)
Serve with Greek Yoghurt, sweetened with a little honey if preferred.