HELP! Kid friendly vegan recipes with NO tomatoes for anti-bean child

[COgirl19]

Honestly, my DH is driving me nuts. We have tried veganism several times but have failed. Mainly because I can't get DD or DH to eat much vegan food and now that I am pregnant I crave meat a lot. Now DH tells me he wants to eat more vegan food which is great but he doesn't want tofu and won't eat tomatoes of any kind and frankly, I am at a loss as to what to feed him and DD things they will actually enjoy. So my problems so far are:

1. DD really does not eat much vegetarian protein besides cheese (not vegan). She won't even touch a bean.

2. DH is tomato-intolerant (weird I know)

3. I want to limit soy products to twice a week, and not really have any processed fake "meat".

I am having a really hard time finding vegan recipes that are both kid-friendly but NO tomatoes or fake meat. I have googled, searched every veggie website and have found a couple of good things but not much. Is there anything you can think of without feeding my family tofu/soy products or fake "meat" every day? I don't mind soy but I just don't want to have it with every meal. I would love to try Quinoa but don't know what to do with it .

[caiesmommy]

My ds HATED beans for quite awhile, and it drove me crazy. But he did like hummus so thats a start!

Also try edamame(I know its soy, but you can get it organic and it might open her up to eating more beans)

try things like tacos with refried beans. Ds would eat tortillas with refried beans easily enough, and then add whatever veggies you want...then you get your tomatoes w/out dh having to eat them same kinda thing with nachos for dinner, chips, refried beans, veg and guac

Ds finally ate chickpeas when I made chickpea noodle soup-a yellow miso broth, w onions, carrots, potatoes, chickpeas, peas, leftover pasta. And seasoned like chicken soup-yum

Pasta could work with a basil pesto instead of tomato sauce using pine nuts or walnuts

Hemp seeds are a great source of protein and ds LOVES to sprinkle them over pretty much everything

Lentil loaf is pretty popular here-with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes

[Keeta]

Have you checked out Vegan Lunchbox or any cookbooks by Dreena Burton? Vive Le Vegan in particular was kind of geared toward more kid-friendly vegan eating.

Does DD like dips? There is an amazing orange black bean hummus that is from Eat Drink and Be Vegan. She has lots of other kid-friendly dips in there, too.

Have you ever made cashew cheese? Scroll down a little on that link for the recipe. We eat cashew cheese + pasta with veggies added at least once a week for dinner (we like sun dried tomaotes and asparagus, but the tomatoes so aren't a requirement. We've done broccoli, whatever your family likes). Check out some other posts on my blog for things we like to eat.

You guys can do wheat? You can make your own delicious seitan sausages or cutlets. So envious, my DH is sensitive to wheat and I miss seitan sausage soooo much!

Has your DD tried white beans? They're more creamy and mild tasting than other beans, so it might not be so bad. Also, have you tried asking her to help you cook in the kitchen? It's amazing how much more buy-in I get from my son when "helps" me cook. He's always super proud to tell his dad at dinner how much he helped.

[catnip]

Cashew alfredo with veggies and whole grain pasta
Polka dot rice (has tofu)
Tofu Fish/chicken sticks and sweet potato fries
Lentil-oat-nut burgers
Seitan mock ribs, Julie Hasson's steamed seitan sausages
Peanut butter noodles

[Peacemamalove]

Mock Tunafish on crackers
Tofu and sweet pototoes with Corn

Have you checked out Vegweb.com they have tons of kid friendly recipes

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by COgirl19

I would love to try Quinoa but don't know what to do with it .

I made a quinoa salad yesterday that was awesome! I cooked it in broth. After it cooled I added shredded carrot & zuchini, halved grape tomatoes, corn, pumpkin seeds, brags & olive oil. I ate 3 bowl I am trying to use it more too for the added protien. You can use it pretty much just like rice. I've seen many people say they make it like oatmeal in the morning.

[somegirl99]

If you've never tried quinoa before, just a reminder to rinse it really thoroughly before you use it (use a fine-mesh sieve). If it doesn't get rinsed enough it will taste quite bitter.

Otherwise, it cooks up just like white rice, really quick to make, and as masciascal says, you can just use it like rice, for example in a pilaf or a salad.

[*LoveBugMama*]

MY son (who actually isn`t vegetarian, but eats vegetarian with me when he wants to) loves my "white pasta"dish.

Ww spaghetti
A few big carrots, grated
A small head of broccoli, cut in tiny bites/trees
A large red bell pepper, cut very fine
Vegetarian bullion/stock
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Some kind of cream. I use either soy or oat. 1-2 cups of cream, depending on how big of a pot of food you are making.


Boil spaghetti.

In a big skillet, fry the vegetables in some oil for a few minutes. Add garlic, bullion/water or stock. Let it simmer until tender. (5 minutes?) Pour the cream in. Let it simmer/bubble for a while, until the spaghetti is done. Pour out the water from the spaghetti. Combine the sauce/veggies with the pasta, and stir to coat. Served with a salat, garlicbread or whatever you fancy.

[*LoveBugMama*]

Oooh, and Nigella Lawson has a really great dip/spread:

1 can of green peas
1 big avacado
1 clove garlic
The juicefrom half a lime
Sprinkle of seasalt

Everything dumped into a blender and pulsed a few times. It is ok with a few chuncks, but try to get it almost smooth. Served on toast, crackers etc.

Have you tried the walnut mushroom pate from Veganomicon? It`s really, really good! And the nuts are a great proteinsource, too.
And the chickpeacutlets from the same book, too.
Oooh, their blackbean balls are also great, but they have tomatopure in them. Bet you can ommit that or replace it, though.

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by *LoveBugMama*

Oooh, their blackbean balls are also great, but they have tomatopure in them. Bet you can ommit that or replace it, though.

Haven't seen the recipe, but maybe pureed roasted red peppers?

[COgirl19]

Thanks for all the replies.

I checked out vegweb.com and found some good ones. Even a bean recipe that DD MIGHT eat, I am giving it a try tonight.

I did Tempeh "nuggets" last night and we all loved them and will try a seitan recipe this week. Any good recipes for seitan?

And thanks for the tip about rinsing the Quinoa - I didn't know that!

[*LoveBugMama*]

Originally Posted by somegirl99

Haven't seen the recipe, but maybe pureed roasted red peppers?

Yeah, that sounds like it could work great!

[blueridgewoman]

I love this recipe:

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stir Fry

Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained.
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Stir-fry
4 ounces raw cashews
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 scallions, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 hot red chile, sliced into very thin rounds
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 red capsicum, seeded and diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced into thin shreds
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
10 ounces fresh pineapple, cut into chunks (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon mirin

Combine quinoa, juice, water and soy sauce in a medium pot. Cover, place over hight heat, and bring to boil. Stir a few times, lower heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 12 to 14 minutes until liquid absorbed and quinoa appears plumped and slightly translucent. Uncover, fluff and let cool. Refrigerate overnight, or chill (I put it in the freezer for about 1/2 hour).

Toast the cashews in a large dry pan over low heat, about 5 minutes.
Remove cashews from pan, and raise heat to medium. Add the peanut oil, scallions and garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle, add chile pepper and ginger. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, then add capsicum and corn. Stir-fry another 3 to 4 minutes, until capsicum is softened. Add basil, mint and cashews and stir for another minute before adding pineapple and quinoa.

Combine soy sauce, stock and mirin. Pour over quinoa mixture. Continue to stir-fry 10 minutes, until quinoa is very hot.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

Ronzoni makes a pasta that has more protein than the average white pasta (but it tastes/looks like white pasta). It is available at supermarkets. That might help.

Things we make that would meet your requirements, or might be possible things to try:

Peanut butter noodles - Cooked pasta and veggies tossed with peanut butter, coconut milk, tamari, and thai red curry paste.

Sloppy lentils (cooked lentils mixed with Manwich sauce or a healthier equivalent - we did half "burger" crumbles and half lentils at first to get the kids used to the texture).

Quinoa cooked and sauteed in a nonstick pan with Earth Balance, peas, onion, nutritional yeast and a shot of yellow mustard (the last two items give the quinoa a "cheesy" flavor). I would also add Bacos (vegan but totally processed).Bacos have really helped make our veganism stick.

Chickpeas (although beans) are a whole new experience roasted and flavored with herbs/spices/tamari/etc. I serve those over rice/couscous/quinoa with roasted veggies and some sort of sauce. You can even use the same sort of spices that you would use in sausage making to make them "sausage" flavored.

White beans are milder, and I make a "stroganoff" with them and serve it over mashed potatoes. The creamy sauce really masks the bean aspect of the dish.

We loooooooooooove seitan around here. My favorite thing to make with that is Banh Mai sandwiches (hope I spelled that right). Use a hoagie roll, put the seitan down, add shredded carrot and radish sprinkled with rice wine vinegar, cucumber slices, cilantro, and green onion. We also slather the bun with Veganaise mixed with Thai spices, but we are junk-food vegans.

Seitan also makes lovely stir-fries, summer rolls, and BBQ sandwiches with coleslaw. It works great in fajitas.

Something to consider would be to tackle one thing at a time. Get everyone vegan first - use whatever processed, fake meat crap that you have to, then start limiting the soy and processed meats.

[craft_media_hero]

Mmm, yummy tempeh! This thread is making me HUNGRY! Try bbq tempeh--just saute w/ onions if your fam will tolerate them, till all is a bit brown, then pour on as much bbq sauce as desired.

Will they do beans if disguised or cooked into something else? Like make a nice herb-y and garlicky white bean paste and fill ravioli with it? Or use it as a white sauce like pps have said.

I would try other bean products, like making bean burgers or "neatballs" with lentils.

How bout pesto for pastas since tomatoes are out? Also you could make walnut-mushroom loaf. If cheese is okay, add in some cheddar, if not then veggie shreds.

Good luck! Lots of good suggestions on this thread.

eta--oh yeah, tofu-mashed potatoes, yum! I was also going to say--try to get in the mindset of subbing in nuts where a recipe might call for meats, like I make spaghetti w/ crushed walnuts sauteed in w/ onions and garlic for the sauce (whoops, tomato, but you get the idea) or you can use cashews in tons of asian foods like lettuce wraps, egg roll (crushed and "pork" seasoned) or stir fry.

[jkn]

Try chick pea cutlets (so long as no one is intolerant to gluten) just google it, there's lots of recipes out there, but they are pretty quick to make, taste great, and disguise the chick peas!