Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Greens And Beans

So, in my ever present battle to be "more healthy," I've decided that my family should try and eat more vegetarian fare. I'm aiming for once a week at this point, and then upping it to twice once the dust has settled and the crying subsided.

Here's the problem. It's hard to eat vegetarian when only one person in the group will eat beans of any sort, lentils, couscous, bulgur or quinoa. Who is that one person? I'll give you one guess.

Every recipe that sounds and looks delicious either contains some soy or tofu product that I KNOW my family will turn their noses up at, or contains one of the aforementioned list of "no go's."

To me, everything sounds delicious. However, I was raised by a mother that served us tofu regularly. Heck, the woman made carob popsicles! Couscous was a staple in my household, and lentil soup? To. Die. For.

I'd like my kids to feel the same way about some of those foods (not the carob popsicles. Those were NOT my Mom's best idea) and in that line of thinking, I'm introducing new things a little at a time and telling them they need to give it a shot. The good news is, my kids are good at trying foods. They aren't the scream and yell and cry types. (Thank Goodness). They actually are kind of strange in that they don't really like "kid" foods anyways. They won't eat things like pizza, or macaroni and cheese or pogos or even grilled cheese sandwiches. Yet, if you give them salmon or curried chicken, or lamb with tzaziki, they are in heaven. It's good to know my Mom's influence lives on in some ways.

So, tonight. Tonight I'm making a "mostly" vegetarian meal. Yes, I'll have some steamed veggies and some roast chicken too. The main course though is going to be a big Tabbouleh salad, and baked Falafels. The falafels will be served with tzakiki. I'm tricky huh? A little side of tzaziki may make everything A-OK.

I'll let you know how it goes and who ate what. I'll let you know if my husband cried. I'll let you know if "I" triumphed.

The battle for beans and greens. It's not going to be pretty.

If you'd like to make some yourself, here's the recipes I'm using:

Falafel: http://chowvegan.com/2009/01/06/baked-falafel/

And Tabbouleh: http://chowvegan.com/2009/01/06/baked-falafel/ For the tabbouleh (which I actually make quite often, I also tend to use couscous instead of the bulgur. Also, I add cilantro instead of mint.)

Play with your food, and Enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. Yum! Love tzakiki!! I may borrow your falafel recipe. though I have tried in the past to make something similar and it did not work out very good!

    I too am vowing to make changes in our diet. My biggest problem though...my body needs protein. If I eat pasta for dinner...I am staving by like 8-9 o'clock. I think my body just needs to get used to it and work in more soy. Hubs is not gonna be happy but he needs to drop a good 40-50 lbs anyway so he'll just have to deal! My dd used to be great at trying new things...then all of sudden...no more. I was so happy that she was one of those kids who liked to try things then one day she decided no sauce on her spaghetti...it went downhill from there.

    If you get a chance, check out Jessica Seinfeld's book- Deceptively Delicious. Lots of great recipes to stick in more veggies!

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  2. Oh ya-I totally need protein. I have hypoglycemia and need to eat protein every 4 hours. So, with the vegetarian meals-it's just about getting it in other ways. Tonight for example-the falafels are chick pea based. My friend gave me a recipe today for a Jamie Oliver chili using the Yves veggie protein and she said her dad, who is super picky, LOVED it-until they said it wasn't actually meat. LOL
    I've seen Jessica Seinfeld's book-and was already doing that! LOl I add pumpkin puree to so many things! I make a chicken curry and add it to the curry sauce for example. Every time I make a spaghetti sauce-in a bit goes. It's a great idea! We're also eating fish 2x a week too so I'm looking up recipes for different fish dishes too. I'll share along the way! Do the same if you have anything really yummy! I'll let you know how this falafel recipe tastes too!

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  3. Oh-and a vegetarian-veggie pot pie with a havarti cream sauce! I'll post that sometime too!

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  4. Yes definitely share!! I'm making a pumpkin pasta dish this week and I have an awesome pumpkin chili recipe too! I try to add pureed vegis to sauce (when I remember!). I have to trick hubby into eating the beans..gotta hide em' just like the kids! He told me flat out today that if I start making too many bean recipes he will not eat!

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  5. How about an egg dinner as a meat-less option one time / week?

    You're so lucky your kids eat what they do! Mine eat such plain foods.

    I'll have to try the recipes you posted, they sound great.

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