Entertain4U my husband and boys are the same. They only eat veggies if they are full of flavor so that they don't miss the meat. Luckily for me they are open to trying different kinds of food. Some recipes and cuisines the vegetables are cooked with more spices and flavors and you don't miss meat as much.
I love vegetarian food in general but here are 3 that my otherwise meat heavy family is receptive to.
Vegetarian Fried Rice and a bowl of sweet corn soup ( I do use cream of chicken soup in it but there is no actual meat). I precook the rice and then saute it with eggs, strips of colored bell peppers, bean sprouts, scallions, matchstick carrots and baby corn. I add some soy sauce along with some sambal and sweet chilli to the rice to make it really flavorful.
I make the soup with creamed style corn (2 cans), 1 can cream of chicken. I first melt two tbsp of butter in a saucepan, saute some freshly chopped garlic and finely chopped green chilli in it. I then add the cans of corn and soup along with some water and cover and let it cook for 30 minutes.
I also make grilled portabello's. I marinate them in finely chopped garlic, dash of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and few dashes of italian seasoning. Once I grill them I slice them and stir them into a homemade tomato sauce and serve it over pasta. Portabello's have a very meaty flavor and grilling them makes them smoky and really yummy.
Finally true to my Indian roots which is full of rich vegetarian dishes I make lentil curry which is full of flavor and high in protein and that very few can resist. I first cook the lentils until they are nice and soft. In a seperate pan I saute one large finely chopped onion in some oil. Once the onions cook down, I add a tsp of freshly grated ginger and 2 cloves of freshly chopped garlic. I also add a good helping of chilli powder, cumin powder and corrainder powder ( I like to freshly roast my spices). I also add some freshly cracked black pepper and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder. Next add 3 finely chopped tomatoes and salt to taste. Add a glass of water and let the onions and tomatoes cook down in the water until they are a mush. Now add the precooked lentils. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 35 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with some white rice.
