I do a lot with lentils. I’ve been making them in my rice cooker, 1 cup of lentils to 2.5 cups of water, push the button down… when it clicks the lentils are done. It does take a while, but is less work. I’ll use these lentils in a variety of vegetarian dishes. Here are a few examples…
Bread wrapped lentils and vegetables.
Mujadarra, which has various spellings, including mujadara and mejadra. You can shorten the prep time by cooking the rice and lentils in two containers (I use cleaned 28 oz tomato puree cans) side by side in a pressure cooker.
I don’t think this is a good idea. These cans are coated with a plastic lining inside (some containing BPA). Even if your cans are labeled “BPA Free”, epoxy resins are still involved and may/probably contain BPS. If you are using the same cans repeatedly this can breakdown and you’ll also be faced with the leaching of metals such as chromium and nickel.
I’d recommend looking for Pyrex or stainless steel containers that you can use for the task at hand.
Thank you so much for the great suggestions and for the links to other posts about legume/vegetarian/meatless meals. I am very grateful.
mig—Have you eaten the pizza beans? Do you agree with the favorable reviews? I am not a fan of giant beans of any kind, but if you liked these, I’d try them with navy or great northern beans. (Yep, I’ll be trying some of these recipes myself too besides passing them along to my time-starved-mom-of-two-under-age-two daughter.)
Phoenicia and Greygarious–They LOVE mejadra. I bet they’d love koshari too.
This barely qualifies as cooking, but everyone loves it including my vegan daughter who has a 7 month old.
Oil a small baking dish. Dump in a large can of Bush’s Vegetarian Baked Beans (or your favorite brand), and mix in a small can of chopped green chiles. Corn would be a good addition as well. Take the casings off a package of Field Roast Classic Smoked dogs (or any other vegan dog/sausage) and cut into pieces. Mix into the beans. Drizzle some ketchup (Heinz!) on top. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes until bubbling.
When I make this, I sort of feel like Mrs. Cleaver!
So sorry for my tardy reply. I don’t have many on my list thus far because it’s been crazy-busy. Just these (although I know I’ll have more after I carefully review all the great posts in this thread):
Ttrockwood’s Peanutty Stewed B.Eyed Peas and Collard Greens
Cuban Black Beans
Pizza Beans (Smitten Kitchen)
Some look terrific but had to be ruled out for practical reasons. Example: Judy Rodgers lentils in cooked red wine. Nobody in the household likes red wine so I don’t want to open a bottle for this recipe. And some contain meat, which won’t work for the toddler’s lunches. And yes, some I ruled out bc I was pretty sure the toddler wouldn’t eat them.
Nigella Lawson recently posted this to promote a book called Bold Beans on her Cookbook Corner. Alcohol free (uses cider vinegar) and draws on French onion soup flavors:
Coming back to add some recipes, I realized you need toddler-friendly things.
Here are a few ideas that worked well for my nephews (though they never carried any of this for lunch, that was usually a bagel-cream cheese or pita-hummus, plus fruits and veggies ).
Khichdi - this is endlessly customizable, as you can change the type of bean, the level of seasoning, the texture (from soft risotto to more distinct grains), and vegetable add-ins. Here’s a simple version, here’s a more complex one.
Milk-braised beans - very mild but flavorful, though you might want to lighten up on the herbs for the kid.
Mujadara - again might need to lighten up on the onions for the kid, but it’s very tasty.
Please don’t send nuts to preschools. Sincerely, parent of nut allergic kid who is now 21, but I know that toddlers eat messy, with their hands, and their food gets everywhere.
To the OP, usually Jewish that do milk rather than meat also allow fish. Adding tuna would expand their horizons.
Another idea, though not a specific recipe, would be burrito bowls - rice, beans, sautéed peppers/onions/ tomatoes, cheese. I have an anti-sandwich teen and this is what he takes for lunch (with chicken) about half the time.
Or chili? We liked the black bean chili in the latest Smitten Kitchen cookbook, and it was super easy and (IIRC) worked just fine without chorizo. She has a recipe for 3-bean chili that looks similar, just use vegetable broth instead of the beer.
Or fried rice, maybe with edamame or tofu added for protein?
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