Balanced milchig/pareve dinners, no fish

amother

Oak

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 8:03 am

Right now, my dinners are either fleshig or noodle and cheese based. I want to cut back on the fleishigs a bit, but I also feel like my milchig dinners are not balanced because they end up being noodles and cheese with some veggies, no protein; I mean, cheese has some protein, but it's not a real component like a piece of chikcen. Fish is out. How can I round out my milchig or pareve meals?

sped

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 8:16 am

I do a lot of meals like that. I find that cheese is a good protein, on occasion. I have cheese based meals about once a week. I also like to pair it with a lentil soup for added protein, but don't always.
Minestrone soup is a great, balanced meal as as is majadra (rice & lentils), with a salad.
I serve eggs at least once a week too, usually as a nice omelet (cheese either sliced or soft; onion, Spanish; mushroom). Whole grain also has some protein so I use ww pasta, flour and bread.
I do serve a fish about once a week too - usually tuna.

lfab

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 9:54 am

Unless I'm making fish (usually tilapia) my milchig meals don't usually contain protein. Our house rule is everyone needs to have protein at least once a day. So they will either have eggs or yogurt for breakfast, or tuna sandwich or chicken or eggs or deli meat or other meatballs or fish for lucn on the days I make dairy meals for dinner. Then my dairy meal doesn't usually have protein in it. I'll usually make lasagne, baked ziti, fish (which, like I said is the only dairy/pareve protein), or homemade potato/cheese blintzes on dairy nights. Sometimes we'll have veggie, potato or mushroom soup to go with it. We're not fans of beans/lentils in our house otherwise I would try to do one night a week based on that.

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:00 am

Cheese has good protein in it; consider dishes that call for cottage, ricotta or farmer cheese.

Soup or stew with any combination of beans and whole grains is nutritious and filling. We enjoy tofu in our soup, but not everyone does. A fresh salad and/or vegetable on the side makes the meal colorful and adds varied textures.

mha3484

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:03 am

I do a noodles and cheese dish once a week that I try to incorporate a veggie or two into. A lot of my dairy/pareve nights are bean, tofu or egg based with a sprinkle or two of cheese.

Tonight we are having taco bowls. I will layer each bowl with rice, beans, veggies, cheese. DS asked for sweet and sour eggplant tomorrow night. I like to do equal parts eggplant and tofu and serve over quinoa.

Last week I made a big frittata with a dozen eggs, veggies and cheese. We like the pareve version called a spanish tortilla which is eggs and potatoes cooked in one frying pan.

Other than shabbos we eat meat maybe one other time a week so I am always on the hunt for new and interesting pareve ideas.

amother

Oak

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:08 am

Right, since we can't have fish, no meat means no real protein. I'm OK with just noodles and cheese once a week, but I don't want to do that 3 or 4 days a week and I really want to cut back on meat. Eggs sound good. Beans may be difficult, Dh has a sensitive stomach and beans give him trouble. Not sure what lentils would do to him, I guess we could try. Thankfully the kids aren't terribly picky so there's room to experiment, they'll go along with it. Can tofu round out a meal?
ETA: veggies are no problem. Even on noodle and cheese nights, there are always veggies, sometimes with the noodles, sometimes on the side. I'm just concerned about a solid non flesh protein.

mha3484

Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:15 am

Also, you can do a bean based soup with your noodles and cheese dish. They freeze well and sometimes are less rough on the stomach. I do them in the crockpot so the beans cook for a long time.