vegetarian

This salad is the perfect main or side dish. It’s loaded with beautiful iron-boosting ingredients like lentils, almonds and greens, and dressed up with a divine lemon vinaigrette.

Who doesn’t love a good lasagne? Even better, who doesn’t love a gluten-free vegie-loaded lasagne? The addition of frozen spinach is a great way to get a little extra iron boost to your dish. For a quick midweek meal, prepare the eggplant tomato sauce in advance and keep in the fridge, pop on pasta, grilled chicken, veg, or even on its own for a healthy dip!

(No) meat, no worries! Iron, in the form of non-haem iron, can be found in plant-based foods too so don’t fret if you’re trying to reduce your meat intake in favour of a few more vegetables on your plate. You can absolutely tick all nutrient boxes in macro- and micronutrients on a vegetarian or plant-based diet — it just takes a little education and discovering delicious recipes like this one.

This broccoli rice is a midweek vegie wonder! It’s incredibly rich in minerals such as iron and magnesium, vitamins and fibre from green vegetables such as broccoli, kale, spinach and coriander, which balance beautifully with the protein, choline, vitamin B12, vitamin D and scrumptious flavour in free-range eggs. If kids are at the table and you’re not yet convinced they’ll go the whole broccoli rice meal then simply swap out half the broccoli for some cooked brown or jasmine rice.

My 9-year-old boy requests this slow-cooked tofu sweet potato and vegie dish regularly. It’s the perfect introduction of more vegetarian-based dishes for youngsters because there are so many great flavours in each bite, and parents can rest assured that everyone is receiving a great balance of nutrition. Jump in the kitchen as a family, chop and cook this one together.

Slow Sunday lunches are made for dishes like these. The most flavourful combination of pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini and eggplant with Mediterranean spices cooked in deliciously antioxidant-rich tomatoes. Serve it up with a chunky piece of sourdough and sink into a slow, beautifully nourishing meal.

These nuggets can easily be turned into patties for hemp burgers. They freeze well too.

Hemp seeds are one of the richest plant sources of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. They contain a perfect balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fats which help promote strong immune function and cardiovascular health.

Having breakfast ready and waiting to go is one of the easiest ways to kick off good nutrition for the day. I’ve incorporated a variety of ingredients in this flavourful breakfast including nutrient-dense hemp seeds to add valuable plant-based proteins to the meal. You can play around with the flavours, fruits and spices but I think this carrot-cake style will knock your breakfast socks off!

A simple breakfast of jam on toast can so easily move from simple to healthfully decadent and abundant in nutrients too with this delicious jam. It’s heavenly on top of a sourdough or seed bread with a dollop of coconut yoghurt and some extra fruit such as banana or kiwifruit.

We usually have a variety of herbs in our fridge throughout the week, but by the end what’s left often looks a little weary. So rather than pop them in the bin or compost I try to make use of what remains by whipping up a scrumptious pesto. While a traditional pesto calls for pine nuts, ricotta, parmesan and olive oil I’ve swapped them for hemp oil and cashews, which create a beautiful earthy but creamy flavour. Serve with your favourite pasta — ours is pulse pasta — and some extra green vegies such as peas and you have a really delicious, wholesome meal.

This is a super fun way to mix up the kids’ usual sandwich routines. If you don’t have a square lunchbox, just top the open sandwiches with another slice of bread and layer them into the lunchbox. Kids will still have a smile on their faces eating them and may even want to play.