Vegetarian pregnancy recipes

Vegetarian women must take extra care to ensure they are getting the nutrients they need in order for mother and baby to thrive. Here are four simple and healthy vegetarian recipes to prepare when you are tired and don't feel like cooking much.

Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

Serves 2 - 3

Good source of antioxidants and carotenes, notably vitamin C and E.

What you need

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 onions, chopped

0.3 kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped

1/2 cup vegetable stock

250g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

½ bunch English spinach, leaves rinsed and roughly chopped

1/4 packet of fresh lasagne sheets, enough to give 7 layers

1/4 cup, (50g) fresh ricotta

1/4 cup, (60g) natural yoghurt

1/2 egg yolks

1/2 cups dried breadcrumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan

25g shelled pistachios

What you do

1) Preheat oven to 200°C.

2) Heat olive oil in a large high sided frying pan. Add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook a further 30 seconds. Add pumpkin and stock. Let simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until soft.

3) Allow to cool, slightly. Mash until smooth. Stir through spinach.

4) Mix together ricotta, yoghurt and egg yolks. Season.

5) Place a small amount of the ricotta mixture on the bottom of a rectangular oven dish.

6) Place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Cover with a layer of the pumpkin mixture and a thin drizzle of the ricotta mixture. Continue layering, using 7 layers of lasagne sheets in total, finishing with a layer of lasagne and then the remaining ricotta mixture.

7) Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan and shelled pistachios. Sprinkle over the lasagne before baking.

8) Bake covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake a further 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Fennel and Almond Soup

Good source of: Calcium and vitamin E. Fennel (saunf) also helps digestion and eases stomach pains.

What you need

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped

4 celery sticks, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons fennel seeds, ground

100 g ground almonds

700 ml water

salt and black pepper, to taste

What you do

1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion, fennel and celery over a low heat for 10 minutes.

2) Add the ground fennel seeds and almonds and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Pour over the water and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring frequently. Cover and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.

3) Transfer the mixture to blender or food processor, and whizz until smooth.

4) Pour into a clean pan, and gently heat through.

5) Season to taste.

6) Serve sprinkled with croutons.

Apricot and Ginger Risotto

Serves 2-3

Good source of: B vitamins, fibre. The ginger should help when you are feeling nauseous.

What you need

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2.5 cm piece fresh root ginger, grated

1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme

200 g basmati rice, rinsed and drained

10 dried apricots, halved

300 ml vegetable stock chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

What you do

1) Heat the oil in a large, non-stick saucepan, and gently fry the onion for 2-3 minutes.

2) Stir in the ginger and thyme. Add the rice, apricots and stock, stir and cover.

3) Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Serve at once garnished with some chopped parsley.

Avocado and Red Pepper Crepes

Serves 3

Makes about 8-10 crepes

Good source of: Calcium, protein and vitamins B1,C and E

What you need

Filling

1 ripe avocado, peeled and chopped juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

100g feta cheese

black pepper, to taste

fresh herbs of your choice

Crepes

50g plain white flour

50g wholemeal flour

1 large egg

1 dessert spoon olive oil

300ml semi-skimmed milk

vegetable oil for frying

What you do

1) Sprinkle the avocado with the lemon or lime juice. Mix with the red pepper and feta cheese. Grind over some black pepper and toss in a few chopped, fresh herbs of your choice. Keep aside

2) Place all the crepe ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

3) Heat the vegetable oil in a 20cm frying pan and when hot, pour in enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan. Swirl around to ensure the base is covered evenly and cook until the crepe is lightly browned on one side.

4) Turn the crepe over and cook on the reverse side. Remove from the pan and repeat until all the batter is used. Keep the crepes warm on a warmed plate. Interleave with greaseproof paper and cover with foil to keep them separate. Spoon some of the avocado mixture into the centre of each crepe, and fold over, to serve.

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