Meatless Monday recipes = delicious

Just another meatless Monday...

Why should you go meatless on Mondays? For your health and the health of the planet, that's why. Meatless Mondays is a campaign to encourage people to go without meat one day a week, and when you take the pledge, you'll receive a weekly email with all kinds of delicious meatless recipes plus food-related news of the week.

So click here to check out their website and find out why going meatless on Mondays can improve your health, help the environment, and bring us together as a nation.

And click here for a recipe from the website that sounds so delicious I just have to share it with you, in case you haven't taken the pledge yet. It's called Foul Mudammas, which are regarded as "the original people's food." It's a savory breakfast popular in Eygpt and Sudan, and it looks a little like a tostada, but with flatbread instead of a tortilla, garlicky fava beans instead of refried pinto beans, and feta cheese instead of cheddar. I can't wait to try it.

Plus I've got a few terrific reader suggestions from last time:

First, WilliamB offers this recipe for Salsa-Juice Beans, which he says is a favorite in his household. Here's the preparation: boil black beans in a lot of water for 2 minutes, let sit for an hour, then drain off water. Drain the liquid from a good salsa or salsa fresca. Add it to the beans, plus enough liquid to be about twice the volume of the beans: water, veggie stock, tomato juice, etc. Then cook the beans in this liquid in a covered pot until almost soft. In a pressure cooker this will take less than 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer some of the liquid if there's too much, but be careful not to burn the beans. Puree or mash some of the beans until the liquid is thick. Season to taste with hot sauce, vinegar, V-8, or whatever "floats your boat," and serve over rice.

Next, Alea from Premeditated Leftovers linked to this recipe for Tomato Black Bean Barley Soup. I think she and WilliamB were on the same flavor wavelength.

And an anonymous reader suggested making tacos with refried beans instead of meat (and since we're on a black beans kick this week, those would work as well). And crepes or thin pancakes filled with creamed veggies and topped with a little grated cheese sound great. I'll have to find an easy crepe recipe because I love the sound of that.

Tonight we'll be having mushroom quesadillas, another idea from Alea. I'm going to tweak the recipe slightly and saute the mushrooms and onions first, omit the red pepper, and use cheddar cheese.

Do you go meatless on Mondays? It's a lot easier when you've got delicious meatless recipes to choose from. Tell us about YOUR favorite meatless meals in the Comments section. And click here if you want to check out the recipes and great reader suggestions from previous Meatless Monday recipes posts.