This is a special edition of Meatless Mondays, because today the Meatless Monday website includes a Q&A interview I did with Terri Wahl, the founder of our CSA delivery service. You can check out the Meatless Mondays website here, and my interview with Terri here.
I'm such a big supporter of the concept of Meatless Mondays, that after I'd been writing about it for awhile on my blog and sharing meatless recipes, the editor of the website emailed to thank me. After a few exchanges back and forth, he invited me to submit a Q&A with someone in the world of food. They are a nonprofit corporation, and I was not paid for any of this, I just believe in the cause.
There's also a link to my pumpkin bread recipe this week in the recipe section.
Have you pledged to go meatless on Mondays? What are some of your favorite meatless meals? Please share them and I'll include your ideas in my next Meatless Mondays post.
November 23, 2009
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12 comments:
I like this idea. I am a mostly vegan person. I had never heard of meatless Monday it is a great concept.
Best dishes? For people that are new to vegetarianism - doing pastas is likely the easiest. I go with rice noodles from trader joes, sliced olives, cut small tomatoes, minced onion and sprinkle with vegan cheeze and olive oil.
I stumbled across your blog and I am glad I did.
Best regards,
Tom Bailey
Hi Tom- I'm so glad you came upon my blog and made a comment. Thanks for your meatless idea- I'll post it the next time I talk about meatless mondays. You can click on the "meatless monday" category for all kinds of great recipe ideas from myself and my readers. I think it's becoming easier and more delicious to be a veggie than a meat eater.
Where do you get the vegan cheese? Cheese would be much harder for me to give up than meat. I would like to try vegan cheese.
We eat meatless most days a week although we are not vegetarians. Tonight, for example, we will have homemade mac and cheese, broccoli, squash and maybe (maybe not) some whole wheat bread. However, most of our meatless meals revolve around the legume/grain connection in some form with added green and yellow vegetables. It's hearty and sustaining food, besides being delicious.
I love the idea of doing one meatless meal a week. We generally do this through pasta. I, unfortunately, am a very picky eater and have never been able to develop a taste for most veggies or beans so it is extra hard for me. I always check out your recipes though and try to modify them to my tastes if I can. Keep up the good work!!
One of my favorite meatless meals is a big pot of veggie and bean chili (I made it without meat one day for a vegan friend of mine, and ever since then it has been a cheap staple in my house). I make up a big cast iron skillet of corn bread and serve it with either cheese and sour cream, or just plain and tasty as-is. It is a great way to use up leftover spaghetti sauce as a tomato starter as well!
We end up having meatless days several times a week in our effort to use up our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box of veggies and fruits. What we don't spend on meat more than pays for the locally grown box of goodies every week!
I just found your blog last week. Am already liking it a lot! We do not have meatless Mondays, but I do try to cook meatless at least once a week. One of our favorites is Manicotti with Three Cheeses:
12 Manicotti Shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8 oz soft cream cheese with onion and chives
3 cups marinara sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cook manicotti. Grease a baking dish. Mix 3 cups mozzarella with soft cream cheese. Stuff the manicotti; place in prepared baking dish. Top with marinara. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 10 more minutes.
Hi Angela. For vegan cheese, I recommend Whole Foods Market (mixed in with the dairy cheeses) or a local health food store. Trader Joe's has some soy cheese, but they have casein (dairy).
It's nice to see so many experimenting with meat-free dishes. I've gone meatless everyday for 20 years.
Portabella mushrooms are often satisfying to people looking for that 'meaty' texture. There's a recipe for portabella with vegan gravy here: http://www.adoptaturkey.org/aat/recipes/mains.html
Olive oil, shallots and spices (such as rosemary or thyme) does wonders for vegetables.
Catherine
Carla- I love Mac N Cheese- you can't go wrong there! Yes, I've been cooking with more beans and grains lately and it's much easier to go without the meat.
Thanks Kristen! Pasta is a really easy way to go without meat. If you're not a big bean eater, a few other options are risotto, omelettes or scrambles, frittatas, and quesadillas or burritos. Those are all ways to incorporate a lot of different vegetables with rice or eggs or cheese. Oh- and quiche.
That's what we do on meatless mondays- think of more and more ways to go without meat! We actually have been doing it most days of the week.
Castal- I love veggie chili and cornbread. And yes, our CSA has made it much easier to go meatless because we don't want to toss any of that beautiful produce, so we're intent on using it up. There's almost no room for meat in the diet!
Emily, Bob, and Etta- I'm so glad you found my blog and I hope you'll keep visiting! Manicotti sounds delicious- I'm going to put that on my list of things to make in the next few weeks. It sounds like a nice hearty meal for a cold night with a bottle of red wine. can't wait! And I'll put your suggestion in the next meatless monday post, so thanks!
Vegan Good Life- Thanks for the tip. I actually splurge on cheese from Whole Foods for our holiday party, so this year I'll add that one. And I love portobello mushrooms, especially marinated and grilled. I agree that olive oil, shallots, and spices do wonders for veggies. Roasting is my favorite preparation, and sometimes I think people who think they don't like vegetables have only had them raw or steamed. For me personally, there is nothing more bland and boring than steamed broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots. But roasted with the above- I love them! Or maybe in a curry stew... So many more ways to enjoy... Thanks!
Thanks everyone for commenting!
Did you know that Martha Stewart featured a vegetarian Thanksgiving menu on her November 19th show? I don't usually watch her show, but I heard via the Vegan Outreach e-newsletter and was able to see the entire episode online. She featured the maker of the movie "Food Inc." and Jonathan Safran Foer, author of "Eating Animals". It's exciting to me (a vegetarian for many years) to see someone as mainstream as Martha Stewart spreading the word. Check it out, the recipes for vegetarian stuffing (which contains egg, so I won't be trying that one) and veggie/orzo casserole sounded great. And thanks for the meatless Monday post, interesting and appreciated, as always.
Julie- That really is fantastic news about Martha Stewart.
The tastiest Thanksgiving dinner for me is a nut/cheese/rice loaf with a mushroom gravy, which is absolutely delicious (and fattening!), but incredibly time-consuming. I guess it's not vegan, but it is vegetarian.
Thanks for making a comment! I have to say I think it's getting easier and easier to go meatless, and even to be vegetarian or vegan. Of course it still depends on where you live. When we were at a party with relatives in Ohio, a formal dinner gave choices of "roast beef" or "prime rib." I'm not kidding! That would NEVER happen in California- if there wasn't a vegetarian option, there would at least be chicken or fish.
After I left my comment, I went on my library site to order the "Eating Animals" book. Now I'm #142 on the waitlist for 46 copies! This is a hot topic here in Seattle, apparently.
Tomorrow for Thanksgiving, we were invited by my husband's cousins to eat at a hotel. I requested a vegetarian meal. I'm kinda scared to see what they come up with... My own mother asked me if I'm going to eat turkey at the meal for my side of the family on the weekend. Sigh. She knows I don't eat meat, it's funny and sad how many people thing that poultry and fish are somehow not meat!! Your rice/cheese/nut loaf sounds fantastic. I do eat cheese occasionally, especially at restaurants, because I have to be practical---I have a high needs kid to take care of and that's harder on an empty stomach...
Julie- Hopefully they'll come up with something good for your dinner! I actually have a funny pet peeve about people calling themselves "vegetarian" when they don't eat red meat. I eat fish and chicken and would never refer to myself as vegetarian.
People are funny! It's so simple, but it stumps some people- have you ever seen the movie "Mother" where she tries to separate the refrigerator exactly in half? It's hilarious the way it captures people's confusion over why someone wouldn't want to eat meat.
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