Wednesday, July 27, 2011

a Month of Mostly Meatless Menus

Planning meals without meat being the "centerpiece" is pretty hard sometimes - so in case anyone is interested, here's a whole list of possibilities for those who are taking the eating of meat "sparingly" more seriously. Asterisks mean the recipe is already on the blog, taking requests for others if you're curious :)
Even if you just want to start once a week having meat be a side or flavoring rather than the main course, this might help. Of course you can switch out veggies for the ones you like best, you can tell broccoli is the "default" green veg right now in this house - the one everyone eats.

(suggested side dishes are in parentheses)

Big Baked Potatoes with mushrooms and onions or with black bean fiesta (baked squash, roasted green beans with tomatoes, salad)
Seasoned black bean spread on sandwich thins with grilled red & green peppers & onions and guacamole (good alone or with baked sweet potato, sweet potato fries, or confetti spaghetti squash below)
Sweet-n-Sour root vegetables with couscous (big veggie salad)
Fettuccine Primavera (use chicken broth, a little real butter, a bit of romano cheese and lots of veggies)
Potato Roesti (a big high-class hash brown patty) lots of "sauteed" veg, baked squash or black bean/corn/asparagus salad)
Minestrone with garbanzo or cannelloni beans (*crispy bread, green salad)
*Lime-cilantro Rice and Beans (broccoli or green beans, snap peas & tomato salad)
Potato-crust mushroom and broccoli Quiche(thin sliced potatoes line pie pan bake very hot 10 minutes)
Vegetable "upsidedown cake" (slaw and fruit or beets and green salad with tomato)
Tortellini Toss with asparagus, julienne carrots, and zuchinni (*crusty bread, melon)
Portobello or Veggie Quesadillas or Fajitas (Spanish brown rice, shredded lettuce)
Sicilian Eggplant Marinara Penne (crusty bread, green salad, green beans or broccoli)
Baked Risotto with Veg (baked sweet potato, green beans, slaw or salad)
Confetti spaghetti squash - slivered red and green peppers and onions in a little butter with the spaghetti squash and favorite seasonings and a little Parmesan or other cheese
Spinach Fettuccine with Summer Squash (cheesy crisp bread, snap peas, etc)
*Nacho Bake (greens)
Soy Ginger Noodles from package add stir-fry veg (baked sweet potato or Sweet Potato Hash)
Butternut Squash soup, then Sausage Cornbread and green veg and salad
Starving Shepherd's Pie (sauteed veg mix instead of meat)
Roasted Veg Lasagna or eggplant lasagna (french bread or breadsticks, green salad)
Eggplant and Ricotta "manicotti" (use no-boil noodles softened in hot water and roll up) (sides as above)
Spinach-Lentil Pilaf  in baked acorn squash --or stuffed in peppers
Black Bean/corn quesadillas or black bean/olive enchiladas, (rice, lettuce, guac, etc)
Mushroom Stroganoff (green veg, salad, etc) replace part or all of meat with portabellos
Split Pea Soup, Black Bean soup, Lentil soup,.........(*French bread or sticks, cabbage wedges, turnip slices or sticks, etc)
Sesame-Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges with Broccoli over millet or noodles or quinoa
Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew (chewy bread, fruit)
Spaghetti- fill sauce whit any veggies chopped small, or mushrooms, or roasted and processed eggplant, etc.(*French Bread, salad, etc)
*Veg Pizza (big salad)
*Sweet and Sour Veg (fill sauce with water chestnuts, onion, carrot, broccoli, celery, snap or snow peas, summer squash, pineapple, green peppers, etc) over brown rice, throw a few chow mein noodles on top
Cassoulet (recipe coming soon)
Vegetable Fried Rice (spring rolls, snap peas and little carrots)
*Yaki Soba (whole wheat bread and butter)
Pita Pizza with hummus for "sauce" and vegetables
Grilled eggplant and zucchini sandwiches (with sweet potato fries and cabbage wedge and fruit)
Quinoa Pilaf (if you haven't tried quinoa, its time! rinse it well before cooking like rice, and use in any favorite recipe like rice or couscous)

No comments:

Post a Comment