Meatless Monday!!

Hey guys, it's another Meatless Monday!  I don't post weekly about Meatless Monday, but we've definitely been sticking to it! 

So I thought I'd share with you all one of the favorites of all the meatless meals we've tried thus far.  This turned out GREAT, and would also make a great side with a meat as well.  Trust me though, you won't miss the meat if you make this a meal.  I served it up alongside garlic bread. 

 I could easily see adding cooked chopped chicken or shrimp to this if you're not a vegetarian.  That is something I may actually do in the future.

 ZUCCHINI HERB CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1/3 cup uncooked long grain white rice 2/3 cup water 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, cubed 1 cup sliced green onions 1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/4 teaspoons garlic salt 1/2 teaspoon basil 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

1.	Combine the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, until rice is tender.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a shallow 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.
3.	Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with garlic salt, basil, paprika, and oregano. Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and 1 cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
4.	Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Let me say that I modified this dish based on it's reviews as follows:

• I DOUBLED the seasonings (except the salt).  There were quite a few reviews that said the recipe was bland, so I copied a few other reviewers who said they doubled (some even tripled) the seasonings and had great results.
• I used Monterrey jack cheese.  No real reason.  I'm sure cheddar would be fine.
• I added a bit of red pepper flakes.  Hey, we like a little "kick" in our food over here.
• I think I added red bell pepper.  I honestly can't remember, but there was a particular review that I copied most of my mods from, and she did--so I may have.

Hope you all enjoy!  Again, this is one of our favorites!

Recipe found HERE.

Vegetarian Lasagna

 So, I'm sharing with you guys one of the latest Meatless Monday recipes I've tried.  It's a vegetarian lasagna and it came out GREAT.  For some, going meatless (even once a week) can be a challenge, and this recipe is probably the first I would suggest someone to try.  You can't go wrong with lasagna, with meat or without meat!  In this case, what makes a meatless lasagna so great is that you can completely go overboard with the cheese, which kind of makes up for the "no meat" aspect.  It's a great way to ease into meatless, in my opinion.



I got the recipe off of Pinterest (surprise surprise), and made a couple minor tweaks: (1) I sliced up zucchini really thin, and included that in each layer, and (2) of course, I use way more cheese than any recipe calls for.  That's it.  Oh, and I used lasagna noodles that were specifically labeled "no bake" and without the little ridges.  They were just thin flat sheets of dried noodle.  Feel free to use whole wheat noodles as well, for even more health benefits.  I didn't really feel the need since this was already "vegetarian".

By the way, my hubs loved it.  He told me that he's actually been really pleased with our Meatless Monday dishes so far.  *pats self on back*

Recipe found HERE.  Enjoy!!

Meatless Mondays

I think I've mentioned to all of you before on this blog that I could never be a vegetarian.  I still maintain that sentiment.  I just love meat and seafood too much and would find sticking to vegetarian cuisine full time as too limiting. 

Well, one of my goals for 2013 is to take my healthy eating to an even higher level.  So I decided that me and my family will be partaking in "Meatless Mondays".  I'm sure most of you have heard the term.  If you google it, you'll find that in recent years it has become all the rage.  We all know that a vegetarian diet is a very healthy way of life and eliminates the chances for certain health risks like heart disease, cancers, etc.  Well, most people don't realize that not eating meat even just one day a week also gives you a lot of the same benefits.

So I plan to regularly share with you all some of our "Meatless Mondays" meals.  Don't you worry, I will still post my regular meat-filled dishes as well.  The "Meatless Mondays" dishes will just provide some variety.

Last Monday, I decided to make a vegetarian Indian Korma.  Even though I'm no vegetarian, I have eaten plenty of vegetarian dishes at Indian restaurants.  They have so much variety. 

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  I did make a few tweaks.  Instead of just using all regular yellow curry, I used half regular yellow curry and half guaram masala.  I also added a teaspoon of coriander and cumin.  As you can see from the pics, I also added cauliflower to make it even more hearty.

 I served it up with jasmine rice and naan bread (not shown).  It was pretty tasty!  Of course, Tuesday we ate it again for leftovers, but I threw some chicken in it.  Baby steps. haha  The recipe can be found HERE.

 

Happy Meatless Monday!