Meatless Menus?

What are you serving on Fridays this Lent? I'd love some suggestions, especially as my husband does not like fish! (He likes most seafood, just not fish, lol ...)

So far I have planned:

Pasta (in various forms)

Grilled cheese/panini

Homemade pizzas

Veggie burgers

I'd love to hear what dishes you serve as meatless meals - whether it's for Lent or just for better health and household economy!

***

P.S. We saw Rango today - it was pretty good! Defintely not for younger kids, but my 11 and 15 yo boys though it was great.

Have a nice evening, everyone ... see you again sometime soon.

:)

Comments

[Kate]

We've really enjoyed this frittata. http://www.jbsitedesigns.com/?p=9738

Easy recipe and very tasty.

[Mary]

Oh, I forgot...to the tortilla soup, also add 1can corn or frozen corn.

Love,

Mary

[Mary]

Hi Dawn,

I'm getting to this rather late but wanted to share my meatless meals that my family enjoys during Lent.

One recipe tht mynhusband and son absolutely love is eggs poached in tomato sauce. I got this idea from Lucinda Scala Quinn (works for Martha Stewart) who wrote the cookbook "Mad Hungry". Great recipes for feeding hungry men!

To poach the eggs, add some tomato sauce into a frying pan and bring to a simmer. Then crack in some eggs, top with salt and pepper and put the lid on. Let cook a few minutes. Check to watch for a doneness that your family likes...runny or firm. To get fncy you can top them with some grated Mozzarella cheese. Just delicious!

My second recipe is very easy. Meatless Tortilla Soup...Sauté an onion and a garlic clove in some olive oil, add 2 tsps. of ground cumin, 1 tsp. of ground coriander, 2 cans of drained and rinsed balck beans, 1 large jar of mild salsa, and 2-4 (or more) cups of vegetqble stock or water. 2 if you like this soup thick, 4 if you like it a bit watery. Bring to a boil and let simmer about 45 minutes on med-low with the lid on. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, grated cheese, and crumbled tortilla chips, and a wedge of lime for squeezing into the soup. Have a side of tortilla chips and extra guacamole. For a beverage you can serve and easy aqua fresca...add a small amount of pureed fruit to sparkling water.

Enjoy! And hope you feel better too! This soup is a good cure all!!!

Love,

Mary

[Dawn]

Thank you all SO much for these terrific ideas! I'm printing them all out to keep in my binder. Great recipes for Lenten Fridays and anytime throughout the year! :)

[Helena]

Can't wait to try some of these ideas out, thanks for sharing! (I'm not a big fish/seafood person either.) I made eggplant "pizzas" a little while ago--bread and fry (or you could bake them) eggplant slices, then top with pizza sauce and any veggies or other toppings you like. Finish with shredded mozzarella and run it in the oven at about 350 until the cheese is melted (about 5 minutes or so). Super easy to adapt to what you have on hand/what your family likes.

[Mary Petnel]

My own version of Maryland Crab soup - 1 container of backfin or claw crabmeat
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
Dash Worstchesire sauce
1 peeled potatoe diced
1/2 package frozen corn
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 package frozen peas or lima beans
1/2 cabbage shredded
2 cans diced tomatoes

heat broth to slow boil, add veggies, simmer for 10-15 minutes, add crab, simmer 5 more minutes - serve with hot buttermilk biscuits & butter. Note: This soup is spicy - you may add tabasco sauce too, and salt & pepper to taste

[Erlinda]

My kids love french toast, veggie or egg omlets, tuna salad with boiled eggs and elbow maccroni, potatoe salad and grilled cheese with white cheese cut into strips and dipped in to spagetti sauce.

Love your blog and the lego posts.

[Lindsay]

Since we always eat meatless, this isn't a big stretch for us. Lots of good ideas in the comments, but I don't know how you could consider French Onion Soup meatless -- it's made with beef stock!

Really easy quick vegetarian dinner -- we call it "Fake Mexican." Adjust the quantities for the number you will be serving.

Prepare enough rice for all and while the rice is cooking make a layered casserole.

Canned black beans, rinsed and drained, on the bottom.

Next layer -- frozen, or drained canned corn.

Top with salsa, then bake or microwave until heated through.

Serve on the rice with a topping of grated cheddar or Mexican cheese.

[Theresa]

We have a vegetarian chili recipe that our family has every 2 weeks or so.

1/2 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 pepper (we usually do 1/2 green and 1/2 red)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can black beans
1 can chili beans
1 can whole kernel corn
2 Tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper

Saute onions, garlic and peppers on high heat with 2 TBSP olive oil. Add in the can of diced tomatoes and the 1/2 cup of chicken broth and spices and stir. Drain and rinse the black beans and corn and add them. I put in the entire can of chili beans (no rinsing).

Simmer for at least 30 minutes but the longer the better. Top with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

If we want to bulk up the protein a bit more we add TVP 10 minutes before serving along with another 1/2 cup of water or broth.

[Jennie C.]

Oh! And minestrone is GREAT for using up various leftovers and past-their-prime veggies. :-)

[Jennie C.]

We have pizza every Friday, so we just switch out the sausage and pepperoni for various veggies. :-) My favorite is cherry tomato, artichoke heart and onion, but the kids prefer things like black olives and pineapples.

[Anne]

Bean tostadas, fish tacos, cheese enchiladas with onions, veggie enchilada casserole (yummy), broiled eggplant and cabbage with homemade bread and good cheese, ratatouille, pasta primavera. Because we are meatless on every Friday of the year, we are quite used to it. I'd say bean tostadas are our favorite. Fry up a corn tortilla in a little oil until it is firm (30 secs on each side), top with warmed refried beans, a little shredded cheese, fresh diced tomato and slivered lettuce and a little salsa or avocado if desired. Not too many of any one ingredient. Little bits of each and it is delicious and the protein makes it quite filling.

[Martine]

This chickpea curry is easy and delicious.

www.atasteofthai.com/index.php?page=recipe&id=349

[S/V Mari Hal-O-Jen]

Shrimp! I put shrimp in tacos, burritos, enchiladas etc... and I always keep a bag of cooked, peeled, frozen in my freezer to toss a few on my salads for lunch, yum!
We grill a lot of portabellas and eat them like hamburgers with all the usual fixins or stick them sliced in pasta.

[Sherrylynne Harrington]

Quesidillas, Tomato Soup, Bean Soup, Quiche, Salmon, Make your own potato.

[Holly Schaad]

How about omelets, gumbo (Zatarain's mix is terrific and super easy) black beans and rice, shrimp scampi or alfredo, and eggplant parmesean?

[Tamsen]

We like roasted/sauteed veggies with shredded chedder cheese in pita pockets. I am always tweaking the seasonings - just not my strong suit - but a can of Italian stewed tomatoes usually helps.

BTW, thank you for all that you share with us! We are devoted readers!

[Maria]

Hello

In Spain is very common (at least it was more common some years ago) to eat "potaje". Stewed legumes, as lentils, chickpeas and beans, with spinachs and eggs, or cod. Here is a recipe.

1kiss.

[OSG]

hi Dawn, I'm of Greek descent and I bet your friend Kim will have some great ideas! BTW I used to love the photos you'd take at your knitting circle night and the Greek foods Kim made. I'm always interested in how other Greek people around the world celebrate with certain foods and if they're made differently to how my family cook them here in Australia!

Some non-meat non-fish ideas we like are

- veg curries with chickpeas or lentils

- gnocchi with a tomato based sauce

- minestrone or a good veg soup

- a version of your turkey taco potatoes made with beans

- rice stuffed peppers (Greek ones are good)

- vegetable parcels in puff pastry or filo pastry

- Chinese style veg fried rice with egg omelette ribbons mixed in (omelette that is cut in to strips)

- quiche

- sweet potato and lentil patties

- chocolate cake :)

Hope that helps!

[Amy B]

Hi Dawn,

I have been reading your blog for months now and I have to say that it is by far my favorite homeschooling blog. I just love your book lists on the sides of your blog. I hurriedly write them down before going our public library every two weeks. What a joy they have been to my children.

We just took a tour of a maple syrup farm last Friday. I can't wait to make the tree tomorrow on our bulletin board with string veins running through it. My boys will love it! Also the cross "coming to life idea" is wonderful! I can't wait to try that one too! Thank you for humbly sharing these wonderful ideas with us. Whenever my mind stops working, yours is the first blog I turn to. Thanks again so much!

Oh, and a recipe for lent that we use (and my kids love) is:

Homemade breaded cheese stick dippers in marinara sauce.

1 pkg mozarella (string cheese) sticks
2 rolls of crescent rolls
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (or wheat germ, if you want to make the healthy version).
4 tbsp. parm. cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine bread crumbs or wheat germ with parm. cheese in a dish.
Unwrap each cheese stick and complete encase it in each crescent roll triangle, making sure no cheese is showing. My boys love to do this part.

Roll in bread crumb mixture. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 20 min. Dip in heated spaghetti or marinara sauce.

I make these quite often for lunches. Today I made them because we are currently studying Egypt. We pretended the cheese sticks were mummies and they buried them in the sand (bread crumbs). The oven was the tomb.

[Chris]

We do eat some fish during Lent, but also things like red beans and rice (the leftovers can be used as burrito filling the following night), crustless spinach quiche (you can easily double or triple a recipe and freeze a few others for busy nights), and the old standby, tuna casserole. Pizza and pasta can easily be made meatless. If you like Chinese food, fried tofu and veggie spring rolls are pretty good.

[Monica]

I second the quiche idea, we also like lentil soup with fresh bread and often do Mexican dishes like quesadillas with bean/corn/veggie filling, or burritos with rice/beans/veggies, etc. Yum!

[rox]

Oh I was just thinking french onion soup today lol
we had a yummy spinich , feta ,mango pizza tonight I'd had it at a cafe the other day and I loved the flavour .
I'm going to try and do ethnic weeks like a Mexican lation week .tortilla soup , salsa & nachos , pupusas ,
a middle eastern week with grapeleaf rolls , tabouli ,lentl curry soup etc. an asian week with wontons , summer rolls , mushi etc.
I want to do cabage rolls & perogies too one night but we are completely sick of root veggies here no more turnips etc. we still may have two more months of winter but I am splurging & buying a ton of salad stuff as we are going no meat so the extra money can go on some more exotic veggies & fruits . I do try and buy local but by this time of yr I do not want another parsnip or sweet potatoe !I'm like your dh I do not like fish but do not mind seafood .However I did buy one white fish as it is local and dh & the boys love it .

[Tracy]

Pierogies, stuffed shells, meatless lasagna, halushki (bowtie pasta tossed with butter and fried cabbage), potato pancakes, shrimp and small scallop primavera, potato soup, eggplant parm, zucchini lasagna (use sliced zucchini in place of noodles and layer with sauce and ricotta)

[Elizabeth Quigley]

Hi Dawn,
I made a yummy French Onion Soup today. The link is on my side bar. Also a link for easy skillet Mac and Cheese. These are 2 meals I serve during Lent each year. Veggie Soup,Quiche and Fruit Salad with Granola and Yogurt are a few other ideals.Dave doesn't care for seafood or fish but he will eat it.
Enjoy,
Elizabeth