Be honest now. How many of your main meals in a week contain meat as an ingredient? All? Around half? How about none? Whether you eat it or you don’t, we’re sure Holly will tempt you with her veggie meal-time treats!
It might be hard to imagine if you are a meat eater, but you can live a healthy, tasty life avoiding meat all together. When my boyfriend decided to become veggie at the beginning of the year I was pretty against the idea of joining him. But now, I find myself eating vegetarian meals 80% of the time, and hardly ever buying meat for my main evening meal. The most I have these days is the odd prawn sandwich or a burger in a restaurant.
Vegetarianism is becoming so much more common than it was even 5 years ago. Documentaries like Cowspiracy and Earthlings have raised the awareness of the environmental impact of meat eating. Trends such as eating meat only on weekends, or one night a week have become popular for those wanting to cut down their carbon footprint. If you want to find out more about this, GreenEatz explains it pretty well.
Recipes for World Vegetarian Day – and beyond!
So, in aid of World Vegetarian Day on 1 October, why not give one or two of my favourite dinner recipes a go. They are very yummy and tried and tested by a meat eater – me!
Halloumi salad w/ roasted peppers & sweet potato fries
This one is pretty much what it says on the tin. Roast your bell peppers in the oven with your sweet potato fries until the peppers are lovely, and soft and the fries are nice and crispy (40 mins). Fry off the halloumi in a dry pan until starting to brown and lie on a bed of rocket. Add the cooked peppers and sweet potato on the side and then drizzle a smidge of balsamic vinegar over it. (I also enjoy a cheeky squeeze of garlic mayo.)
Lentil bolognaise w/ brown pasta
Put some mixed bell peppers, onion, garlic and coconut oil in a pan and fry until slightly soft. Add a carton of chopped tomatoes and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. In another pan boil your red split lentils in water for 15-20 minutes until completely soft. Drain and add to them to the sauce. Meanwhile, cook your pasta as normal and then plate up your lovely bolognaise sauce, adding salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a tin of Heinz Five Beans to the sauce mixture to make it a bit special (and also a sprinkle of cheese and some garlic bread on the side).
Veggie tortilla wrap pizza
This is possibly the laziest way to make pizza in the world, but they taste fantastic so… Grab a pack of tortillas and make a tomato paste by mixing tomato puree with some water (not too much though). Add a healthy amount to your tortilla (3-4 tablespoons) and spread around to make an even covering of your base. Add some cubes of mozzerella, some chopped black olives, some red onion, chopped mushrooms, chopped courgette – basically any veg you like! Pop in the oven for 10 minutes and there you have it: a gorgeous, not too filling, healthy pizza.
Are you drooling yet? We want to know what your favourite meat-free meal is.
Will you be getting involved in World Vegetarian Day? Tweet us @tweetjanes