The meat free Monday campaign is a campaign to advise people to not eat meat for one day of the week which, in return, will provide health benefits as well as help the planet, by not having to kill as many animals to produce the meat that many people eat.
Meat is eaten by many people every day, but there are also many vegetarians that choose not to eat meat, maybe for their health but mainly to save the lives of many animals on the planet. Vegetarians believe that eating animals is cruel and they feel better for not doing so. Being a vegetarian means that you eat lots of healthy food such as vegetables or meat alternatives such as Quorn products instead of meat. In some ways vegetarian food can be tastier than many meat dishes, this is because lots of tasty different vegetables are used in vegetarian dishes.
For Meat Free Monday this week, we have decided to give you some ideas of what you can eat that is completely meat free. There are a number of dishes that you can experiment with, which do not have to contain any meat. If you are someone who likes to eat something with a meaty substance to it, then you can always use the Quorn brand which offers products such meat free mince and meat free chicken.
Stuffed Vegetables
This week we have decided to look at stuffed vegetables as these can be very flavoursome and filling meals. If this is something you would like to try then it is best to get the biggest vegetables that you can find to add your filling to. You can go for one kind of stuffed vegetable or go for a mixture of say two or three stuffed vegetables. You can either make different stuffed vegetables yourself or buy them in your local supermarket. At Smart Restaurants we believe that making your own stuffed vegetables will always be better than buying ready-made ones, as you can then choose what filling you put into your chosen vegetable and what ingredients you would like to use.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed mushrooms is a great meat free dish. Mushrooms are perfect vegetables that you can add a filling to. If this is something you would like to try then the best mushrooms to purchase are portobello mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms are large mushrooms, which are full of flavour. If these are not available then you can use large sized white mushrooms or chestnut mushrooms. To make stuffed mushrooms it is best to remove the central stalk, as this will create a nice amount of space to fill with your ingredients. Once you have added your fillings you can then bake them in the oven for a set amount of time. The mushrooms we have shown are filled with vegetables and cheese, however you can fill them with whatever you like. Another filling you could try could be a mixture of cheese, onions, parsley and breadcrumbs.
Stuffed Peppers
Peppers are a great vegetable to stuff. They are large in size and come in a variety of colours and flavours. You can buy various coloured peppers such as red, yellow, green and orange peppers. The yellow peppers are naturally sweet in flavour. When filling your peppers with your filling of choice, make sure that you remove all of the inside of a pepper including all the pepper seeds. Once your pepper is completely stuffed, pop it on a baking tray and bake them in the oven until they are nicely cooked through. The choice of filling that you decide to go for is entirely up to you, however the peppers above are filled with couscous and chopped vegetables.
Stuffed Courgettes
Courgettes are part of the same family as the cucumber. Courgettes can be used in dishes such as a ratatouille or a stir-fry. Courgettes can also be used to stuff with your filling of choice and then baked in the oven. Courgettes can be filled with anything you like, but here we are showing a courgette filled with quinoa and vegetables.
Stuffed Tomatoes
Tomatoes are in fact a fruit, not a vegetable. However tomatoes are a perfect ingredient to use in many savoury dishes and accompany other vegetables perfectly. Tomatoes are very good for you and contain many essential vitamins. If you would like to stuff tomatoes then it is best to buy large sized tomatoes such as beef tomatoes. Tomatoes work really well with buffalo mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs such as basil. Stuffed tomatoes can be served cold or can be heated through so that the cheese melts and the flavours of the herbs and tomatoes blend together nicely.
Stuffed Potatoes
Even though potatoes aren’t a vegetable they are a good source of carbohydrate and are so easy to stuff with different fillings of your choice. A good way to stuff a potato is to microwave the potato first, slice the top off, then scrape out all of the potato. Put the potato in a mixing bowl and add the ingredients you wish to use. Chopped up mushrooms with onions and cheese works well. Once you have added the ingredients, mix them together with the potato and then put the filling back into the empty potato skin. You can then add cheese on top, then bake this in the oven for about 15-20 minutes so it cooks through nicely.
We hope that by reading this you would like to join the Meat Free Monday campaign and have also gained some useful ideas with some of the stuffed vegetable ideas we have provided. Stuffing vegetables is an easy and good way of experimenting with food. See what ideas you can come up with.
