The Meat Free Monday campaign was launched in 2009 by Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney as a simple and straightforward way to show everyone the value of eating less meat. Doing so has a range of environmental and personal benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production, making us healthier by increasing the amount of fruit and veg we eat, and saving money into the bargain.
I was introduced to Meat Free Monday by a friend on Facebook, who got me to join the Meat Free Monday (Shetland) group, an online support group to encourage people to experiment with a meat free diet. Members post photos, recipes and ideas for vegetarian and vegan dishes. And the rest is history. I've received (and I hope given) lots of ideas and made new friends along the way. I've always found vegetarian food to be on the whole more interesting than a lot of meat dishes, and I do love veg, especially greens, so I was onto a winner from the start.
Persuading the husband, however, I thought might be a little bit more difficult. And there has been some moaning and groaning along the way - but I'm pleased to report that he has pretty much embraced the concept, even as far as announcing that he prefers chargrilled aubergine & courgette lasagne and pinto bean chilli to their meaty alternatives. He did get a bit "butternut squashed out" last autumn though. They kept putting them in the vegbox!
Roast vegetable tart (with butternut squash)
I have a list in my trusty notebook to which I refer when menu planning, of "MFM Favourites" - including the aforementioned lasagne and chilli, also various baked squash recipes, carrot & leek cobbler, cauliflower cheese (sometimes with broccoli and/or brussels sprouts) and nut roasts. In the summer barley salad with whatever veg happens to be available is a favourite. It's usually quite easy to make a veg alternative to a meat dish too, so veg soups, pizzas, tarts, quiches and fajitas also regularly appear on a Monday. I recently made my first tomato-less pizza, with kale, onions and mushrooms. The kale goes all crispy, a bit like the crispy "seaweed" you get from the Chinese restaurant. And Hugh Feranley-Whittingstalls's magic bread dough used for the pizza bases was a resounding success. We have also wholeheartedly embraced lentils. Lentil flan is a firm favourite.
Cauliflower, broccoli and sprout cheese.
Barley salad with goat's cheese toasts.
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| Lentil flan |
The tomato-less pizza.
So, where to get new ideas, besides the Facebook group? The vegbox recipes give me lots of inspiration, lentils with cabbage, chilli and coriander was one of theirs, as was one of my all time favourites, bulgur wheat with spring greens and halloumi. The River Cottage Veg Book is highly recommended, and also the original Meat Free Monday Cookbook. For more glamourous Meat Free Moments I love a book called The Greens Cookbook (subtitled - extraordinary vegetarian cuisine) which has special recipes with loads of ingredients for when you're feeling a bit more creative, for example tagliatelle, asparagus & peas with saffron cream. The husband isn't all that keen on risotto but I love it - so if he happens to be away for a MFM we might have a veg risotto like the amazingly pretty beetroot one pictured below, or my favourite risotto ever which is caramelised carrot risotto with watercress and hazelnut pesto.
Next Monday I'm continuing on a learning curve - polenta... I had it once when I went out for a meal at a pub, and I loved it, like mash only nicer. When I tried to cook it in a similar way it was a bit grainy and a bit too thick, and I wasn't convinced; this time I'm using it to thicken a stew of cannellini beans and kale.
One potential difficulty with MFM is the use of Sunday roast leftovers. I usually either wait a day and use them on Tuesday; OR do use them and have a Meat Free Tuesday. Sometimes I do cheat and have meat leftovers for lunch on a Monday, as I think having a meat free main course for the main meal of the day is pretty much embracing the spirit of the campaign, and I wouldn't like to waste anything... also I DO sometimes have more than one meat free day a week.
Another thing is that it is quite easy to overdo it on the cheese aspect of some dishes, which is not so good on the health front. Depending upon the type of cheese, you can probably get as many calories and fat from the cheese as from a portion of meat, and you can get your protein from better sources. The thing to do in my opinion is have a smaller amount of good quality, flavoursome cheese which will give you more taste for less quantity.
On the whole I think that Meat Free Monday has been a great experience, good for the bank balance, good for the health, the soul and the discovery of new and delicious vegetarian dishes.
As a slight aside, I'm fairly chuffed that my blog has been read in twenty one different countries, including Brazil, Venezuela, Ukraine, Palestinian Territories and Malaysia!
Thank you for reading,
Caroline x
