No Meat, No Problem: Effortless Meatless Monday Recipes for You

Feeling a bit guilty with that big box of New York-style pizza that you devoured over the weekend? Then start your week off like me by celebrating Meatless Monday. It’s a fulfilling way to kick off the workweek and an amazing way to cool off your love affair with meat. As an added bonus,  Meatless Monday can be surprisingly fun for the whole family.

Blasphemy? Of course not! But while a lot of folks tend to view meatless dishes as laborious and expensive, I want to share with you some meatless recipes that you can easily prepare without consuming too much of your precious time.

So, to launch your new “Meatless Mondays” habit, here are some effortless meatless recipes just for you.

Four Effortless Meatless Monday Recipes

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Pasta

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 onion (diced)
• Half a cup milk
• Half a cup heavy cream
• 4 ounces of crumbled goat cheese
• Half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, another half for garnish
• 12 ounces of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 ounces of linguine pasta

Step-by-Step

1. Fill a large pot with water and season with some salt. Bring to a boil
2. Put your linguine pasta into the boiling pot and cook it according to the instructions on the packaging. Using a colander, carefully drain well and set aside
3. Get a saucepan and pour your olive oil over medium heat. Next, add your garlic and diced onion and start stirring as you sweat out the ingredients. Wait for about 2 minutes or until the onions have become translucent. Start stirring in your heavy cream, crumbled goat cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Wait until the cheese has melted. Remove the pan from the heat.
4. Get a blender and start pureeing your red peppers. Add that to your saucepan and gently stir the linguini pasta along with it. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with more Parmesan.

Simple Burrito Bowls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rice (uncooked)
• 1 cup of salsa
• 1 (15 ounces) can of whole kernel corn (drained)
• 3 cups of Romaine lettuce (chopped)
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 (15 ounces) can of black beans (drained)
• 1 whole avocado, (peeled, seeded, and diced)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

For the Chipotle Sauce

• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 tablespoon of chipotle paste
• 1 clove garlic (pressed)
• 1 lime (juiced)
• Kosher salt

Step-by-Step:

1. Let’s start with the chipotle sauce. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sour cream, chipotle paste lime juice, garlic, and a teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
2. Get a large saucepan and cook the rice according to the packaging’s instruction. Let it cool and start stirring in your salsa. Set aside.
3. Get your individual bowls and start putting your rice mixture in each one. Top that over with corn, lettuce, black beans, tomatoes, and avocado. Garnish with your freshly chopped cilantro leaves. Drizzle with some chipotle sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Mouth-watering Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients:

For the sauce

• 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce
• ½ shallot (diced)
• ½ tablespoon of fresh mint (chopped)
• ½ tablespoon of cilantro (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of miso paste
• 1 tablespoon of water
• ½ a cup of bean sprouts
• 1 cup of Chinese cabbage (shredded)
• ½ cup of fresh mint leaves (chopped)
• ½ cup of cilantro (chopped)
• 1 bell pepper (sliced thinly)
• 1 red chilli
• 1 lime (juiced)
• 1 ½ tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons of sweet chili sauce
• rice paper (about 15 sheets)
• 4 ounces vermicelli

Step-by-Step:

1. Start with the dipping sauce. Get a medium bowl and using a metal whisk combine all the ingredients well. Set aside
2. Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the packaging’s instruction. Drain and rinse well. After, start chopping up the noodles.
3. Get a large bowl and place the chopped vermicelli noodles, bell pepper, cilantro, mint leaves, Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, and red chili. Start mixing those and slowly pour in the soy sauce, lime juice, and sweet chili sauce. Keep tossing until everything is mixed well.
4. Get a rice paper sheet and soak each one in a large bowl of water for about 15-25 seconds.
5. Get your vegetable filling and carefully place about 2 tablespoons full inside the soaked rice paper roll. Close the edges by folding and carefully roll that up firmly. Keep repeating this on all your soaked rice paper.
6. Serve with the dipping sauce and enjoy!

Carrot Apple Salad

Ingredients:

For the almond vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons of almond oil

For the Carrot Apple Salad:

• 4 large carrots (peeled)
• 3 large apples (cored, peeled and cut into chunks)
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Step-by-Step:

1. Make the almond vinaigrette first. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
2. Using a food processor, shred the carrots and apples. Transfer that to a large mixing bowl and pour in the lemon juice. Mix well.
3. Get your almond vinaigrette and coat your carrot and apple salad. Keep tossing until the salad is coated well. Serve and enjoy.

Meatless Mondays made Easy!

There you go, easy-to-do recipes for your “Meatless Mondays” so you can still have a lot of “me time.” Don’t forget to give us your thoughts about the dishes in the comments section below. Have fun!