Recipe Box: Eat Your Veggies on Meatless Mondays

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How would you like to reduce your risk of developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity? Forgoing meat just one day a week, according to the folks behind the “Meatless Monday” movement, not only has health benefits, but can cut your weekly food budget.

The movement has some promoters right here in the Northland.

Meatless Monday began in 2003 as the brainchild of Sid Lerner, the veteran Madison Avenue ad man behind the “Squeeze the Charmin” campaign. He launched the Meatless Monday nonprofit initiative in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future.

“Our founder was making changes to his own diet and saw an opportunity to help others be more healthy by avoiding meat one day a week,” says Diana K. Rice, registered dietitian with Meatless Monday. “He felt ‘Meatless Monday’ was catchy and easy to remember.”

The movement was the focus of several events last year in Duluth at the public library, Animal Allies and the Whole Foods Co-op.

Removing meat and its associated saturated fats from your diet one day a week, which is to say three meals, can add up to a 15 percent reduction in such fats, says Diane, enough to create positive change in a person’s health. “We’re not saying that you need to become a full-time vegetarian, or a vegan. We’re asking people to give up meat just one day a week. It’s not a big ask.”

Diane suggests modifying what you know and like.

“Take a meal you’re comfortable with like tacos and substitute beans for the hamburger. Or take the chicken stir fry recipe you like and try using cashews in place of the chicken.”

A manager at Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth encourages people to join the movement. Shannon Symkowiak says she’s heard of it as “flexitarian” or as “meat out Monday.”

Shannon offers a lot of education and cooking classes at Whole Foods. “I suggest people get started by thinking seasonally. When produce is in season it tastes best, is more nutritious and less expensive.”

That can be challenging during a Lake Superior winter. “Root vegetables have been storing, and that’s not a bad thing if they’ve been handled correctly,” Shannon says.

“Parsnips and carrots, for example, will have higher sugar content. It’s also a great time to start experimenting with grains and beans.”

Shannon agrees with Diane that preparing a vegetarian version of a dish you already know and are comfortable with is a good place to start. In true flexitarian fashion, she shares a recipe for cranberry stuffing that’s tasty either as a stuffing for portabello mushrooms or for pork or simply as a side dish.

As Shannon’s recipe shows, going meatless does not mean going flavorless. Check out both ways – mushrooms on Monday and pork on Wednesday perhaps – and see if you don’t agree.

Roasted Red Pepper & Red Bean ‘Meatballs’

Makes about 14 balls

  • 1/2 medium red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 roasted red bell pepper, roughly chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
  • 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning mix
  • crushed red pepper flakes (a shake or about 1/8 tsp.)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 c. dried breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
  • 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
  • salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, add the onion and garlic and pulse until these two ingredients are minced (or mince by hand). Leaving the onion and garlic in the bowl of the processor, add the kidney beans and pulse until chopped, but not puréed (or mash by hand). Pour this mixture into a medium-sized bowl.

Add the chopped red pepper, parsley, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, egg, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and salt and ground black pepper. Stir until combined.

Scoop out about 1-1/2 rounded Tablespoons and form into a ball with your hands. Place the formed “meatball” onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, evenly spaced.

Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. They will have a golden brown outside and will be firm in texture. Remove from the oven.

Serve as desired atop pasta and with marinara sauce, or as an appetizer on a platter. (They are great hot or at room temperature.)

These “meatballs,” made with roasted red peppers and kidney beans, mimic beautifully the meat versions, says The Saucy Southerner blogger Paula S. Begley. She is an official blogger for the Meatless Monday movement.

Portabello Mushrooms with Cranberry Stuffing

For the mushroom caps:

  • 6 large portabello mushrooms, stems removed and reserved
  • 3/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 6 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
  • 6 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt & pepper to taste

Remove stems from mushrooms and set them aside. Using a spoon, gently remove the ribs from the underside of the caps. Rinse caps with water to remove any growing medium. Marinate caps in the vinegar/oil/garlic mixture for at least 20 minutes.

For the stuffing:

  • 3/4 of a 5 oz. pkg. seasoned croutons
  • 2 slices bread, crusts removed, grainy breads work best
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • portabello stems, chopped
  • 2/3 c. dried cranberries (Craisins)
  • 1 to 2 c. vegetable broth
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh sage, chiffonaded or 1 tsp. dried
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried
  • salt & pepper to taste

After the mushroom caps have marinated (see above), preheat oven to 350° F.

Place croutons and bread slices in food processor and pulse until you have large crumbs. Set aside.

Sauté onion and celery in 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add mushroom stems and the dried cranberries once the onion is translucent. Sauté all until soft, adding the fresh herbs as the onions soften. If you do not have fresh herbs, add the dried herbs at the same time as the dried cranberries. Stir in 1 Tbsp. butter, bread mixture and broth until slightly more moist than you want it to be when it’s done.

In a shallow baking dish lined with parchment paper or lightly greased, place the caps so the rounded side is down. Mound the stuffing onto the caps. Cook about 30 to 40 minutes (to an internal temp of 165° F.) Makes 6 stuffed caps or 3 cups of stuffing.

To use as a side dish: Place stuffing in a shallow baking pan and bake about 30 minutes (to 145° F. internally), or to desired crispness.

Juli Kellner is host of “WDSE Cooks” and director of programming and production at WDSE-WIRT, Channel 8 in Duluth.