5 Recipes for Meatless Monday

Does your family incorporate a ‘Meatless Monday’ into your menu plan? My husband does most of the cooking in our house, but when I do cook I usually go vegetarian. We aim to eat 3-4 vegetarian meals a week and I would love to share my favorite recipes with you.

Whether your family eats vegetarian 100% of the time or practices Meatless Monday, you are going to want to add some of these yummy meatless recipes to your repertoire.

Zucchini Crescent Pie (This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. Perfect for when zucchini overflows the garden.)

Ingredients:

• 1 roll refrigerated crescent roll (I use this brand)
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Small handful fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Press crescent rolls into 11-inch pie plate. Spread with mustard.

Saute zucchini and onions in olive oil. Cook until very soft.

In large bowl, mix together eggs, cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. Added cooked zucchini and onions to the egg/cheese mixture.

Place mixture on top of prepared crescent roll crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until pie is set and the top if browned.

Sweet Potato Chili (My husband came up with this recipe after all three kids claimed to hate sweet potatoes. They LOVE this chili. We just smile and add a second helping to their bowl.)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, cooked
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, optional
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large jar stewed tomatoes (use what you like)
• 1 small can pinto beans
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, or more to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook sweet potato using your preferred method. I prefer to just poke a few holes in it and microwave until soft. If you are baking/microwaving with the skin, remove skin once potato is cooked.

Heat oil in Dutch oven. Cook onion, pepper and garlic until soft. Remove from pan.

Add tomatoes and sweet potato back into the empty pan and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. You could also just add mixture to your blender and puree.

Add cooked veggies back to the pot with the tomato/sweet potato mixture. Add pinto beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Slow Cooker Mexican Fiesta Bowls (This is an adaptation of a Barley, Black Bean, and Corn Burrito recipe from Cooking Light Essential Recipe Collection: Slow Cooker.)

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
• 1 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, optional

Instructions:

Place all ingredients, except cilantro, in a 3 to 4 quart electric slow cooker**, stir well. Cover and cook LOW for 4-5 hours or until barley is tender.

Can be used as a filling for burritos or eaten out of a bowl topped with cilantro, if desired.

**NOTE: Cooking time will vary greatly depending on the size of your slow cooker. Mine is larger than 3 to 4 quarts so this only takes a little less than 3 hours to cook in mine. Keep an eye on it as it will get mushy if left to cook too long.

Full-of-Veggies Cheddar Cheese Soup (Recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 medium carrot, sliced thin
• 1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced thin
• 1 red pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Parsley for garnish, optional

Instructions:

Saute onions in the olive oil until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the potatoes, carrots, squash, red pepper, and black pepper. Add stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the veggies are soft.

Stir in milk and cheese.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender or food processor. Gently reheat and add salt to taste. Top with finely chopped parsley, if desired.

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers (Recipe adapted from AllRecipes)

• 1 15 oz can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cut oatmeal
• 1/4 cup minced bell pepper
• 2 Tablespoons minced onion
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons oil

Instructions:

Bring quinoa and water to a boil. Reduce heat for 15-20 minutes until tender

Roughly mash up beans in a bowl.

Mix quinoa, oatmeal, bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt, hot sauce and egg into the beans. Mix it up with your hands.

Heat the oil in a pan.

Form 5 patties and cook in the oil for 2-3 minutes per side. I recommend to err on the side of cooking these longer on the first side. This helps form a crust making the burgers easier to flip.