Meatless Monday is a nonprofit initiative to encourage people to go without meat one day a week, to improve their health and the health of the planet. Click here to find out more and to sign up to receive a weekly email packed with terrific meatless recipes.
The movement had a big year in 2009 with more awareness and a lot more people backing the cause. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food announced on Oprah that the most effective thing people can do to cut their carbon footprint is to go meatless one day a week. Al Gore lists Meatless Monday as one of the top 12 things you can do for a better world on his blog Climate Crisis. And Paul McCartney went before the European Parliament in December and encouraged all European cities to adopt a meatless day.
I like the movement because it’s idealistic but practical. It doesn’t ask people to give up meat entirely or demonize them if they still enjoy a steak. It’s all about incremental steps, because a lot of people taking small steps adds up.
In my opinion, the best way to encourage people to go meatless is to give them all kinds of meatless options. Foods they love and crave. Things they eat because they love the taste, not because it’s good for them or they think they’re “doing the right thing.”
That’s why I love the meatless recipes that are included in the weekly email I receive from the Meatless Monday campaign. I wanted to share one with you because I made it recently and my husband loved it so much he not only ate the leftovers for breakfast, he asked if we could have it every week. I don’t want to stereotype men, but a lot of women tell me they could go meatless more often, but their husband insists on meat in all his meals.
My husband isn’t exactly what I would call macho, but he definitely qualifies as male. Click here for the recipe for “Cheesy Broccoli Frittata” that he loved so much. I think the key is the potatoes and cheese, which are hearty and what I would call comfort food. I plan on using this recipe freely with all kinds of substitutions. For example, instead of the Jarlsberg cheese it calls for, I used bits of all the cheese we had that needed to be used up, including some “vegan cheese” that was okay but not as tasty as regular cheese. This frittata would work with almost any leftover vegetables as long as you have eggs, cheese, and potatoes. Oh, and it’s really easy.
What are your favorite simple meatless meals? Please share them in the Comments section and I’ll include them in my next Meatless Monday recipes post.
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