Hello darlings!
Whether you’re trying to cut back on meat to benefit the environment, help animals, or for health reasons, it can be difficult to get the family on board. You try to make the transition slow by implementing a Meatless Monday, but if the food isn’t a hit then the whole project is at risk of failure. Fortunately, you can show them that meatless food isn’t boring by transforming some family favorites into a vegetarian hit. Once they’ve tried these meatless alternatives, they will wonder why they were so set against going meat-free in the first place.
Vegetable Lasagna
Nothing brings them to the table faster than a classic lasagna recipe. This recipe has the added bonus of hiding most of the vegetables amongst the pasta, marinara sauce, and cheese, so you could try sneaking in some less popular produce. There are two ways to prepare the vegetables for this lasagna recipe; you could thinly slice them and arrange them into layers along with the pasta sheets and the sauce, or you could mince them well until they resemble mince from a meat lasagna. Either way, you’re going to need some good chef’s knives. Kamikoto are a good option.
Chilli Sin Carne
Everyone loves a good chilli, and you’ve probably spent a lot of time perfecting your recipe that it’s now a staple meal in your home. The best part about a meatless chilli is that you barely have to alter your recipe at all. Just leave out the beef and add some extra beans. A five bean medley from a can will do just fine, or you can try to make the beans from scratch if you’ve got an afternoon to spare. Lentils are also famous for having a taste and texture not too different from beef, so these would also be a great addition to your new chilli. You can have as much fun experimenting with this new meat-free chilli recipe as you did with your traditional recipe.
Pasta Bake
Going meat-free doesn’t mean you have to stop making your famous pasta bakes. Get some of your kids’ favorite vegetables together and use them to make your best pasta bake ever. This is also a good way to use up any leftover vegetables in your fridge before you go grocery shopping for fresh produce. You can even make this a vegan recipe by making a sauce with some vegan cheese and using egg-free pasta.
Veggie burgers
You don’t need to miss out on the annual summer BBQs just because you’re going meat-free. Although the potato salads are delicious, you don’t need to fill up on this either. With vegetarianism growing in popularity, there are now a wide range of veggie patties available to make your burgers delicious and meat-free. There are even a few meat substitute patties that are quite passable for the genuine product. Once they’re in a bun with all the usual fixings, you’d be hard-pressed to find any fault with a veggie burger.
