Vegetarian Issue 🥦🥕🫘🫛🥬 🥔🍆
Issue No. 6: Meatless Mondays, valued plant-based resources, my tofu journey
Welcome back to Dish Lister!
In this issue, I’m focusing on some of my favorite vegetarian (and vegan) recipes and resources. I hope it inspires you to cook and eat more meatless meals if you aren’t already. Please reply to this e-mail (or comment on Substack) to share some of your own favorite plant-based recipes with me. I’m constantly searching for new inspiration and love a good recipe swap!
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Now let’s dish…
Meatless Mondays rule
Meatless Mondays are one of the most treasured dinnertime traditions that my family and I started about a year ago, as a way to improve our health and spend less money on food. Our meatless meals are generally lacto-ovo vegetarian—meaning they contain animal products like dairy and eggs, but no red meat, poultry, or seafood.
I quickly found that I like taking occasional daily breaks from meat (it can be hard on your body and digestive system). It has also been a fun personal challenge to find interesting and delicious recipes that make my kids forget what they’re missing. While I was initially met with some complaints (“where’s the meat” was a frequent remark during some of our earliest Meatless Monday dinners), that all changed after a few stellar plant-based meals. As for any naysayers who cannot imagine a dish without meat being as enjoyable or satisfying, you just haven’t eaten the right things!
Over the last 12 months, we’ve enjoyed countless meatless dishes, making it hard to narrow down my favorites. So I got my family involved, and these are seven of the recipes that rose to the top of our list (in no particular order):
Refried Black Bean Tostadas with Roasted Cauliflower & Pickled Onions, Dish Lister. My family enjoys meatless versions of popular Mexican dishes, so making this tostada recipe an obvious winner. The corn tortilla used for the base crisps up nicely when sprayed with oil and oven baked. The refried black beans and roasted cauliflower create heartiness, the cheese adds saltiness, and the pickled onions provide acidity to balance everything out. It’s easy and pretty perfect! Printable recipe below.
Roasted Vegetable Reuben, Jenny Rosenstrach, The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple. In Jenny Rosenstrach’s (of the Dinner a Love Story blog) latest cookbook, there’s an amazing vegetarian Reuben sandwich consisting of roasted broccoli and/or Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut, melted gruyere cheese and Russian Dressing on toasted rye bread. This was a Meatless Monday game changer, with my boys proclaiming it to be better than the classic corned beef version.
This Roasted Vegetable Reuben was a Meatless Monday game changer for me and my family. Chickpea and Kale Shakshuka- Smitten Kitchen. I love any opportunity to work kale into meals. This shakshuka dish, a variation of the equally wonderful chunky tomato and bell pepper-based North African and Middle Eastern versions, fulfills my kale quotient perfectly. The chickpeas, sunny-side up eggs, and feta cheese provide a good amount of protein, while the kale adds nutrients and texture. Shakshuka is a traditional breakfast or brunch meal, but this recipe works perfectly for dinner served with toasted pita bread.
Three-Ingredient Stovetop Mac and Cheese, Kenji Lopez-Alt, Serious Eats. My boys love macaroni and cheese—both the boxed Kraft version and the made-from- scratch version with loads of cheese and a crispy breadcrumb topping. The Serious Eats recipe offers the best of both worlds—a velvety, creamy cheese sauce like Kraft, but with all the homemade feels. If you’re longing for a crumb topping, no problem! Simply toast a handful of panko bread crumbs, a dash of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt in a small skillet slicked with a small glug of olive oil over medium heat. Cook until crumbs are golden brown, stirring often to ensure even color, and sprinkle onto the finished mac and cheese before serving.
So much better than the box! This easy 3-Ingredient Stovetop Mac and Cheese tastes like Kraft’s (better) homemade cousin. Charred Cauliflower Quesadillas, Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen. These flavorful quesadillas are made with flour tortillas, filled with roasted cauliflower, charred poblanos, and melted Jack cheese, and served with a cumin-lime mayo. They’re cheesy, flavorful, filling, and popular enough to make regular appearances at our dinner table on any night of the week.
Black Bean Burgers, Mark Bittman, NYT Cooking. My favorite type of veggie burger is made with black beans. This version from Mark Bittman (of How to Cook Everything fame) has a wonderful umami flavor and texture (from not quite pureed black beans, oats, porcini mushrooms, soy sauce, and garlic). PS: next up on my list to try is this black bean smash burger from Bon Appétit which looks amazing!
The Best Vegetarian Bean Chili, Kenji Lopez-Alt, Food Lab. This vegan chickpea and red kidney bean-based chili is rightfully named “the best”. It’s spicy, but manageable (I like a moderate heat, nothing too crazy). However, if you prefer your food with less heat, you will want to modify. Just leave out the hotter dried peppers and/or reduce or omit the canned adobo chilis and their sauce to suit your tolerance level. The soy sauce and marmite add an umami richness and depth to the chili, which is best served with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, cubed avocado, sliced scallions, and a few crumbled tortilla chips for crunch. (Omit the sour cream and cheese, or sub dairy-free yogurt or cheese, to keep it vegan.)
My short list of veggie-favorable resources
Here are a few of the veggie-favorable cookbooks and blogs that I turn to frequently for my Meatless Monday inspiration:
The Weekday Vegetarians and The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple, Jenny Rosenstrach. These books, the most used in my MM arsenal, provide “real-life plans” to help you replace meat with more plant-based foods and ultimately eat healthier. Every recipe I’ve tried has been approachable, inspiring, and delicious, so I never feel like I’m making any sacrifices. The original cookbook single-handedly launched my deep appreciation for tofu.
Recipes to try: Wheat Berries with Crispy Tofu, Grapes, Arugula & Feta; Pizza with Cheddar, Caramelized Onion & Egg; Tacos with Refried Pintos, Crispy Shiitakes & Kale; Tofu with Broccoli & Spicy Peanut Sauce; Tofu Banh Mi; Crispy Cabbage Pancakes; Crispy Curried Cauliflower with Coconut & Raisins, Spicy Feta Chickpea Wedges with Arugula Pesto.
I love curried cauliflower dishes! This one from WV Get Simple is made with slivered almonds, flaked coconut & golden raisins. Smitten Kitchen blog & cookbooks, Deb Perelman. I’ve been a fan of Smitten Kitchen for about 16 years (when food blogs were just becoming a thing!). Deb’s meatless recipes are reliable and impressive. I especially love her interesting combinations of ingredients (roasted carrots, lentils, and yogurt—who would’ve thought?) and how simple each recipe is to make.
Recipes to try: Black Bean and Vegetable Bake; French Onion Baked Lentils and Farro; Winter Squash and Spinach Pasta Bake; Pizza Beans; Broccoli Melts; Spaghetti Pie with Pecorino and Black Pepper; Miso Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl; Green Angel Hair with Garlic Butter; Cauliflower Cheese Baked Potato; Zucchini and Pesto Lasagna
Spaghetti Pie with Pecorino and Black Pepper (and Broccoli Rabe!) Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables, Joshua McFadden. A renowned chef also known as the vegetable whisperer, McFadden helped manage the trailblazing Four Season Farm in coastal Maine, which led to his cooking approach that celebrates using all parts of a vegetable at its peak. The book is aptly organized by season (adding up to six with early, mid, and late summer). In an effort to support the local farming community and promote eating vegetables when they’re at their best, Six Seasons encourages cooks of all skill levels to eat seasonally and locally as much as possible (think tomatoes in August, cabbage in December). I regularly dream about the Whipped Feta and Caper-Raisin Vinaigrette—both winning accompaniments to many vegetable dishes.
Recipes to try: Grilled Artichokes with Artichoke-Parmigiano Dip, Potato and Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Olives, Feta, and Arugula; Gratin of Brussels Sprouts and Gruyere (minus the prosciutto); Farro and Roasted Carrot Salad with Apricots, Pistachios, and Whipped Ricotta
How I grew to love tofu (and how you can too!)
Believe me, I have not always loved, or even liked, tofu. In fact, there was a time when its squishy texture and mildly unpleasant odor was a huge turnoff. I clearly had never tried it cooked really, really well. After this thankfully happened, I started cooking with this soy-based protein source more and more. What makes tofu so interesting and cool is its sponge-like texture, which allows it to really absorb the flavor of whatever it’s marinated in or whatever spice blend it’s seasoned with. I like to cube or slice tofu into batons, toss them in a simple marinade of soy sauce, olive oil, and corn starch, and roast in a 425°F oven until crispy (or, alternatively, pan-fry on the stove at medium-high heat). You can add the tofu cubes to salads or stir fries, or simply eat them as a snack.
Tofu crumbles are another fun and tasty way to eat tofu. Spice and oil-coated tofu bits are magically transformed into an almost meat-like texture and taste when they’re cooked. Baked by Melissa’s Melissa Ben-Ishay has a Vegan Taco Salad in her cookbook Come Hungry that has tofu crumbles coated with taco seasoning that mimic ground beef taco meat. Caroline Chambers’ Crispy Miso Lime Tofu in What to Cook WhenYou Don’t Feel Like Cooking shocked my kids to discover they were eating tofu, not meat. Fortunately they were not disappointed by the reveal (and my only regret was not doubling the recipe).
Melissa Clark’s cookbook Dinner Changing the Game has a Tofu Spaetzle recipe that’s one of the most innovative preparations I’ve eaten. This is “tofu in disguise” at its finest—an irresistible combination of grated tofu, caramelized onions, and gruyere baked into a deliciously cheesy and oniony mass—with a taste and mouth feel closely resembling pasta, but full of protein.
Of the numerous tofu varieties (silken, extra-silken, firm, and more), I mainly buy extra-firm, which stands up to the high-heat cooking methods like roasting or stir frying that I prefer. Since extra-firm tofu has a high water content, it must be pressed prior to preparation and cooking, which releases some of the water and achieves that ideal crispy end result. (To press, simply place the tofu block between layers of paper towels and top with a heavy pot for about 15-30 minutes.) Always handle your pressed tofu with care, as it can get a bit crumbly if cut or stirred too aggressively.
Ok, that’s enough tofu hyping for today, but I hope you’re sufficiently intrigued to try at least one great new tofu recipe that could change your mind about tofu.
TV dinners 📺 🍽️
The Netflix mini-series You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment follows a scientific study conducted with sets of twins over two months in which one twin consumes a healthy omnivore diet and the other eats an exclusively vegan diet. Spoiler alert: in just eight weeks, the twins on the vegan diet outperformed their corresponding twin on the omnivore diet on a number of key health measures. Compared to the omnivores, the vegan diet twins showed a more significant reduction in their biological age (essentially how old a person’s cells are), had an increased sex drive, and developed more good gut microbiomes. Watching this show only reinforced my commitment to Meatless Mondays (which have also now extended to more days of the week). I’m reading food labels much more carefully these days too…but I will let you watch and draw your own conclusions. What I will say is that You Are What You Eat is an interesting watch that might, at the very least, inspire you to try consuming a bit less meat and a few more plants.
That’s all for this week’s Dish Lister. I hope you enjoyed reading this issue as much as I enjoyed writing it. Next time, I’m sharing some of my most cozy and comforting soup, stew, and chili recipes that help ease the transition to colder weather. As always, I’m incredibly grateful for your continued support! Please subscribe and share below and follow me on Instagram for more fun food content and inspiration.
I love eating meatless—much to my steak-and-potatoes husband’s dismay! Excited to try these recipes. Thank you!
Some great recipes here. Bookmarking to try!