A friend introduced me to a similar salad, which involves an ingredient I did not expect to like! Olives stuffed with anchovies, nice tuna, and then salad greens, avocado, cucumber, tomato if you want, croutons if you can… kind of a take on nicoise, I guess.
I also find that rice bowls or rice noodles with frozen shrimp+ peppers, eggplant, etc and some sort of Asian inspired sauce (I mix up toasted sesame oil, soy, ginger, garlic, lime, rice vinegar, fish sauce, mirin or maple syrup, garlic, ginger and on an adventurous day, tahini or nut butter) is great. Or make extra rice on Wed or Thursday and then do a giant vat of fried rice with veg and scrambled egg for protein on Fridays.
The older I get, the more I seem to suffer without protein, and beans don’t cut it very well, so I try to give myself permission to eat a LOT of veg on meat-free days, and more fish than I would normally eat.
Lentils (specifically Mujadra) at least once over Lent. My husband hates them, so it's the one time of year I can get away with it.
Tomato soup and cheese muffins at least one meal.
The Pioneer Woman recipe for Spinach soup, with bread.
Tuna noodle casserole will make an appearance.
Quiche (just fine a basic recipe and tweak it) with a salad might show up. I've filled mine with canned salmon and diced onion and it was actually pretty good. I think I've tried canned tuna and it worked too.
Frozen fish sticks with macaroni and cheese will most likely show up on the table.
Chickpea and sweet potato curry with spinach has shown up once or twice.
There's a casserole from a Mennonite cookbook I've made that involves boiling eggs, peeling and slicing them in half, pouring a white sauce with sauteed onions and celery over it, then topping the whole thing with small pieces of buttered bread and popping it in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Sounds odd, but actually tastes decent. My husband calls it "Lent eggs".
Meatless minestrone (we do a lot of soup, can you tell?)
Cheese pizza, or homemade pizza topped with veggies and chopped boiled eggs.
AMAZING THANK YOU. I think the trickiest thing about it is that it's not just dinner on those days, it's breakfast and lunch too (and lunch around here is often leftovers from the previous day, which is not typically vegetarian. Can't go wrong with a Mennonite recipe, those people know what they're doing!!
Wow. Bids for attention going both ways is actually a perfect way to describe what we're even doing with these practices. I think deep in the recesses of my mind and heart I knew this... but somehow this was a refreshingly simple and punchy way to put it.
French toast, scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad is a meatless breakfast for dinner! Doesn't usually produce leftovers though. I have a fairly deep bench of meatless soups (lentil, minestrone, potato leek, curried butternut squash) that will be featured a lot over the next month, and when y husband is cooking it willbe fish sticks, salmon, or mac and cheese. But my fastest ever Lenten dinner is my mom's Tuna melts. Make Tuna however you usually do (I do drained Tuna, mayo, diced celery, Pickle relish) and spread on egg or whole wheat bagles. Top with cheese of your choice and bake at 350F for 8 minutes or, if you're really in a rush, broil them for 2-3 minutes. Serve with carrot sticks or sliced peppers and you have a meatless dinner start to finish in 20 minutes!
A little late, but we made this tonight (with Caesar salad... for the Ides of March... 😅) and it was inexpensive and quick! Chock full of gluten and dairy, so not great for folks with dietary restrictions, but my people are very anti-soup, so we do a lot of pasta during Lent (and let's be honest, all year long!).
Huevos rancheros (can just do beans and potatoes for kids, fried egg topping for adults)
I remembered that you can make my yellow chicken veggie soup with chickpeas when I sent the recipe to someone
Split pea soup (instant pot recipes abound)
Waffles
Potato leek soup!
Fish tacos and cabbage slaw (tilapia, fish taco seasoning or cumin, oregano, garlic, salt, lime juice)
Fish w/ garlic herb crust
“Tostadas” — corn tortilla, canned refried beans, cheese — make them in bulk on a sheet pan for lunches
My favorite lunch salad right now is mixed greens, avocado, canned tuna, dried cherries and a honey mustard dressing.
A friend introduced me to a similar salad, which involves an ingredient I did not expect to like! Olives stuffed with anchovies, nice tuna, and then salad greens, avocado, cucumber, tomato if you want, croutons if you can… kind of a take on nicoise, I guess.
I also find that rice bowls or rice noodles with frozen shrimp+ peppers, eggplant, etc and some sort of Asian inspired sauce (I mix up toasted sesame oil, soy, ginger, garlic, lime, rice vinegar, fish sauce, mirin or maple syrup, garlic, ginger and on an adventurous day, tahini or nut butter) is great. Or make extra rice on Wed or Thursday and then do a giant vat of fried rice with veg and scrambled egg for protein on Fridays.
The older I get, the more I seem to suffer without protein, and beans don’t cut it very well, so I try to give myself permission to eat a LOT of veg on meat-free days, and more fish than I would normally eat.
Lentils (specifically Mujadra) at least once over Lent. My husband hates them, so it's the one time of year I can get away with it.
Tomato soup and cheese muffins at least one meal.
The Pioneer Woman recipe for Spinach soup, with bread.
Tuna noodle casserole will make an appearance.
Quiche (just fine a basic recipe and tweak it) with a salad might show up. I've filled mine with canned salmon and diced onion and it was actually pretty good. I think I've tried canned tuna and it worked too.
Frozen fish sticks with macaroni and cheese will most likely show up on the table.
Chickpea and sweet potato curry with spinach has shown up once or twice.
There's a casserole from a Mennonite cookbook I've made that involves boiling eggs, peeling and slicing them in half, pouring a white sauce with sauteed onions and celery over it, then topping the whole thing with small pieces of buttered bread and popping it in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Sounds odd, but actually tastes decent. My husband calls it "Lent eggs".
Meatless minestrone (we do a lot of soup, can you tell?)
Cheese pizza, or homemade pizza topped with veggies and chopped boiled eggs.
AMAZING THANK YOU. I think the trickiest thing about it is that it's not just dinner on those days, it's breakfast and lunch too (and lunch around here is often leftovers from the previous day, which is not typically vegetarian. Can't go wrong with a Mennonite recipe, those people know what they're doing!!
My husband is also not a lentils fan 🙃
We've started doing meatless supper on Wednesdays during Lent so I have leftovers on Friday. 😂
a hack if I ever heard one 🥇
Wow. Bids for attention going both ways is actually a perfect way to describe what we're even doing with these practices. I think deep in the recesses of my mind and heart I knew this... but somehow this was a refreshingly simple and punchy way to put it.
Happy to be of service🐦.
Soups! Tomato, potato, vegetable, etc. Annelise said eggs, and that reminded me of breakfast tacos!
Loved this idea of bids :)
French toast, scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad is a meatless breakfast for dinner! Doesn't usually produce leftovers though. I have a fairly deep bench of meatless soups (lentil, minestrone, potato leek, curried butternut squash) that will be featured a lot over the next month, and when y husband is cooking it willbe fish sticks, salmon, or mac and cheese. But my fastest ever Lenten dinner is my mom's Tuna melts. Make Tuna however you usually do (I do drained Tuna, mayo, diced celery, Pickle relish) and spread on egg or whole wheat bagles. Top with cheese of your choice and bake at 350F for 8 minutes or, if you're really in a rush, broil them for 2-3 minutes. Serve with carrot sticks or sliced peppers and you have a meatless dinner start to finish in 20 minutes!
Love the tuna melt recipe -- we will be doing this tomorrow!
Chicken wings
maybe the impossible version 😅
Thanks Meredith for sharing your writing gift. Most every post touches a part of my brain (and or heart) not previously touched 😘
You are so welcome!
A little late, but we made this tonight (with Caesar salad... for the Ides of March... 😅) and it was inexpensive and quick! Chock full of gluten and dairy, so not great for folks with dietary restrictions, but my people are very anti-soup, so we do a lot of pasta during Lent (and let's be honest, all year long!).
https://food52.com/recipes/65672-fettuccine-romano?srsltid=AfmBOoqV7HWPDx6vMcFO0ueMXhRgam_iymueiEZi1eqozllwGV9rDit0