My husband and I have been doing Meatless Mondays for over a year. It’s been easy to incorporate into our weekly dinner menus, fun to try new recipes and many times ends up being a more frequent occasion than once a week.
When friends first learn about our Meatless Mondays, their initial reaction tends to be one of disbelief, followed immediately by worry that we’ll try to convince them to try it too. Or even worse invite them over for a Monday night dinner! In fact, when I first suggested Meatless Monday, Nathan’s reaction was pretty similar: worry that once a week he’ll have to miss out on a yummy dinner and instead settle for meatless mediocracy.
And my carnivorous friends and husband are not the only ones who associate MM with a sense of loss. And perhaps in the old days of inadequate meat substitutes and salads as the common ‘go-to’ vegetarian option, we did lose out on something. But as Paul Fehribah, executive chef/owner of Big Jones in Andersonville, points out in this great article even though “the name, ‘Meatless Monday,’ implies that you’re doing without something, with great vegetables, prepared well, nothing is missing.”
How true! After we’ve stopped trying to replace meat in our dinners, and instead embraced the vegetarian options with veggie lasagnas, countless tofu creations (today’s choice is Black Pepper Tofu), and potato dishes, we haven’t missed meat since!
To learn more about Meatless Mondays, and for delicious recipes visit www.meatlessmonday.com or check out Vegetarian | foodgawker.