Meatless Monday - Roasted eggplant and sundried tomato fettucine

Last week I felt so good I made three dinners in one day, ready for the times I wouldn't feel so good.

While I was pottering around with some other things, I roasted some eggplant and put a pot of tomatoes on to make this pasta sauce.

We had it the next night for dinner, and I really think leaving it overnight really helped to develop the flavours. I'd like to say "duh", because just about everything tastes better the next day, but how often do we leave full meals? I think next time I'll make this in the morning and leave it do it's thang until dinnertime. Yum.

Serves two, with leftovers. Can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, halved, or several smaller ones

olive oil

1/2 onion, diced,

2 small garlic cloves, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup olives

1 tsp capers

splash balsamic vinegar

pinch sugar

salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions:

1. Roast the eggplant until soft, scrape insides into a bowl.

2. Saute the onion and garlic gently, until translucent. Add all other ingredients, including eggplant. Mash the eggplant a little, if it's still in big lumps.

3. Leave to simmer until sundried tomatoes are soft and all is cooked to your liking.

4. Top fettuccine with sauce and lots of grated parmesan.

Linky bitz...
♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link!

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Meatless Monday - Grilled Eggplant Burger with Feta and Sweet Chilli



This burger came about when I was hunting around for different burger patty ideas. I've eaten everything there is to eat in the form of ready-made ones, and am yet to really foray into making them myself. (Although I made an amazing one recently, stay tuned!) I love eggplant and once I thought about grilling a slice of that as the burger base, everything just fell into place.

I gues any topping you like would work well - hommous and tahini, honey mustard, cheese and pineapple (yeah I went there), but for this I kept it simple. Tasty cheese, grilled eggplant, feta, sweet chili, tomato and letuce. It'll be in regular rotation from now on!


Linky bitz...
♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link!

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Gnocchi with Roasted Sweet Potato and Garlic Cream Sauce

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Back in "the before", as in before Occupy Veggie Mama was discovered, I was eating all sorts of delicious things. Now I'm mainlining melon and hoping someone will deliver me dinner.

Exhibit A:

Now this, as I said on Instagram, to the untrained eye looks like a blurry pile of puke. I was lazy and didn't think I'd blog it, but it was so good I snapped a pic for my fellow IG-obsessors and was asked for the recipe. Being a giving sort of gal, I'm posting it. Puke-pile photo and all.

Serves 2, generously.

Ingredients
1 packet gnocchi, cooked according to packet specifications
1 sweet potato, diced and baked 30 minutes
2 tbs butter
half an onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
300ml cream
pinch salt
plenty of grated parmesan

Directions:

1. Before you cook your gnocchi, saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms in butter, until mushrooms are soft and beginning to pick up a little colour. Take care not to burn the garlic.

2. Add cream and bring to a boil.

3. Turn heat down and simmer, adding a big pinch of salt.

4. Cook your gnocchi.

5. Add a ton of grated parmesan to your sauce, and add the sweet potato, stirring gently.

6. Serve with gnocchi and extra parmesan on top. Yum!


Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link!

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Meatless Monday - Baked Sweet Potato Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

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I'm really mourning the loss of my good camera.

Moving on.

As I mentioned recently, I have a hard time getting past the salad combination of pumpkin and haloumi.

Let's just take a minute and really soak in the thought of that combination. Oh boy. Oh help. Oh yum.

Ok, so I thought I'd better broaden my horizons, and I really love big chunky salads in summer.  I had eaten a whole lot of junk one day and was so exhausted I could barely get off the couch. I needed a huge salad, full of good stuff. So I made this.

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed and baked
1 block feta
1 bag mixed lettuce
2 green onions, sliced
1 punnet grape tomatoes
1 handful fresh coriander

For the dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
just less than 1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
salt and pepper

Directions:

For the salad: Mix.
For the dressing: um... mix.

Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link!

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.









Oh, and if you've got some kind of combination that will get me out of the pumpkin-haloumi (delicious) rut, please let me know!

Black Bean Quesadillas

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Morning, Meatless Mondayers!

Yesterday I ate a truckload of Mexican food. Nothing authentic (sadly), just lots of beans and cheese and fresh salsa and crispy tacos and general goodness. Which made me remember these gorgeous quesadillas I made a while ago and found impossible to get a good photo of.

Yay!

They are so fun for lunch, and dressed up for dinner. I usually use just refried beans sandwiched in tortillas with onion, tomato, cheese and salsa for lunch, and similar for dinner, just with extra salad and sour cream and veggies on top. Oh, and guacamole!

For these, though, I made my own black beans because they're a hassle to find in canned form. I soaked the beans in water for an hour or two, then simmered them with garlic, onion, cumin, cayenne and fresh tomato until cooked and mushy. Oh my. I'm damn hungry right now.

As usual, ingredients are up to you... depending on how many you have to serve.

Ingredients:
beans - refried, black, mushed pinto beans, kidney beans, whatever's good
red onion or sliced green onion
fresh, ripe red tomatoes
cheese
lettuce
sweetcorn
sour cream
salsa
coriander
guacamole

Directions:

1. Sandwich the beans and cheese between two tortillas. I use flour, you can use what you like. I also put filling on half and fold over, sometimes.

2. Fry in a reasonably-hot frying pan with a little spray of oil if you need. Most times I don't bother. Cook until tortillas are browned and filling is heated through.

3. Serve with salad on top - crunchy lettuce, sweet tomatoes, corn, onion, coriander, salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link!

♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.

♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Meatless Monday - Eggplant Parmesan Heroes

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I love Meatless Mondays. I love the idea that it's doable, achievable change. I love that it's an excuse to give those you cook for who perhaps might balk at the idea of more veggie dinners in their lives.

I love that you can put breadcrumbs on something and it's instantly accepted and totally delicious.

All you need for this baby is breaded and baked or fried eggplant. Topped with pasta sauce and cheese. Slapped on a sourdough roll with sauteed onion, capsicum, mushroom, a little zucchini if you like, and spinach. Easy.

If you've got a meatless meal, link up below. I've said it before... brownies are totally meatless ;-)

Linky bitz...
♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday.
♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.
♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

What happens when you leave your kid within arm's reach of creamed corn... and Meatless Monday.

She will grab it, of course, the nanosecond your back is turned.

And she will be stoked.

And then she'll wonder how she can get more out of the bowl.

And then she will break your heart.

Meatless Monday has been brought to you today by creamed corn.

A favourite of babies everywhere.

Next Monday I will still be in Tokyo. Fussy Eater's Mum has kindly agreed to host Meatless Monday.

She has linked some incredible dishes so far, so go check her out and play along... you won't be sorry!

There'll be no creamed corn anywhere. Promise.

Meatless Monday -Vegan Bangers and Mash

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Welcome to Meatless Monday, Meatless Mondayers!

Today is an oldie but a goodie - one of the first dishes I ever veganised, and one of the most successful. Particularly for people who are giving up meat but still like it - not all vegetarians think meat is gross-tasting, so are happy to eat mock products. Over time I've trained myself to dislike the idea of eating meat, and now almost gag at the thought, even though I was a committed carnivore for 26 years. Nowadays, cow's milk will make my stomach churn violently (even writing that makes me grimace, UGH!) and I regret eating eggs pretty much straight after the first bite. Who knows where I'll end up in another five years?

While soy cheese leaves much to be desired, vegan margarine and some soy and rice milk are surprisingly good. I'm extremely partial to Nuttelex margarine and a die-hard Vitasoy Soy Milky fan... both extremely similar to the real thing without all the goobies in it. It's only a matter of time til someone comes up with an excellent dairy-free alternative to everything.

For now, make a foray into veganness if you haven't already with an old favourite :)

Ingredients:
oil
1 onion, cut into strips
vegan sausages (I used 6)
1 tablespoon flour
1-2 cups veggie stock or vegan "beef" stock
a dash each of soy sauce and tomato ketchup... maybe even a little vegan red wine.
four big, floury potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
Nuttelex
Soy milk
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put potatoes on to boil, and heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions to frying pan.

2. Saute onions until soft, then remove to a plate. Heat a little more oil and fry sausages until done to your liking. Remove.

3. Put onions back in frying pan and add flour. Stir for a minute, cooking over medium heat. Add stock and sauces and stir fairly vigorously until it is combined and there are no lumps. Heat until thickened a little and put sausages back in the pan.

4. Drain potatoes and put back on a low heat, moving them to one side. Add soy milk and heat until bubbling.

5. Take off heat, add Nuttelex and mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Serve mash with hot sausages and onion gravy over the top.


Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday.
♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.
♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.



And remember - you don't have to link up only on a Monday, or have your meatless meals only on a Monday - link up your anytime meatless meal all week!

Meatless Monday - Tomato and Squash Summer Salad

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It's getting hot... well at least it is where I live! And it's not even summer yet, but it's getting mighty close. This time of year I'm pretty against slaving over a hot stove, preferring instead to create gorgeous, fresh, summer salads with lots of veggies. We had this as a side salad, but I'd be inclined to add a little haloumi and eat it as is for a main meal. And it's so customisable... add whatever you like!

Ingredients
1-2 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic
5-6 yellow squash, cut into wedges
2 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges
salt
lemon juice
fresh basil

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until soft.

2. Add squash and garlic and saute gently until the squash is crisp-tender. You don't really want much browning on them and you definitely don't want burned garlic... URG.

3. Take off the heat, add tomatoes, salt and lemon juice. Top with basil and serve.

Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday.
♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.
♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!

Where it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.