Meatless Monday: Go Italian This Week

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This Meatless Monday we found a great new-to -us product at Trader Joe’s and thought it would be just fantastic for an Easy, Yummy  Meatless Monday Main dish, with a little Italian flair.  The product? Trader Joe’s Misto Alla Griglia Marinated Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini (ready to go in the freezer section of the store).

When we were planning this meal, we remembered that we had a half- used jar of spaghetti sauce as well as a tub of Parmesan cheese so we thought we would construct a mock- Eggplant Parmesan dish of sorts. The best part? we only used 3 ingredients for this dish!!!

Meatless Monday This Week

Meatless Monday This Week

First, we thawed the package overnight in the refrigerator, (but there are also microwave thawing directions printed on the label). Next we layered the grilled eggplant and zucchini in the dish and with the pasta sauce. (We placed half of the grilled veggies in the bottom of a 8×8 baking dish and then spread a thick layer of sauce over the top. Then the second layer of vegetables was placed on top of the sauce.) We then added a final layer of sauce to finish the dish.

The First Layers

The First Layers

Ready For The Oven

Ready For The Oven

We baked the dish at 350 for 15 minutes in the over, covered with a piece of foil. We then took it out and sprinkled the dish with parmesan cheese, and placed it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.  That was it!

Meatless Monday- Ready to Serve

Meatless Monday- Ready to Serve

We served this rich sauce Meatless Monday entrée with a green salad. But I also wanted to mention that garlic bread might be a nice addition to this meal.

Meatless Monday Dinner

Meatless Monday Dinner

This Meatless Monday Meal was so easy to put together and it smelled just WONDERFUL as it baked. We were really impressed with the Trader Joe’s Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini product as well. The vegetables were all the same thickness, and had nice grill marks but the best part was that they were not overcooked (or super soft from the freezer). They cut very easily but were not all “mush” when we served up our dinner.

How is Meatless Monday going for you? What exciting new dishes are you serving up?

Meatless Monday Recipes: Pasta Salad

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This great Meatless Monday Recipe is an easy summer pasta salad. This easy recipe combines whole wheat pasta spirals, garbanzo beans, fresh veggies and a tasty olive dressing. It is quick, simple to make and you can add or subtract ingredients that you want to and still have a colorful, tasty main dish for Meatless Monday as a result.

Meatless Monday Easy Pasta Salad

Meatless Monday Easy Pasta Salad

Now when I think back to past salad, I get a number of great tasting ideas in my head. There are times when I want a cool and creamy pasta salad, but there are other times that call for an olive oil based pasta salad. I like to make these olive-oil based salad dressings when it is hot outside and I am bringing a salad for lunch to work or a picnic.

For this pasta salad I used the Organic Whole Wheat pasta that is available at Trader Joe’s. This pasta comes in all shapes and sizes and my favorite one looks like little spirals. I also like the nutty flavor that this pasta has, and the fact that it holds up well, even when you cook it a bit longer than you needed to (yes, I forgot about the pasta cooking away for a few minutes- but it was still great and held up very well when I tossed the salad).

What you need:

  • ½ pound Whole Wheat pasta spirals (or use your favorite noodles)
  • 1 container Trader Joe’s Tapenade
  • Olive Oil
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 can Garbanzo beans, rinsed
  • 1 16 oz packet cherry tomatoes (we used Trader Joe’s Heirloom tomatoes)
  • 3 green onions, sliced thin

1. Cook pasta spirals following package directions. Drain under cold water. In a small bowl combine tapenade, a splash of olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and salt & pepper. Pour over pasta and toss lightly.

2. Cut cherry tomatoes in half, and add to pasta. Also add rinsed garbanzo beans and the green onions to the pasta as well. Toss lightly and taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Also check the amount of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add another splash of both if you like.

That’s it! See how easy that was? I like to use tapenade to make the dressing as it has garlic and other great spices. Another great product for summer pasta salads would be to make a pesto-balsamic vinegar salad dressing.

Variations:

  • Add frozen, thawed sweet peas, diced peppers or cucumbers would be great too.
  • Diced Sweet onions (red or white)
  • Fresh herbs such as basil sliced thin, or thyme
  • Canned black olives in rings
  • Pimentos (roasted red peppers) chopped fine

I would also suggest that you make this pasta salad the day before you serve it, to allow the flavors to really develop.

We hope you enjoyed this Meatless Monday Recipe idea. Let us know what you are serving this week.

Meatless Monday: Cornbread and Pinto Beans

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Cornbread for Meatless Monday

Cornbread for Meatless Monday

You never know what you will learn when you listen to the radio, right?

Today we were listening to NPR whilst doing errands, and heard about a new marketing plan for better health: Meatless Monday’s

The announcers made a lot of good points about how much fat and cholesterol you could avoid adding to your diet by not eating meat on just one day a week. Whose diet would not benefit from a little cut in fat, cholesterol and calories? So we decided to give this a try.

Our Meatless Monday Meal: Cornbread and Pinto Beans

For the cornbread we used the Trader Joe’s Cornbread Mix and make a few additions of Pepper Jack Cheese & Green Onions before baking.

Cornbread with Pepper Jack Cheese and onions

Cornbread with Pepper Jack Cheese and onions

We followed the Trader Joe’s box directions and then added ½ cup of pepper jack cheese cubes and about 1/3 cup sliced green onions just before we slid the pan into the oven. WOW the whole house smelled wonderful for the 30 or so minutes that this baked…

Trader Joe's Pinto Beans

Trader Joe's Pinto Beans

For the Pinto Beans, we just opened up a can of Trader Joe’s Pinto Beans, and heated them up with a teaspoon of Trader Joe’s Taco Seasoning, onions and a clove of garlic. (you could add any your favorite spice blend too) You could also serve baked beans if you like…. We wanted to serve the beans up, but if we wanted to make a quick bean soup- you could add water and Trader Joe’s vegetable stock to the pan….some leftover veggies….yum…. Maybe we will try the soup in the fall?

This was a wonderful inauguration to Meatless Monday for us! The whole place smelled great, and we had a delicious meal. We also nibbled on some carrot sticks and some cherry tomatoes- as well… YUM! This is going to be a tasty new tradition around our house!

Cornbread hot from the oven

Cornbread hot from the oven

Oh yeah, the cornbread… here is a small warning… the cornbread smelled wonderful and we dove right into the pan just as it came out of the oven…. If you could wait a bit (yes I know nearly impossible, right?) your slices will look a bit better. Our pieces were all crumbly and just about fell apart on us… but when we went back for a second piece, the squares held together much much better.

What did you serve on Meatless Monday?