Monday, April 26, 2010

Meatless Monday

Have you heard of Meatless Monday? It's a campaign to cut meat out of your diet 1 day a week in an effort to improve personal health and the health of the planet. At first, I thought that it would be difficult to cut out meat, but there are a lot of recipes that make it easy. You can learn more about Meatless Monday here.

Here's my go-to recipe for a simple, fresh family dinner. It's so easy and tastes great with fresh ingredients from the Farmer's Market.


Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package of pasta (I love Barilla’s Campanelle shaped pasta!)
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Fresh basil, cut into small strips
1 tsp Italian seasoning seasoning

Salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)
Fresh grated Paremsan cheese (to taste)
Asiago cheese (to taste)

Directions
1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

2. Heat the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a warm skillet. No need to COOK the items, you’re just warming them!

3. Drain the pasta and then toss the hot pasta with the ingredients in the skillet.

4. Lightly pan fry the entire mixture in a large skillet with some additional olive oil for 2-3 minutes.

5. Remove from the heat.

6. Add in basil; mix to combine, then season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve with grated Parmesan and Asiago cheese.

Of course, you could add other ingredients to this such as eggplant or squash and it would be delicious. Let me know what you think when you try it. I'm constantly tweaking my recipes to improve them. Have you tried Meatless Monday?

xoxo

11 comments:

GP CUPCAKE said...

That sounds great! I don't cook much, but tend to make things without meat when I do. I'll definitely try this recipe. I really like whole wheat pasta and my kids like it, too. It is great with parmesan and spinach or arugula.

Sweet Southern Prep said...

I'm really craving a pasta dinner tonight. Thanks for the idea, although my husband may kill me if I leave out the meat. He seriously has to have it in every meal. Ah, men.

Sara Elizabeth said...

That sounds so delish! Is it dinner time yet??

Preppy Little Dress said...

Wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing!

Beth Dunn said...

We had pasta last night!
xoxo
SC

Same Sweet Girl: Memoir of a Southern Belle said...

YUMMY!!! This recipe reminds me of one of my favorite pasta dishes from the little italian place down the street. I absoutely LOVE the olive oil and garlic. Mmmm...

I have heard of going at least one day a week without meat. I think it's a great idea!! I try to do it at least one day if not more. Thanks for this great post and recipe!!! :)

Trish said...

This really sounds great, I was not familiar with Meatless Monday! I can't wait until all of our local farmers markets are in full swing! I am sure this would be unbelievable with ripe summer tomatoes, MMM!! :)

Henley on the Horn said...

I'll have to try this! It sounds great:)

Candy said...

I'm a vegetarian so every day is meatless for me! Thanks for this recipe though- I'll definitely have to try it, sounds delish.

Caitlin and Jonathan Falls said...

I've been meatless for the last 800 Mondays :)
Baltimore public schools do Meatless Mondays and so do the Obamas! Love it.

Caitlin and Jonathan Falls said...

I've been meatless for at least 800 Mondays :) The Obamas and Baltimore Public Schools do Meatless Mondays. Love it!

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