Try Meatless Mondays to Change Up Your Dinner Routine

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Big welcome to Rochelle! She is another new contributor of ours, a mom of three sharing her love of parenting and life in the Valley of the Sun. 

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I incorporated Meatless Mondays into our dinner routine almost a year ago and now I look forward to Mondays every week! Maybe it’s because I was a vegetarian for almost fourteen years and it takes me back to my younger years, but it’s also because it’s still so hot in Scottsdale and Meatless Mondays have proved to be a great way to keep things light and cool. Here are four easy go-to recipe ideas for the month that can be prepared ahead of time and tastes amazing cold or at room temperature.

  1. Quinoa Salads: I heart quinoa. It’s nutritious, versatile and it really takes on the flavor of all the other ingredients in the recipe. Most importantly my kids will eat it. We’ve tried so many variations from Mexican to Asian inspired to what’s “left over in my fridge” quinoa salad. Our household favorite is a Greek version inspired by Bobby Flay’s recipe. I’ve omitted the pickled cherry peppers and reduced the red onion to 1/4 because that’s how my children like it. That’s another great thing about quinoa salads, you can make them your own. I usually serve it with pita bread or pita chips, hummus and tzatziki.
  2. Frittatas: My family devours anything egg based and frittatas are enjoyed morning, noon and night in our home. We really like fresh from the oven frittatas, but in the summer I prepare the frittata in the morning, refrigerate it and serve it cold with fresh fruit, salad or just some carrots sticks. This is another go-to recipe that can be made to suit your own family and is a wonderful way to sneak in vegetables. Here’s a basic recipe to start with from two fit Moms.
  3. Tortilla Roll-Ups: Our children like roll-ups so much that one of them asked me to make it for her birthday meal. We can eat roll-ups for any meal of the day by changing up the ingredients including nut butters with bananas or turkey and pesto. My personal favorites always start with cream cheese and for Meatless Mondays we often stick with a simple roll-up that has cream cheese, avocado and cheddar cheese served with chips or crackers and sliced apples. Tortilla roll-ups can be served whole, cut in half or if you want to make it super fun, slice them into pinwheels. The Pioneer Woman has a festive tortilla roll up recipe that you can start with and then add in your own favorite ingredients.
  4. Pasta Salads: I’m a big fan of pasta in any shape! It makes me happy and reminds me of so many meals my mom would cook for our family when I was growing up. It’s great in soups, casseroles, as a main or side dish and on a hot day nothing beats a big bowl of cold pasta salad. My ultimate favorite pasta salad is Ina Garten’s Orzo with Roasted Vegetables.

I hope this inspires you to change up your dinner routine with some delicious meatless options. If you’re looking for even more stay cool meatless recipes check out this yummy southwestern chopped salad and refreshing spring salad.

I would love to hear about some of your favorite go-to recipes, meatless or meaty that will help change up my dinner routine.