Welcome to Meatless Monday, a new day of the week dedicated to learning to eat food that isn’t just for carnivores. I’m finding that, even though I’m making more side items and trying new things for breakfast and lunch, my dinners still seem to revolve around a meat as the staple ingredient. I don’t want to entirely change that, but I do want to learn what healthier options I like, since I’ve never been much of a vegetable person. Hence, Meatless Monday, when I force myself into learning how to prepare vegetarian options that I really enjoy. Hopefully this will help me to branch out on side items, lunches, etc. on other days. I’m sure sometimes it will also fall flat on it’s (my?) face.
My first Meatless Monday began back at my new favorite fruitstand, where I got some killer ingredients for the next few days.
Yes.
2 ears of corn, bananas, green onions, a lemon, blueberries, strawberries, and nectarines. Grand total: $9. Have I mentioned that I LOVE fruitstands?
I got the strawberries and blueberries to add to cereal. I tried Kashi’s newest creation, at least newest to me, Simply Maize cereal. Think corn flakes without the sugar. And that’s exactly where the problem comes in – there’s no sugar. I really like the texture and corn flavor of the cereal, but it needs some other flavor to give it sweetness and variety. Think blueberries and strawberries. Just be sure when putting these fruits in your cereal that the berries are sweet, not bitter, or you’re in for some odd cereal. Thankfully, mine was great!
Next time I’ll try it with bananas. I think that will be the best.
Lunch isn’t worth talking about – I’ve already made you read about cereal (hey, it’s a new discovery. I’m excited.) Dinner, on the other hand. Oh dinner.
Tonight I made Avocado and Cucumber Gazpacho, recipe courtesy of Running with Tweezers. Remember to prepare it in advance, as it’s meant to be served cold.
The Dinner Process
Cucumber, avocado, green onions, yellow bell pepper, lemon, garlic (not pictured), greek yogurt, mint, and habenero sauce. Running with Tweezers suggests using Tobasco, but I went with habanero because I thought it’d be a good compliment to the flavors. And it was, although I’m sure tobasco is too.
Peel and cut it all and throw it in the Vitamix (or other high-powered blender).
Blend.
Refrigerate for at least two hours. Be sure to serve it cold! Put chilled soup into a bowl, toss on a dab of greek yogurt, sprinkle on some cilantro (my addition), and enjoy!
I enjoyed this soup fairly well, but I think it needs some tweeking for my taste buds, although it’d be great for a lot of people as is.
The original recipe calls for greek yogurt to make it healthier than using something like sour cream. Sad truth, though, is that I don’t like greek yogurt; I was just hoping it’d be masked enough by the other flavors. Still, the soup was a little bitter. Sour cream instead would’ve made it amazing, although admittedly less healthy.
If you like greek yogurt, definitely stick to this recipe, but if not, you could use sour cream and still get the health benefits from the cucumber, avocado, and bell pepper without the guilt of the chips (there are versions of sour cream that are much healthier than chips). It just won’t be nearly as healthy as this recipe.
That’s not all for the day, but this post is too long to add more and, well, dessert/tomorrow’s breakfast deserves it’s own post. It’s heavenly. Prepare yourself for the post to come. The food is AMAZING!
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