Did you know that reducing your meat consumption can also help reduce your carbon footprint?

Although there’s much less emphasis put on meat production than there is on fossil fuel consumption, it is a major contributor to climate change. And if we’re going to succeed in winning this environmental battle, we collectively need to reduce the global scale of animal production.

The obvious (and probably ideal) choice is to become vegetarian or vegan. But for those who can’t make that leap, it doesn’t mean you can’t make a significant impact. If we can’t cut it out, we can certainly reduce our meat consumption.

Meat-Free Mondays is a campaign that encourages people to choose one day a week (every week) and make a concerted effort to avoid meat products on that day. Needless to say, it doesn’t have to be Monday. But I think Monday is a great choice—we have the weekend to plan and prepare, shopping for necessary ingredients and maybe even cooking ahead.

Following is a suggested meal plan for a meat-free day in the coming week. I hope it persuades you that meat-free doesn’t have to be bland or boring.

Breakfast: Spanish Omelette

I adore potato and onion-stuffed Spanish omelette, but if you’d like this for breakfast, I highly recommend you prepare it the evening before. It’s not the quickest omelette to make and is a bit fiddly—but it is so worth it. It also tastes much better when it’s prepared at least a couple of hours ahead and it’s generally eaten cold anyway. Works for lunch as easily as breakfast.

Lunch: Quesadilla

Quesadillas are another favorite of mine. They’re quick and easy to make and can be stuffed with an array of fillings to suit your tastes. The vital ingredient (in my opinion) lies with what you serve them with—guacamole is essential and fresh tomato salsa is a great plus too. We have several options to choose from but this one is my favorite.

Dinner: Coconut Curry

This Thai-inspired recipe is delicious. However, I’m not a fan of tofu and never use it. My favorite way to add protein to a curry is to use sugar-snap peas. I add them at the end, allowing them just a couple of minutes at most so they don’t lose their crunch.

As usual, you can find lots of alternative meal plans in the archives. And we’d love some new recipes so if you have a favorite, please consider submitting it here.

~

Relephant:

Soulful Sustenance for Meat-Free Monday. {Recipes}

~

Author: Hilda Carroll

Image: T.Tseng/Flickr

Editor: Travis May