7 Meatless Meal Ideas for Lent

You know what time of year it is? Lent! That’s right. If you’re a Catholic like me, you might be frantically rummaging through cookbooks and Pinterest to find appetizing, meatless meals for Fridays. Well, don’t sweat it! I’ve got a few menu options for you right here. There’s no reason for you to fall into a boring rut of eating grilled cheese with canned tomato soup, or greasy fish this Lent.

A few of my personal favorite vegetarian-friendly recipes:

Pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes

found on damndelicious.net

Cilantro-lime shrimp with green beans

found on stephaniezahlmann.blogspot.com

Mexican lasagna

Other ideas I don’t have photos of:

• Build-your-own homemade pizza: Load up personal pizzas with lots of veggies — peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, diced tomatoes, basil — get creative!
• Potato soup paired with crackers or garlic bread.
• Spaghetti – Get saucy without meat! Throw in fancy spices or make your own sauce.
• Order in Chinese: Hello? Vegetable low-mein, cream cheese wontons, endless fortune cookies (and tons of other good things you’ve never thought of trying because your go-to is chicken).

Do you have a favorite meatless meal? Let me know!

Easy Homemade Corn Salsa

My chickpea salad recipe from Friday’s post went over really well, so I thought I’d test the waters and use my own photos and recipe instructions. I made a homemade corn salsa from scratch yesterday and it turned out pretty good for just throwing a few things together. I have a feeling that in the summer this recipe will taste way better once I can get a hold of fresh corn and tomatoes–yum. But for now, cans of veggies (or even frozen veggies) will have to do.

Easy Homemade Corn Salsa 

What you’ll need:

– 2 cups of corn (no-salt added from a can and rinsed first, or frozen)

– 1/2 a can of black bean (rinsed first)

– a handful of fresh cilantro (chopped)

– 1/2 cup of white onion (chopped)

– 1 tablespoon of Kraft Light Italian dressing

– 1 cup of canned diced tomatoes with green chilies

– dash of salt and pepper

How to make it happen:

Dump all of the above ingredients into a mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly so the ingredients are all scrambled. Add more cilantro or Italian dressing to taste. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours, or until cold.

I love cilantro so I went a little overboard with it.  You don’t have to use diced tomatoes with green chilies either. Tomatoes aren’t in season right now in Minnesota so I used what  I had in the cupboard. I like the green chilies because it gives my salsa a little kick. If you wanted a mild taste, just stick with plain tomatoes.

Tips:

If you’re using canned corn and beans, make sure you rinse them underwater first. It’ll strip off some of the sodium.

If you’re using frozen corn (which is actually a healthier option!), make sure it’s thawed out first so your salsa isn’t watery and pathetic.

Tadaa! Now you have an impressive and relatively healthy salsa to share. The best part of this recipe? I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Mix and match, work with what you got. Now, where are those addicting Tostitos chips?

A Super Yummy (and Healthy) Chickpea Recipe

You know how on Pinterest you save recipes and over time completely forget to make any of the recipes you’ve saved? Well, last Monday I sifted through all of my cooking pins and found a recipe that looked very tempting. I wanted something that was dairy-free (for me) and vegetarian (for my roommate), so we could both eat something fun while we watched The Bachelor with glasses of red wine.

We made this delightful cilantro lime chickpea salad from the Oh She Glows blog.

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad // Image and recipe source: Oh She Glows

If you like cilantro or lime or anything with a bit of bite, this recipe is for you! We were obsessed. I had leftovers for lunch the next day and I was (sadly) counting down the hours until I could eat it again. Is that embarrassing to admit? Whatever. As a team we whipped up the salad and served it over brown rice so our meal would be a little more substantial.

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad // Image and recipe source: Oh She Glows

YUM. This recipe is probably  meant for summertime but I don’t see a problem with eating it in the winter. Speaking of cooking, what’s on your menu for the Superbowl this Sunday? Last year my buffalo chicken dip was a flop so I’ll need to think of something new.