Easy meatless meals for warm summer temperatures

I've been convicted recently of the power of penance and prayer. Some huge knots have been undone in my life in the last month, and they were ones I had been offering specific penances for. If you're attempting to fast for a special intention this summer, and you’re considering giving up meat as part of that, (or if you just want to eat less meat) this is for you.

For instance, this tomato and shrimp pasta is delicious. Some in my family are not fans of shrimp, so I often just substitute sauteed vegetables (like zucchini and bell peppers and spinach) instead of the shrimp. I have also found that a sauteed peach adds a bit of sweetness that brings this dish together.   

We love fancy grilled cheese or fancy quesadillas. Experiment with different cheeses (we like Havarti or gouda in addition to our standby cheddar) and add a bit of jam or some sauteed mushrooms and onions. Or on hot days we do a deconstructed grilled cheese day. In other words, a simple meatless charcuterie board. Which are both fancy ways of saying that we eat bread and cheese.  We slice up some nice bread, and top it with cheese slices, butter, and maybe some apple slices on the side.

Here are some other suggestions:

Quiche is something everyone agrees on. We usually make two, a simple cheddar one for the kids, and a mushroom, onion and spinach one for the adults. Bake them the evening before to conserve energy when the day is hottest, and they are delicious served cold or at room temperature the next day. For an extra speedy prep time, use a pre-made pie crust or omit the crust all together for a yummy gluten-free egg bake.

When we have a crop of some kind of lettuce, we like making pesto — similar to this arugula pesto recipe. We toss the pesto on some pasta and eat it with some oven-roasted broccoli. Both the pasta and broccoli can be made early in the day when it is still cool. They are great eaten cold.

On the pasta note, we love Caprese pasta salad especially as a make-ahead recipe. Making it in the morning gives it some time to let the flavors meld. Here is a basic recipe that you can add your own variations to. We often add feta cheese.

I love dal and have somehow convinced my family to love it also. This is the dal recipe I use at least twice a month if not weekly. We eat it with rice, or with homemade roti (simple Indian flatbread). We also eat it in quesadillas or with scrambled eggs. I imagine it would be delicious as a spread on a piece of crusty bread — I’ll have to try that next time we have a fancy grilled cheese day!

A quick summer dinner we’ve discovered and enjoy is couscous salad with tomatoes and cucumber. I make a couple of boxes of couscous, the kind that has spice packets inside. The couscous takes about 10 minutes to cook. And then I add in some cucumbers, tomatoes, and a simple vinaigrette (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, etc.). To round out the meal, we add some bread or some grilled zucchini tossed with the rest of the vinaigrette. Some grilled cabbage steaks or stuffed mushroom caps would be lovely with this meal as well.

Black bean burgers are great in the summertime because you can keep the heat outside on a grill. This recipe has some tips to keep them from getting mushy. We love roasted potato or sweet potato wedges with them.

For other great meatless meal ideas for any time of the year, check out Emily Stimpson Chapman’s meatless Friday recipe posts.