Meat free Mondays
One way that we can help our environment is to eat less meat. It takes more energy to produce meat than to produce vegetables. Animals give out carbon dioxide while plants take it in, so more farm animals and less plants is bad for global warming. Also the land cleared for cows and other farm animals means that there are less trees and can cause other species to go extinct.
As we both enjoy cooking, we thought we would share some of our favourite meat free recipes to give you some ideas to help the environment by what you eat.
Green Mac n cheese
(you can use all of the vegetables mentioned here, or change them if you prefer)
1. Peel 2 cloves of garlic, and finely slice with broccoli stalks and leeks.
2. Heat these with 40g butter and some thyme for about 15 minutes until soft.
3. Add about 2 tablespoons of flour then milk until it is like thick cream (between 1/2 and 1 litre)
4. Blend the sauce (with spinach too if you like it) to make a smooth green sauce.
5. Add about 150g cheddar and a bit of parmesan to the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Cook 450g of macaroni and the broccoli florets (we use about 400g broccoli, and sometimes add peas and sweetcorn too) in a pan of boiling water
7. Mix the pasta, vegetables and sauce in a baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven at 180 C until it is golden and bubbling.
Pizza (we love pizza!)
1. Turn your oven on to the highest temperature
2. Mix 175g self raising flour, a pinch of salt, 150g natural yoghurt and a tablespoon of olive oil with a spoon until you can't move it any more, then use your hands to form it into a dough.
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes then put it back in the bowl while you prepare your toppings.
4. Chop up or grate your cheese and pizza toppings - we like sweetcorn, tomatoes, spinach, peppers, and broccoli, but you can use whatever you like.
5. Split the dough into two. Dust the surface with flour roll the dough out thinly and put it on a baking tray.
6. Spread tomato puree on your pizza base, then add the cheese and other toppings.
7. Put your pizza in the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes until it looks crispy and yummy.
Cauliflower Tikka Masala
1. Put 60g cashew nuts, a pinch of saffron and a tablespoon of mango chutney in a jug. Cover it with 300ml boiling water and leave it to soak.
2. Grate the zest of a lemon in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt, a teaspoon of paprika, salt and pepper, and mix it all together.
3. Chop up a whole cauliflower (and if you want, 200g paneer cheese). Stir it into the yoghurt mix, then spread it on a tray and roast it at 200 degrees C for 15-20 minutes.
4. Put a bit of butter and oil into a big pan with a cinnamon stick, 3 cloves and 3 cardamom pods. Add in 2 cloves of sliced garlic and cook for a few minutes.
5. Peel an onion and about 5cm of ginger, chop them up and put them in a blender with 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and a bit of water. When it is smooth, add to the pan.
6. Blend the cashew nut mix until really smooth. Pour it into the pan, boil, and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the cauliflower and cook for another few minutes. Serve with rice.
Quick Quesidillas
1. Chop up your vegetables. We like to use mini corn cobs, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms and beans but you can add whatever you like.
2. Grate your cheese. More is better!
3. Put one wrap into a frying pan. Add a bit of cheese then your vegetables. Add more cheese and put another wrap on top of it.
4. Heat the pan for 3 or 4 minutes, until the cheese has started to melt and the bottom wrap has started going brown. Then flip it over and heat the other side for another few minutes.
5. Put the quesidilla on a chopping board and cut into quarters. Then eat it - it is great with tomato salsa or guacamole.
Fabulous Fruity flapjack (Vegan)
This is a great snack to have for breakfast or after school before tea.
1. Turn on the oven to 170 C
2. Mash up 2 bananas in a bowl. Add a tablespoon of honey and mix well.
3. Add 150g porridge oats and 150ml almond milk (or rice milk or coconut milk, or you can use normal milk if you do not want to make it vegan)
4. Add a handful of any other dried fruit that you want, like sultanas, dried apricots, dried apples and mix everything up.
5. Spread the mixture into a cake tin or small tray
6. Bake for about 40 minutes until it has turned golden on the top
7. Chop up into slices and enjoy!
Florentina Tray bake
1. Turn on the oven to 200 C
2. Finely slice 2 big potatoes, 2 big carrots and 1 onion
3. Wilt a big big handful of spinach, let it cool, and chop it up
4. Grate a chunk of cheese
5. Spread out the potatoes, carrots, onion, spinach and cheese in layers in a tray, you can put them in any order
6. Cover it with foil and put it in the oven for about an hour, take the foil off for 10 minutes at the end
7. Make 4 holes in the top and crack an egg into each one. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until the egg white is solid.
Veggie chow mein
1. Chop up all of the vegetables you want to use into bite size pieces. We like peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, mangetout, spring onions and mini corn cobs but you can use whatever you have and don't need all of them.
2. Cook the noodles in boiling water using the instructions on the packet.
3. Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan. When it is hot, add the vegetables and fry for a few minutes.
4. Add the noodles, about a tablespoon of soy sauce and about a tablespoon of rice wine (but don't worry if you don't have this, it will still taste good!) and fry for another minute
5. If you like egg in it, push all of the stir fry to one side and break an egg in the wok. Mix it around until it is cooked, then mix it into the noodles and vegetables.
6. Serve up your food. You can sprinkle crushed up peanuts, sesame seeds, or sesame oil on the top if you like to make it even more yummy.
Bean bake (great comfort food!)
1. Chop up an onion, leek and a clove of garlic and fry them gently in a bit of oil until they are soft
2. Add beans - we use tins of butter beans, kidney beans and haricot beans or any other tins of beans that we find. You could use dried beans if you soak them first - and also add a tin of tomatoes and about a tablespoon of tomato puree. You can also add sweetcorn.
3. Cook all of the ingredients together for about 15 minutes so the beans go soft. Have a taste and add salt, pepper, brown sugar, herbs or chilli flakes to make it taste how you like
4. Make a cheese sauce by melting a big chunk of butter, stirring in plain flour until it goes to a hard paste, then adding milk until it is a smooth sauce. Take it off the heat and add grated cheese and beat in an egg
5. Put the beans in a casserole dish then cover with the cheese sauce and some more grated cheese. Cook in the oven at 200 C for 20-30 minutes until it is bubbly.
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Home made pasta (easier than you think!)
1. Put 400g plain flour into a bowl. Make a well in the middle and crack 4 eggs into it.
2. Beat the eggs then slowly mix in the flour a bit at a time until it is all combined. You might need to use your hands to get it to all join together.
3. Knead the dough lots. Lots and lots. Bash it and squash it and fold it, it's good fun to do this. Keep going until it seems smooth and silky instead of floury.
4. Cover the dough in cling film or a wax cloth. Make sure it is completely covered, then put it in the fridge for at least half an hour.
5. Take a small ball of the dough. Roll it thin, fold it over and roll it thin again. Do this a few times. Then roll it really really thin (so that you can see your hands through it when you lift it up), cut it up and make it into the shapes you want
6. Cook it in a pan of boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Yum.
Roasted vegetable sauce (great with pasta)
1. Chop up 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 pepper, 2 garlic cloves and a few tomatoes into big pieces all about the same size (you could also use courgette or cauliflower or almost anything really!)
2. Spread them out on a tray and cover with a bit of oil, some salt and some pepper.
3. Roast in the oven 180 C for about 30 minutes
4. Put all the vegetables into a blender and mix them up until you have a smooth sauce. If you like to have some vegetable pieces in it, just keep some of them separate and add them in afterwards.
If the sauce is too thin, heat it for a while. If it is too thick, add some vegetable stock. You can add some balsamic vinegar if you like it to be more tangy.
Spanish omelette
1. Cut up 2 or 3 potatoes into bite size pieces. Boil them for about 15 minutes until they start to get soft.
2. Cut up an onion and a pepper and any other vegetables you want (we like mange tout, peas and mushrooms), and fry them gently in a big frying pan.
3. Break and beat 6 eggs in a bowl. Add the potatoes and the vegetables and mix it all around.
4. Pour the mixture into the big frying pan and put a lid on if you have one. Cook it gently for about 15 minutes then turn it over (sliding it onto a plate is easiest) and cook for another 15 minutes. If you can't turn it over you can put it in the oven instead at about 190 C. Cook it until the egg is not runny any more.
5. Slide it onto a plate or board, chop it up and enjoy.
Special fried rice
1. Cook the rice as the packet says then let it cool down.
2. Choose your vegetables and chop them all into strips or pieces that are all about the same size. Here we used pepper, carrot, baby corn, green beans and water chestnuts but we use different vegetables each time. Also chop a clove of garlic and a small piece of ginger really fine.
3. Heat up a wok or big frying pan with a bit of oil. Pour in 1 or 2 beaten eggs (depending on how much egg you like), spread it to the edges and let it cook like a pancake. Take it out of the wok and chop it up.
4. Add a bit more oil then fry the garlic and ginger then the other vegetables. Once it looks almost cooked add in the rice and cook until it is hot again. Add the egg back in and mix in some soy sauce. You can add sweet chilli too if you like it.
5. Serve it into bowls and eat it with chopsticks if you can!
Koshari (Egyptian comfort food)
1. Part cook 1 1/2 cups of red lentils for about 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, add 1 1/2 cups of rice, the lentils, salt, pepper, a teaspoon of coriander and a teaspoon of cumin and fry it all for about 3 minutes.
3. Add 3 cups of water, bring to the boil, cover and cook gently for about 15-20 minutes until the rice and lentils are cooked.
4. Now make the tomato sauce - fry an onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a pan until soft then add a teaspoon of coriander powder, a teaspoon of chilli flakes (or more if you like spice), and a tin of tomatoes. Heat until bubbling, then blend it to make a smooth sauce. Add a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and mix.
5. In another pan, cook about 2 cups of macaroni pasta, and in a bowl heat up a tin of chickpeas
6. Serve it by putting the rice and lentils at the bottom, then the pasta, then chickpeas, and cover with the tomato sauce. If you like crispy fried onions you can add these on top too.
Arancini balls
(we made these to use up some left over rice)
1. Cook some rice - you can use risotto rice or long grain rice. We cooked it with peas and sweetcorn and vegetable stock in, you could cook it with onions or garlic if you prefer.
2. Let the rice cool down, mix in a bit of parmesan or grated cheese, and split it into balls that are about the size of a golf ball. Flatten them out and put a small piece of mozzarella or other cheese into the middle, then wrap the rice around it. You could also add sun dried tomatoes or herbs here.
3. Put some flour in one bowl, a beaten egg in another bowl, and some breadcrumbs in another bowl. Dip the rice balls into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, making sure they are completely covered each time.
4. Use a deep pan of oil or a fryer, get the oil really hot, then carefully fry the rice balls until the breadcrumbs go golden brown.
5. Then put them onto some kitchen roll to absorb any extra oil and let them cool a little bit before you eat them.
Stuffed peppers
1. Turn on the oven to about 180C
2. Cook a cup of rice with vegetable stock, peas and sweetcorn in it. We also added some Chinese 5 spice, or you could add some chilli flakes if you prefer
3. Cut up other vegetables like spring onions and mushrooms into small pieces, then mix them into the rice.
4. Cut the top off your peppers and pull out the seeds in the middle.
5. Stuff the peppers with the rice mixture until they are completely full and then stand the lid of the pepper on top and put the peppers in a tray.
6. Bake the peppers for about 10 minutes. After this, if you want to, you can take the pepper lid off and add some grated cheese to the top. Or you can just leave the pepper top on. Bake for another 10 minutes then take them out of the oven and enjoy.
Egyptian baked eggs
1. Turn on the oven to 180C
2. Finely chop up an onion and put it into a hot frying pan with some oil. Chop up a pepper and add this to the cooking onion. Add a teaspoon of paprika and a teaspoon of cumin and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add a tin of tomatoes and a tin of chickpeas and mix everything together. Then add a big handful of spinach and cook it until the spinach has shrunk down.
4. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, make little holes at the top, and carefully crack eggs into the holes. Put a lid on the dish and bake for 10-15 minutes until the egg white looks firm.
Serve it in a bowl with some warm crusty bread.
Vegetable Shawarma
1. Chop up 1 red onion, 1 pepper and about 400g mushrooms into bite sized pieces.
2. Put 200g natural yoghurt into a bowl. Add a clove of finely chopped garlic, some finely chopped lemon rind (or just lemon juice if you want), a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of allspice, a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a pinch of salt and mix it all together.
3. Add the chopped vegetables into the yoghurt and mix everything up. Leave this in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
4. Spread all of the vegetables coated in yoghurt on a tray and bake in a hot oven (220C) for 25-35 minutes until the vegetables look cooked and are starting to go black at the edges.
5. Serve the vegetables on flatbread with some lettuce, mint, cucumber, hummus or tahini, pickled cabbage or jalapenos, or whatever you like to make your shawarma flatbread more tasty for you.
Greek salad with flatbreads (perfect for summer)
1. Chop up half a cucumber, a big handful of cherry tomatoes, a green pepper and a few spring onions (or a small red onion) into bite sized pieces.
2. Put all of these into a bowl with some olives (black or green or both, depending on what you prefer). Add a glug of olive oil, a big pinch of black pepper, and the juice of one lemon (or just lemon juice from a bottle is fine), and some chopped herbs (you could use oregano or mint, we used mint as we have lots in the garden), then mix it all together.
3. Chop up feta cheese into bite size pieces and sprinkle it on the top.
4. To make the flatbreads, mix 200g self raising flour, 200g natural yoghurt and a teaspoon of baking powder in a bowl until it makes a dough. Knead it for about a minute just to bring everything together.
5. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, then squash or roll the dough flat on a floured surface until it is really thin.
6. Cook for about a minute each side in a hot, dry frying pan until they puff up and get some colour. Serve with the salad and some tzatziki dip.
Pizza swirls (great for picnics)
1. Turn on the oven to 200C
2. Get a rectangle of puff pastry (we cheated and bought the puff pastry but you can make your own using this link How to make rough puff pastry recipe - BBC Food)
3. Spread tomato puree all over the puff pastry, then sprinkle grated cheese all over it, and finally add spinach leaves. You could also add pesto or herbs here if you wanted.
4. Roll up the pastry so it is a long thin sausage with filling in the middle. Then cut pieces off the sausage that are about 2-3cm thick and lie them onto a baking tray.
5. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry looks cooked and the cheese is bubbly.
These are great to eat either straight from the oven or when they have cooled down as part of a picnic.
Sushi (vegan)
1. Cook 250g sushi rice (short grain rice) in a pan
2. While the rice is cooking, chop up your vegetables into long thin strips. We used cucumber, peppers, avocado and carrots.
3. When the rice is cooked, drain it and then add 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar) and 1 tablespoon of mirin (or white wine). Mix it all together in a big bowl and let the rice cool down
4. To make the sushi rolls, put a piece of seaweed (nori) on a mat. Cover it in a layer of rice, leaving 1cm at the top and 1cm at the bottom without rice on it.
5. Put your vegetables on the space at the bottom then roll the seaweed up using the mat to help. Use your finger to put some cold water on the 1cm of seaweed at the top so that when you roll it up it will stick together.
6. Cut the seaweed roll carefully into pieces.
4. To make the rectangle blocks we squashed the rice into a tray and let it cool more, then took it out and cut it into blocks. Then lie the vegetables on top of it.
Serve with soy sauce (and wasabi if you like spice)
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