Meatless Monday: How going meatless for a day can be healthy (and delicious)

For this post, consider ‘Meatless’ my middle name’which would make me Bonnie ‘Meatless’ Munday. (Groan’ but what better way to start your week than with a bad pun?) Moving swiftly on: How would you like an easy recipe every Monday that is satisfying, easy, full of nutrition AND delicious’and has no meat in it? My recipe is at the bottom, but first some background on what’s behind all of this.

Going meatless on Mondays is good for your health and for the environment. First, health: The Canada Food Guide recommends for adults two servings of meat or substitutes daily, and I think many of us non-vegetarians too often forget the substitutes, which include nutrition powerhouses such as beans, lentils and tofu. As for the environment, since livestock production counts for a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, cutting down on meat consumption generally within the population will have a positive impact.

Meatless Mondays are growing trend. There’s a U.S. web site devoted to it and in the U.K., the Meat Free Mondays movement was formally launched a year ago by singer Paul McCartney, whose late wife, Linda, contributed to making vegetarianism a popular lifestyle choice. Here in Canada, Meatless Mondays Canada is a national campaign coordinated by the Earthsave Canada, Lundi sans Viande and the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

Without further ado, here’s my omelette recipe (and photos I’ve taken above). The great thing about omelettes is the flexibility: you can use as many eggs as needed according to how many people are eating, and you can mix and match ingredients to different tastes.

Kale, Sweet Pepper and Mushroom Omelette
(dinner for one if using 2 eggs; for two if using 4 eggs)

Dice half a sweet pepper (I used yellow) and slice about 5 or 6 mushrooms. Cook on medium high in a frying pan with a little olive oil until softened. Then add finely chopped kale and cook for about one minute. Transfer all to a bowl. Whisk 2 to 4 eggs with a bit of milk. Add a tablespoon olive oil to the same frying pan, heat, and add egg mixture. When cooked on the bottom, carefully flip omelette over (I use two spatulas to get it right; or, you can invert onto a plate and flip that upside-down and return omelette to pan). Spread vegetable mixture onto one half of omelette. At this point, you can add some grated cheese and thinly sliced tomatoes if you want. Fold omelette over and enjoy.

Try out this omlette and let me know what you think! Anc check back next Monday for another one of my meatless creations.

Related:
‘ Vegetarian Moussaka
‘ Polenta and Mushroom Grills
‘ Eggs Florentine