50 Vegetarian Recipes For Meatless Mondays — Or Any Other Time

Meatless Monday is more than a catchy slogan; it is a lifestyle change that has helped people around the world rethink their dietary habits. By eliminating meat just one day a week, you can decrease your risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, improve blood pressure, and, from an environmental perspective, decrease your carbon footprint.

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Even the most steadfast carnivores can skip one night of steak a week for a plate of vegetables, which is why we have rounded up 50 vegetarian recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and afternoon snacks that are anything but bland and boring. With options like shakshuka, creamy broccoli rabe soup, portobello and eggplant schnitzel, vegetarian dumplings, nachos, and more, your part-time foray into vegetarianism might just become a full-time habit.

Take this hiatus from meat to focus on cooking vegetables — the right way. Give those greens, that cauliflower steak, or those flavorful spring herbs the starring role they deserve. Broiled, grilled, boiled, braised, roasted, sautéed, and even fried, vegetables are versatile, delicious, and nutritious.

Chefs are taking notice of how vegetables drive seasonality and flavor on a plate. As executive chef and co-owner of Gramercy Tavern in New York, chef Michael Anthony isn't a stranger to cooking with meat in his James Beard Award-winning and Michelin-starred restaurant; however, when we talked to Anthony about his latest cookbook V is for Vegetable, he stressed cooking in-season. "When you are trying to put healthy food on the table, you can't really find these vegetables when you are sourcing from stores and more conventional places. You really do have to go to the farmers market and support your local farmer. Ask questions, like, 'How did you grow these things? Why did you grow them?'"

You might end up with tips like the fact that blanching kale, broccoli rabe, and Brussels sprouts will eliminate that bitter aftertaste or that leaving the skin on a cucumber will retain more of its nutritional value; knowing things like this can improve the health benefits and flavor of your food. Likewise, get to know your seasons so that you are making the most of winter citrus, fall squash, summer stone fruit, and spring asparagus.

For more ways to add more vegetables to your diet every meal of the day, read on for our roundup of 50 delicious, vegetarian recipes to eat on Meatless Monday — or any other time.

Angela Carlos is the Cook Editor at The Daily Meal. Find her on Twitter and tweet @angelaccarlos.