Meatless Meals for Good Friday

In our healthy home, we don’t eat too much meat.

You know how when you can’t have something you seem to want it more? So funny how that works..but it seems like on Fridays, I want chicken…but could take it or leave it the rest of the week! 🙂

These are quick and easy meals that stay at home moms and working moms alike can whip up rather quickly and feel good about feeding everyone hearty and healthy!

So, here are some recipes that I remember from Good Fridays past.

Mom used to make pasta with broccoli or cauliflower. Now, as a mom who’s interested in healthy meals full of nutrition, I look for an alternative for that pasta. Our pick to click in our house is the Barilla Whole Grain Penne.

Pasta and Veggies (serves 4)

1 box of Barilla Plus Penne

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

1 bag of frozen broccoli (or cauliflower)

salt

pepper

garlic powder

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a tad of extra virgin olive oil and then add the bag of frozen veggies. Cook to desired tenderness. The brighter green the veggies, the more nutrients that remain.

A great alternative to boiling the veggies is to steam them. It holds more of the nutrients. If you have a rice cooker with a steam basket, or a steamer, use it. 🙂

Bring water to a boil. Add a touch of olive oil to the water and then add pasta once it’s boiling. Cook your pasta to it’s desired tenderness. Being Italian, we like it al dente (to the teeth), not mushy.

After both pasta and veggies are cooked, toss together in a big bowl. Add the 2 tbsp of olive oil, a dash of salt, crushed black pepper, and garlic powder (or minced garlic if you like that better).

Alternatives: you can toss in cauliflower instead, toss in toasted multigrain bread cubes for some crunch, or toss in some boiled shrimp for added protein!

I’ve grown to really like this meatless version of chili too!

1 can of black beans

1 container of tofu

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 green pepper

1 medium sized onion

olive oii

salt

pepper

garlic

2 cans of tomato sauce

water

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a pot.

Dice onion and add to bottom of pot. Mix until translucent.

Add the pepper and toss until soft

If adding garlic, toss in with the pepper

Then add the tomatoes and the tomato sauce

Mix and turn heat down to low

Add can of beans

Dice and crumble tofu and toss into pot.

Let this simmer on the stove until you are ready to eat!