Meatless Monday- Vegetarian and Vegan Barbecue Options Everyone Will Love
What's the easiest switch you can make for the environment? Eat less meat!
Every week we are exploring vegetarian meals for meat eaters. Cooking with seasonal vegetables can seem really limiting at first, but the possibilities are endless. And it is worth it. Just cutting one day of meat eating out of our diet can keep thousands of pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere a year. No seriously, it's that big a deal. Plus, it's a great opportunity to have some new adventures and try new things. Just another way to take care of the planet AND make life a little bit better!
When you think of the All-American barbecue or picnic, from family reunion to 4th of July, you probably think of this menu:
hot dogs
hamburgers
grilled chicken or pulled pork
Obviously, every cook and family culture (since we are a mixing pot) has huge variations on this, but if we take the basic plot sold to us by every picnic-type ad, this is the equation.
Now, this is a heck of a lot of meat. If you have a vegetarian present, are they going to be stuck with a veggie tray? Best case scenario is a whole lot of pasta salad.
Now, whether you have herbivores or carnivores at your party, you can do a heap of good by serving less meat. We know the production of meat is one of the largest sources of climate change. In fact, a person with a vegetarian diet has half the impact of a meat eater. Meat is also a key source of waste- they waste fossil fuels, water (having a drought? Stop messing with military showers and stop eating meat), and energy. Now, if you are a meat-lover, you can still do good for the environment by just eating less meat. Every meatless meal you eat adds up to help the environment.
In a usual week if we are really scheduled, we eat 21 meals, so that is 21 chances to eat no or less meat. When we have a party, we can be in charge of that many meals all at once. So a meatless party can have a serious positive impact on our environment!
So, why not try hot dogs and black bean burgers as a big switch!? Sure, someone will give you the eye. But that is their problem. You don't have to make a frozen veggie burger (that will change no one's mind). You can find tons of amazing veggie options that will leave your guests cleaning their plates, and most will probably not even notice that they ate less meat.
Or just serve a LOT of pasta salad and invite me. I won't complain a bit.
from Running in a Skirt |
from the Culinary Chase |
from A Spicy Perspective |
from The Spruce Eats |
from Mom on Timeout |
from Well Vegan |
Want more vegetarian recipes to try? Awesome! Adding more meatless meals to your diet is such a fun challenge and you can discover so many things you like. Check out this page for all of the Meatless Monday Recipe Round Ups!
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