Firstly, thanks to all you Ladies who facebooked with ideas for my meat-free March.  Don’t be disappointed that they aren’t showing up today, I’ve saved them for weeks 3 and 4 as I realised that I already had, ahem, *quite* a few recipes bookmarked in my new favourite cookery book, River Cottage Veg every day.

As I’ve explained before, my meat-free March is really about breaking out of the monotony of casserole-type things that we seem to eat for almost every meal over the winter and getting a lot more veg into us. Always a good thing.

I will usually have some sort of fish on a Sunday (again, because I don’t tend to cook as much fish as I could/should) and I know that this will irritate some vegetarians out there, but I’m not trying to be vegetarian, but simply to eat no meat. And (in my cookery books anyway) fish comes in a different section to meat, so it doesn’t count. Feel free to disagree with me….

Here’s my menu-plan for week 1, there are some favourite recipes that I’ve done before in meat-free March (and continued to eat throughout the year) and some new ones. Where possible I’ve posted a link to the recipes so you can join in, even for a night or two per week.

Next week I’ll do the next menu plan and a review of what we ate and how it went….

Wednesday: Chilli, cheese and rosemary polenta with tomato sauce

Thursday: Pasta, Broccoli, Anchovies, Parmesan

Friday: Mushroom Baguette and maybe a glass or two of vino for the adults (fish fingers & chips for kids!)

Saturday: Veggie Enchiladas, guacamole, refried beans, cheese

Sunday : Salmon, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Olives, gratin dauphinoise

Monday: Jacket Potato, Beans, Cheese, Tuna, Coleslaw

Tuesday: Potato, tomato, egg salad (Hugh), Halloumi Cheese

The only recipe I coulnd’t find  online was the potato, tomato and egg salad, so I’ll share it here, similar to the version in River Cottage Veg every day

Potato, tomato and boiled egg salad

Ingredients
400g peeled potatoes
4 large eggs at room temperature
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
chives
salt & pepper

6 tbs olive oil
4 tsp cider vinegar
1tsp mustard (Iused french as it isn’t so strong)
pinch sugar

Method
Cut potatoes into chunks and bring to boil in salted water.
Simmer for 8 – 12 minutes or until tender
Drain and leave to cool
Cook the eggs in boiling water for 7 – 8 miniutes until hard-boiled. Cool and peel.
Add the oil, vinegar, mustard and sugar to a srew-top jar and shake well to combine.
Chop boiled eggs, add to a bowl along with vinaigrette.
Add potatoes and tomatoes and toss together well.
Taste and adjust seasoning, snip over chives then serve.

As I said before, I really believe that eating less meat generally is better for us and the environment so if you’ve got any family friendly recipes you can share, please feel free to leave us a comment and a link if possible!

This is our third year of going meat-free in March, if you’re interested in seeing any previous menu-plans, they’re here:

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/02/25/meat-free-march-whos-with-me/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/03/05/meat-free-march-week-1-update-week-2-mealplan/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/03/11/meat-free-march-week-2-review-week-3-recipes/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/03/19/meat-free-march-week-3-review-week-4-menu/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/03/26/meat-free-march-its-the-final-week/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2011/02/15/meat-free-february-week-1/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2011/03/08/meat-free-month-update/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2011/03/22/meat-free-month-menu-plan-update/

http://www.cheekywipes.com/blog/2010/03/01/meat-free-march-lemon-butternut-lasagne-recipe/