Meatless Monday and Panzanella Salad with Artichokes & Olives

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog and thank you for stopping by for our Meatless Monday  vegetarian recipe share. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve planetary health. Miratel supports this great initiative and includes it as part of its CSR business strategies and we share a new recipe each Monday to help make going meatless easier.

On the menu today is a hearty Panzanella Salad with Artichokes & Olives which is a perfect no-cook dish on a hot summer night. Panzanella is a rustic Florentine bread salad that was originally made in people’s homes using stale bread and whatever else they have in the house. This recipe comes via Kitchen Confidante, a beautiful food resource that is equally inspiring for its recipes and its photography.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 rustic baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 cups heirloom grape tomatoes, halved (or use large tomatoes)
• 14 oz artichoke hearts, halved
• 14 oz black olives
• 1 cup marinated mozzarella, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced, plus extra for garnish if desired
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Toast the bread – it can be baked in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes, or toasted on the grill or grill pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together then bread, tomatoes, artichokes, olives, mozzarella and basil. In a small bowl, whisk together then olive oil, water, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Drizzle over the salad and toss, coating evenly. Garnish with extra basil. Serve salad immediately if bread is fresh. If bread was toasted, keep at room temperature and serve about 1 hour later.
3. The vegetable lasagna will yield eight to ten portions, and like any lasagna will reheat well. Cottage cheese may seem like an odd choice over ricotta, but the chefs at America’s Test Kitchen found that ricotta made the dish dry not creamy. Using a fresh, uncooked, tomato sauce gives this lasagna a fresher flavor because it only cooks once, when it is alongside the pasta.
4. You can easily omit the cheese to make this dish vegan and substitute the bread cubes for whatever you prefer. You can also substitute the vegetables to meet your preference or what you happen to have on hand.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work to promote CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener

Enjoy!

_____________________________________________________________________________

For nonprofit, CSR business, digital and other news,please connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.