Meatless Monday with Vegetarian BBQ Menu

Hello and welcome (back) to the Labour Day edition of Meatless Monday on the Miratel blog. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve planetary health and you can still do that even if it is a holiday Monday. We support and promote this great movement as part of our CSR business strategies and we share a new recipe each Monday to help make going meatless easier.

In honour of the Labour Day holiday we’ve put together a delicious vegetarian BBQ menu courtesy of Chatelaine. On the menu is a herbed brown rice salad, grilled eggplant salad, white bean and walnut burgers and vanilla cake with summer fruit.

Herbed brown rice salad Ingredients (makes 8 servings):

Photo by Angus Fergusson

• 2 cups long-grain brown rice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
• 1 large red chili pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups packed, chopped cilantro
• 1 cup packed, chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Rinse rice with cold water. Combine with 4 cups water in a large saucepan and set over high. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until rice is al dente and water has been absorbed, 25 to 30 min. Scoop out and spread cooked rice onto a baking sheet. Refrigerate, stirring halfway through, until cold, about 50 min.
2. Whisk lemon juice with oil, honey, vinegar, chili pepper and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in cilantro and parsley. Pour over cold rice and toss until coated.

Grilled eggplant salad Ingredients (makes 8 servings):

Photo by Angus Fergusson

• 4 large Japanese eggplants
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tomatoes, quartered, seeded, chopped
• 4 tsp capers, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat barbecue to medium. Trim ends off eggplants. Slice each lengthwise into 3 long slices.
2. Whisk 1/4 cup oil with vinegar, salt and garlic in a large bowl. Add tomatoes and capers and toss to coat. Season with pepper.
3. Brush eggplant slices with remaining oil. Oil grill, then barbecue eggplant, lid closed, flipping halfway through, until cooked but still firm, 3 to 4 min per side. Chop into large chunks. Stir into tomato mixture.

White-Bean and Walnut Burgers Ingredients (makes 6 servings):

Photo by Michael Graydon

• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 540-mL can white kidney or navy beans, very well rinsed and drained
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup minced green onions, about 2
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 loaf herbed focaccia (optional)
• balsamic vinegar for drizzling
• fresh basil leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. Turn on the food processor, then drop in garlic through the spout and whirl until puréed. Add parsley and walnuts and pulse to chop. Add beans and eggs. Whirl to combine. Scrape into a large bowl. Stir in panko, onion, oil, salt and zest. Form into 6 patties, each about 1 in. thick. Place the patties on a plate lined with waxed paper. Let stand 10 min or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
2. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties. Cook until golden, 4 to 6 min per side. Top with sliced tomatoes and serve on toasted slices of focaccia. Drizzle with balsamic and top with basil leaves.

Vanilla cake with summer fruit Ingredients (makes 12 servings)

Cake:

Photo by John Cullen

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups milk

Icing:

• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 cups sifted icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond or coconut extract
• 3 160 g containers berries
• 2 thinly sliced peaches

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9×13-in. glass baking dish with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper. Spray again. Stir flour with baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until butter is creamy. Add sugar. Cream together until fluffy.
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Beat well to incorporate. On low speed, add a third of the flour mixture followed by half of the milk. Repeat additions, ending with flour.
4. Scrape into prepared pan. Smooth top gently. Bake in centre of oven until it is deep golden and a cake tester inserted into centre of cake comes out clean, 65 to 75 min. If cake becomes deep golden before it is done baking, cover very loosely with foil. Cool on a rack 10 min, then remove from pan and cool completely, about 2 hours.
5. Whisk milk into icing sugar until smooth. Whisk in extract. Spread over cooled cake. Slice cake, then serve topped with berries and peaches.

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 the holiday!

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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.