Meatless Monday with Vegetarian Super Bowl Dishes

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for another Meatless Monday. We took the Meatless Monday pledge as part of our CSR business initiatives in support of reducing meat consumption one day per week (15%) to live a healthier and more earth-friendly manner. We feature a new recipe each Monday to help achieve this goal even though if Monday doesn’t suit your schedule, you can pick another day to go meatless. Like Super Bowl Sunday.

In celebration of the big game, we’ve put together some vegetarian dishes to show you don’t have to eat meat if you want to snack during the game. We start with some nibbles like a five layer Mexican dip and a warm spinach and artichoke dip both courtesy of the Food Network’s Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger. For a main, we have a boldly spiced big-batch chili from Chatelaine magazine accompanied by a cheddar cornbread from Food Network Canada star Michael Smith’s show Chef at Home.

Five Layer Mexican Dip Ingredients (12 servings)

image courtesy of foodnetwork.com

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups corn kernels (10-ounce box frozen corn)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 ripe avocados
• 4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
• 1 tablespoon finely diced jalapeno pepper, optional
• 3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
2. Put half of the onion mixture into a food processor with the black beans, chipotle pepper, 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, cumin, water and salt. Puree until smooth. Set aside.
3. Add the corn to the skillet with the remaining onion mixture and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro leaves.
4. In a small bowl mash the avocado with the remaining lime juice. In a medium bowl toss together the tomatoes, scallion and jalapeno, if using. Season tomato mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Spread the black bean dip into the bottom of an 8 by 8 glass baking or serving dish. Top with the corn mixture, spreading it out to form a single layer over the beans, repeat with the avocado, then the tomatoes. Top with cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip Ingredients (12 servings)

image courtesy of foodnetwork.com

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 (9-ounce) package artichoke hearts, defrosted, rinsed and dried
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, excess liquid squeezed out.
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) Neufchatel cheese (reduced-fat cream cheese)
• 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until onions are light golden but not browned. Remove from heat and cool.
3. In the bowl of a food processor combine artichoke hearts, spinach, sour cream, mayonnaise, Neufchatel, mozzarella and salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Add cooled onion-garlic mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
4. Transfer mixture into an 8-inch glass square baking dish or 9-inch glass pie plate which has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with tortilla chips, toasted pita wedges or crudites.

Boldly Spiced Big-Batch Chili Ingredients (6-8 servings)

• 6 garlic cloves or 1 tbsp (15 mL) bottled minced garlic
• 3 onions
• Olive oil
• 1 small butternut squash or about 4 cups (1 L) squash pieces
• 2 (28-oz/796-mL) cans diced tomatoes
• 14 oz (389 mL) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup (50 mL) chili powder
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) each ground coriander and cumin
• 1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 mL) hot red chili flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) each ground cinnamon, allspice and salt
• 3 peppers, preferably a mix of colours
• 12 oz (341 mL) can corn niblets or 2 cups (500 mL) frozen corn
• 19 oz (540 mL) can black beans
  

  image courtesy of chatelaine.com

Directions:

1. Coarsely chop garlic and onions. Lightly coat a large wide saucepan with oil and set over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Stir occasionally until onions start to soften, 10 minutes. Meanwhile, for easier squash peeling, microwave whole squash on high, 2 to 3 minutes. Then cut squash in half. Slice off peel. Scoop out and discard seeds. Cut squash into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
2. Add squash, tomatoes and tomato sauce to softened onions. Sprinkle with chili powder, coriander, cumin, chili flakes, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, core and seed peppers. Cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces. Stir into chili. Reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cover and simmer, stirring often, until squash is fork-tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Meanwhile, drain corn and beans, then rinse and drain again. Once squash is tender, stir into chili. Simmer until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve alongside your favourite chili toppings like jalapenos, cheddar, sour cream, green onions, etc.

Cheddar Cornbread Ingredients (6 servings)

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 1 cup grated cheddar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Oil and flour an 8″ x 8″ pan.
3. Place cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and chili powder in a large bowl and whisk well to combine.
4. Blend together the milk, eggs, corn and corn oil.
5. Pour into the dry ingredients and add the cheese.
6. Stir just until combined.
7. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake until golden on top and cornbread springs back when touched, about 20 to 25 minutes.

We encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge to reduce meat consumption one day per week. It’s easy with delicious recipes like this one. Spread the word at work to promote the value of CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant, hotel or salon even greener.

Enjoy the game!
________________________________________________________________________________________
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.