10 Ways to Eat Less Meat

from Fine Cooking #106 (Aug/Sept 2010), pp.54-61.

There are lots of good reasons to eat a little less meat these days. But who knew that what’s good for the environment, good for your health, and good for your wallet could be so much fun for the cook, too? Once you cook with (and eat) less meat, you’ll find yourself adding a great new lineup of dishes to your weekly repertoire. Here are ten delicious stratagies with a half dozen recipes for each to help you get started.

Strategy #1: Use Meat as a Condiment
Sometimes all you need to turn a vegetable side dish into a satisfying main course is just a little bit of full-flavored meat, such as bacon, ham, salami, pancetta, or sausage. All add big flavor in small amounts. A seasonal gratin gets even heartier with the addition of bacon.


Indian Summer Gratin with Butternut Squash, Potatoes, Corn & Bacon		Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Arugula & Prosciutto		Yukon Gold Rush Grilled Pizza


Warm French Lentil Salad with Smoked Sausage		Summer Corn Chowder with Scallions, Bacon & Potatoes		Creamy Chickpea Soup with Crisp Chorizo

Strategy #2: Have Breakfast for Dinner
Eggs have a lot going for them: They’re a great source of protein, they’re almost always in the fridge, and they’re the basis for many different dishes. An omelet of smoked Cheddar and sautéed leeks, a savory bread pudding with roasted late-summer vegetables, or a frittata with pasta and summer greens—do any of these sound like they should be relegated to breakfast? You get the point.


Spaghetti Frittata with Arugula and Fresh Herbs		Smoked Salmon, Goat Cheese & Artichoke Quiche		Garlic & Herb Fried Eggs on Toast with Prosciutto Crisps


Chive & Gruyere Omelet		Tuscan Poached Eggs		Summer Vegetable Strata

Next Strategies: Give Veggies Top Billing and Turn Salad Into Supper

Strategy #3: Give Veggies Top Billing
Change the way you think about portions and make a larger-than-usual amount of roasted or sautéed vegetables. This way, you can serve a smaller amount of meat and the plate will still feel abundant. Try using vegetables as a bed for that smaller portion of meat.


Corn, Sweet Onion & Zucchini Sauté with Fresh Mint		Roasted Ratatouille		Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables


Jewel Roasted Vegetables		Grilled Vegetable Salad with Feta		Curried Chickpea and Summer Vegetable Stew

Strategy #4: Turn Salad into Supper
Dinner salads are, by their very nature, less-meat meals—and they’re incredibly versatile. The secret to making a dinnerworthy salad is a generous mix of interesting ingredients: lots of greens, plenty of satisfying add-ins (like nuts, cheeses, and avocado), and flavor-packed vinaigrettes. Then you need only a small amount of protein—a few shrimp or scallops, or several slices of chicken.


Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad with Tomato and Black Bean Salsa		Spinach Salad with Chicken, Cashews, Ginger & Fried Wontons		Watercress Salad with Steak, Sauteed Shalltos & Stilton


Wilted Arugula Salad with Crip Potatoes, Feta & Warm Black Olive Vinaigrette		Vietnamese Style Chicken Salad		Romaine, Bacon & Tomato Salad

Strategy #5: Discover Grains
Hearty grains are filling foundations for (nearly) meatless dinners. The grains section of your supermarket is packed with varieties you may not have tried, from wheat berries and bulgur to quinoa and millet. Many of these grains are good sources of protein, easy to prepare, and can be made ahead.


Provencal Wheat Berry Salad with Shrimp and Mustard-Caper Vinaigrette		Risotto-Style Heirloom Farro		Quinoa and Avocado Salad


Barley Risotto with Mushrooms and Gremolata		Wehani Rice & Barley Salad		Bulgur Salad with Wilted Chard & Green Olives

Strategy #6: Add "Meaty" Flavor
There are some ingredients with such satisfying flavor (what the Japanese call “umami,” or the fifth flavor) that they can make a dish without meat taste meaty. Use any of these with vegetables, grains, legumes, or pastas, and you won’t miss the meat:

• sautéed or dried mushrooms
• roasted or sun-dried tomatoes
• roasted eggplant
• toasted nuts and nut butters
• caramelized onions, leeks, or shallots
• miso


Broccoli & Shiitake Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce		Miso-Mushroom Soup		Eggplant and Tomato Gratin with Mint, Feta & Kalamata Olives


Oven-Roasted Eggplant		Sesame, Snow Pea & Shiitake Pasta Salad		Orecchiette with Caramelized Onions, Green Beans, and Fresh Corn

Strategy #7: Try Tofu
You don’t have to be a vegetarian to eat tofu. Extra-firm tofu is meaty and filling, making it a fine addition to summer kebabs on meatless nights. The great thing about tofu is that it absorbs the flavors of the ingredients it’s cooked with. Try adding it to summer veggie soups, stir-fries, and grain pilafs.


Sesame-Ginger Tofu and Shiitake Kebabs		Seared Baby Bok Choy with Tofu		Thai Red Curry with Tofu


Vegetables and Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce		Udon with Tofu and Stir-Fried Vegetables		Red-Cooked Tofu

Strategy #8: Be a Vegetarian By Day
Meat can sneak into every meal of the day if we let it, so try going meatless for two out of three meals. Make a yogurt, blueberry, and granola parfait for breakfast. For lunch, have an avocado, tomato, and Cheddar sandwich or a bowl of vegetable soup with croutons. Save the daily meat for dinner.


Artichoke, Leek, and Taleggio Frittata		Grilled Portobello & Goat Cheese Sandwiches		Toasted Pita and Herb Salad


Open Face Brie, Apple, & Arugula Salad		Autumn Vegetable Soup		Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Strategy #9: Consider Shellfish
When deciding what’s for dinner, shellfish is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. But since mussels, oysters, clams, and scallops are smart, sustainable buys, why not put a steaming bowl of mussels or a shellfish chowder on your menu?


Steamed Mussels with Bell Peppers, Watercress, and Herbed Toasts		Grilled Mussels, Clams & Oysters		Clams with Basil Broth


Spicy Steamed Mussels with Lemongrass, Chile & Basil		Seared Scallops with golden Shallot & Grapefruit Sauce		Butter Roasted Oysters

Strategy #10: Keep it Varied
On meatless nights, have a repertoire of versatile recipes at the ready. Try homemade pizza dough with a variety of meatless toppings, or fried rice with a range of meatless add-ins. Baked pastas and simple fresh tomato pan sauces for pasta are also endlessly variable. Use FineCooking.com's Recipe Makers to create thousands—yes, thousands—of your own custom recipes.


Create Your Own Frittata Recipe		Create Your Own Pasta Salad Recipe		Create Your Own Baked Pasta Recipe


Create Your Own Grilled Pizza Recipe		Create Your Own Risotto Recipe

katsinthekitchen writes: My reasons for eliminating meat from my own diet are based on health and my love of animals. My husband is the carnivore in the family. I therefore have to cook for two different sensibilities and I really appreciate collections such as these which can allow me to prepare one dish in two ways so that each of us has what we prefer to eat. When you don't rely on meat as the centerpiece of a dish it's far easier to prepare half the recipe without it and half with it. I will not rise to the bait of posters like davebarnes. This is not the place for that debate. I will however thank FC for this well-thought-out and very thorough collection. I love your magazine; keep up the good work! Posted: 9:42 am on July 17th

CUParent writes: Great job and great article. I especially appreciate the fact that you included a larger selection of recipe choices and "strategy" ideas for accomplishing the goal. I'm not a vegetarian but definitely want to eat more vegetables and am always interested in good side dish recipes. FC is my "go to" choice for recipes of all types. I have many cookbooks, but it is so much easier and faster for me to use yours that they generally just sit on the shelf. I can't tell you how many times I have looked up a recipe of yours on my iPhone or iPad while at the grocery store when a moment of inspiration strikes. The reader reviews are also invaluable. FC goes the extra distance with good suggestions, photography, reviews, and "how to" tutorials. I love your publication--keep up the good work and thank you. Posted: 10:56 am on December 31st

dianem writes: Loved the article. I never would have thought of the combinations. The wheat berry salad is absolutely delicious. My husband gave it a AAA rating. Posted: 12:24 pm on September 1st

flip12 writes: Great article. Perfect examples. Posted: 11:12 am on July 23rd

GeorgeCooks writes: Thank you, this article is just what I need right now. I see all the magazines writing about eating less meat, eating less fish, but then they just give a recipe or two. But this article gives actual strategies (along with some recipes). This is just how I, as a cook, think. Great job. Posted: 9:39 am on July 23rd

skowog writes: Susie,
Great job on this article! I came here to ask for 10 ways to eat more meat, but I thought you wrote a great article with recipe alternatives that I do want to eat, like the tuscan poached eggs. While I don't agree with the reasons many believe that make them choose a meatless diet, your article was well balanced with options for not going completely meatless. I especially appreciate eating breakfast for dinner!
I am a committed carnivore, but if I ever had to change my diet or if I was the guest of a vegetarian , I would want it to be you!
Well done! Posted: 5:24 pm on July 20th

Cathy5 writes: I never post to things like this but felt I must add something. There are so many (wonderful) cookbooks and cooking magazines out there, all serving the traditional American types of menus. Although I am not a vegetarian, I have introduced more dishes to my family's mealtime lately, that are healthier, tastier, and more interesting than the same old same old. I love Quinoa, Barley, Wild Rice, tofu, Kale, Chard and every type of bean, but didn't grow up eating them, so am eager to find recipes for them. FC is my most reliable recipe source both for traditional and for less familiar ingredients. I can count on them to be tasty but also accessible to most cooks of average skill and experience (and not requiring me to purchase bizarre ingredients you can only find on line!) Bravo, FC - keep it coming. Posted: 4:11 pm on July 20th

Paw81 writes: Not funny. I think you missed the point of the article if you are asking for more meat...clearly Fine Cooking does not skimp on the meat recipes, as it is not a vegetarian cooking magazine. However, the expectation of a meat-centric article to balance one meat-moderation article exactly demonstrates the problem with America's meat over-consumption, and a fear of someone taking away your meat as if it were some inalienable right. Bravo to FC for taking a risk in such a meat-centric community, and thank you to the other commenter for so perfectly illustrating the problem. Posted: 11:28 pm on July 19th

raitken_fcweb writes: Indeed. Homer’s right about meat (and doughnuts, for that matter). But, you don’t have to wait for the next issue for some great recipes featuring meat. FC #106 has something for herbivores and carnivores alike. Check out David Leite’s Fireman’s Sausage, Robert Danhi’s tea-smoked meats (chicken, fish, and duck), and there are also recipes for Sesame Steak Salad with Asian Pears, Sirloin Steaks with Garlicky Swiss Chard, Grilled Bratwurst Sandwiches, Thai-Style Spicy Chicken in Lettuce Cups, Pork Chops with Peach-Ginger Chutney, and Pam Anderson’s famous Classic Fried Chicken. Hungry yet? Plug this link into your browser and enjoy!: http://www.finecooking.com/pages/fc_currentissue.asp Posted: 12:55 pm on July 15th

davebarnes writes: I would hope and expect that the next issue would have: "10 ways to eat MORE meat".
As Home Simpson would say: "Mmmmm. Meat." Posted: 10:06 am on July 11th

10 Ways to Eat Less Meat

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