Meat Free 'till Dinner

I recently decided I was going to approach this 'going vegetarian' with a plan. I wanted some ways to cut down on my meat intake to acclimate myself to the idea of cutting it out completely because I know that I do rely on meat quite a bit.

So I've decided to take the "meat free until dinner" approach. The idea is simple: no meat products until dinner time. It gives me a set goal to work towards without being completely overwhelming. It also allows some leniency for family meals, since I live at home and don't always have control over groceries or dinner meals.

I never realized just how much meat I eat until I tried consciously trying to cut back. I've never particularly thought of myself as an avid meat eater. I very rarely eat red meat. I claim I don't eat a lot of pork either, but that's mostly because for some reason I never equate bacon and ham as pork. I eat a fair amount of bacon and ham.

But I eat a lot of chicken and poultry and sometimes fish. A lot. So much that it seems to worm its way into almost everything I eat, especially when it comes to lunches. I add it to salads and stir fry. Sandwiches always have turkey or chicken. A grocery store pack of California rolls (crab meat, avocado and cucumber) has also always been an easy lunch. And when I go to the cafeteria at school, I'm almost always suckered in by the chicken finger plate. It's fast, easy and readily available - not to mention that adding a bit of chicken to a salad always makes me feel full, whereas crunching on a large bowl of lettuce generally just makes me bored.

The quest for the perfect meat free lunch has commenced. Here are a couple of options that I've had a lot of luck with.

• Garlicky quinoa bowls from Amuse Your Bouche. Her recipes are all vegetarian and really easy to make. This quinoa bowl has been a hit, as it contains lots of my favourite ingredient: garlic. Sorry family, the kitchen is going to stink. Sorry classmates, so is the classroom when I open my container. But not actually that sorry because it's delicious! I like to add some more veggies in it, as well. The recipe calls for leeks and broccoli, but I tend to add green beans as well. Roasted sweet potato also makes a nice addition! Bonus: this recipe makes a ton, which means I usually have lunch for the entire week when I make it! It also tastes yummy hot or cold. 

• Chick pea butter 'chicken' and rice. I came across a recipe for vegan tikka masala using chick peas instead of chicken and had the idea to do the same with butter chicken. Butter chicken is definitely my go to for Indian take out, and I knew I had a bottle of store bought sauce in my cupboard. So I sauteed up some chick peas (I like them better cooked), heated up some rice and added some of the butter chicken sauce to it. It was great! I got about two meals from one tin of chickpeas and about a cup and a half of rice. I would recommend adding some veggies for some added crunch! I definitely will next time I make this. 

• FALAFEL! I'm a big fan of shawarma, but I always seem to forget that falafel is available as a vegetarian alternative. It's pretty quick and easy, and I seem to live in a neighbourhood where there's no shortage of shawarma places. Pita Pit also does a really nice falafel wrap as well, though there's never enough falafel in it! The school cafeteria also has a Mediterranean place that does falafel. It's definitely a bit of a junk food alternative, but who can pass up the delightful garlic white sauce? 

Do you have any vegetarian lunch recommendations? Let me know in the comments! 

Megan