NEWSRECIPES

Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Here's another classic that works just as well as a Thanksgiving main dish as traditional, meat-based entrees. It's hearty, flavorful, and doesn't have any unfamiliar ingredients. Lentil Shepherd's Pie is a great dish to make for vegetarians at your table (or for everyone if you go meatless this Thanksgiving). This Shepherd's Pie is so tasty that no one will feel like they're missing out.

Although this dish is a bit time consuming to make, it's mostly unattended. One way you could cut down on the time, though, is to make it in stages. Make extra lentils a day or two before, and save them for use in the pie. Or make mashed potatoes the day before and keep them in the refrigerator. Any way you do it, this dish can be partially or completely assembled the day before, and then just popped in the oven right before you eat.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie tastes fantastic served with mushroom gravy and fresh cranberry sauce. Tell us how you prepared the pie in the comments section below.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

OK, so Thanksgiving isn't on a Monday, but how about going meatless this year? That's probably a hard sell for most turkey lovers, but I'm sure vegetarians at your table would at least appreciate a new, meatless dish. At my family's Thanksgiving, we usually have a few turkey eaters, but it's never viewed as the main dish — it's really just another side that joins all the others on the plate. And what a delicious harmony of flavors that plate is!

But if you are looking for something that could serve as more of a hearty main dish, this recipe for Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Pear Stuffing in Roasted Acorn Squash is a great option. It's pretty easy to make, can be done ahead of time, and tastes great. It doesn't need to just be a holiday dish, either.

For some interesting variations, try using the recipe for Autumn Explosion Bake from a few weeks ago as the stuffing. Or instead of using an acorn squash, use a pumpkin. Just cut off the top, and proceed as you would with the acorn squash (this makes a great visual main dish on the table).

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I recently bought a bushel of potatoes from my local farmers' market, and I've been trying to find new ways to use them. For a long time, I only thought of hash as a breakfast side dish or a meat-filled entree (i.e. corned beef), but with a few extra ingredients, it becomes a filling, cheap, and easy meat-free dinner.

The great thing about this dish is that it's flexible. Try using another kind of potato, or ditch potatoes altogether and use winter squash. Switch up the beans, spices, or vegetables, and you could have a completely different meal.

I've found this works best with a cast-iron skillet, but if you don't have one, any large skillet will do (you might just need a little extra oil to prevent sticking). I've written the recipe for canned beans, but if you have dried beans (remember how to cook them?), feel free to substitute. This is also a little spicy, so if you're not that into heat, you might want to tone it down a bit. Serve this dish with a simple green salad for a hearty but healthy meal.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

OK, this "bake" is really a casserole, but I have bad associations with that word (think tuna noodle and anything involving Campbell's Soup as a main ingredient). Autumn Explosion Bake is an apt name, though, as most of the flavors I associate with fall burst out of this dish into a wonderful medley that's easy enough to prepare for a weeknight dinner, but impressive enough for the Thanksgiving table.

Another great thing about this dish is that it's flexible. Don't have any millet? Try quinoa instead for a different flavor and texture. And you don't need to use pumpkin, either — any winter squash will do. Even a sweet potato would work in a pinch. If you can find fresh cranberries, though, it does add a lot to the dish.

The foundation for this recipe came from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I've added to it and tweaked it a bit, but I would be remiss if I were not to credit him with the creation of this dish. His book (and everything else he does) is great, and I highly recommend it. If you're looking for more ways to eat less meat, getting a good vegetarian cookbook like Bittman's is your best start.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

This soup is a lighter take on the classic potato and leek soup made with heavy cream, but that certainly doesn't mean it's not filling. With a thick slab of crusty bread, this is a great, easy dinner for those cool, autumn nights. Feel free to substitute other cooking greens for the kale in this recipe, such as swiss chard. There are also many different types of kale, so experiment to find which you like best. My favorite is the lacinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale.

Kale is one of those few crops that actually thrives as the weather cools. In fact, kale is probably at its best after the first frost. In many areas of the country, the first frost has already happened or is on its way. For the other parts of the country, well, you might not have the best local kale, but you've got every other kind of green growing (lucky you!). Kale is also a nutritional power vegetable. It's an anti-inflammatory and quite high in vitamin C, vitamin K, and calcium, among other things.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Rather than providing a specific recipe this week, here is a little primer on beans. Beans are one of the most versatile, inexpensive, meatless protein sources. Most people also eat beans out of a can. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but concerns about bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical, could understandably cause some to shy away. Plus, the cost of canned beans is quite high compared to dried, bagged beans.

So why don't more people use dried beans? I think it may have something to do with the myth that beans must be soaked overnight, and hence require an inordinate amount of time and planning. Allow me to dispel that myth.

Beans absolutely do not have to be soaked overnight. Once you accept that, you can open yourself up to the world of dried beans. When you soak and then throw out all of that water, you are throwing out all of that taste and vitamins that have leeched into the water, as well. Some people claim that soaking minimizes the enzymes that cause gaseousness. While that might be true, you're throwing everything else out with it. Slow, steady cooking can do the same job by breaking down those enzymes into more digestible bits.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I have to admit that when October comes around, I get a serious case of pumpkin fever. I can't get enough of it, and I try to use as much fresh, seasonal pumpkin (as opposed to canned) as possible.

This recipe is a slightly modified version of one written by the very talented folks at Post-Punk Kitchen. They have some great vegan recipes, especially for baking, and I recommend you check out their site. These muffins are, in a word, incredible. They are the moistest, tastiest pumpkin muffins I have ever eaten. There are no eggs or butter, and they can easily be made vegan by using non-dairy yogurt and milk (actually, I should say they can be easily made non-vegan by using dairy yogurt and milk). I enjoy using coconut yogurt and milk, but soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk would all work well.

I hate that vegan baking can have the stigma of being bland and tasteless. Oftentimes, I think vegan baking is better than traditional pastries, and this recipe is a great example. Whether you're vegan or not, if you like pumpkin, I think you'll have a hard time not eating all of these muffins at once.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Is it too early for a pumpkin recipe? Traditionally, perhaps, but with the heat we've had this summer in the Northeast, the pumpkins are here and ready to go. Snatch some up from the farmers' market before they all get turned into Halloween decorations. When cooking with pumpkins, it is best to use the smaller varieties, as they tend to be less stringy and have better flavor than the larger types, which are more suited for Jack-o-Lanterns.

This recipe for vegan pumpkin gnocchi is also quite adaptable. If you don't have pumpkin, try another type of winter squash, or go the more traditional route and use potato instead of pumpkin. Yams would also provide an interesting color and flavor to this recipe.

For the sauce, I prefer a simple drizzle of sauteed garlic, sage, and olive oil. Tomato sauce or a creamy alfredo-type sauce, however, would also work well.

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, and here.

If you've read past recipes in this series, you may have noticed a theme in that many of the dishes are simply foundations that allow for flexibility depending on what types of seasonal vegetables you have at home. The Farmstand Fried Rice and Red Lentil Curry recipes are good examples, and this recipe is no different.

For those who are used to cooking with meat, it can be intimidating to learn vegetarian cooking "techniques." However, once you've developed a few solid formulas, it's incredibly easy to vary recipes with different vegetables or spices. I will occasionally cook the same "dish" several times a week, but because of different flavor profiles and main ingredients, it never feels like eating the same thing twice.

Risotto can be a scary word for the home cook. But despite taking a little time and elbow grease, it's really a simple dish to prepare. It's great for company, as it is familiar, appealing, and impressive. This recipe for pumpkin risotto is just an idea to get you started, but once you try it out, feel free to experiment on your own using different local, seasonal produce.

Living on a farm, this time of year is a tremendous reminder of how prolific plants can be and the (relative) ease with which we can feed ourselves with them. However, despite the seemingly endless bounty, it's also a time to reflect that this season of plenty must come to an end each year (unless you live in California, that is).

Don't despair, though: There are great ways to preserve the harvest and enjoy the flavors of summer long into autumn and winter. One of those methods is canning (or more appropriately, jarring).

The boiling water method is the easiest way to get your feet wet with food preservation, and it requires very little equipment. To get started, you will need glass mason jars with two-piece tops, which consist of a metal lid that forms a seal over the jar and a rim that fits over the lid and screws onto the jar; a pot that can hold several gallons of water, with a cover; tongs to lift the jars; and clean dish towels. All of these materials should be available at most hardware and home-goods stores, or online.