Meatless Meal Inspo
This may come as a surprise to many, but Catholics should be abstaining from meat every Friday during the year— not just during Lent. Modern Catholics are generally unaccustomed to this practice, but as Canon 1251 states (yes! This is in CANON LAW, FOLKS!) “From the first century, the day of the crucifixion has been traditionally observed as a day of abstaining from flesh meat (“black fast”) to honor Christ who sacrificed his flesh on a Friday” (Klein, P., Catholic Source Book, 93). For this reason, our family chooses to abstain from meat on Fridays year-round. For this reason, I have a lot of meatless recipes we have tried and held on to.
We live in a comfort culture that prizes convenience over discipline and sacrifice. In order to practice restraint of the will and dying to self, it is extremely important in the spiritual life to take up practices that help mortify the flesh. These practices are not merely reserved for penitential seasons like Lent or Advent (again— this may shock some, but Advent is a penitential season, not for celebrating, but I digress…); rather, we should be taking up little practices that keep our souls properly disposed to the Holy Spirit. Without mortifying our flesh, we cannot expect to live without some idols in our lives since we will remain slaves to the flesh.
*I will note that the USCCB has determined that Catholics who do not want to abstain from meat on Fridays year-round may take up a different penance on those Fridays, but it is up to the individual to act with diligence to ensure some penance is being done on Fridays.
** Others who are not required to abstain include pregnant or lactating women, those with chronic health conditions impacted by diet, children younger than 14, and, as common sense dictates— for example, someone with an eating disorder or unhealthy relationship with food should consider alternative penances so as not to exacerbate their disorder.
In Romans 8: 13-14, St. Paul exhorts his readers, “13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
After receiving several requests during Lent for meatless meals, I decided to attempt to put as many recipes into one post as possible, along with recommendations for sides and tips for preparing various items. Most of these are meals I have personally made or are similar to what I make when I’m winging it.
I tend to generally/imperfectly follow a pro-metabolic diet due to my autoimmune diseases, so you’ll see that reflected in my recommendations and recipes. This includes soaking grains and sprouting legumes, and eating fermented grains like sourdough. If you can’t do that or don’t know how, you can check the links I’ve provided, but don’t feel like you have to do all the things if you are short on time or just aren’t interested in the added effort. My goal is to make your life easier and generate new ideas for when you are struggling with feeling like you need fresh ideas for lunch or dinner!
Fish Fillets
Most of us know that wild-caught fish is higher in important fats like omega-3s, but fish also has many valuable nutrients, If you can afford it wild-caught, it’s worth the extra money.
Mahi mahi is high in potassium, phosphorus, and zinc, and salmon is high in iodine, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous and sodium.
Other important vitamins found in most fish include vitamin D, B-12 (super important if you have MTHFR), vitamin A (retinol— also very important for absorbing and recycling iron in the body and preventing anemia) among other things. We should truly have more fish in our diets. I personally feel best when we consume fish at least twice a week.
Beer-Battered Cod: Some nights, I’ll throw some of these into our air fryer for the kids and my husband when I’m short on time. We really like these cod fillets from Costco! You can serve it with sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli.
Oven Baked Salmon with Garlic and Brown Sugar: My husband isn’t a huge fan of salmon, but he really enjoys when I cook salmon seasoned like this.
New England Baked Haddock: Quick and cheap! I like to use dried breadcrumbs from sourdough bread that didn’t get eaten up in time!
Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa: Kids might not love this one, but I really enjoyed this!
Canned Fish
For tuna, Wild Planet tuna has the best flavor. Many recipes tell you to drain the water from tuna, but the Wild Planet Tuna cans (with water) instruct the buyer to mix the tuna and water. This makes the tuna much more moist and retains the flavor better than draining the water.
Also, Crown Prince Smoked Oysters are not soaked in seed oils, so I recommend them if you can get your hands on them. I know many people balk at the idea of oysters, but they are loaded with vitamin D, zinc, copper, and magnesium, which tend to be things that those who live in the upper Midwest or have thyroid disease are deficient in. Eating foods with these minerals and vitamins is far more bioavailable to the body than the synthetic vitamins many are taking.
Smoked Oyster Dip: I like to eat this dip with sourdough crackers or toasted sourdough bread!
Tuna Melts: I like to make these with sourdough bread and with raw cheddar cheese. The less processed, the better in general when you’re eating! There are thousands of recipes (so find one that looks good to you!), but we usually use mayo, a splash of white vinegar or pickle juice, minced celery, finely diced red onion, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a loooooot of dill. Sometimes I mince some pickle too.
Spicy Sriracha Tuna Wraps: Lettuce wraps work great if you can’t have gluten! Romain lettuce is your friend here.
Shrimp & Scallops
Shrimp and scallops are very good for you! Wild-caught is always better quality, but focus on what you can afford or what makes sense for your family.
Shrimp and scallops are loaded with important minerals and vitamins that we typically miss in our normal American diet. Selenium, zinc, and copper are particularly high in scallops and important for thyroid function.
Easy One-Pan Shrimp Fajitas: I love how simple this recipe is! S
Seared Garlic Butter Scallops: a little pricey, but can be great when it’s a special day or anniversary, but it falls on a Friday.
Vegetarian
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Buddha Bowl: This is surprisingly filling!
Pineapple Fried Rice: See the note below about soaking rice!
Lentil Tortilla Soup: Even my kids love this recipe. Make sure you soak and sprout your lentils beforehand if you are able.
Easy Butter “Chicken” with Chickpeas: Sometimes I need a little more flavor than American cuisine tends to offer. This always hits the spot!
Cheese Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Ravioli Sauce: homemade pasta is sooo worth the effort
Homemade pizza: You can’t go wrong with how versatile this is! And sourdough pizza crust is always a winner!
Sides & Fixings
Here’s a list of ideas of sides and recipes for things you can enjoy with your meatless mains! A note on raw green veggies— I don’t recommend eating a lot of raw green veggies. It is my understanding that uncooked veggies can be hard on your gut and digestion leading to a lot of gas because they essentially ferment in your gut. Fermented and cooked veggies are much easier to digest and absorb and can greatly benefit your gut microbiome.
Generally, as a rule of life, I like to follow K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). ;)
Roasted or mashed sweet potatoes
Roasted or mashed potatoes
Zoodles
Carrot salad: We eat raw carrot salad a lot! We don’t use this exact recipe, but a similar one. There are many out there. It’s great for moving excess estrogen out of the body and regulating hormones. Some people eat a carrot salad every day for this reason. I recommend MCT oil over olive oil because most olive oil is not good quality,, and there are a lot of health benefits to MCT oil. You can also shred the carrots instead of peeling them into ribbons.
Buttered sourdough bread— grass-fed better is the best!
Roasted or grilled veggies like peppers, broccoli, onion, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, whatever your family likes!
Soaked rice (ALWAYS SOAK YOUR GRAINS!)
On day two, you can make fried rice or hibachi with your leftovers!
Sometimes we use salad kits for a quick side
Fermented veggies like saurkraut
Fresh fruit to keep it simple
Cooked frozen veggies or canned veggies from the garden are also great when you’re short on time or are trying to save a little money.
Final Notes
Lastly, breakfast is a perfectly acceptable dinner. Eggs, pancakes, french toast, and so on are sometimes all that we can manage and that’s okay! Grilled cheese sandwiches or egg salad sandwiches are the bomb and kids love them. Even a simple charcuterie board of cheese, fruit, oysters, smoked salmon, crackers and whatever else can be a totally sufficient meal. We often do that for lunch in the summer!
If you want more ideas throughout the year, I try to post my Friday meals on my Instagram under a highlight called, “Friday Meals.” You can check it out if you want more inspiration.
Comment below!
What are some of your favorite recipes for meatless meals?!
