It is the third day of National Vegetarian Week and we hope that you are enjoying lots of meat free meals. Smart Restaurants are supporting National Vegetarian Week by coming up with ideas for meat free meals to make having a meat free week that bit easier. We already support the Meat Free Monday campaign and often post blogs which contain meal ideas for our readers to use to make meat free meals each Monday.
Tomatoes
We have already looked at various meals that you can make out of mushrooms, so for the third day we have looked at various meals that you can make out of tomatoes. There has always been a debate as to whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. Tomatoes are in fact a type of fruit, but are used as an ingredient in many savoury dishes. As tomatoes are a red fruit they can be very good for you, as with other red skinned fruits and vegetables, and give you many health benefits and can reduce the risk of various types of cancer.
Stuffed Tomatoes
Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed mushrooms are great to experiment with different fillings. In this instance we are suggesting that you stuff your mushrooms with cheese and chopped up tomatoes for a tasty, yet light dish, perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Portobello mushrooms are the best type of mushrooms to use for this dish as they are large sized mushrooms which can be filled with lots of delicious ingredients.
Tomato Soup
Tomato soup has got to be one of the most popular flavoured soups in the UK. Tomato soup can be homemade, bought fresh from a supermarket or local food store or bought as canned soup. Soup is perfect for lunchtime or as a light dinner and works well with bread on the side to dip into the soup. You can top your soup with various herbs, seasoning, croutons or some basil for extra flavour.
Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
Tomato and mozzarella cheese work very well together and as a dish can be perfect for a starter to any main meal or as a light lunch. Slice up some large beef tomatoes and some mozzarella. Serve on a bed of basil leaves or other salad leaves that you prefer and top with a sprinkling of pepper.
Tomato and Cheese Toasted Sandwich
As we have already discovered, tomato and cheese work very well together. A cheese and tomato sandwich can vary in many different ways depending on what cheese you decide to use. Many cheese and tomato sandwiches are made with chedder cheese, however you can use red Leicester cheese or as shown in the picture you can use a soft goats cheese. You can also have this sandwich hot or cold. If you toast this sandwich then the cheese melts nicely and the flavours of the tomato blend into the cheese which can be very tasty.
Tomato and Broccoli Omelette
Omelettes are a very easy meal to make and you can have almost anything as a filling to an omelette. You can make up a cheese and tomato sauce which you can add to an omelette or as shown above you can cook your ingredients, such as tomato and broccoli, into the omelette whilst you are making your omelette.
Margherita Pizza
A margherita pizza is a very simple yet tasty pizza. A margherita pizza can vary depending on where you purchase this pizza from. You can buy pizza’s from supermarkets, restaurants and fast food outlets. Some places may serve it as a simple tomato base with mozzarella cheese on top, whereas other places will add sliced tomatoes and basil leaves on top. Both varieties are just as nice as each other. Some people can also order a plain margherita pizza and add toppings which they like such as mushrooms and onions.
Tomato Pasta
Pasta with a tomato sauce is a very simple and tasty dish to make and you can make this dish unique by adding other ingredients to the sauce such as mushrooms and peppers. A tomato sauce is traditionally made up using chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and diced onions. When serving this dish, sprinkle some fresh basil on top for extra flavouring.
Support National Vegetarian Week and have another meat free day. Use some of these meal ideas for your lunch and dinner today and you might just like to carry on eating delicious vegetarian meals from now on. Most importantly enjoy what you decide to eat!
