Top Five Friday: The Meatless Maven

A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.

~ William Shakespeare

Ah the first Friday in Lent.  And that means basically don’t overeat and don’t eat meat.  Which are two really good pieces of advice for any day of the year, actually.  Ok, I confess.  Although I am trying to get back to my 80% raw eating lifestyle [I refuse to call it a diet], it is only 80%.  The rest of the time, I eat organic, lovingly-treated meat.  And potatoes.

So today’s edition of the Top Five Friday is all about what to make when you need, or want, a meatless dinner.  You can also check out some of the salads I posted.  Or even the Oysters from last week.  

Crab-Stuffed Flounder

Not really the spirit of the fast, is it?  Well, at least it meets the letter of the law!  I’m not really sure why fish makes the grade [note to self: google that]; I always thought it had something to do with blood in the meat.  But then when I gutted a fish for the first time, I discovered, much to my chagrin, that fish have blood too! Ewwww!  Anyway, this recipe from the queen of butter, Paula Deen, is pretty awesome for any day of the week, but it makes a Lenten Friday a little easier to bear.  Especially for the non-Catholic friends of ours who bear the brunt of our meatless grumpiness.

Spinach Mushroom Tarts

Two of my favorite veggies: spinach and mushrooms come together in one amazing and fabulous looking entrée.  And yes, it’s raw.  I love Susan Powers’ recipes ~ she makes living the raw food lifestyle look, well ~ stylish!  And the food truly is raw-mazing.  Not to mention really, really good for you.  I saw these tarts and went straight to Whittingham’s to buy the little stainless steel molds.  Totally worth it! 

Spicy Glazed Salmon

I love my salmon.  Especially when it’s wild caught in Alaska.  I’m surprised at how many people don’t know that farm-raised fish is not the healthiest way to get your Omega-3s.  They swim around in little [or big] pools.  Which, yes, may get cleaned.  But still.  How would you feel is you had to swim around in your own…yeah.  Now you understand! 

Now that we've got cleared up ~ this is a super yummy recipe that I’ve made for dinner countless times: both for just myself and for dinner guests.  Always a winner.  And in the summer, I’ve substituted basil for the cilantro.  You can also use dill.  Just take out the soy sauce.

Veggie Chili

Tofu is not my friend.  And probably not yours either.  Process anything is not good for you.  I have given in before, but generally I stay away from soy products.  Another post for another time!  So I forgo the veggie crumbles in this recipe and put in red wine, green peppers and regular diced tomatoes.  And my shredded Daiya “cheese” of course.

Pan-Seared Scallops

I stopped ordering scallops in restaurants because they were always overdone and just plain wrong.  So there’s no recipe to link to because mine is the best and the simplest ~ IMHO.  Buy scallops.  Rinse.  Melt butter in pan.  Put scallops in.  Salt and pepper to taste. Watch very closely, turning with tongs every so often until lightly golden.  DO NOT OVERCOOK. 

Make pesto out of fresh basil or spinach.  Serve the scallops on a bed of pesto. Voila!  A little bit of heaven!

Happy Friday!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What are your favorite meatless dishes?

Accenting the Positive: Giving Up and Getting In to Lent

[Penance] does not mean sacrifice and self-denial in the first place, but a “change of heart,” a victory over sin and a striving for holiness.  The sacrifices of fasting and self-denial are only means and signs of this spiritual penance.  If people understand this well, they will not put the main effort in Lent on technical feats of abstaining from pleasures (which sometimes make them proud or vain), but in sincere contrition, prayer and humble fight against their faults.

~  Fr. Francis X. Weiser, S.J



"In Ictu oculi" by Juan de Valdes Leal



Ash Wednesday.  Time to dust [no pun intended] off those New Year’s resolutions and try, try again!  Lent is less about doom and gloom, and more about changing one’s heart.  Unplugging from the world for forty days and re-aligning one’s spirit with what is really important in life: Love, Faith, Generosity, Authenticity.

Many people give up eating a certain type of food, such as chocolate, or literally unplug by giving up Facebook or personal email.  While good, those things miss the point and don’t really go far enough.  My friend Terry [who is the most awesome tenor eh-ver!] said it best on Facebook the other day:

“Think it matters if you stop using Facebook for 40 days…it doesn’t.  How about 1 posting a day about something that matters…perhaps there’s a charity you care about.  That might be something to post instead of cats wearing bowler hats.  Giving up meat? So?  Do it…but maybe spread the word about sustainable, small independent and local farmers while you’re at it….”

There’s a great story in Scripture where Christ talks about a man possessed by a demon, who gets rid of the demon, and sweeps the interior clean; but then the demon gets bored wandering around, finds seven more demons worse than he is, and comes back inside the guy.  What?!  That’s not fair!  The guy got rid of the demon and swept his house clean!  Yes, but he didn’t put anything in the space left by the demon’s absence.

It’s not enough to stop eating fast food [the evils of which is a post for another day!] or sweets.  It’s not enough to stop watching so much reality TV or spending so much time on the computer or the internet.  Getting rid of those behaviours is a good and laudable thing!  But put something in its place.  Otherwise the bad habits will come back stronger then before! We have enough negativity in our lives; do something positive!

Personally, I haven’t finished taking stock yet to see where I need to clean house.  But in one area is definite: after my gall-stone cleanse, I fell off the 80% raw-vegan-juicing lifestyle wagon I had been riding for so long.  My bank statement alone is enough to accuse and convict me!  So one thing I’m giving up is eating out ~ healthier for my wallet and my body.  And in place of eating out [where in the world does that food come from anyway!?], I will be making my own fresh smoothies and juices and eating only organic, sustainable foods.

What about you?  Do you observe Lent?  What are you giving up and getting into? 

Oremus pro invicem,

 ~Mikaela