Meat is a contradiction. On the one hand, it delivers delicious flavor and important nutrients. But on the other, it brings serious environmental and animal welfare challenges.

This is the dilemma that flexitarianism seeks to address.

My favorite flexitarian philosophy is called meat as a vegetable dressing. This practice never serves meat as a dish by itself. Instead, a little bit of meat is strategically deployed to make vegetables truly delicious. The three recipes shared below are designed based on this principle.

As a bonus, these dishes also freeze well to ensure maximum practicality. I exploit this feature by preparing them in bulk over the weekend and freezing them in convenient containers for delicious, healthy, economical, and highly practical warm lunches during the week.

I hope you find them as useful and enjoyable as I do!

This traditional South African dish with Malayan origins really is the ideal vegetable dressing. It’s richly flavored and perfectly textured for making large amounts of veggies taste fantastic. Originally, it was meant to flavor rice, but in this version, we replace most of the rice with vegetables.

Bobotie contains a wide array of seasonings that can be adjusted to taste, depending on whether you like your food more spicy or fruity. The recipe given below leans to the fruity side.

You can further reduce the meat content by replacing some of the minced meat with vegetarian mince (mainly soy). I generally use a ratio of 2:1, but this can be adjusted to preference.

The recipe creates about 12 servings.

Ingredients

Meat, Dairy, Eggs:

• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) mixed meat and vegetarian mince
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Vegetables:

• 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of mixed chopped vegetables. For convenience, I use frozen bags containing chopped broccoli, carrots, baby corn, water chestnut, and parsnip, but most other vegetable mixes will also work well.
• 2 large onions (chopped)

Seasoning & Other:

• 2 tablespoons (tbsp) olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup chutney (mango or peach)
• 1/2 cup brown vinegar
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 250 g (9 oz) brown rice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (390 deg F).
2. Spread the (unfrozen) vegetables on a baking tray, add a little oil and salt and pepper, and bake for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a cooking pot or large frying pan, and sauté the chopped onions with the curry and turmeric.
4. Add the mince, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and cook for 15 minutes at medium heat with frequent stirring.
5. Add the chutney, brown vinegar, and cayenne pepper and cook for another 10 minutes at medium heat with frequent stirring.
6. Lastly, stir in the apricot jam and the raisins, and pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
7. Beat the egg and milk and pour over the dish.
8. Take the vegetables out of the oven, insert the bobotie, and bake for 1 hour.
9. Meanwhile, cook the brown rice.
10. Enjoy a well-deserved plate of bobotie, veggies, and rice!

This recipe contains an impressive volume of mushrooms and additional mushroom cream sauce. So, if mushrooms are among your favorite veggies (even though they’re technically fungi), this is a good recipe for you.

You can use the same mix of meat (preferably pork or poultry) and veggie mince as with the bobotie to further reduce the meat content of this dish.

For an additional veg boost, try adding a green salad on the side, particularly one containing cucumber. The crunchy cucumber texture combines surprisingly well with the lasagne in the same bite.

The recipe creates about 12 servings.

Ingredients

Meat & Dairy:

• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) mixed meat and vegetarian mince
• 250 g (9 oz) chopped bacon
• 450 g (1 lb) cheese (grated)
• 2 cups of milk

Vegetables:

• 2 large onions (chopped)
• 5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 300 g (11 oz) tomato purée
• 5 green bell peppers (chopped/sliced)
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 large eggplant (aubergine)

Seasoning & Other:

• Lasagna sheets
• 4 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
• 75 g (3 oz) mushroom cream sauce powder
• 75 g (3 oz) butter/margarine
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (390 deg F).
2. If not precooked, cook the lasagna sheets in water with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt.
3. Heat a little oil in a cooking pot or large frying pan. Add the chopped onions, salt and pepper, and garlic. Cook for 15 minutes at medium heat with frequent stirring.
4. Stir in the tomato purée, cook for 5 more minutes, and set aside.
5. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan, sauté the bell peppers and bacon, and set aside.
6. Next, sauté the mushrooms and eggplant, add pepper to taste, and set aside.
7. Cook the mushroom cream sauce in 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of water.
8. Use the butter to layer a large baking dish and then add the ingredients in layers as follows: lasagna sheets, mince mix, bacon and bell peppers mix, lasagna sheets, mince mix, mushroom and eggplant mix, mushroom sauce, and cheese.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Serve with a green salad (or just a few cucumber slices) and enjoy!

There’s chili con carne (chili with meat), and then there’s chili sin carne (chili without meat). Well, this is something in between. The goal is to retain just enough meat to keep it truly delicious.

The same mix of meat and veggie mince is recommended here. As with the previous two recipes, this one also yields about 12 portions.

Ingredients

Meat:

• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) mixed meat and vegetarian mince

Vegetables:

• 4 red onions (chopped)
• 5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) carrots (sliced)
• 6 red bell peppers (sliced or chopped)
• 100 g (4 oz) red chilies (finely chopped)
• 300 g (11 oz) of tomato purée
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) canned chopped tomato
• 2 kg (4.4 lbs) canned kidney beans

Seasoning & Other:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper
• 250 g (8 oz) brown rice

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large cooking pot and cook the chopped onions and mince with frequent stirring until the mince turns brown.
2. Add the chopped garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, chili, and cayenne pepper and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato purée and chopped tomato and cook for 45 minutes at medium heat with regular stirring. A bit of water can be added if the mixture becomes too dry.
4. Add the kidney beans and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, cook the rice.
6. Add salt and pepper or additional cayenne pepper to taste.
7. Serve and enjoy!

As a bonus fourth recipe, we have a quick and easy vegetable stew where a few pre-cooked meatballs add great taste. It’s very simple to make and a great way to load up on veggies when you’re not sure what to make for dinner.

As given, it yields about 6 portions.

Ingredients

Meat:

• 450 g (1 lb) of pre-cooked meatballs

Vegetables:

• 2 red onions (sliced or chopped)
• 450 g (1 lb) carrots (sliced)
• 2 red bell peppers (sliced or chopped)
• 450 g (1 lb) green or asparagus beans (chopped in thirds)
• 450 g (1 lb) small mushrooms (whole)

Seasoning & Other:

• 2 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
• 6 blocks vegetable broth
• 250 g (9 oz) of barley rice
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Add 1 liter of water to a large cooking pot, add the oil and bring to a boil.
2. In the meantime, start chopping up the vegetables and add to the boiling pot in the following order: onions, carrots, bell peppers, beans, and mushrooms. Control the heat to keep a mild boil.
3. Add the vegetable broth blocks and the barley rice and cook with occasional stirring for 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the meatballs.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Recipes and images created in collaboration with Janet Cloete.