The Meat Free Monday Cookbook

by Mary McCartney, Stella McCartney, Paul McCartney

The Meat Free Monday Campaign, launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009, has been a trailblazer and magazines, restaurants, hospitals, colleges, workplaces, celebrities and entire communities have pledged their support. Furthermore, almost every health study published in recent years has proved that eating a more plant-based diet improves body weight, blood pressure and blood sugar and shows that having at least one meat-free day a week is essential for anyone wishing to enjoy a healthy life.
The Meat Free Monday Cookbook also proves how simple it is to eat less meat by including irresistible vegetarian menus for every week of the year - two main dishes, plus four other ideas for each meal of the day.
Packed with recipes such as Fruity Quinoa, Mexican Cornbread, Warm Halloumi, Apple and Radish Salad, Double Choc Crackle Cookies and Gingerbread Cake, as well as vibrant spring soups, inventive summer salads, appetising autumn bakes and comforting winter stews, it includes contributions from Paul, Mary and Stella, as well as from celebrity and chef supporters, such as Skye Gyngell, Giorgio Locatelli, Yotam Ottolenghi, Kevin Spacey and Vivienne Westwood. It really is the perfect recipe book for anyone who cares about their health, the environment and seriously delicious food.
www.meatfreemondays.com @MeatFreeMonday

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Vegetarian

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2016

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so disappointing. I love the idea of Meat-Free Monday, it's a great way of introducing people to the idea of cooking a meal without meat. It looks like some good recipes in here but it's organised in such a strange way I would find it hard if not impossible to use. I love the idea of seasonal recipes but this had gone one step further and organised the recipes into weeks of the year which feels a bit too regimented. The recipes are presented in a bizarre way, each week has a lunch or snack idea, a main dish and a dessert, these are all crammed into one page, the ingredients are often just included in the method (although sometimes not) and the opposing page has a photo. The photo is often of a vegetable or the dessert giving you no idea what the main looks like. Skimming through the method for the ingredients is really difficult. There is no need to include desserts as practically all desserts are vegetarian anyway. It's a pity, I can't imagine someone who wants to try not eating meat finding this useful, it just doesn't seem accessible to me. Great idea but poorly executed.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's be honest - cooking can be a chore. Even meal planning can be a chore. Sometimes it feels like cooking healthy food is even harder. Enter this book!

I checked this book out randomly at my local library. Now I own a copy. The book is filled with recipes that are easy to make, with common ingredients, but which taste delicious. While it's certainly a Western diet type book, there is decent variety within the recipes. For example, my husband's favorite is an Asian-inspired veggie noodle stir-fry.

This was a great book to get us started on eating more plant-based foods, which is good for a variety of reasons. I highly recommend it!

Drop It Like It's Plot
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[Cidney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well where do I start, I was expecting a fantastic book on the concept of going veggie on just one day of the week, a Monday, and a plethora of some very good recipes.

What I actually got was an odd book divided into seasons with 13 wks and for each week you are given Monday's recipes for the full day of breakfast, packed lunch, lunch, side, main, dessert (never seen a side listed before a main meal before). It could have been laid out better, it all felt a little disjointed, and I felt rather short-changed to have so few actual recipes for the grand price of I think it was over £20, pricing on the back is for America and Canada only, and for recipes which would be lengthy to make for someone who is at work.

Take week 3 spring breakfast is a strawberry and banana smoothie, not too bad. Packed lunch hummus and flatbread, the recipe gives 9 ingredients to make the hummus, ok you could make it the day before and surprisingly no recipe is given for the flatbread, other cookbooks have the recipe for that too. Lunch is vegetarian croque madame, well this can't be made ahead but shouldn't take you that much time, although I am now confused why you need a packed lunch if you are having lunch after? Perhaps the word "packed lunch" is meant to be written as snack? Then follows the side dish (first) of sweet and sour chinese cabbage and then the crispy spring rolls made with crispy spring roll wrappers, I can suddenly see this is an American book. And then finally the dessert is a Limoncello and riccota cheesecake. Six courses for one day seemed a little excessive, three tends to to be the norm ie breakfast, only one lunch and then dinner, and if you're very lucky maybe two squares of dark chocolate later!

Am beginning to wonder if this book was solely designed with the North American market in mind and maybe there was another one for the UK and Europe. Now Linda McCartney's cookbooks - they weren't bad!

[Naomi Smart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a vegetarian by far, but this recipe book works for me. I love the recipes. How easy the recipes are to put together. I checked this out from the library, and love it so much I bought my own copy.

[TheTellMeLady · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine idea, offering up interesting vegetarian menus for every Monday of the year. The only issue is, many weeks there are ingredients that wouldn't commonly be found in the fridge or pantry, and some of them, quite expensive.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have quite a few McCartney cookbooks in my collection. I will definitely be adding this one!