Every New Year’s Day for the past few years — and by New Year’s Day, I of course mean, the first day of school — I’ve had the same resolution-y thought: We need to eat less meat in our house. It’s a low-rumbling call year-round, but something about September and the ramped-up schedules and textbook pile-ups on the kitchen counter makes it feel like we’re all in the right frame to do the hard work of changing courses. What usually happens, though, is after a few weeks of salad pizzas and black bean burritos, I end up falling back into my dinner default mode, which, for the most part could be described as “chicken thighs plus something.”
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For those of you who have been following along, you know that this past year was different and that we’ve dramatically cut back on our meat consumption. Why? Maybe it was because the kids are older and not only are they more likely to venture out of their comfort zones (read: tofu) but they are more invested in the formerly abstract idea of doing their part to combat climate change. Maybe it was because there are so many chefs and cookbook authors giving vegetables the star treatment and I’ve never been more inspired to spin an eggplant into dinner gold. Maybe it’s because so many of my friends are heading in the plant-based direction. Maybe it’s because Andy and I are getting older (and we’re watching our parents getting older) and dialing back on animal protein feels like the safest way to address our mid-life crises.
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Mostly, though, I think the reason why we’ve been able to stick to our vegetarian vow is because we came up with a real plan: We wouldn’t get rid of meat entirely (anyone who has spent time in this space knows how hard it would be for us to say goodbye to our pork chops and meat ragus and chicken dinners) but we would limit those dishes to weekends and special occasions. Then from Monday through Friday, my family of four would be The Weekday Vegetarians, which, in addition to sounding like the name of a folk-rock band at a small liberal arts college, will be the title of my next book.
And that’s my news! I’m working on the fourth book in my Dinner: A Love Story series and I couldn’t be more excited.
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Like the rest of my books, The Weekday Vegetarians will focus on dinner, it will cater to busy families, and the recipe development will happen in real time. In other words, every dish that makes the cut will be a meal that was served on a weeknight in the harsh light of real life, not in a studio or a test kitchen.
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As usual, I plan on documenting a lot of that real life here on Dinner: A Love Story and on instagram so be sure to follow along. While you’re at it, please please send me your own ideas and inspiration. After so many years of writing this blog, there’s one thing I know for sure: dinner is a lot more fun when we’re all in it together.
Last week’s dinner: Fried tofu tacos
Greens, greens, greens. We are eating a LOT of them these days.
As always, follow my progress on instagram.
Yay!!! So excited for this – my kiddos are a bit younger than yours but my 12-year old son has been asking to cook more often, and is highly concerned about the future of the planet so we talk a lot about sustainable eating, and how we can eat more vegetarian. He’s wanted to start cooking dinners for our family so he started with the sloppy joes from Dinner: A Playbook last week for the first time. Knowing you’ll have a cookbook to help us with this is so exciting!! Looking forward to it!!
This is the best news I’ve heard all day! Signed, DALS fan with two vegetarian teenagers.
How do you do it? reading my mind yet again! DH has been vegetarian since January which has been a challenge with two protein loving teenage boys in the house. The veggie recipes you’ve already posted have become part of our regular rotation. Can’t wait for an entire book of them!
This sounds amazing!!! I can’t wait. And as someone with a dairy allergy, I’d love to see some vegetarian dinner recipes whose last ingredient isn’t “1 cup Parmesan cheese, for serving.” (Which should really read, “1 cup of Parmesan cheese for essential flavor, mouthfeel, general satisfaction, and satiety.”)
Yes yes! I can’t eat dairy or eggs and so many vegetarian recipes have cheese in them. Leave out the cheese and you’d better have some excellent flavorful substitute or else the dish will be lame!
This is the BEST news!!! I can’t wait. So excited!!
I love this! I’ve been a follower of your blog and fan of your cookbooks and I’ve been thinking about how to do exactly this (although with a 5 year old and 8 year old…)
I really look forward to your book – best of luck with the writing!
Incredibly excited about this news! Upping our veggie intake has been on my brain and your cookbooks are my go-tos for weekday meals. Really looking forward to it and hopefully seeing you more here to test ideas!
Perfect idea! Looking forward to reading it already. Get busy, please!
My husband I want to cut down on our meat consumption but we’re typically low carb and I feel like I struggle to get enough protein on a plant based diet. How would you approach a low-carb/high-protein vegetarian meal?
Another fan joining the chorus of excitement! I also have all your books, and many of your recipes are family favourites. We eat probably 3 meat free meals a week, and have the benefit of tofu loving kids, but I do find veg meals you can prep/cook ahead or freeze a bit harder, so looking forward to your ideas there… and again, congratulations! We’re all looking forward to it 🙂 Any idea on a publication date yet?
Those Look Great!……Thanks for sharing
Congrats! Thrilled for your next book – I wish it would be published tomorrow. Our family too is evolving into a less meat philosophy. My teen has been considering a vegetarian diet change so this book is exactly what I am looking for.
Congratulations!!! We cook mostly vegetarian as well, so your next book sounds PERFECT (and I love the title!). I can’t wait!! xo
Yay! So excited!
Yay! My family is moving in this direction too and I’m soooo excited for your book.
Hurry up and write already! 🙂
Awesome! I look forward to buying it!
Exciting!! Our go-to is the tofu technique from F52’s genius recipes where you toss cubes in cornstarch and fry them. Suddenly delicious crunchy protein for whatever we’re making. We’ve applied the technique to mushrooms too, with great results. Use ’em in curries, burrito fillings, on pasta…
Congratulations on the book! We are also eating less meat, although it’s not a hard and fast rule around here. I definitely find most vegetarian cookbooks much too fussy and preachy for me. As a Southerner in a small-ish town, I also find them way too focused on the urban Northeastern market – I’d like these authors to try making half their recipes with access only to a Kroger or Harris Teeter. No Asian specialty market, no Trader Joe’s, no Whole Foods!
Instead I tend to focus on our usual favorites, but cutting back on the meat amount. For example, 2 chicken breasts poached and shredded might stretch over 3 nights for 4 people. First a little bit (say, 1/4) in quesadillas that have been bulked up with black beans and cheese and served with tomato soup, the next night (1/2) in chicken salad open faced sandwiches served with sliced tomatoes and grilled corn, and then the final 1/4 used up sprinkled on homemade pizza with pesto sauce, mozzarella, and mushrooms.
I would love to find a cookbook (or resource) that helps with more ideas like that, but it’s hard. Probably not what you’re trying to do either, but I really do look forward to seeing what you come up with. Your recipes have been such a mainstay for us over the years!
Hooray!!!!!! I’m super excited for this one. Thank you, Thank you! My family is evolving with your family. I use your cookbooks ALL THE TIME. This will be welcome addition!
So exciting!
I know there is a lot around eating a lot less meat these days but as a recovering vegetarian, want to point out that eating protein is important but there are certain nutrients that just aren’t available to us on a plant based diet. Yes to smaller portions of animal protein & something like meatless Mondays but it’s so important to understand our need for nutritionally dense food. That means sustainably sourced animal protein, organic fruits & vegetables wherever possible. Personally I eat about 4 oz at a meal with poultry, pork, & seafood as my sources & I know where my food comes from. It’s a luxury to be able to say that I know but I happily give up eating meals out to have delicious food from the Farmers’ Market & small meat & seafood sellers. Good luck with the book as I’m sure there will be lots of recipes I can include in my meals.
Congratulations, this is exciting news! I love that the recipe development is happening in a real-life environment – it’s nice to know that the recipes are something I can *really* make at the end of a long work day!
Best news! Very excited!
I am SO excited for this! Please try to channel your past life when your kids were still little and include recipes that are fast and easy to make even if toddlers are clinging to your legs and hitting each other with magnatiles while you are trying to finish making dinner in the half hour you have between when you get home and when it’s time to eat (ie before they really melt down into a hangry puddle). I love vegetarian food so much, but the more plant-forward a meal is, the more chopping and prep it seems to take, chopping and prep that is really hard at the witching hour of 6:15 on a weeknight.
Hi! I love your books and think, this one will be a huge hit, too! I’ve got two recommandations för you:
1. Multicoloured fries (beet, carrots, sweet potato, Zucchini…) and a dip (e.g. yogurt and herbs) – my toddlers devores it, no matter which veggies in it
2. Feta with Olive oil, onions, Sun dried tomatoes and olives on top => dip it with sourdough bread!
(I also love vegetable Lasagne, but never Foundation a quick recipe… and am searching for a good recipe of veggie waffles which I’ve wanted to make sinne forever…)
Hoping to help you a bit and wishing you Good luck!*