FOODIE FRIDAYS: Loving Paul McCartney's Vegetarian Cookbook 'The Meat Free Monday'

When I heard that Paul McCartney created a cookbook, I knew I had to get it. Yes, I am a huge Beatles fan but this book represents so much more than 'Beatle Paul'. This is about his passion for animals and living a self-sustaining lifestyle of respecting the earth, eating what it gives to us and giving back to it.

When I first moved to vegetarian living, it was more for the health benefits than anything else. I've lived with various digestive and other issues my entire life. Eating animal proteins was, and still is, excruciating for me. When I eat vegan, food stays in my body longer, I have more energy and I'm a happier person all round. And that's why I was so excited to learn that Paul was writing this book.

One of the issues we have as vegetarians/vegans is that we end up eating many of the same things all of the time.  Books like this one show the true variety of meals we can create with vegetables, grains, beans and other fresh, healthy ingredients. Paul, and his two daughters Mary and Stella, give us 52 weeks worth of delicious recipes that include a breakfast, lunch, packed lunch, snacks, dinner and dessert. What I also love is that those 52 weeks are divided into the four seasons with recipes that call for produce readily available during those seasons.

This wonderful book started as a campaign in 2009 where Paul, Mary and Stella tried showing the world the value of eating less meat and helping to make it easier to do it. Basically, every Monday they shared a recipe on the website to encourage followers to give it a go. The goal was for people to dedicate one meat free day as a way of doing their part to help our planet as well as your personal health.

I plan to go through the book, then share recipes I've tried using as many ingredients from my garden as possible. Why not give  it a try? It's only one day per week. The first recipe I tested was the Lentil, Chickpea, Cheddar and Onion burgers. These are a twist on the falafel burgers I posted about earlier this year, only I have to say these ones are so good! I was a little surprised to see that Paul used real cheese in his recipes as I thought he was completely vegan. But for those of us who are, you can simply use your rice or soy cheese instead (that's what I did).

This is a perfect summertime recipe and for those of our followers who are also GF/CF too, simply use your favorite buns in place of the whole wheat.

Thank you, Paul, for this wonderful cookbook. You've given the world yet another gift and reason to be inspired by you.

Lentil, Chickpea, Cheddar and Onion Burgers

3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
14-ounce can lentils, drained and rinced
14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinced
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
1 large organic egg, beaten
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup grated Gruyere
1 cup feta, crumbled
salt and pepper
flour for dusting

~ Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan. Cook the onion over medium heat until soft but not colored. Add the garlic, cumin and cayenne and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
~ Put the lentils and chickpeas into a food processor and pulse until coursely chopped. (If you don't have the processor, you can always mash the beans with a fork or potato masher.) Add the onion mixture, tahini and parsley, then pulse again until combined and smooth. Spoon into a large bowl and add the egg, breadcrumbs, and cheeses. Season well with salt and pepper. Mix using your hands.
~ Shape the mixture into patties and lightly dust with flour. Heat the remaining oil in pan. Cook patties until golden brown on both sides. (If you prefer, you can always bake the patties in a 350* oven for 20 minutes, flipping after 10. It works out just as tasty.)
~ sesrve with toasted buns and your favorite toppings. I found that a nice spicy mustard and fresh baby arugala taste FAB with these.

If you end up trying these, let me know. And be sure to come back as we'll share other recipes as we try them.