The Half Cut Blog

Meat Free Monday has been around long enough to feel familiar, but let’s be honest: it often gets reduced to a limp salad and a slice of bread that does little more than make you hungry again by three o’clock. No wonder people give up on it. Going meat free should not feel like punishment. It should feel like food you actually want to eat, hearty, colourful, and satisfying enough that nobody asks what is missing.

The best way I have found to make it work is to stop approaching it as “what can I have instead of chicken” and start by asking “what do I want that will taste good and fill me up.” When you build a meal that just happens to be meat free, rather than designing one around the absence of meat, you end up with dishes that stand on their own and never feel like second best.

One of my absolute favourites, and the one I come back to more than any other, is shakshuka.

It is a dish with endless variations, but over time I have honed my own version, and it always hits the spot. The base is simple: cumin seeds toasted gently in olive oil, onions softened slowly until they give up their sweetness, garlic for depth, peppers cooked low and slow until they collapse into silk, then tomatoes and paprika simmered into a sauce that bubbles around the edges and smells like comfort itself. A touch of honey or maple syrup takes away the sharp edge of the tomatoes, and if you like plenty of sauce you can add a second tin or swap to passata.

The part that makes it special is the eggs. Once the sauce is ready, I crack one in per person, cover the dish, and let the steam set the whites while the yolks stay gloriously runny. A cast iron pan works best, because you can slide the whole thing into the oven for ten minutes if you prefer, but the hob does just as well with the lid on. Served with good crusty bread to mop up the sauce, it is the sort of meal that feels both comforting and celebratory.

What I love about shakshuka is its flexibility. On a meat free Monday it is perfect just as it is. If you are cooking on another day and want to add protein, it also pairs beautifully with shredded leftover roast chicken, which keeps the balance light and in line with that Mediterranean inspired lifestyle I am aiming for. Chorizo works too if you want more punch, but chicken is the one that feels right most often.

Alongside shakshuka, two other recipes have become regulars in my kitchen rotation. One is courgette curry, which sounds modest but delivers far more flavour than you might expect. Softened courgettes folded into a fragrant spiced sauce turn into something that feels both filling and fresh, and it proves the point that meat free does not have to mean boring. The other is vegetarian chilli mac and cheese, a one pot wonder that brings together the smoky warmth of a good chilli with the indulgent pull of pasta and cheese. It is unapologetically hearty, and I have yet to see anyone turn down a second bowl.

None of these dishes feel like a compromise. They are not the kind of things you cook in order to “make do.” They are the kind you cook because they are good food, full stop. And that is what makes Meat Free Monday sustainable.

If you want it to stick, variety helps. Change the spices, swap the grains, use chickpeas instead of lentils, throw sweet potatoes into a tray bake where you might normally use ordinary ones. Roasted vegetables tossed through couscous with olive oil and herbs can be entirely different depending on what you scatter in, and it is almost impossible to get wrong.

Batch cooking is another saviour. Make double portions of chilli mac or curry, tuck some away in the freezer, and you will thank yourself later when a long day threatens to derail your good intentions.

For me, Meat Free Monday has never been about denying myself something, or ticking a box to feel virtuous. It has been about giving myself another option. It is about food that feels abundant rather than sparse, food that makes you want to sit down at the table rather than graze in front of the fridge. It stretches your cooking, saves a bit of money, and might do some good for the planet too.

Most of all, it proves that vegetables can take the lead just as well as anything else. Get it right, and Meat Free Monday is not a chore at all. It is just another night of good food without the sad salad.

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Shakshuka Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 peppers, sliced (use different colours if you can)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (use two if you like extra sauce, or swap to passata)
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup (optional, to soften acidity)
• 1 egg per person
• Crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium-low heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry gently until they start to release their aroma.
2. Add the sliced onion and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned. The longer you can let them cook without colouring, the more flavour you build.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just long enough to lose its raw edge.
4. Lower the heat and add the peppers. Cook slowly for around 20 minutes, until they are soft and sweet.
5. Stir through the paprika, then add the tomatoes and honey or maple syrup if using. Raise the heat back to medium and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and tastes rich.
6. Make small wells in the sauce and crack in the eggs. Cover with a lid and cook on the hob for 8–10 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Alternatively, transfer the pan to the oven at gas mark 4 for around 10 minutes to bake.
7. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and serve straight from the pan with plenty of crusty bread.

Optional: Add shredded leftover roast chicken before the eggs if you want more protein while keeping the dish balanced and Mediterranean inspired.