Meat-Free on Mondays: Insalata Caprese

February 7, 2011

Inspired by Meatless Monday, a campaign encouraging people to cut back on their meat consumption one day a week, TakePart's "Meat-Free on Mondays" series will give you every reason you need to skip the steak.

By going vegetarian one day a week, you reduce your carbon footprint, expand your palate, and improve your health. Plus, going meatless is just plain kind to animals.

This recipe was originally posted on Would Rather Gather, a blog dedicated to vegan recipes sexy enough to convert carnivores.

Insalata Caprese, a fresh and fragrant snack concocted by Shawna Newberry of Would Rather Gather, kicks off our new series. Shawna calls her variation of an Italian staple "a scant seven ingredients to heaven, and beyond simple to prepare." Using no animal products, the healthy delicacy is also 100 percent vegan.

capresesliced
The prep. (Photo: Shawna Newberry)

Traditionally made with mozzerella, this recipe swaps in cookie-cuttered slices of medium-firm tofu for a similar creamy effect. The balsamic reduction requires a little extra patience, but the painstaking is worthwhile, and the rest of the prep is a breeze.

capreseinprogress
Start stacking...(Photo: Shawna Newberry)

Almost ready....

43capresecomplete
Voila! (Photo: Shawna Newberry)

Find the full recipe here at Would Rather Gather.

For more good and good-for-you recipes, check out our budget-friendly series, Get Hungry, here.

Comments 6

Submitted by ageats on Sun, 02/13/2011 - 8:38am
I agree with the comments needing non-soy vegetarian/vegan options. Additionally, this may be a good recipe in the summer months, but tomatoes are currently out of season.

Submitted by meganbedard on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:48pm
Hi all, Thanks for the feedback! This is just the beginning of the series, so we have plenty of room to incorporate your ideas. Stay tuned!
laurel angelica's picture

Submitted by laurel angelica on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:34pm
totally agree! would love some non-soy alternatives for vegan stuff. I just found out the other week that consuming a lot of soy products can worsen ovarian cysts, among other hormone related things, which makes sense if you think about it, but there is far too little information out there that talks about the effects of soy on women's health.

Submitted by ChakraSue on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:22pm
There need to be a lot more NON Soy vegan recipes. There is a lot of GMO soy. Also, soy is a phyto estrogen and there should be warnings for people who are estrogen sensitive and pregnant with boys to avoid or cut back on soy. We need to vary crop/food choices. Where are the articles and warnings on GMO soy? Take a look at the Corporate farms producing all this soy... Let's make better choices!

Submitted by mcbriendl on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:06pm
A suggestion for a variation on this recipe is to chop the ingredients ito chunks, drizzle the reduction over the tofu and serve on a bead of mixed greens.

Submitted by mcbriendl on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 5:03pm
Just gotta try this one! Starting with one day a week can up a persons vegan experience and then maybe you could continue adding more days until a full switch is made or only eat meat one day a week. Just saying!