Easy dinner recipes: Great Meatless Monday ideas in under 30 minutes

It’s Meatless Monday. Keep it fun and simple with tempting gazpacho, pasta and wilted-greens recipes that come together in under 30 minutes.

White gazpacho with grapes: Nothing beats the heat like a cool summer soup. For a variation on classic gazpacho, try this white gazpacho with grapes. Nicely thickened with soaked bread and ground almonds, the simple soup is further flavored with a few cloves of garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar. Garnish it with green grapes and dinner is served. You can find the recipe below.

The basic oil-and-bread emulsion is also the starting point for white gazpacho, such as ajo blanco con uvas (white garlic with grapes). Made with ground almonds, garlic, bread, olive oil and vinegar and garnished with grapes, this cold soup comes from the rich Moorish-Arabic heritage. More than the sum of its parts, ajo blanco is unusual and delicious. You can find the recipe below.

Spaghetti with crushed black pepper and pecorino cheese: Why clutter pasta with sauces and any number of toppings when you can keep it simple. A little fresh cracked pepper and grated cheese is all it takes to turn basic noodles into a tempting dish. Dinner is ready in almost no time.

Beet greens with golden raisins and pine nuts: Quickly wilted beet greens get a jolt of flavor from sweet golden raisins, olives, garlic, crunchy pine nuts and olive oil. It’s a colorful dish that works well served warm or at room temperature.

For more ideas, click through our easy dinner recipes gallery and check out our Dinner Tonight! page, devoted to recipes that can be made in an hour or less. Looking for a particular type of recipe? Comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

WHITE GAZPACHO WITH GRAPES (AJO BLANCO CON UVAS)

Total time: 25 minutes, plus optional chilling time

Servings: 4

Note: This gazpacho is best made with fresh almonds, shelled, blanched and skinned. To blanch and skin almonds: bring a saucepan of water to a full boil. Add the almonds and blanch them for 60 seconds. Drain. While they are still warm, slip the skins off.

6 slices day-old bread, crusts removed (6 ounces)

1 cup blanched and skinned almonds

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups water, plus extra for soaking the bread, divided

12 green grapes, seeds removed if there are any

1. Soak the bread in enough water to cover until it is softened. Squeeze out the water and place the bread in a food processor or blender with the almonds and garlic. Pulse until the almonds are finely ground.

2. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream, then the vinegar and salt. Blend in some of the 2 cups water, then pour the mixture into a pitcher and add remaining water. This makes about 4 1/2 cups gazpacho.

3. Serve immediately or chill until serving time. Stir before serving. Serve the gazpacho in small bowls with grapes.

Each of 4 servings: 576 calories; 11 grams protein; 32 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 47 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 6 grams sugar; 1,464 mg. sodium.