Week of Meals

I started off last week with food on the mind.  On Sunday, I put together a week of meals (five meals). 

It didn't take too much time, maybe an hour or so, and I was able to reward myself for the effort with a nice home brew. I tend to get sick of planning, but I was motivated this week, and so I'd like to share. First here's the list of meals, and I'll post recipes below. 

Day 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta

Day 2: Spaghetti with zucchini and basil

Day 3: Taco salad

Day 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach-bibb lettuce salad

Day 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes with Cajun oven potatoes

On Sunday evening, Allison and Nico, came over for some dinner. We had gone on a bike ride to Mechelen along the canal or Vaartkom just north of the city. It was warm and sunny and was a break from how cold it has been in August.  During dinner, Nico and Allison talked about their 25 favorite meals. It was pretty hilarious because I think they have a shared Google Doc to plan meals. Nico is a fabulous cook (see here).  I loved their idea of a fondue-TV-movie dinner night and was inspired by their list of favorites, especially fried brie.

Here are the recipes:

Meal 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta on homemade bread (Karl baked the bread).  

The beans are a simple recipe from my Deborah Madison cookbook.  It's a good way to use the small quantities of leftover dried beans. 

For the beans:

1 cup mixed beans, soaked and drained (any variety of beans will do, I used adzuki, chickpeas, white beans, and kidney beans)
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
few sprigs parsley and thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil

Directions
1. Bring the beans, water, oil and aromatics to a simmer. Cover the beans slightly and simmer for 1 hour or until tender.
2. Season with salt, and serve with shredded parmesan, black pepper and fresh chopped parsley or other herbs.

Meal 2:  Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil

This also came out of my Deborah Madison cookbook. I've made it a few times because the zucchini just melts in your mouth and the fresh basil is very tasty.

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil 

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise, then in bits across

1/3 cup olive oil (use much less on a non-stick skillet, 3 T is fine)

2 garlic cloves, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I used milk)

1 lb of spaghetti (or enough for 4-6 persons)

fresh parmesan

1/2 cup of basil, torn into chunks

1. Heat up olive oil  in a wide skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Start heating up the water for the pasta

3. When olive oil is hot, add in garlic. When garlic is fragrant add in zucchini. Cook over medium heat until the squash is soft and brown (about 20 minutes)

4. When pasta water is boiling, cook pasta.

5. When squash is done cooking, stir in milk, salt and pepper. Adjust for seasoning. 

6. Combine the spaghetti with the squash and top with basil and parmesan

Meal 3: Taco salad with chips

I substituted lentils for the smart grounds featured in the recipe.

Meal 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach butter lettuce salad

The soup comes out of my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals. It's a pretty good collection, although I found many recipes to be very meat heavy. 

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cups mushrooms, sliced (any mix of mushrooms will do)

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1 package boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 T basil

2 T parsley

1 tsp dried garlic

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used 1 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup milk)

1. In a soup stockpot heat olive oil and add bell pepper and onion.

2. In a separate sauce pan heat up 2 cups water. 

3. Mix together ricotta, dried garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside. 

4. Add mushrooms to soup stockpot and cook 7 minutes. 

5. When the saucepan full of water boils, add in a boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend, and cook according to package directions. 

6. When mushrooms have cooked down, stir in cheese and milk. Add more salt if needed. Bring to a boil until the soup thickens a bit. 

7. Stir in wild rice and heat through. 

For the salad (serves 2)

1-2 cups washed Bibb lettuce

1 peach, sliced

2 T pumpkin seeds

Dressing:

1.5 T fig or other flavored vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 T water

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing and toss with the salad. 

Meal 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes and Cajun oven potatoes

I made this when Nico and Allison came over. It looks like a lot of work, but if you prep things in order everything comes together in about an hour.

For the potatoes:

8 small-medium waxy potatoes, washed and scrubbed

3 T olive oil

For the tomatoes:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 and 1/2 cups water

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 cups chard, chopped

6 ripe medium-large Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and pulp removed in a bowl

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 (or more) mixed beans (leftovers from earlier this week), omit if you don't have

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Quarter the potatoes in wedges and toss with 3 T olive oil. Set in a casserole dish and place in oven once hot. Ignore the potatoes while you prep everything else. These will take the longest to cook so get to them first. 

3. In a small sauce pan combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 and 1/2 cups water over medium-high heat.  Stir every 10 minutes. Quinoa will take 15-20 minutes to cook.  The quinoa is done when the water is evaporated and the quinoa looks light and fluffy. While the quinoa cooks you can prep the tomatoes and stuffing. 

4. In a wide skillet, heat up olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add in garlic and onion and saute for 3 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add in chard and continue to cook until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and set aside. 

5. In a greased oven casserole dish set tomato halves up.  Break apart the tomato pulp by chopping it up. You can mix it in with the stuffing or stir it with the chard-onion mixture

6. Mix ricotta, herbs, quinoa, salt and pepper and red chili powder together, stir in beans if you have them. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture and then set them in the oven.  The tomatoes will cook for about 30 minutes.  Turn the potatoes to ensure they are getting nice and roasted. 

You can serve the roasted potatoes in any way, these are my 2 faves:

Rosemary with coarse salt and fresh pepper

Cajun seasoning

Just sprinkle over the potatoes once done and serve. 

Quinoa breakfast

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1/2 cup or more soymilk (or reg milk)

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 T pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup to 1 cup mixed fruit (your choice of  mixed berries, or sliced bananas, or apples, or dried fruits)

Directions:

1. Toast the quinoa over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add in water and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, until most of the water is evaporated. 
2. Add in soymilk through cinnamon.
3. Stir in pumpkin seeds and fruit just before serving. 

Quinoa Croquettes and Beet and Green Lentil Salad

Being in Belgium, I am tempted to recreate my version of Belgian croquettes. We have had salmon, shrimp, and Trappist cheese ones. They have all been delicious.

We recently ate at a very bland and boring vegetarian restaurant, and while I feel inclined to support places that do vegetarian foods, I am less inspired when the food is only attempting to replace commonly consumed meat foods. I got a "seitan" version of beef stew, and my meal consisted of seitan pieces in a hot broth served with a side of potato coins and a salad. Ew. Boring. We also got a Thai dish, which tasted like jar-curry with Quorn pieces used to replace chicken.
Fail.

The lentils, beets and quinoa can all be cooked within 30 minutes. Use the time while they are cooking to prep the rest of the ingredients. It should go fast.

Beet and Green Lentil Salad

2 large (2" in diameter) beets, roasted or boiled. If you are roasting the beets, they will take on a sweeter flavor. You can scrub them well, then peel, then dice into 1/2" cubes. If boiling instead, just scrub well and simmer in about 2" of water until soft (about 20 minutes). Once cooled, you can peel off skin and cut up. If you peel before boiling, the beets really lose a lot of color and probably a lot of nutrients.
1/2 cup uncooked green lentils, rinsed and picked over
1/2 of a carrot, diced finely
1/2 of a red onion, reserve 2 T for the lentils, and set aside the rest (they will go in the dressing and the croquettes)
1 sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
1 - 1 and 1/2 cups water
1/4 of a lemon
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1. Cook the beets. 
2. To prepare lentils, simmer the lentils with the onion, carrot and aromatics. They can be cooked over medium heat for about 25 minutes. 
3. While the beets and lentils are cooking make the salad dressing.  Combine the juice of 1/4 of a lemon, the mustard, olive oil and about 1 T of the chopped red onion together. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Once the lentils are cooked and cooled, combine them with the beets and toss with the salad dressing. Garnish with parsley and set aside. Next, assemble the croquettes.

Quinoa Croquettes:
1/2 cup quinoa, dry
1 cup water
1 clove garlic
2 T parsley, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
2 T red onion, chopped
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1 large egg, beaten ( or 2 medium eggs)
5" segment of 2 days old french bread, toasted and crushed
enough oil to pan-fry the croquettes

Toast the quinoa in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Shake often. Add the chopped garlic and water and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes.

1. Once the quinoa is cooked and cooled, combine it with parsley, green onions, and parmesan, and salt. 
2. Add in the eggs, and combine. Next add in crushed breadcrumbs, until the mixture is slightly dry and doesn't fall apart
3. Heat up a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add enough oil to pan fry (usually about 1/2" of oil) the croquettes. Form 3" flattened balls and pan-fry for 10-15 minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Creamy Feta Quinoa

Creamy Feta Quinoa

This is one of those lazy cooking recipes that is suited for spring or summer days, even though you could readily make this anytime of the year. Quinoa is quick-cooking grain and is packed full of good nutrients including calcium, protein, iron and fiber. The rest of the salad ingredients kick up the nutrition in this dish. Use whichever salad vegetables you have around that need to get used up.

For salad
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1-2 cups water
1/2 cucumber, quartered
1-2 cups mixed salad greens (spinach, mesclun, & arugula)
1 cup green or red cabbage, finely chopped to give consistency of shredded cabbage
1 tomato, diced.
1/2 cup black beans, drained
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 T parmesan cheese or other hard grated salty cheese

For dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, or 1 large clove, minced fine
1 spring onion (green onion), chopped fine or shallot if you have that instead
1 tsp oregano, or any dried or fresh herbs (if fresh 1 T)
1-2 tsp dijon mustard
pinch cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place quinoa in a bowl and cover with water to remove the saponins and then make the dressing so it has time to marinade while you prep the other items. The saponins are found on the outside of the quinoa and can be removed by rinsing. They aren't particularly harmful although the quinoa (I've never noticed) may taste bitter if you skip this step.
2. In a small mixing bowl, place lemon juice through salt and pepper, and mix well. Set aside.
3. Drain quinoa and place in a saucepan and cover with 1.5 cups water. Cook over medium heat and add more water if needed. The quinoa should take between 10-15 minutes to cook.
4. Prep and cut up vegetables. Place cabbage, mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, black beans and cheeses in a bowl. Check on quinoa. If it looks light and fluffy, it is done. Set aside the cooked quinoa and turn out into a bowl to cool. It doesn't have to be cold, just not steaming.
5. Gently, mix in the quinoa with the rest of the ingredients. The warmth of the fresh-cooked quinoa will melt the feta and parmesan cheese into a creamy coating.
6. Mix up the salad dressing before pouring into the feta-quinoa-salad mixture. Gently toss and mix everything together and turn out into salad bowls or plates to serve.

Stores nicely in the fridge (good weekday meals) although I think it tastes best when just mixed and served.