Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Sameer is going to NYC for work this week, so that's three dinners cooked for just Simran and me.  After the Mushroom Extravaganza we held during his last work trip -- and the realization that Simran hasn't learned to like mushrooms yet and therefore feeding them to her everyday was a frustrating struggle at best -- I've decided to make both our lives easier this week and focus on sandwiches.

On account of getting takeout one night and just having leftovers another, we didn't get through all our meal plans last week and have quite a few things left in the fridge to use up -- one bunch green kale, several cups of baby arugula, a couple handfuls of baby spinach, three zucchini, an avocado, two sweet potatoes, about two cups of cauliflower florets, fresh rosemary and thyme (I'm making the shepherd's pie tonight, but I imagine there will be some leftover), and about half a can of light coconut milk.  Here is what I'm planning to make:

Shepherd's Pie and Kale in Walnut Sauce
I'm making this tonight.  It will use up the kale currently in the fridge.

Compromise Lasagna and Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Another suggestion Sameer had recently was to make lasagna, but not a vegan one this time.  When I made the vegan, no-oil Engine 2 lasagna, the only person in the house who liked it was Sophie (the dog), who ate Simran's portion after she threw it on the floor.  There were aspects of it that worked -- such as using silken tofu where there would normally be ricotta or cottage cheese -- but we didn't care for the large amount of mashed sweet potato or the general "here is a giant pile of unseasoned vegetables" taste of it.  This week I'm making a compromise lasagna.  It will have 100% whole wheat lasagna noodles (which I started buying exclusively when I realized Sameer couldn't identify them as whole wheat or no-boil) as well as tofu in place of the cheese filling, but it will also include some garlic salt, feature the seasoned seitan/onion/spinach mixture of my original lasagna recipe, and be topped with cheese like my original lasagna recipe.  I think I will add a handful of food processed vegetables to the tofu layer too, but I'm not sure what yet.  Maybe parsley, carrots, and green beans.  I'm going to make a side dish of whipped sweet potatoes by roasting the leftover ones currently in my pantry and whipping them with my standing mixer.  No other flavorants are really necessary to make that taste good.

Vegetable Paninis and Curry Pumpkin Soup
I didn't get around to making these dishes last week, and I think they'll work well for a night that's just Simran and me.  Almost everything time-consuming can be done in advance while she's napping, so I won't have to focus too much on cooking while looking after her alone.  The sandwiches will use up a bit of the arugula in the fridge, and the soup will use up the coconut milk.

Garden Pretzel Sandwiches and Vegetable Barley Soup
These sandwiches are easy and delicious (albeit less healthy than a lot of other things we eat, what with the pretzel bread, provolone, and pesto mayo).  The vegetable barley soup is always good, and leftovers freeze pretty well.  These dishes will use up some avocado, a zucchini, some of the celery and carrots in the fridge, and the half can of diced tomatoes I put in the freezer last week.

Zucchini Cakes and Mashed Garlic Cauliflower and (Leftover) Vegetable Barley Soup
Simran and I both love zucchini cakes, and they will use up the remaining zucchini in the fridge.  The mashed garlic cauliflower will use up the leftover cauliflower from last week's vegetarian korma.  Since those dishes alone will create plenty of work for me, we're just going to have some of the previous night's leftover vegetable barley soup to top things off.

Vegan Quiche and Green Banana Power Blended Salad
The sun-dried tomato and spinach quiche made with tofu and an oat- and nut-based crust went over really well at our house the last time I made it.  It looked okay, but it tasted really good -- much better than any egg-based quiche I've ever made.  This time I'm substituting arugula for the spinach since I have a lot to use up and I don't think it will make a huge difference.  The green banana power blended salad will use up my remaining spinach and half an avocado.

'Taco Bell Style' Burritos and Garlic Broccoli
Sameer mentioned last week that he would like to have "Taco Bell Style Burritos," which used to be one of our few standby, non-takeout meals back before we ever started doing meal planning or eating vegetables with all our meals.  They basically consist of tortillas, refried beans, chopped onion, taco sauce, and cheddar, and they resemble the bean burritos at Taco Bell, hence the name.  I'm making them a bit healthier by making my own non-fat vegetarian refried beans in the slow cooker (just cook and then food process some pinto beans, onion, and taco spice -- no one can tell the difference) and serving them make-your-own style with additional options like chopped romaine, chopped tomatoes, fresh guacamole, garlic salsa, and Spanish rice.

Easy Healthy Veggie Pizza and Kale in Walnut Sauce
These pizzas are both easy to make and easy to get Simran to eat, so I love them.  They should use up the remaining arugula, as well as the last of the whole grain Food for Life tortillas in the fridge.