The temperature is supposed to be hot here for the foreseeable future. I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow to order my birthday cake, so I'm going to do my shopping for the next week or so while I'm there. Here is what I'm making:
Mexican Street Corn Salad with Black Beans
This sounds really good and requires very little actual heating up of things. I might make Taco Bell style black bean quesaritos to go with it since it sounds rather light.
Lumpia like they sell at Pongu Pongu in the Pandora region of Animal Kingdom. It's cream cheese and pineapple and sugar inside a spring roll wrapper, fried and rolled in sugar. I made it today because 1) it's still cool outside, and 2) I had leftover spring roll wrappers and a pot of fry oil from making the pepperoni pizza spring rolls. The lumpia is okay. I don't love cheese with pineapple; I'm not sure why because I love both the components. Sameer said he though it was really good, but he does love cheese with pineapple. I'll try it again after the other lumpia have chilled in the fridge. I'm hopeful the insides will taste more like cheesecake when they're cold.
I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow for some more fruit and a couple ingredients for tomorrow night's dinner, so I'm going to meal plan the next week now. Here is what I'm planning to make:
Pepperoni Pizza Spring Rolls and Grey Stuff
From the "Delish Loves Disney" edition of Delish magazine. Because making/eating fun themed food makes me happy and Simran has been falling asleep at night reading this magazine. Sameer ate some of my vegetarian pepperoni, so I'm going to pick up more tomorrow as well as some whole milk for the grey stuff (cookies 'n cream pudding?) recipe.
[Edited 7/9/2021: Both the spring rolls and marinara turned out really well. I had been afraid the rolls would fall open during the frying process, but everything actually went really smoothly. They basically taste like homemade Totino's pizza rolls. We'll finish the leftovers easily, but if we'd had too many, I bet they could be frozen and reheated in the toaster oven in the style of pizza rolls.
I wanted to make some dark leafy greens sauteed Italian style to go with this junk food dinner. I bought dandelion greens because they were the freshest looking greens at the store. They were pretty bitter and disproved my theory that absolutely any dark leafies would taste good prepared this way, but it was fine and we finished them.
Plant-Based Spaghetti and Meatballs
Again from "Delish loves Disney." We haven't had veggie meatballs since we ran out of the delicious Trader Joe's ones early on in the pandemic, and I forgot to buy more when I finally returned to Trader Joe's about a month ago. This recipe seems pretty basic though and probably tastes good. Thinking about making this Sunday night while the weather is still cool. Might buy some dark leafy greens to make sauteed Italian style as a side dish.
Falafel and Fresh Pita Bread
Sameer's been talking about making this since May. We'll see if he wants to do it this week.
Because I have some made already in the freezer and I can cook them in the toaster oven.
Because I already have the ingredients. I should toss my diced peppers and onions in the freezer though to keep them fresh until I make this.
Vegan Thai Green Curry Noodles
Looks quick to cook and delicious.
This recipe comes from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, pg. 89. I love it so much. I eat it for lunch most days because it makes me feel good and it's got tons of protein and fiber and vegetables. It takes a little time to make the sauce and marinade and BROL and bake the tofu, but I only do that once a week or so and it only takes a couple minutes to compile on the other days. The recipe below includes my notes.
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked quinoa or brown rice (I use BROL here. Just make it once and use it for the week.)
4 oz tofu or tempeh (I use tofu marinated and baked in B-Savory Sauce.)
1/4 cup Korean Tahini BBQ Sauce
2 cups mixed baby greens
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts (I haven't tried this with mung bean sprouts yet but I use homegrown broccoli sprouts in their place. Any sprouts or microgreens would be good here.)
1/2 cup sauerkraut or kimchi (I use the vegan variety of Mother In Law's Kimchi. It's in the vegan section of a couple grocery stores around here.)
1/2 avocado, sliced
Sesame or hemp seeds (optional. I've been meaning to try this with nigella seeds. Not sure yet if it'll be good.)
Directions:
1) Dole out your grains, tofu, and sauce onto a large plate and microwave for about 90 seconds.
2) Pile everything else on top. Enjoy.
This recipe comes from Michael Greger MD of NutritionFacts.org. I'm not sure if this base recipe is in one of his cookbooks or if it's only found with other things added to it. I couldn't find it plain though and I just make this basic BROL (barley/rye/oats/lentil) as the base for my lunchtime Buddha bowls. It makes enough for a week worth of Buddha bowl lunches. It's just basic whole grains and lentils, so it could theoretically be the base for a lot of different things. It is one of the few things I've ever eaten that made me feel energetic and just better in general than before I ate. I also used up some random whole grains as substitutions (e.g., millet) before buying the actual ingredients listed below. If you have whole grains or lentils to use up and don't know what to do with them, I highly recommend this.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup hulled barley
1/3 cup rye berries
1/3 cup oat groats
1/2 cup black beluga lentils
Directions:
1) Rinse barley, rye, and oats and combine with 2 cups of water in an Instant Pot. Cook for 30 minutes with natural release.
2) Set aside cooked grains and put black lentils and 1 cup water into Instant Pot. Cook for 1 minute with natural release.
3) Stir grains and lentils to combine. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Eat plain or add whatever. They have more flavor than most plain grains. Not bad for a healthy breakfast, especially with some fruit.
This recipe comes from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, pg. 230. I use it in Buddha bowls (recipe from the same cookbook).
Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red miso
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
2 tbs chili paste or chili sauce (I use 1 tbs samal oelek and 1 tbs gochujang)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs tahini
1 tbs dark brown sugar
Directions:
1) Puree all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
This recipe comes from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, pg. 232. I've been making it every week or so to marinate and bake tofu. I slice up a brick of tofu and then marinate it for anywhere between 30 minutes and 24 hours in the fridge. Then I bake the slices in a preheated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes, flipping them over at the halfway point.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup reduced sodium tamari
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs + 1 tsp maple syrup
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions:
1) Combine all ingredients in a resealable container. Can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks and yields enough to marinate 4 blocks of tempeh or tofu, or 16 portobello caps.
2) For Buddha bowl tofu, slice 1 tofu brick into fourths. Marinate for at 30 minutes to 24 hours in refrigerator.
3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4) Bake marinated tofu on baking sheet for 20 minutes, flip, and then bake for another 20 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade in resealable container in the refrigerator for another use.
5) Cube baked tofu. Throw some into a Buddha bowl and put the rest in a sealed container in the refrigerator for next time.
