Omnivore

Vegetables and eggs 8/14/22

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Beebamom

Stir-fried broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, and garlic with cherry tomatoes and eggs

For this Sunday’s BFD (Breakfast For Dinner) I made an Italian flavored stir-fry. In addition to salt I seasoned with dried oregano and red pepper flakes. My garnish was a drizzle of olive oil. The fresh cherry tomatoes were a nice textural and temperature contrast to the vegetables. As usual I topped the veg with soft scrambled eggs.

I love the bright colors of tonight’s dish. All the different vegetables gave me a different bite with every forkful. This same dinner could easily be transformed into a different cuisine by adding spices and herbs from a different cuisine. The possibilities will lead me to a different take on this dish next week!

Posted in American, Breakfast For Dinner (BFD), Easy, Eggs, Italian, Kitchen tips, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged Eggs, Stir-fry | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu August 15 – 21, 2022

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Beebamom

After weeks of nice weather it is supposed to be really hot this coming week, 90s and 100s hot. So we are going to be making mostly no-cook kinds of meals or meals where we can make the cooked components early in the day before it gets too hot. Obviously that means a lot of salads, a cold soup, hamburgers on the grill, and an Instant Pot dinner that we can reheat later in the microwave. August and September are the hottest summer months here in Northern California and we have been really lucky with moderate temperatures, but not this week!

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Seared scallops, steamed potatoes, snow peas. 8/13/22

Posted on August 14, 2022 by Beebamom

Pan-seared ocean scallops, steamed potatoes, and sautéed snow peas

John and I sat in the dining room for dinner tonight. Usually we are in the family room with the TV on but we decided that scallops needed our full attention. John was in charge of searing the scallops and I was in charge of the potatoes, the snow peas, and the tartar sauce.

Usually I buy the small new potatoes but they were over $4 for 1.5 lbs. and I felt like that was just too much. So I found a 3 pound bag for $5 and decided I would just cut them in quarters and steam them like I would the small potatoes. As a consumer I have an idea about what things should cost and there are some lines that I just cannot cross, at least not yet. The potatoes took about 25 minutes to steam and then I covered them to keep them warm. While they were cooking I made the tartar sauce.

At this point John sprang into actions and heated the cast iron frying pan to cook the scallops. I put the snow peas on at the same time. Both the scallops and the snow peas take very little time.

John opened a nice bottle of white wine and we had our elegant, dining room dinner. We actually had a conversation during dinner, something that is impossible with the television on. I think I may try eating in the dining room more often!

Posted in American, Easy, Kitchen tips, Methods, pescatarian, Shellfish, Special occasion, Vegetables | Tagged scallops | Leave a comment

Crispy tilapia with roasted vegetables. 8/12/22

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Beebamom

Crispy tilapia with roasted broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower

All I had to do for my portion of the dinner is cut up some vegetable, toss them in a bag with olive oil and salt, and roast them in a 400F oven for 25 minutes. Roasted vegetables are so delicious!

John coated the fish with a combo of yellow mustard and light mayo then rolled them in seasoned panko mixed with regular breadcrumbs. They cooked briefly in a pan with olive oil and olive oil spray.

This is a quick and easy dinner that delivers good flavors with minimal fuss.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Sheet pan, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged tilapia | 2 Comments

Chicken enchiladas, spicy beans, salsa slaw. 8/11/22

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Beebamom

Chicken enchiladas, spicy black beans, and salsa slaw

I used a number of shortcuts to make this plateful of yummy Mexican flavors doable for a weeknight dinner. The chicken came from a packet of pulled white meat from the famous rotisserie chickens at Costco. John heated up some corn tortillas on the stove top to make them pliable and I stuffed each of them with salsa verde from a jar, some chicken, diced onion, and pre-shredded cheese. I nestled the enchiladas into a baking dish that was coated with salsa verde and then poured the rest of the salsa verde over the top of the enchiladas along with what was left of the cheese.

While they were baking in a 350F oven for 30 minutes I made spicy black beans- a can of rinsed black beans, a can of Rotel, a few shakes of cumin and a squirt of sriracha. With that heating up I turned to the slaw for which I actually shredded cabbage, carrots, and onions but you could totally use a bag of pre -shredded slaw mix. The dressing is some store-bought fresh tomato salsa and a couple of tablespoons of light mayonnaise along with salt and sweetener to taste.

Tonight’s dinner which got rave reviews from the family was more about assembling pantry and convenience items and less about cooking. Nonetheless it was a popular and tasty dinner made in about 45 minutes.

Posted in American, Easy, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Methods, Mexican, Poultry, Southwest U.S., Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged chicken | 1 Comment

Vegan fusilli arrabbiata over kale 8/10/22

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Beebamom

Oh, yum, it’s pasta Wednesday at our house! The sauce I made consisted of three fresh tomatoes from our daughter’s garden, a can of original Rotel diced tomatoes and chiles, a dollop of tomato paste, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes, plus sautéed mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Since I needed to peel the tomatoes I looked up online to see if there is a way to peel them without boiling and shocking. Yes, there is! After making slits around the stem end and an X slit on the bottom, I merely put them on a paper plate and microwaved each one for 30 seconds. I was then able to grab a hold of one of the inner points of skin on the bottom of the tomato a pull a section of peel right off! So much easier than the whole blanching rigmorale. I had medium sized tomatoes. You need more or less time depending on the size of your tomato. Be sure to make all the slits because otherwise your tomato will explode all over your microwave!

I cooked the chopped, peeled tomatoes, spices, tomato paste and canned tomatoes for about half of an hour before adding the sautéed onions, garlic, and mushrooms. John added the cooked pasta to the sauce and I swirled it around and added a half cup of pasta water to finish the cooking. I served the pasta on a bed of raw kale and garnished my bowl with a drizzle of good olive oil.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Connecticut clam chowder. 8/09/22

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Beebamom

Before we moved to Northern California, almost thirty years ago, we lived in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Living in different parts of the United States exposed me to regional cuisines. Originally from the Jersey shore where the pizza is the best, to Carolina BBQ, to New England clam chowder and Indian pudding, to California cuisine, all of it is part of my cooking DNA.

When the kids were little we spent a lot of time traveling between Massachusetts and New Jersey to visit Nannie and Beebop. (Our son named my father Beebop because he couldn’t say PopPop. My grandmotherly name morphed into Beeba when the grandkids were born.) On one of our trips we stopped in a now defunct restaurant call The Binnacle. We all ordered the clam chowder. Surprisingly it was not at all like the thick, cream-laden clam chowder of Boston but a lighter more delicate version. This recipe, adapted from one by Gabrielle Hamilton, is my take on the clam chowder that we had at The Binnacle outside of Mystic, Connecticut.

Posted in American, Easy, pescatarian, Recipes, Shellfish, soup, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged clams | Leave a comment

Surf and turf bowl. 8/8/22

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Beebamom

We used Sunday night’s leftovers from our all-appetizer family dinner to create our surf and turf bowls. We had leftover bbq ribs meat for our turf and shrimp cocktail shrimp for the surf. Sliced up cucumbers from our veggie platter were part of the dish as well as newly prepared cabbage, avocado, green onions, edamame, and Thai chiles. I made up a new batch of soy ginger vinaigrette and a garnish of cilantro, lime, and Furikake.

We all fixed our own bowls according to what we like best. I started with some cauliflower rice and went light on the meat and avocado. John and our daughter started with regular rice and ate everything else. Only leftover from tonight was a small container of dressing!

Tonight’s dinner was basically no-cook, economical, and very tasty!

Posted in American, Asian, Easy, leftovers, Legumes, Methods, Pork, rice, Salad, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged shrimp | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. August 8 – 14, 2022

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Beebamom

We are starting out this week with a creative use of our leftovers from the Family All-Appetizer Dinner on Sunday. John made shrimp cocktail and lollipop ribs and we have enough left to make an Asian surf and turf bowl. Also on this week’s menu is the beans Marbella that we did not get to last week. We are a little light on the vegetarian entrees this week since John has made two special requests, chicken enchiladas on Thursday and a romantic dinner of seared scallops for just him and me on Saturday night.

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No-cook vegan tofu sesame bowl. 8/6/22

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Beebamom

This is the ultimate hot summer night dish! I have been making these bowls primarily with salmon and shrimp but decided I wanted a vegan version. The family voted three thumbs up for this marinated extra-firm tofu bowl with cucumbers, avocados, edamame, Thai chiles, and cabbage over rice.

The tofu is marinated in a combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger powder, and garlic powder. The dressing is a similar combination but with minced garlic, ginger, and green onions that I whiz up in my mini food processor. I also add a dash of sweetener.

Since there is no cooking involved with the exception of microwaving some already prepared rice or, in my case, just microwaving some frozen cauliflower rice, the dish is all assembly. On a layer of rice add thinly sliced cucumbers, shredded cabbage, thawed edamame, thinly sliced chiles, and cubed avocado. Add the dressing and a few shakes of Furikake (that’s where the sesame seeds come from.) You can find Furikake in the Asian section of your supermarket or from Amazon.

I am really pleased with this very tasty, plant-based, cost effective, new addition to our dinner rotation.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Hot weather meals, Legumes, Methods, rice, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged tofu | Leave a comment