Farro bowl with vegetables 5/31/22

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Beebamom
Farro over raw kale with edamame, roasted Brussels sprouts and eggplant with a peanut/yogurt sauce

I have not made this yummy dish since February and it belongs in a more frequent rotation. I baked the farro in the oven which enhances its nutty flavor.

Oven baked farro

1.5 cups farro
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/3 cups hot water
Olive oil spray

Heat oven to 375F. Spray a 9×9 inch baking dish. Add farro. Add water. Add salt. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 60 minutes at 375F. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before fluffing.

Once you have the farro made all that is left is to defrost some shelled edamame, roast the vegetables, and make the dressing. Cut the sprouts in half and cube the eggplant. Put the vegetables in a plastic bag or large bowl, add two tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and mix. Lay the vegetables out on a lined, sprayed sheet pan and bake in a 425F oven for 25 minutes, rotating the sheet pan halfway through.

The original recipe calls for a lemony tahini dressing and that is probably the way you might want to go for a vegan preparation. The sauce I made starts with non-fat Greek yogurt and also has peanut butter powder, lemon juice, sesame oil, soy sauce and salt. I just keep adding ingredients until it tastes right.

Posted in Grains, Legumes, Middle Eastern, Recipes, Sheet pan, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Shrimp tacos 5/30/22

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Beebamom
Shrimp tacos with cabbage, onion, mango, cilantro, and salsa

We figured that tacos are about as American as apple pie and a fitting dinner for a patriotic holiday. We were going to grill the shrimp and eat outside but it got very windy so we ended up cooking and eating inside. In addition to these yummy tacos we also had tortilla chips and guacamole and spicy black beans. We were lucky that our mango and avocado were ripe at the right moment. I put them in a paper bag with an apple to speed up ripening.

Speaking of ripe avocados I read an article saying that you can hold a ripened avocado if you submerge it in water and refrigerate it. With further investigation I also read that the FDA says this is a big NO because it promotes growth of listeria and salmonella. So don’t assume that everything you read on the internet is true!

Hope everyone had a thoughtful, reflective Memorial Day honoring those who died in service to our country.

Posted in American, Easy, Healthy tips, Holidays, Kitchen tips, Mexican, pescatarian, Shellfish, Southwest U.S., Vegetables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Stir-fried vegetables with eggs 5/29/22

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Beebamom
Stir-fried vegetables with eggs

My Breakfast For Dinner of stir-fried vegetables and eggs is one that I really enjoy. First I laid down a bed of shredded raw kale and put a veritable garden of stir-fried vegetables mixed with a little rice on top of the kale. The vegetables I used were broccoli, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, and celery. It was all seasoned with salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. I cooked the softly scrambled eggs separately and laid them on top.

Every week I wonder, ”What can I do with my Sunday eggs this week?” I think that this concoction is one that I will stick with.

Posted in American, Breakfast For Dinner (BFD), Chinese, Easy, Eggs, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu May 30 – June 5, 2022

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Beebamom

This week we are featuring four vegan/vegetarian meals, two seafood meals, and one chicken meal. Our Memorial Day grill out will be grilled shrimp in corn tortillas with spicy black beans, and guacamole with tortilla chips. Later in the week excitement will be Egyptian koshari. It is a combination of lentils, rice, chickpeas, and pasta. How can that not be good!!

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Pre-made chickpea stew on a bed of raw kale over cauliflower and white rice mix 5/28/22

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Beebamom
Chickpea, turnip, fennel, carrot, and chard stew over raw shredded kale with 50/50 mix of white rice and cauliflower rice

Hard to believe but sometimes I do not feel like cooking. My lazy day often happens on Saturday after five straight days of meal preparation. In my former less healthy-eating days this would have been a night of take-out Chinese food or pizza delivery. But I am still trying to conquer those evil demons so instead we opted for the ease of a pre-made meal better known as leftovers.

For a new twist and to pad our leftover stew I added a layer of raw shredded kale. John made some new white rice which I cut with cauliflower rice. Using a mix retains the texture or the rice while paring down the calories by half.

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Leftovers For Dinner, Legumes, North African, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tuna tataki with soy roasted potatoes and snow peas 5/27/22

Posted on May 28, 2022 by Beebamom
Tuna tataki with soy roasted potatoes and snow peas

Tuna tataki is basically just quick seared tuna. It is warm on the outside and cool in the center, somewhere between a cooked and a raw dish. In any case John did a great job cooking it after marinating it and covering the outside with sesame seeds. It was delicious.

For my part I looked around on the internet to find a compatible potato dish since we had used up our cooked rice and I had some little new potatoes that needing using. The potatoes are coated with soy, a neutral oil, sesame oil, and garlic and then roasted on a sheet pan. They did not have much of a pronounced soy flavor but they were good. The recipe says to cook them for 45 minutes which is way too long for little potatoes. I cooked them at 425F for 15 minutes and then turned the tray around and cooked them for another 10 minutes and they were done. Here’s a link to the recipe in case you would like to try them.

https://recipeland.com/recipe/v/garlic-soy-roasted-potatoes-sca-56162

For the snow peas, first I de-stringed them and then sautéed the pods with some sesame seeds in a little butter and soy sauce. They only take a few minutes to cook.

Another quick and easy dinner to make the next time you feel like splurging on some tuna. BTW, I bought this tuna at Costco and it was too much for us to eat all at once. First we made poké a few weeks ago and froze the rest. This is the portion we froze and it turned out fine.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Fish, Japanese, pescatarian, Recipes, Sheet pan, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Moroccan chickpeas stew 5/26/22

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Beebamom

The weather has cooled down going from a high 97F on Wednesday to a high of 75F on Thursday. The good thing about weather here about 35 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean is that it usually is not super hot for more than 3 days before the Pacific Ocean takes over and temperatures come down. It is chilly enough Thursday evening to make a stew.

Moroccan chickpea stew

This stew has a sweet element that plays well against the other more savory ingredients. We used raisins tonight to bolster the sweet element but we have used the dried apricots that the recipe calls for in the past. The turnips and carrots also help out on the sweet end. There is fennel, tomato paste, onions, and garlic to balance the savory end.

The original recipe is from the NYTimes Cooking site. I have never used used dried chickpeas in this dish. A couple of cans of chickpeas and the full complement of sauce makes an excellent dish.

The following recipe uses dried chickpeas. If you are using canned chickpeas use two cans drained and rinsed and skip step 3. Cook the chickpeas and vegetable together until the vegetables are tender and the chickpeas are warmed.

Posted in Asian, Indian, Legumes, Recipes, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Grilled burger and black-eyed pea salad 5/25/22

Posted on May 26, 2022 by Beebamom
Grilled hamburger with black-eyed pea salad

We do not eat much red meat at our house but when we do I choose ground beef over any other cut. Forget your prime rib or filet mignon and just give me a straight up burger (or meat loaf, meatball, spaghetti sauce, or lasagna.) We changed our set menu for some extremely warm weather dishes, food that does not make the kitchen/family room hot. Grilling outside and making a salad accomplishes that goal.

John seasoned the meat with salt and garlic powder and added baking soda to keep our low fat hamburger juicy. I took yesterday’s leftover bean salad and added a can of black-eyed peas and some more vegetables and dressing for a slightly different bean salad. It was all delicious and I really wished I could have had two burgers as did John. Good thing we only bought enough meat for one apiece.

On Thursday cooler weather should be setting in and we will finish up the week with Moroccan chickpea stew, seared tuna, and a vegetable grain bowl. Flank steak fajitas and fettuccini arrabiata will have to wait for another week.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Hot weather meals, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Salad, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Turkey kielbasa with sauerkraut and bean salad 5/24/22

Posted on May 25, 2022 by Beebamom

Extremely hot weather here in NorCal means we have had to switch gears for our dinner preparations. Our daughter said to me, ”You’re not making a stew and pasta on Tuesday and Wednesday, are you?! Temperatures for those days border on almost 100F. So, no, we are not making stews and boiling pots of water. We are trying to keep the kitchen as cool as possible. Ergo, turkey kielbasa and sauerkraut that we can make with brief cooking in the microwave and a bean salad.

Turkey kielbasa with sauerkraut and bean salad

The turkey kelbasa split in half lengthwise took 90 seconds of full power microwaving. I go to a little more trouble with the sides. The canned sauerkraut is enhanced by using this recipe:

How to Cook Canned Sauerkraut

Sometimes I do more of it than others. Tonight it was just some sweetener, caraway seeds, onion and garlic powders, and half of a diced apple. I read once that the best sauerkraut is Libby’s from a can. So you can forget about fancy jars and plastic pouches with their fancy prices and just buy a can of sauerkraut (I used WalMart’s own brand) for less than a dollar.

For the beans I rinsed a can of black beans and strained a can of Rotel for my base. Then I chopped up small portions of carrot, celery, jalapeño, and bell pepper. I also threw in some defrosted corn. The dressing consisted of a tablespoon of lite Italian dressing, and a teaspoon each of cider and balsamic vinegar. Salt to taste and add Tabasco sauce and/or sriracha also to taste. I have some left over which I plan on using on Wednesday with the addition of another can of beans (maybe black eyed peas or cannellini) and more veg and dressing. It should go nicely with the hamburgers we are planning on grilling OUTSIDE since it will still be damn hot on Wednesday.

This heat wave caught me with few good plans for hot weather meals. I am going to have pay more attention to the forecasts and start looking through my recipes for hot weather meals.

Posted in American, Easy, Hot weather meals, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Poultry, Recipes, Salad, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chicken with gravy, rutabaga, broccoli 5/23/22

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Beebamom
Rotisserie chicken with gravy, mashed rutabaga, steamed broccoli

Since it is getting pretty hot out we are trying to keep the kitchen cool by using some convenience foods and the microwave. John made up a packet of chicken gravy and then heated up the rotisserie chicken over a low flame. I cooked the rutabaga in the microwave. It is a hard, tough vegetable so I cut it in fairly small cubes and put the cubes in some water. It took 25 minutes at high power to get the rutabaga tender. I mashed it with a plunge blender leaving some chunks whole. The broccoli took about five minutes of steaming.

This is a very homey kind of dinner with flavors that recall Thanksgiving. Whenever we make it we always say, ”Mmmm, this is so good. We should make it more often.”

Posted in American, Easy, Methods, Poultry, Vegetables | Leave a comment