Since I ate an egg for breakfast I was looking for something different for Sunday night’s dinner. Aha, leftover polenta in the refrigerator! Given that polenta did not seem to lend itself to Asian flavors I decided to make an Italian stir-fry with oregano and basil picked fresh from my pots of herbs. Along with herbs the vegetables included mushrooms, scallions, garlic, carrots, celery, broccoli, and cabbage. I also added vegetable stock.
Not my usual Breakfast for Dinner but a delicious vegan dish that was satisfying and attractive.
According to The Mediterranean Dish, the website where I found this recipe, koshari is “an Egyptian comfort bowl of lentils, rice, chickpeas, with a special tomato sauce and savory crispy onions on top!” I think I made it even more comforting for me by adding in the leftover farro we had and putting the whole thing on a bed of kale. It is a glorious mixture of yummy legumes and rice laced with coriander and garlic with a spicy, acidic tomato sauce and fried onions.
The recipe has a lot of steps. Since we already had a rice/farro mixture made, we just reheated it and mixed in the lentils afterward. Our lentils cooked a bit too long so keep yours on the firmer side. I also think I will use diced tomatoes next time instead of tomato sauce for more texture. Also my onions which I used corn starch to coat instead of flour should have been sliced much thinner.
All in all, though, a hearty, delicious dish that I could not stop myself from having seconds.
Fusilli with mushrooms, zucchini, and broccoli over raw kale
We used up a bunch of vegetables from our crisper today with a delicious vegan pasta dish. In the time it took to bring our salted water to a boil and cook the pasta I sliced and quickly cooked all the vegetables in a little oil and pasta water. Start by cooking the mushrooms, then add the onions along with some salt, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Then I put in the garlic and broccoli stems. When the pasta was almost ready I added the zucchini and the broccoli florets. Drain the pasta saving a cup of pasta water and put the drained pasta into the vegetables. Stir around. Add the pasta water. Stir around so more and you are done. Serve the pasta on a bed of raw kale which will wilt nicely. I used some of our good olive oil to dress the top.
Oven-roasted Atlantic cod with parsley sauce, polenta, and zucchini
Every week I get emails with what is on sale at our local grocery stores. This week I saw that fresh Atlantic cod was $12.99/lb. (plus another 10% off for being an Amazon Prime member) at Whole Foods. Having lived on both the east and west coasts of the U.S., I think that Atlantic cod is a tastier fish than Pacific cod. So we changed our dinner plans to take advantage of the sale.
John oven-roasted the fish in a 400F oven for 14 minutes after a 30 minute marinade of lemon zest, herbs, and olive oil. It was perfect. I made a parsley sauce from lemon juice, salt, water, olive oil, and a bunch of parsley. I needed to use the blender for the sauce. (I mention this because I rarely use the blender since it is much more difficult to clean than my food processor.) I also sautéed the zucchini with onion and garlic in some olive oil and also a bit of water to steam it. The zucchini came out really delicious. John said it was the star of the dinner. Yay, me. 😊
Stir-fried broccoli and chicken with rice/farro combo over raw kale
The weather people assured me that the high temperature on Wednesday was supposed to be 73F. With very moderate temperatures for the day I felt that boiling a big pot of water to make fettuccini arrabbiata would not be a problem. However, as often happens the weather people were wrong and the high turned out to be 93F! So we switched gears and made a quick stir fry using rotisserie chicken, some broccoli and the leftover rice and farro from previous dinners. I like to add raw kale at the bottom of the bowl to make it seem like I am eating a giant bowl of food.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
Omnivore 