Tilapia with mustard sauce, new potatoes, and broccoli 4/22/22

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Beebamom
Roasted talapia, steamed new potatoes and broccoli with mustard sauce

It is so nice to be cooking again! During our vacation I ate everything I could possibly want and it is great to get back to the clean, crisp flavors of my own kitchen. I have planned out the rest of this week with a vegan chickpea stew with ditalini and vegetables for Saturday and our usual BFD (Breakfast For Dinner) on Sunday. I even have next week’s menu ready and have been to the grocery store to re-stock.

Talapia gets a bum rap from the foodie community I think. It is an inexpensive, unobjectionable mild white fish which perks up with sauces or in a taco. John roasted it at 400F in the oven for about 12 minutes while I finished steaming the potatoes followed by the broccoli. The mustard sauce brought the whole plate together.

For the mustard sauce I mixed together a tablespoon each of Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, and light mayonnaise. (I like Maille brand mustards the best.) I thinned it out with a tablespoon or so of water. It goes well with the fish, the potatoes, and the broccoli!

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Recipes, Vegetables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Lentil soup with turkey sausage 4/21/22

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Beebamom
Lentil soup with carrots, celery, onions, and turkey sausage

We got back from vacation last night and I needed to find something fast and easy to make with the few things I had available. Let’s see, I have turkey sausage, a piece of an onion, some carrots, and some wilting celery. With the addition of some lentils and chicken stock I can make lentil soup!

On Friday I will figure out some meals for the rest of this week and go grocery shopping. It is time to get back into the swing of cooking and eating right!

Posted in Easy, Legumes, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Next post

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Beebamom

I have been unable to post while away due to a feeble internet connection. I will be back with a new post on Friday, April 22, 2022.

Spaghetti alle vongole, lightly sauced spaghetti with clams eaten at Blankenberge, Belgium overlooking the North Sea
Posted in Dining out, Italian, Pasta, pescatarian, Shellfish, Vacation cuisine | Leave a comment

Vegan Spring pasta. 4/5/22

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Beebamom
Fusilli with asparagus and mushrooms

Asparagus is coming down in price as its season is beginning. It is a great Spring addition to our usual pasta plus vegetable plus mushrooms dinner. The only other ingredients are garlic, onion, oregano, and pasta water. And salt, do not forget to salt the pasta water and the vegetables as you cook them.

This will be the last of my posts about our dinners for a couple of weeks while John and I take some time off for a vacation. I’ll be posting occasionally with ideas for dining lite while on holiday and different cuisines. Happy Spring!

Posted in Easy, Italian, Kitchen tips, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chana dal. 4/4/22

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Beebamom
Chana dal with rice and kale

We made this Chana dal last week and saved some extra portions for dinner today. Like many stews this one got even better having sat around for a few days. It is really nice to have a dinner where all you need to do is heat it up!

Posted in Easy, Indian, Instant Pot, Leftovers For Dinner, Legumes, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vegetarian Italian stir-fry with eggs. 4/3/22

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Beebamom
Italian stir-fry with eggs

Just by changing up the spices I turned my Asian vegetables and eggs to a dish with Italian flavors. On the base of my bowl I used raw kale then I stir-fried carrots, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, and cabbage in some olive oil with garlic powder and oregano. I also tossed in some chives from the backyard because I was too lazy to cut up and onion. To go on top I scrambled two eggs in a separate pan.

I think I like the Asian flavoring better but this was an interesting twist to Breakfast For Dinner that was getting a bit too predictable!

Posted in Easy, Eggs, Italian, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | 1 Comment

A sandwich and soup. 4/2/22

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Beebamom
Vegetarian banh mi

Our son came over today to play tennis with John and afterwards we picked up banh mi from Lee’s Sandwiches which is a Vietnamese chain here in California. I love banh mi with its delicate crunchy roll and its pickled vegetables and it’s my favorite choice when we get take-out. I ate the whole sandwich so it put constraints on the rest of my eating day.

For dinner I had the soup I made a few days ago and have been eating for lunch. It is a vegetable soup with some chicken added. Every day I take a portion of it and add a little more chicken and chicken stock plus some fresh vegetables. Today’s freshening included celery, broccoli, and cabbage. With the cabbage addition, a little vinegar seemed like a good idea. It gave the soup a nice tang. I had enough for two bowls and enjoyed it immensely.

Vegetable soup with chicken
Posted in American, Easy, Lunch, Poultry, soup, Vegetarian, Vietnamese | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Vegan! Split chickpea stew with rice and kale 4/1/22

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Beebamom
Split chickpea stew (Chana dal) with cauliflower rice and kale

We go back and forth about which of our dal dishes we like better, Afghani dal or Chana dal. I think our favorite is whatever we are currently eating! It is amazing how much flavor you can build with just a few pantry spices, ginger, garlic, dried split chickpeas, a couple of cans of tomatoes, and water.

We make this dish in our Instant Pot. It cooks under pressure for 15 minutes and then we let it cool down naturally for 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the steam. To serve I put a layer of shredded kale in the bottom of the bowl followed by rice. I used cauliflower rice and John had regular white rice. The Chana dal goes on top. I like a little sriracha as a garnish.

Mmm, so good! And since we made a triple recipe there is plenty left over for dinner on Monday!!

Here is a link to a good basic recipe for Chana dal using an Instant Pot. https://pipingpotcurry.com/instant-pot-chana-dal/#recipe

Posted in Easy, Indian, Instant Pot, Legumes, Recipes, rice, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scallops, new potatoes, sprouts 3/31/22

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Beebamom
Seared scallops and sheet pan new potatoes and B. sprouts

This is the second of our special occasion for no reason dinners this week. And much like our pasta dinner on Wednesday it was delicious, quick to make, and easy (but, alas, not inexpensive.) Since the scallops take almost no time at all to cook, I started the vegetables in a 425F oven first. I split both the potatoes and the Brussels sprouts in half, tossed them with some EVOO and salt in a plastic ziplock bag, and laid them cut side up on an aluminum foil lined sheet pan. They took about 20 minutes. John was busy searing the scallops for the last 5 minutes.

Our dinner ready to be plated

I opened a bottle of Wente Chardonnay to accompany our dinner. It is lovely to treat yourself like a guest with a special dinner and a glass of wine!

Posted in American, Easy, Methods, pescatarian, Sheet pan, Shellfish, Special occasion, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fusilli with broccolini and mushrooms. 3/30/22

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Beebamom
Fusilli with broccolini and mushrooms

I suggested to John last night that maybe we should have pasta with vegetables twice a week. It is delicious, quick, inexpensive, and easy. Plus it’s vegan! Really how many dinners can check all those boxes!

So I chopped up the mushrooms and got them going in a pan with dried oregano, chile flakes, and two teaspoons of olive oil. Next I chopped the onion while the mushrooms cooked. John minced some garlic. (Thanks, John!) Then he boiled the salted water while I chopped the broccolini stems and threw them in with the mushrooms et al. I added a little pasta water to help the stems along. John gave me a cup of the pasta water to use for sauce and he dumped in the cooked, drained pasta and I added the florets. Stir, stir, over heat, add some pasta water. Voila, we are done. Our kitchen pas de deux took maybe 20 minutes.

Posted in Easy, Italian, Methods, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment