LFD – Dal soup with additional veg. 2/20/21

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Beebamom

Dal soup with mushrooms, spinach, and cabbage

For Leftovers For Dinner I sautéed some mushrooms, cabbage, and kale stems and then added them to the split chickpeas and split pigeon peas stew. I added more broth to it to make it soupier. It seemed to be lacking acid and I also had leftover sauce from the adobo so I put some of that in as well. What ended up was an interesting and complex soup that we were able to stretch to two bowls a piece. Taking an already economical meal and adding probably less than $1 worth of ingredients to make a second meal makes me happy! Waste not, want not!

Posted in American, Easy, Filipino, Indian, Kitchen tips, leftovers, Leftovers For Dinner, Legumes, Mediterranean, soup, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Shrimp fajitas. 2/19/21

Posted on February 19, 2021 by Beebamom

Shrimp fajitas with spicy black beans

Shrimp are such versatile ingredients and lend themselves to many different cuisines. You could take an Italian route with shrimp scampi or a Chinese one with shrimp stir-fry. Tonight we decided to go Mexican with shrimp fajitas with corn tortillas and spicy black beans. Along with the requisite onions and peppers (red bell and poblano), I shredded some cabbage for extra volume. John sprinkled fajita seasoning on the vegetables and cooked them in a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. When the vegetables were cooked, he emptied the pan and cooked the seasoned shrimp. He charred the tortillas over an open flame. The spicy black beans were merely a combination of beans, salsa, cumin, garlic powder, and sriracha.

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Legumes, Mexican, pescatarian, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chana/Toor dal, kale, rice. 2/18/21

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Beebamom

Chana and Toor dal with white rice, and kale

Chana dal is dried split chickpeas and Toor dal is dried split pigeon peas. I make this in the Instant Pot where the Chana dal holds up structurally and the Toor dal breaks down giving the dish a creamy texture. Along with ginger, garlic, and spices I like to mix in a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles and some carrots. Plain water is added as the liquid component so the dish is entirely Vegan. Served over raw kale and steamed white rice it is a complete healthy, delicious dinner in a bowl.

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

Country winner, Philippines! Chicken adobo. 2/17/21

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Beebamom

Chicken adobo, broccoli and mushrooms, white rice/cauliflower rice mix

We had never made chicken adobo from our country with the most views last week, the Philippines. So I scouted around the internet for a recipe that looked doable and followed it closely. The results were so-so. The broth that the chicken braised in was great and was really tasty with the rice but it never really permeated the meat. Here is the recipe we used.

The braising liquid is a combination of water, soy sauce, vinegar, and pickling spices. It is a great combination hitting all your taste buds. So how to get that flavor into the chicken? Maybe marinate it for a while? Or vacuum seal it to force the liquid in and then sous vide it? Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs as stated in the recipe instead of bone-in, skin on chicken thighs as shown in the recipe’s picture? Or find a new recipe? We have saved the leftover braising liquid because we know it will be good on something!

I will report back when we find a solution to our problem.

Posted in Easy, Filipino, Kitchen tips, Poultry, rice, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sheet pan turkey sausage with vegetables. 2/16/21

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Beebamom

Turkey sausage with sheet pan cabbage, onions, B. sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, and green beans

I know I have been kind of going overboard with the sheet pan vegetables. The good thing is that roasting vegetables in the oven is such a delicious and easy way to make vegetables. We really did not feel the need for any kind of starch with this dinner. The great variety of vegetables was more than filling. John liked the cabbage best and would have voted for the Brussel sprouts except they ended up a little overcooked. Next time I will put them on the sheet pan for a shorter amount of time. I liked the onions best. Roasting really brings out their sweetness.

In the race for the country with the most views this week, India is way out in front. I will have to start thinking about a great Indian dish to make next week. I am already making Chana dal this week so I will have to try something new.

Posted in American, Easy, Poultry, Sheet pan, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Planned-overs for vaccine day. 2/15/21

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Beebamom

Penne with mushroom-tomato sauce

No doubt it seems like I love to cook every day of the week and that is mostly true. Sometimes, though, I need to plan for the times when I probably will not want to go to the trouble of making a fresh, home-cooked meal. For those occasions I use planned-overs.

On Monday John and I got our second vaccine shot. I had heard from various friends that the second shot is harder on you than the first. Sitting in my refrigerator was almost a whole portion of the mushroom Bolognese I made last week. Monday was the perfect time to use it. We changed it up a little by using pasta shapes instead of strands and I needed to loosen it up a bit with a can of petite diced tomatoes. Of course, we had to adjust the seasonings.

I think we spent about 15 minutes on this dinner and it turned out to be warm and comforting. How did our second shot go? It made both of us tired and I had a bout of chills. Our arms are a little sorer than they were the first time but on the whole, it was a piece of cake. I encourage everyone to protect yourselves by signing up for the vaccine as soon as you are eligible!

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

Valentine’s Day dinner. 2/14/21

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Beebamom

Roasted Chilean sea bass, new potatoes, and asparagus

Do you have to spend hours in the kitchen to make a delicious, special-occasion dinner? Not at all. I pre-heated the oven to 400F, sliced the potatoes in half, shook the potato halves with a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt in a plastic bag, dumped them out on a sheet tray that was lined with aluminum foil sprayed with olive oil spray, turned them cut-side down, and popped them in the oven with the timer set for 10 minutes.

When the timer went off John put the seasoned fish in the oven. I also gave the potato-treatment to the asparagus and put them in the oven on the same sheet pan as the potatoes for another ten minutes.

It turned out that the fish needed about three minutes more so I took out the vegetables and tented them with another sheet of aluminum foil to keep warm.

In less than 25 minutes of cooking time and with very few pans to clean we sat down to a delectable dinner. A squeeze of lemon was all that everything needed. So our dinner was not only special-occasion worthy but healthy as well.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Healthy tips, Holidays, Kitchen tips, pescatarian, Sheet pan, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. February 15 – February 21, 2021

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Beebamom

This week’s winner for most views of Dininglite.blog by a country is the Republic of the Philippines with almost 1500 hits. Egypt, which is not eligible yet to win again, came in second. Thailand also made a strong showing. In honor of their mistakenly finding my blog I will be making the Philippine dish, chicken adobo, on Wednesday.

This is also kind of weird week since I am getting the second shot of the vaccine on Monday and I have heard that I might not be feeling too excited about cooking dinner Monday night. I have scheduled a leftover night for Monday just in case.

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Breakfast For Dinner. 2/13/21

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Beebamom

Scrambled egg, sautéed kale and spinach with crumbled veg patty, cannellini beans with tomatoes, celery, and scallions

My BFD this week was packed with protein and vibrant colors. In addition to my usual scrambled egg, I prepared a cannellini bean salad and some wilted spinach and kale with a crumbled vegetarian patty. Although my whole dinner fit on a salad plate I was definitely satisfied after I finished my BFD!

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

Lunar New Year treats! 2/12/21

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Beebamom

In honor of the lunar new year I made some Vietnamese summer rolls and John cooked some pork potstickers. We served them both with nuoc cham, a dipping sauce. I am a little rusty with my summer roll technique so the rolls were not as tight as I would have liked. The rice paper is wrapped around sai fun noodles and julienned mushrooms, carrots, scallions, and ginger. Dipped in the sweet, sour, salty, spicy nuoc cham they are so delicious.

Following our potsticker appetizer John pan-fried and steamed some pork potstickers. These are available in the frozen foods section under the brand names of Ling Ling or Crazy Cuizine. These were yummy too! We had fun with our lunar new year finger foods and enjoyed reminiscing about our trips to China and Southeast Asia.

Potstickers and dipping sauce with cucumber, tomato, cilantro salad

My lo-cal nuoc cham recipe

1/3 cup water
1 packet sweetener
1 whole lime, juiced
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small hot chile, minced

Stir everything together. Decided whether it needs to be sweeter, saltier, spicier, or more acidic and adjust.

Posted in Chinese, Holidays, Pork, Recipes, Vegetables, Vietnamese | Tagged , | Leave a comment