šŸ„¬ Not salad for lunch. 3/25/20

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Beebamom

I am not a big fan of salad. It is a pain in the neck to construct and then you have to make salad dressing to have it be palatable. I much prefer my salad in its heated version – vegetable stir fry. Yes, I still have to cut up vegetables plus I have to cook it but the end product of warm vegetables over some leftover rice is so much more filling to me. A spray of olive oil for the pan and seasoning with soy sauce and sriracha adds flavor not fat. My stir-fry for lunch today consists of onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery, cabbage, snow peas, and spinach. So healthy!

Vegetable stir-fry over rice

To make cooking quicker start cooking in your sprayed pan when you have the onions, mushrooms, and carrots cut. While they are cooking cut up and add the celery, cabbage, snow peas, and spinach in that order. Add some soy sauce and a bit of water to make some steam. When the spinach is wilted everything will be perfectly cooked. If you like it spicy drizzle sriracha on top at the end.

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šŸ„© Ribeye steak with mashed rutabagas and spinach. 3/23/20

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Beebamom

Today is our daughterā€™s birthday and we were supposed to be celebrating it in Bari, Italy. Instead she is upstairs having a digital Happy Hour with her friends. I am sorry for her and us but what can you do? John and I decided to celebrate her birth with a steak, mashed rutabagas, sort of creamed spinach, and a glass of red wine. Might as well make lemonade out of lemons!

John sous vide the steak first and then put it on the grill to sear it. I made the rutabagas in the Instant Pot. I cut it up in cubes and cooked it under high pressure for 12 minutes with a instant steam release. Rutabagas are so good and mash up like potatoes but with a better flavor and a fraction of the calories.They are full of potassium and vitamin C. The third component on our dish was supposed to be creamed spinach. I substituted 0% fat Greek yogurt and it broke immediately. Itā€™s not a pretty sight but it still tasted okay.

Ribeye steak with rutabagas and creamed (not) spinach

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šŸ§ø Comfort food weekly menu. 3/22 – 28/20

Posted on March 22, 2020 by Beebamom

Since I assume that everyone is sheltering-in-place by now (even though we have already been doing it for a week), I am proposing a week of comfort food. Ā This weekā€™s dinners are comprised of three vegetarian or vegan dishes, two shellfish, one red meat, and one chicken meal. All are familiar dinners weā€™ve had before with the exception of Makhani dal which is a lentil dish so I am sure it will be a winner as well! Be kind to yourself and eat things you like, practice social distancing, and stay well.

 

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šŸ„¬ Composed salad. 3/20/20

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Beebamom

In these harried days when no one is composed, make a composed salad out of leftovers and what you have in your fridge. Ā Starting with aĀ bed of romaine, I put some egg salad, corn and diced asparagus stems, edamame, new potatoes, and tomatoes on top. It was dressed with a low-fat vinaigrette. Ā Some of the components were warm and others at room temperature. I had made similar salads starring tuna salad or chickpea purĆ©e for lunch and I figured a slightly hardier one could work for dinner.

Dinner salad: romaine, egg salad, small potatoes, asparagus and corn succotash, tomatoes, and edamame

Lunch salad: chickpeas with juniper berries, spinach, pickles, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, pita

Posted in American, Easy, Eggs, leftovers, Legumes, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

šŸššŸŸ Shrimp in yellow curry with vegetables. 3/19/20

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Beebamom

We made Mark Bittmanā€™s shrimp in yellow curry but we made it lighter by substituting the cup of coconut milk with non-fat yogurt, two teaspoons of cream, and about 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract. I am sure using the coconut milk would have it made it more authentic but I saved a lot of calories by using yogurt. We served it over white rice and I cooked up some broccoli and carrots. There were no leftovers. You can find the recipe here.

Shrimp in yellow curry sauce with rice and mixed vegetables

Posted in Healthy tips, pescatarian, rice, Thai, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

šŸ„¬ Chipotle bean burger and collard greens. 3/18/20

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Beebamom

I cannot take any credit for the chipotle bean burgers since they are made by Morningstar and cooking them is just one minute on each side on high in the microwave. I served mine with a little barbecue sauce and John had his on a hamburger bun. The vegetable is a different story, though. Usually I make collard greens by toasting some garlic in a little oil and then sautĆ©ing the ribbons of collards with some corn. I often add a little sugar if they are particular bitter and a little vinegar for some acid. Ā Last night I cut strings of onions, sliced the garlic, and added carrot peelings to the mix. John also asked me to dice up the stems so I had to boil them in a little water first so they wouldnā€™t be hard. I added the little bit of sugar and vinegar and completely forgot the corn. The collards were really good and were the star of the plate.

Chipotle bean burger, BBQ sauce, collard greens with onions, garlic, and carrot

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šŸššŸŸ Scallops, new potatoes, snow peas. 3/17/20

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Beebamom

Happy St. Patrickā€™s Day! We are celebrating by having at least a portion of our dinner be green. My contribution to this dinner are the Irish snow peas and that Irish favorite, potatoes! I also am in charge of the tartar sauce which is a French sauce named after the peoples of the Eurasian steppe. So it is not Irish.

John does a super job getting a nice sear on the scallops. The whole dinner is delicious and a balm to our continued isolation. Sometimes you just need to treat yourself!

Seared scallops with sautƩed snow peas and steamed new potatoes

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šŸ‘ Lamb chops, asparagus, rice. 3/16/20

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Beebamom

In a departure from our usual fare, we have rib lamb chops that John sears in a pan on the cooktop and finishes in the oven. They had been in the freezer for over 6 months and it was time to use them. Ā I made some asparagus with a little rice and tarragon.

Lamb chop with asparagus and rice

We are currently in a shelter-in-place situation in the SF Bay Area. We are still okay to go to the grocery store and we are thinking of going out some time on Thursday to get supplies. People have been shopping weirdly. All the bags of potatoes were gone from our local market but most of the vegetables were available. Bread was hit pretty hard as well. We have plenty of beans, lentils, and pasta as well as canned goods here at home. Mostly we just need to replace fresh vegetables and fruit. Maybe more people will learn to cook these next three weeks. That would be a silver lining to this catastrophe.

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šŸ„¬ BFD. 3/15/20

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Beebamom

BreakfastĀ ForĀ Dinner, it is what we eat every Sunday night for dinner. John usually makes himself an omelet but I stick to soft scrambled eggs, a veggie breakfast patty, and toast. A special bonus today is that our daughter has made a freshly baked loaf of bread! Canā€™t think of what to make for dinner? Try BFD!

Soft scrambled eggs, veggie breakfast patty, and toast

 

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šŸ˜€. Weekly menu March 15 – 21, 2020

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Beebamom

Only seven meals on the menu this week. I found when I put on eight that I bought food for all eight and then ended up not eating some of the food I bought. However, I do give myself permission to go off menu it something is just not appealing to me.  I have two more meals from Italy, places that we would have gone to and eaten the food of the region if not for the coronavirus. Also, surprisingly, a meat meal. We have had these lamb chops in the freezer for six months and it is really time that we ate them. Hope my menu inspires you to think of what you will prepare this week. Stay home and cook!

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