🥬 White beans in broth over toast. 2/20/20

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Beebamom

Note: please excuse prior title-only post. I hit the publish key by accident.

This is a great, easy vegan or vegetarian supper. For a vegan version swap in some white miso paste for the parmesan rinds.

I hope everyone is saving their Parmesan rinds because the rinds cooked in the broth give this dish such a great flavor. Just store them in the freezer. I use three small pieces of rind in my broth.

White beans in broth over toast

My version of this dish is based on a recipe by Tejal Rao writing for The NY Times. That recipe is way more complicated than mine since it includes dried beans instead of cannellini beans out of a can.

First saute 1/2 cup of chopped onions and 2 minced garlic cloves in a teaspoon of oil. When the onion is translucent, add 4 cups of vegetable stock and three small pieces of parmesan rind (about 1.5” x 1.5”). Simmer for half an hour. Add one can of cannellini beans, liquid and all. Continue to simmer until the beans are warmed through. Before serving remove the parmesan rinds and add chopped parsley and oregano to the broth. Place a toasted piece of bread that has been scraped with the garlic clove in your soup bowl. Pour the broth and beans over it. Finish with additional herbs, grated parmesan cheese, and your good olive oil. Enjoy!

 

 

Posted in American, Easy, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

🥬 Instant Pot Chana Dal (split chickpea stew) 2/19/20

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Beebamom

Boy, is this delicious! And quick and easy! Here is the simple recipe to follow https://pipingpotcurry.com/instant-pot-chana-dal/#wprm-recipe-container-6238  Thanks pipingpotcurry.com!

Chana dal with rice and broccoli

My changes are to skip the Asafoetida because I do not have any and to cook the Chana dal a little longer (14 minutes) and do a release of residual steam after 10 minutes of cool down. This time, after opening my instant pot, I put in the broccoli and then put the lid on so that the broccoli could cook in the remaining steam heat. I saved washing another pot this way!

Even though I have vowed not to take seconds at dinner, I cannot help myself and go back for an additional ladleful! Try this super vegan Indian inspired dish!

(I found split chickpeas at my local Neighborhood WalMart Grocery Store in the international foods section.)

 

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

🐟 Restaurant quality dinner at home. 2/18/20

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Beebamom

Tonight we prepare a dinner as good as any you might get in a restaurant and one that you would have to probably pay $30 a person for. But with $17 for the fish and $3 for the vegetables, we save ourselves $40.

Chilean sea bass on a bed of collards and corn with seared tomatoes and aioli

I admit that the tomatoes get away from me and burn a bit while I am looking for the corn in the freezer but otherwise everything else is spot on. John cooks the fish in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes, I sauté the collards and corn, make aioli, and scorch the tomatoes. It is a really delicious dinner.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, pescatarian, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

🥬 Vegetable soup with beans. 2/17/20

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Beebamom

We are supposed to have fish tonight. We went to Whole Foods today to buy it (on sale) so it would be as fresh as possible. Then I am reaching into the refrigerator and notice that the light inside is not working. I go tell John and in doing so notice that the clock is not working. Uh oh, a power outage. Our power is not supposed to come back on until either 8 PM or 3 AM. We make some popcorn. You know you can actually pop microwave popcorn in a pot on the stove? Anyway, as the sun goes down completely, any idea of fish is gone.

So at some point the electricity comes back on sooner than 8 PM and it is time to make something quick for dinner. I cut up some onions and garlic and John sautes them. Then I add carrots, celery, and potatoes plus some tomatoes that need using. We add pinto beans and vegetable stock. Cook the whole thing for about 15 minutes and then add some spinach. When it is wilted, it is time to eat.

Vegetable soup with beans, potatoes, and spinach

Our emergency dinner turns out to be quite tasty, quick and easy to make, and it is a very healthy choice as well. Fish tomorrow night!

Posted in American, Easy, Legumes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

🥚 Breakfast for dinner. 2/16/20

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Beebamom

John and I always have breakfast for dinner on Sunday. On our healthy-eating diet plan our weigh-in day is Monday. So we want to keep it light on Sunday night. John made a couple of sunny-side up eggs and toast for his dinner. I made an omelet with green onions and garlic, an English muffin, and a Morningstar breakfast patty. These vegetarian patties taste really good to me and having 2 eggs, the breakfast patty, and an English muffin seems like an extravagance on a light eating night.

Breakfast for dinner

P.S. I gained 1 lb. on my little vacation last week. I consider that a success. John lost weight.

Posted in American, Easy, Eggs, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu February 16-22, 2020

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Beebamom

Here are eight ideas for dinner this week—four vegetarian/vegan, three seafood, and one chicken.  They are in no particular order except BFD (breakfast for dinner) which we always eat on Sunday night. I am trying a new dish, chickpea stew with coconut and turmeric. I will need to make major adjustments to the recipe to make it fit into my healthy lifestyle eating plan. We will see how it turns out.

Posted in Weekly menu | Leave a comment

🦃 Lentil soup with turkey sausage. 2/15/20

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Beebamom

I’m back from our little road trip to Portland, OR and so happy to return in my kitchen. While away I tried to eat some things that I don’t make at home. I had pho twice and even found a place to try the veggie combo Ethiopian style. I feel excited to try some new things.

However, the food landscape at our house was looking pretty bleak when it comes to making dinner last night. I resolved to use as many vegetables as I could that were looking mighty sad in the refrigerator. With me chopping and John sautéing we were ready for dinner in no time.

The lentils in the soup are bolstered by chicken stock and turkey sausage. To make it filling I used carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, green onions, jalapeño, leaf lettuce, and parsley. The jalapeño kind of took over the flavor but John likes spicy stuff so it worked out.

Colorful and healthful lentil soup with turkey sausage

 

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

🐟🐓 Trying to lose weight while vacationing? 2/12/20

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Beebamom

If you are trying to lose weight while vacationing, you probably should not be vacationing. What I always aim for is to try not to gain weight. This goal is doable if you are aware of what your choices will be ahead of time and make the best choice. These days we have an advantage since most menus are on line. You will still get sabotaged sometimes but you will not be total undermined.

I have lost 27 pounds since I started on my weight loss campaign in mid-September. During that time I have been on a two week cruise, had my sister come for a week’s visit, spent five days with my best friend in San Antonio, and celebrated Christmas and my birthday. So I am pretty pleased with myself.

John and I are on a little road trip currently. Here are a couple of good choices I have made.

A bowl of chicken pho. I found a Vietnamese restaurant in Albany, OR on Yelp while riding along in the car.

Seafood is usually a good choice. All I had to do is not eat all of the giant pile of rice! (And try to avoid the sauce)

Granted this is a fried dish but it is lightly breaded razor clams, a delicacy that you can only get during their short season. Also green beans, and the potatoes that I only ate part of.

Posted in Dining out, Healthy tips | Leave a comment

🍤 Shrimp, rice, and broccoli with oyster sauce. 2/7/20

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Beebamom

Friday was my last cooked meal for the week. On Saturday we are going out to dinner to celebrate our son’s birthday and on Sunday is our usual, “breakfast for dinner.” Next week John and I are going on a little road trip up to the Pacific Northwest—Portland, Oregon to be exact. I will try to post a couple of dinners. I am hoping for razor clams!

But back to Friday and we had some sautéed shrimp, rice, and broccoli. I made the oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a pinch of sugar concoction that I made for the bok choy a week or so ago.  It went well with the rice and broccoli and even the shrimp!

Shrimp, rice, and broccoli with an oyster/soy sauce

Posted in American, Easy, rice, Shellfish, Vegetables | Leave a comment

🐓 Chicken cacciatore. 2/6/20

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Beebamom

Chicken cacciatore means chicken “hunter style.” The chicken is usually braised with onions, herbs, tomatoes, and bell peppers. The other day I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco so the chicken part was already cooked and we just heated it up in the oven slowly so it would not dry out.  While that was going on I made the “hunter” sauce. Because I wanted to make the dish more filling i.e., more vegetables, less meat, I used pearl onions (frozen), peppedew peppers, garlic, fennel, bell pepper, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, fresh oregano, and chicken stock. The whole thing bubbled together for about fifteen minutes. I served this with a little rice and the warmed chicken breast. Even though I pared down the calories, it was still very good.

Note: Sometimes you can find peppedew peppers in a store’s salad bar. They add a sweet, pickled flavor to the dish.

Chicken cacciatore served over rice

 

Posted in Easy, Italian, Poultry, rice, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment