This week’s Breakfast for Dinner is similar to last week’s. I merely changed the form factor of the egg. Last week I topped the Taylor Farms Southwest Salad with a scrambled egg and this week I made an omelette and cut it into strips. I added some crumbled tortilla chips on top for a little extra crunch.
We were supposed to be having tofu bowls tonight but our avocado did not ripen fast enough. So I cast about the kitchen trying to devise a new dinner plan when John suggested turkey sausage. I had bought a couple of cans of sauerkraut and we always have beans on hand so it seemed like a plan.
Since it was getting hot in the house we cooked the sauerkraut and the sausage in the microwave. I cooked the beans in a small pot on the stovetop and mixed in a can of Rotel for some spice and cumin for that Southwest kind of flavor.
I dolled up my can of sauerkraut with onion and garlic powder, some chicken stock, a dash of sugar, and half of an apple cut into small chunks.
This might not have been the most glamorous dinner but it was quick and easy and tasted good besides.
The tofu bowl will make an appearance on Monday.
Pretty straightforward dinner tonight. John cooked the 4.5 ounce portion of tilapia (frozen from Costco) for 3-4 minutes per side in a little olive oil. I sautéed the broccoli in a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of butter. My rice mix is half riced cauliflower and half brown rice with quinoa. (The brown rice with quinoa is a microwaveable convenience product that cooks in one minute!)
What really made this dinner very good was the mustard sauce. I used a recipe for sauce grabiche but left out the egg, added some whole grain mustard, a little water, and cut down the olive oil by more than 2/3. The sauce is good on most things, asparagus, steamed new potatoes, turkey sausage, fish et al.
Here’s a super easy and very tasty chicken chili that John and I invented as we cooked last night. We still had some of our rotisserie chicken from Costco left over so I chopped up a breast and a thigh into bite sized pieces. John started off by sautéing half an onion and a poblano chile in a little oil and salt. Then he added in chopped garlic and cumin powder and stirred that around for a minute. I added in the cut up chicken, a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, and a 24 oz. jar of Walmart’s medium salsa verde. We cooked it all at a low simmer for about 15 minutes.
I put 2 ladlesful of the chili on one side of my bowl and added a combination of brown rice, quinoa, and riced cauliflower on the other. My dinner was garnished with cilantro, avocado, and a lime wedge. It was so good and filling that I forgot to make the salad that I was planning on! Plus, we have leftovers for lunch!!
When I first saw this recipe I thought yes, I would like to make clam chowder but no, I cannot use three cups of heavy cream! So I went about trying to lighten it up. First I jettisoned the guanciale, upped the potatoes a bit, and cut out the three cups of heavy cream. Sometimes I make it with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, sometimes with half and half, and last night I used a cup of lactose-free milk since I am lactose intolerant. John and our daughter had a pint of heavy cream to split between them in their own bowls. You can use however much your own personal taste and requirements allow. Using part of the potatoes as russet potatoes instead of all waxy potatoes gives it a creamier texture as well. In the recipe the soup is served over a big slab of bread. We opted for oyster crackers instead.
Here’s my recipe for lighter clam chowder.
Happy August! We are having some beautiful weather this week before it gets dreadfully hot this weekend. It was nice to sit outside while John grilled the burgers and enjoy the evening air redolent with the aroma from the grill.
I merely had to put together a salad and arrange the condiments. I enjoyed having a mostly work-free dinner. And the hamburgers were so delicious that I wished I had two!
John and I made this new recipe for polenta and black beans and it was super yummy! John made his creamy polenta and I was in charge of jazzing up the beans. Between the Serrano chile and the chipotle chili powder the final dish had quite a zing to it. I adapted the recipe to fit our profile of spice level and healthy eating and have included it below. If you want to make it for 4 just add another can of beans. For a vegan version use a sharp vegan cheese.
Sunday is Breakfast For Dinner day which merely means incorporate eggs into your dish. John always, always has a ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet and I have something different every week. Today’s BFD is a southwest salad topped with a scrambled egg.
This is a Taylor Farms salad kit (which was on sale at Lucky this week) with the addition of corn and shredded cheese which I topped with a scrambled egg. Since there was more salad than I could eat on my own I gave some to John. An omelet and a salad?! That is a major deviation for him!
As a rule I am not a big salad eater. I find them tedious to make. With these ones from Taylor Farms, salads are a breeze to make and I can add just a few finishing touches. They are pricey but eliminate a big stumbling block to my eating salad and are a great base for hot weather meals.
In Northern California August and September are the real dog days of summer. Surprisingly the first week of August is bringing us some very pleasant temperatures before it turns beastly hot next weekend. Since we messed up and did not get to make the polenta with beans last week, it is starting off on Monday. The clam chowder that it got too hot to make will make an appearance on Wednesday. Starting Saturday it looks like we will be in for hot weather dinners for the first half of next week.
Omnivore 