Summer Tartar Sauce and vegetarian fish sandwiches

My husband and I both came home from work exhausted so we made Gardein Fishless filets into sandwiches on Archer Farms take-and-bake baguettes with lettuce, cucumbers and homemade tartar sauce. I also added harissa to mine.

And I updated my tartar sauce recipe to be a tad lower fat, but just as tasty:

Mix, chill & serve...

• almost 3 tablespoons Hellman's light mayo

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• almost 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons Bolthouse Farms cilantro avocado yogurt dressing

• a teaspoon and a half fresh chives

• 2 dill pickle spears, diced very fine

My first attempt at lentils/dal

I noticed a five pound bag of jasmine rice on clearance at Target last week. After my discounts, I would end up paying $1 per pound for this delightful rice. Could not resist. 

Then on another visit, I passed the dried beans. They were on cartwheel and chickpeas were on clearance. So I bought black beans, four bags of chick peas and a bag of lentils.

My friends from India had fed me dal and this was one of my only experiences with lentils. I decided to be brave. I decided to be adventurous. 

Tonight I made lentils.

And my fancy rice.

I served with a mini Lebanese pita because I didn't have naan.

Delightful. But I have a mountain of rice, lentils and my dal veggie mix left.

I started one cup rice in the steamer.

I boiled four cups water as instructed by the bag of lentils. Tossed one cup lentils into water, turned heat down, covered them and forgot them for 15-20 minutes. 

In my huge Le Creuset skillet, I dumped:

- one can garbanzo beans

- about 1 cup butternut squash

- one steam-in-bag Market pantry frozen cauliflower (four servings), chopped

- peas, about three servings

I periodically added water to keep everything wet and make a sauce. To give the sauce some texture I added:

- 4 ounces coconut water/lemonade

- 1/2 cup skim milk

(The milk added nothing. Leave it out and make this dish vegan!)

Once that got cooking I started adding my spices. I just tossed stuff in the pan, so measurements are VERY approximate:

- one tablespoon fresh chives, diced

- one tablespoon crystallized ginger, diced very fine

- two teaspoons ground ginger 

- almost one tablespoon garlic powder 

- one tablespoon plus curry powder

- about 1/8 teaspoon hot Indian chili powder

- two teaspoons cumin

- two teaspoons paprika

- two teaspoons cardamom 

Once that got saucy and delicious I plopped about 2/3 of my cooked lentils into it (the rest wouldn't fit) and voilà!

Sweet potato chili

Preliminary tastes have suggested this will be a blend of sweet and spicy.

- About 1/2 large can peeled italian plum tomatoes mashed

- garlic powder

- cumin

- tons of chili powder

- paprika

- about 1/4 cup lemon juice

Bring to boil

Add

- 40 ounces sweet potatoes in syrup, mashed

- about one cup no salt white great northern beans

- two 15.5 ounce cans reduced sodium black beans

Simmer until dinner

Egg and pepper sandwiches

I'm not a big fan of green peppers. I neither like nor dislike them, but every once in a while I get really hungry for egg and pepper sandwiches.

It's far from a culinary triumph but it hit the spot and fulfilled the craving.

It started as one large green pepper, four eggs, and some buns. We had a mismatch of buns. Two kaiser and a potato hot dog bun. Child requested the hot dog bun.

We sliced the peppers into long slivers and fried them over low heat in olive oil & butter. I sprinkled them generously with garlic pepper.

Once the peppers changed to a more mellow color and softened, I jacked up the heat and added the scrambled four egg mixture (I had added about 1/4 cup water to it). 

And that is it. 

So good I want another.

Pinwheel FAIL

I had this idea to make pinwheel style items for dinner. Turns out we totally didn't have the right kind of ingredients.

So I rolled up some cheddar cheese, corn salsa, regular salsa, black olives and ranch dressing in a tortilla shell. These were my daughter's favorite.

I cooked fresh broccoli and added it to ranch dressing and tomato in a second one and that became too thick to roll so it became a quesadilla. This was my favorite.

The final one was broccoli, cheddar and American cheese. Again, too thick too roll. Became a quesadilla. This was husband's favorite.

Baked at 350 for ten minutes.

The broccoli tomato blend is in the foreground. 

Yummy but not pinwheels. If only I had a soft cheese...

Vegetarian Mexican night

I made burrito-y things with a vegetarian filling. Homemade guacamole, a mix of farm fresh corn, garden grown green pepper, black beans, sour cream and salsa. 

My guac today was a small batch as I only bought one avocado (what was I thinking???). 

- one avocado

- one small tomato from my garden chopped

- splash lemon juice

- sprinkle of garlic powder

- hearty shake of chili powder

- slight shake of cumin

Stir, chill.

The filling:

- one green pepper diced

- three cobs corn, corn removed

- 1/2 teaspoon four color peppercorn medley

Cook in saucepan for about 10 minutes on low, with just a pinch of cooking fat.

Add one can black beans. (Mine are reduced sodium and well-rinsed. Normally I make my own from scratch and freeze them but haven't got around to it lately.)

 Shake of chili powder. Increase heat to medium, stir and heat until good and warm.

Mediterranean veggie burgers

In my quest to get myself moving more, we met our friend Ally at the park for a one mile plus walk. Since the walk occurred at one of our favorite local parks, child and I stopped at Wawa and bought apples with peanut butter and cut watermelon for a picnic breakfast.

Lunch today is Morningstar Mediterranean style veggie burger with lots of lettuce, salsa and Goddess dressing in a wrap. I also put srirancha sauce on mine. Washed down with home brewed unsweetened sun tea.

Maybe kale burgers

I was reminded today that I have poor luck in the kitchen when the recipe calls for transforming beans into patties.

Falafel. Vegetarian burgers.

Always end up as too wet hash. And yes, I realize this means I should add more dry ingredients but who wants to turn the resulting item into mostly rice or breadcrumbs?

I attempted a variation of Thug Kitchen's Spinach Kidney Bean Sliders.

Mine were a mix of kale, white beans and kidney beans. They are in the oven now. They felt too wet at the get-go. Big shock.

In the food processor, combine:

- one can kidney beans, liquid drained and beans rinsed

- one can great northern (white) beans, liquid drained and beans rinsed

- 3 cups raw kale, chopped

- 1/2 cup crumbs (my homemade breadcrumbs often includes the ends of bags of crackers, pretzels, etc)

- 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, sticky and cold

Add seasonings, I used:

- a splash of soy sauce

- a big glob of Annie's Goddess dressing

- about 1 tablespoon oregano

- about 1 tablespoon zaatar spice/sesame seed

- generous garlic powder

- some paprika

- some cumin

Form patties and bake at 350, at least 15 minutes each side.

Okay... These are really ugly patties but I tasted them and they are really good...

My efforts to dry them out via slow cooking left some bites too crispy, but I layered these patties on a toasted hot dog bun, with kale and habanero salsa just like my "ultimate" sandwich last night. Then I threw on some Alexa multigrain onion rings.

Scrumptious!

The Ultimate After Work Sandwich

I got home from work at 10 pm today and I didn't think I was hungry (having not eaten dinner) but at 10:30 it became clear that I was.

One thing led to another and before you know it I had made this truly, truly beautiful sandwich.

INGREDIENTS (per sandwich):

- one Morningstar chickpea pattie

- chopped raw kale (a double to triple layer) 

- a hot dog bun

- a couple tablespoons of grated Parmesan

- a couple heaping tablespoons Archer Farms fire roasted habanero salsa

I toasted the hot dog bun under a high broiler, added the cheese to both sides and returned it to the oven.

Then I heated the chick pea pattie in the microwave.

I took the hot dog bun out of the oven. Cutting the chick pea pattie into strips, I arranged them on one side of the bun and the kale layered on the other. On top of the kale I plopped the salsa and then I plopped the two halves together.

This will be repeated for dinner for the family sometime soon.

Heaven.

Cheesy flatbreads

We have a lack of bread products: no snack crackers, no bread, no buns, no biscuits, or no tortilla shells.

What we have are Wasa crackerbreads.

So I used those to make a hot flatbread. 

I used six total crackerbreads so each person had two like in the photo. I spread cream cheese on each one and sprinkled the cream cheese with garlic powder, fresh ground four color pepper, and Italian herb seasoning.

I prepared two Morningstar burgers. One spicy black bean and one Mediterranean chick pea. I crumbled them and spread them evenly among the crackers. 

Then I heated them about 5 minutes at 350. I switched the heat to broil when I got them out. I topped each one with half a slice of American cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Return to the oven until melty.

Buffalo broccoli pizza

Yesterday I bought Archer Farms buffalo pizza sauce for $1.47 a jar, normally $3.29.

I made a mixed flour pizza crust (rye, sourgum flour, wheat, flax, white corn meal and coconut flour). Then topped with broccoli and about six different cheeses in addition to the sauce.

I enjoyed it.

Burrito bar

Dinner tonight was make-your-own-burrito with the following ingredients:

- tortilla
- Fresh Express iceberg garden salad
- homemade corn salsa, the last from my summer canning season
- black beans
- Morningstar black bean burger, crumbled
- green giant cheesy rice with broccoli, which I seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder, fresh ground black pepper and cumin

Crazy Food

I love food. This is a phenomenon that occurred during my transition to adult life. I was a picky eater as a child and grew up on junk food.

I'm known now as the nutrition Nazi mom
who packs weird snacks and lunches. I'm the one who loves to cook and loves to grocery shop.

I love vegan cooking. I love gluten free cooking. I love cooking with local ingredients. I love harvesting my gardening. I love canning.

And Oh My Goodness! I can't wait to open that last can of spiced apples I made from local apples.

But I also love Doritos, Girl Scout Cookies and brownies. I have a soft spot for froo-froo coffee drinks. And I love a good cheesesteak or a hot baguette with butter and jam.

My point is: food is personal. Food is individual. Every family has a different relationship with food. Every body has different responses to food.

So, whatever you eat: savor it.
Whatever you eat: eat it with loved ones.

And every once in a while have ice cream for dinner or a crazy concoction like this (delicious by the way):
- 2 eggs, fried in coconut oil
- one tortilla shell
- horseradish sauce
- lots of raspberry salsa
- 2 jalapeño poppers

And maybe someday, I'll feed the world.

Hot breakfast

We took some coconut flour corn muffins from earlier this week out of the freezer. We served them with homemade apple butter, vegetarian sausage and sweet potatoes.

A lot of color to start today!

Squash and couscous

Today was a use-up-leftovers and play with the children kind of day.

So I heated up some Archer Farm Steam-in-bag sweet potatoes in maple-butter sauce that I got on clearance for $1.38 (before my discount). In the skillet, I mixed this, cubes of butternut squash and shredded vegetarian sausage (Morningstar breakfast patties-- 2 for the three of us).

Put everything over couscous and serve.

Zippy Egg Wrap

In a tortilla shell:
- one egg fried in coconut oil
- half a spicy black bean burger from Morningstar
- home canned salsa

Cute lunch

Another variation of my salad wrap:

- small tortilla shell
- Italian salad green blend from wegmans
- Bulgarian feta
- olives
(No dressing)

And a homemade strawberry soda:
- strawberry syrup imported from Beirut
- carbonated tap water via my SodaStream

Child makes ravioli

Child made ravioli tonight. Her father needs to be the instructor chef because he claims I don't let the water boil well enough.

Spinach ravioli in red sauce.

Sausage and apple vegetarian waffles

I promised my family a pancake breakfast. I told the family they could pick the variety. They picked waffles. My husband suggested the funky French sausage waffles. When I started to gather the ingredients, I noticed something horrible.

We had one tablespoon of butter in the house.

HOW COULD SUCH A CATASTROPHE OCCUR?

So, we walked to Bottom Dollar and bought 4 pounds of butter at $2.09 a pound.

The waffle recipe is based on this:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/03/apple-sausage-waffles.html?m=1

But since there is a universal law that I cannot make the same meal twice, here is the new version.

Keep in mind this is based on a French gaufre recipe and I think gaufre might be French for "dripping with butter."


- 1 egg
- 1 single serving applesauce
- parsley
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup oats
- 1-2 cup diced apple
- 3 Morningstar vegetarian breakfast patties, broken into tiny pieces
- 1-2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar

I think that's everything.

Mixed hot lunch

Used the leftover baked beans to make a hot lunch for my daughter and I. Mixed in one vegetarian hot dog and crumbled in a vegetarian breakfast/sausage patty. Side of unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon and drink of decaf chai tea-- hot with local raw honey for little miss and iced for me.