Chicken korma, omelette, roasted cauliflower and farro salad, one pan roasted kielbasa and cabbage, Mediterranean hummus bowls and thai chicken curry
Like everyone else in Canada, we are sticking close to home these days due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. With all of the news and social media stories swirling around, it's easy to get caught up in anxiety. Honestly, at times, cooking is kind of the last thing I'm thinking about. However, we still have to eat, and thankfully our fridge and cupboards were already well-stocked, so the cooking (and meal planning) continues.
I liked all of the meals I served this week, but the one I liked best was the Roasted Cauliflower and Farro Salad with Feta and Avocado. My second favourite was the Mediterranean Hummus Bowl. I admit, there may be a bit of a theme happening with the Greek flavours, but what can I say? I am a fan. Plus, I think the more veggies we eat right now, the better!
Several bloggers I follow (and a few publications) have rounded up their best recipes and ideas for using pantry, fridge and freezer staples and I thought I'd share. Obviously, everyone's idea of a "staple" could be quite different, but if you're stuck for ideas, hopefully, you can find something you can make from their lists. And don't forget, if you don't have the exact ingredients, you can always substitute something you do have, maybe with even better results. There are some great and simple ideas here, like Easy Black Bean Soup from Two Peas and Their Pod and Lentil Salad from Love and Lemons. If you can't find meat at your local store or don't have any on hand, there are lots of options for meatless meals. Canned salmon, ham or tuna can also be used in some of these recipes.
Washington Post - a roundup of readers' ideas
GoodCheapEats - a bit of a "how to" guide to making the most of your pantry, fridge and freezer staples
That Clean Life (check out #6. Corn & White Bean Gazpacho - only 3 ingredients!)
Gimme Some Oven Ali's Can't-Believe-It's-Vegetarian-Chili is one of my faves!
Some of our family's favourites include Chinese Fried Rice (so easy to adapt - bean sprouts are not required, and you can use almost any leftover meat or seafood), Carrot Soup, Tomato Bean Soup with Cheese and homemade pizzas using any bread and toppings you have on hand. When I was a kid, my parents were really into "health food". No nitrate-laden hot dogs or Kraft dinner at our house! I remember eating a "pizza" that was some sort of bread or bun topped with ketchup, a chicken hot dog (I am not a fan!) and some cheese, toasted in the oven until the cheese melted. I wouldn't touch one of those now, but it did help me "think outside of the box" when it comes to pizza! And don't forget about all the fabulous chilis and stews you can make with beans and lentils.
On the menu March 15 - 21, 2020:
Sunday Slow Cooker Chicken Korma with basmati rice, cauliflower and Naan bread
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've kind of been craving Indian food lately. And just like the last time I made this, I used some additional Garam Masala (about 2 teaspoons), four teaspoons of honey and blended the raisins and toasted almonds into the sauce using my food processor. This is just as good as takeout in my opinion (maybe even better!) I totally love it!
Monday 15 Mins Veggie Omelette
I also love having breakfast for dinner, and omelettes are one of my favourite ways to eat eggs. They are another great way to use up different veggies and cheeses that you might have in your fridge. I love a combination of green onions, mushrooms, spinach and halved cherry tomatoes. Throw in a little bacon or ham if you have it, and top with goat cheese (or whatever you feel like). Mmmm! A friend recently mentioned that she likes to freeze those cartons of egg whites that you can buy and that they make great omelettes - just another option if you can't find fresh eggs.
Tuesday Leftovers / takeout / frozen pizza
We enjoyed the roasted cauliflower in last week's Roasted Cauliflower Taco Bowl so much, I decided to serve it again this week. I've been noticing farro at Loblaws stores lately, so I picked some up a couple of weeks ago. This recipe seemed like a good one to try it in. It did not disappoint. If you haven't tried farro yet, I highly recommend you do. (This fun and timely blog post all about cooking farro from Ali at Gimme Some Oven showed up in my inbox today - check it out!) I used arugula for the greens (we really like it right now), and I also added in some extra veggies like halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumbers, and diced red pepper. I'm not sure we would have loved this salad quite so much without those, but it was totally delicious with them. The garlicky farro was a little bit crunchy, the veggies were refreshing and I was a big fan of the salty feta. I forgot to top it off with the sliced avocado for the pic, but it added the perfect finishing touch. My mom and son agreed!
Somehow I always think of Kielbasa as more of a snack food than a dinner staple, but after tasting this meal, I need to change my mindset. Kielbasa has a longer shelf life than some other meats (and admittedly more salt and nitrates!), but I like that you can buy it made with turkey and therefore less fat. We have it occasionally, and it is tasty. I had some baby red potatoes on hand after finding them on sale a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I should have used them before now since some of them didn't survive. Is there anything that smells worse than bad potatoes? Happily, I had just enough for this meal. Looking ahead, I plan to make one of favourite cabbage meals with turkey sausage to use up the other half of the cabbage. This dish was easy to prepare and we liked it a lot. The mustard vinaigrette was very tasty on the potatoes and cabbage. Note: the Kielbasa does get quite dark but it wasn't overcooked at all.
Friday Mediterranean Hummus Bowls
We enjoyed this, although my son called it "the most underwhelming bowl" I've served to date. Some bottled Greek dressing seemed to help, and he later said it was very good. (He had also had a snack super close to dinner which might have affected his appetite just a little!) Everyone else thought these bowls were really tasty and a great and different way to serve ground beef. Mixing everything together so that the hummus dressed it all was the trick, I think. The spices added to the ground beef are very mild, so you could amp those up to taste. We find that Trick's Creek Farm grass-fed organic ground beef doesn't require much spice since it's so good all on its own.
Saturday Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Curry with rice
We enjoyed this and it used pretty basic ingredients that I had on hand, although I think the Thai Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables from "Yum and Yummer" is still my favourite. This was an easy recipe to make, and if you're worried that the peanut butter will be too strong, don't be. It's barely noticeable. I finally used up the last of my red curry paste and the lone lime in my fridge which made me happy. I happened to have some lemongrass in the freezer (who knew you could freeze it?), but you can make this recipe without it. I cooked some extra rice last night so that saved me some time today. Gotta love that on a busy Saturday.
I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!
#quickandeasymeals #weeknightmeals #mealplanning #eatmoreveggies #alltheveggies #cookingclassy #budgetbytes #pantrycooking #trickscreekfarm
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