Friday, October 09, 2009

Weekly Menu #2 - Heather

To date, the menus have been published on Monday, unfortunately we do our shopping on Friday, so we're a week behind. It's interesting to see someone else's weekly food ideas. Amazing how much different we all are. Notice there's not an ounce of meat in this menu.

Vegetable Soup and Buttermilk Biscuits (Since we're a week behind and it's Friday, we'll probably skip this one. We already have some leftover Chicken vegetable soup in the fridge)

Vegetable Soup
Didn't make this recipe. I am trying to eat 40% of my calories from protein. Alas, no protein in sight.
7c water
4c canned tomatoes- pureed
4 beef boullion cubes
1 chopped onion
sliced carrots
diced potatoes (or you can use pasta noodles)
1 can drained green beans
1 T salt (or less to taste)
2 Bay leaves
1/2 t sweet basil leaves
1/4t dill seed (optional)
1/4 t pepper

Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are done


Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) very cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients
Preheat an oven to 400°F.
In a bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Make and shape the dough
Scatter the butter over the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or 2 table knives. The mixture is ready when it
looks like coarse crumbs with small pieces of butter still visible.
Add the buttermilk and stir gently with the wooden spoon until the mixture starts to clump together.
Sprinkle a work surface with some flour. Dump the shaggy dough onto it and gently press it into a rough, thick oval.
Cut a round out of the dough with a biscuit cutter. Lift the cutter and set the biscuit on a baking sheet. Repeat, cutting as close as possible to the previous shape and spacing the biscuits about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Gather up the scraps, gently press together and cut out more biscuits.
Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the biscuits are puffed and brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven, set it on a wire cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 large biscuits.

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Chinese Spaghetti...salad with Sweet and Sour Drsg...baked sweet potato
(I made this tonight, skipping the baked sweet potato. Noodles and potato in one sitting is too much starch for me. It was quite tasty and the lentils were definitely unexpected in this dish.)

Chinese Spaghetti

1 cup lentils, uncooked
3 cups water
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 t fresh ginger-root, peeled and grated
1/2 pound Udon noodles
1 T sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 bunches scallions, chopped (including green tops)

Wash, rinse, and pick through lentils. Cook in water 30min. In a small jar mix tamari, honey, vinegar, and ginger. Shake well and set aside.
Cook Udon noodles and drain. Heat a large skillet and add sesame oil. Saute' garlic and carrot, bell pepper and scallions, cooking just long enough for scallions to begin softening. Add cooked lentils to the sweet/sour mixture, simmering together for about 3-5 min. Add the cooked Udon, simmering until just heated through.

Sweet and Sour Dressing

1/2 cup tamari
1/4 cup water
2 T sesame oil
one 8 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
1 T fresh ginger-root, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

Spin in blender about 10 sec. Great at room temperature, but chill if you prefer. Shake before each use.

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Tacos with Mexican Rice (We have all the ingredients for this, will probably make it this weekend. I'll update this post with a review when done) 11/8 update- still haven't made it.

Mexican Rice

1 T sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked rice
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups boiling water
1 t salt
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder

Saute' garlic in oil in a heavy skillet. Add uncooked rice, and roast until golden. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Stir to mix. Immediately cover and simmer for 40 min (brown rice), or 20 min (basmati).

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Grilled vegetable open faced sandwiches, Honey-Lime Sweet Potatoes, and Lime Romaine Salad (These sandwiches are delicious. I haven't made the sweet potatoes yet, but plan to soon)
Grilled vegetable of your choice...zucchini, eggplant, onions, green onions, beets (pre cooked and sliced), portobello mushrooms
Brush vegetables with olive oil, dust with salt and pepper, and grill until tender
Brush slice of bread with olive oil (sourdough works well) and grill until golden brown...add slice of cheese (white soft like swiss or muenster) and warm till melted
Pile grilled vegetables on top adding fresh basil leaves if desired...pour balsamic vinegar over the top


Honey Lime Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into
slices 1/2 inch thick
Melted unsalted butter for brushing, plus
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup honey, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
Bring a saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil over high heat. Add the sweet potato slices and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Brush the potato slices with the melted butter.
Grill the potato slices over the hottest part of a charcoal fire or directly over the heat elements of a gas grill, turning once, until fork-tender, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, mix the honey and lime juice until smooth. Add the 2 Tbs. butter and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Brush the sweet potatoes on both sides with the glaze and grill them briefly, turning once, about 30 seconds per side. Serve hot. Serves 6.

Lime Romaine Salad

Squeeze one lime...2 T olive oil, 1/2 t salt
chop Romaine lettuce
garnish with grated parmesan cheese

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